Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002), commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian professional footballer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest strikers of his generation. Nicknamed "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest), he most notably played for Vasco da Gama, Atlético Madrid, Palmeiras and the Brazil national team.

Vavá
Vavá in 1962
Personal information
Full name Edvaldo Izídio Neto
Date of birth (1934-11-12)12 November 1934
Place of birth Recife, Brazil
Date of death 19 January 2002(2002-01-19) (aged 67)
Place of death Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8+12 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949–1950 Sport Recife
1951–1958 Vasco da Gama 456 (191)
1958–1961 Atlético Madrid 71 (31)
1961–1963 Palmeiras 142 (71)
1964–1967 América
1967–1968 Toros Neza
1968 San Diego Toros 28 (5)
1969 Portuguesa
Total 697 (298)
International career
1955–1964 Brazil 20 (15)
Managerial career
1971–1972 Córdoba
1974–1975 Córdoba
1977–1978 Granada
1984–1985 Al Rayyan
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Brazil
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1958 Sweden
Winner 1962 Chile
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

International career

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Vavá earned twenty caps with the Brazil national team between 1955 and 1964, scoring a total of fifteen goals. He was in the side that won both the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cups, in which he scored five and four goals, respectively. Furthermore, he was a joint-recipient of the 1962 World Cup Golden Boot as one of the tournament's top scorers. Vavá was also part of Brazil's squad for the 1952 Summer Olympics.[1]

Vavá scored in the World Cup finals of both 1958 (twice) and 1962 (once), thus becoming the first player to score in two finals. To this day, only five players have achieved this feat, the other four being Pelé, Paul Breitner, Zinedine Zidane, and Kylian Mbappé. He remained the only player to have scored in two consecutive World Cup final matches until Kylian Mbappé achieved the feat in the 2022 World Cup final, having also scored in the final in 2018.

Club statistics

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Club performance League
Season Club League Apps Goals
Spain League
1958–59 Atlético Madrid La Liga 27 16
1959–60 29 10
1960–61 15 5
Country Spain 71 31
United States League
1968 San Diego Toros North American Soccer League 28 5
Country United States 28 5
Total 99 36

Honours

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Club

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Sport Recife

Vasco da Gama

Atlético de Madrid

Palmeiras

Club América

International

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Brazil national football team

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Vavá". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 November 2021.

Sources

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