Jairzinho

Jairzinho

Jairzinho in 1974
Personal information
Full name	Jair Ventura Filho
Date of birth	(1944-12-25) December 25, 1944 (age 72)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Winger
Youth career
	Botafogo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1959–1974	Botafogo	413	(186)
1974–1975	Olympique de Marseille	18	(9)
1975	Kaizer Chiefs	3	(7)
1976	Cruzeiro
1977	Portuguesa	10	(2)
1978–1979	Noroeste	2	(0)
1979	Fast Club	19	(17)
1980–1981	Jorge Wilstermann
1981–1982	Botafogo
1982	9 de Octubre
National team
1964–1982	Brazil	81	(33)
Teams managed
1997–1998	Kalamata
2003–2005	Gabon
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Jair Ventura Filho (born December 25, 1944), better known as Jairzinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒaˌiʁˈzĩɲu]), is a retired Brazilian footballer. A quick, powerful winger, he was a member of the legendary Brazilian national team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored in every game Brazil played. In doing so, he became one of only two players – the other being Alcides Ghiggia – in the history of the World Cup to have scored in every game of the tournament and was thereafter nicknamed as "The Hurricane". He was listed at number 27 in World Soccer Magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century, one place ahead of Zinedine Zidane.

Due to the economic and political situation of the time, as well as the Sport Legislation, he played most of his club football in South America where he spent eleven years at Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo. He went on to play in Europe during the final years of his career, a common pattern for South American players until the 1980s, when the economic and political situation changed. Jairzinho replaced his footballing idol Garrincha in both the Botafogo and Brazil teams, and played in three consecutive World Cups: 1966, 1970 and 1974.

Jairzinho was born in Rio de Janeiro, where he went through the youth setup at local club Botafogo. He made his professional debut with the club as a striker at the age of fifteen. His hero Garrincha, whom he would eventually replace for both club and country, also played at Botafogo, albeit in Jairzinho's preferred position on the right wing. This resulted in Jairzinho spending most of his early games playing on the left wing or as a centre forward. However, he would fill in as a right winger, by far his strongest position, when Garrincha was injured.