Leonidas
(Brazil)
Leonidas da Silva was top scorer in the 1938 World Cup
with 8 goals, including a four-goal haul in the
remarkable 6-5 win over Poland. Leonidas was the first
man to score four goals in a World Cup match - five
minutes ahead of Poland's Ernst Willimowski - and for
the semifinal against Italy, manager Ademar Pimenta
rested him. It was an over-confident move and the
Italians won 2-1. Despite his size, Leonidas, capped
23 times, was one of the most outstanding pre-war
centre-forwards and famed for his bicycle-kick.
Born in 1913, he was known as the "Black
Diamond" or the "Rubber Man". He began
his career with local Rio teams, before joining Peñarol
of Uruguay in 1933, a year after scoring two goals on
his international debut against Uruguay. He returned
to Brazil after a year and helped Vasco Da Gama to the
Rio Championship. After appearing in the 1934 World
Cup, he was a key member of the Botafogo team which
won the 1935 Rio title. The following year he signed
for Flamengo, where he stayed until 1942. He then
spent eight years at São Paolo before retiring in
1950. He returned to São Paolo as manager in 1953,
before becoming a radio reporter and later the
proprietor of a furniture store in São Paolo.
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