The 5 fingers of a handful of Brazilian World Cup wins

Brazil, being the only country to have won the World Cup a palatial five times, has never failed to deliver us with the most magnificent Jogadores De Futbol, decade after decade . Yet a star studded squad does not necessarily culminate in championships or an increase in number of trophies on their shelves.

For that to happen , the team needs a little something extra : An efficacious force in the form of a magisterial captain who can lead a team, regardless of the ego clashes and differences that prevail in a group of highly skilled sportsmen .

Hilderado Bellini, Mauro Ramos and Carlos Alberto Torres are relatively unknown to the present generation of worshippers of Brazilian football, but throw in Cafu and Dunga, the picture might get a little clearer. For those who still don’t get it, here it is. Hilderado Bellini, Mauro Ramos, Carlos Albrto Torres, Dunga and Cafu are the five captains who drove the ambassadors of samba football to World Cup glory. With this article I hope to educate the upcoming generation of football fanatics about the dedication of these captains and their contribution to perfection .

• HILEDRADO BELLINI (1958) :

Born on 7th, June 1930 to parents of Italian descent, Bellini was the first Brazilian captain who brought them the World Cup by beating Sweden 5-2 in the final. Bellini marched his team back into the game after being a goal down in just 4 minutes. The defender guarded his post and nearly bossed his side on the pitch after that. His gesture of lifting (first one to do it) the trophy high above his head has been followed ever since by very cup winning captain .

Clubs: Vasco da Gama , Sao Paulo FC, Atltic Paranes

• MAURO RAMOS (1962) :

1962, Brazil won its second World Cup thanks to the invaluable guidance of Mauro Ramos. He has been capped for over 30 times for the Brazilian team. Though he was included in the Brazilian squad of 1954 and 58, he wasn’t able to land himself a position in the starting 11. But then came the Cup of 62, in which he debuted and took Brazil under his wings and defended their title. In the final Brazil thrashed Czechoslovakia 3-2. Another major milestone he has achieved is of winning the Campeonato Pantrata a record 9 times.

Clubs: Sao Paolo, Santos

• CARLOS ALBERTO TORRES (1970): Though Brazil missed out on ’66, it pounced on the opportunity to win its third cup under the leadership of Carlos Alberto Torres. Alberto Torres possessed extreme dribbling, tackling and positioning skills which were pretty rare for that time. Born on 17th July 1944 he would eventually make his way into the World team of the 20th century. He was also named by Pele as one among the top 125 footballers of all time. His goal against Italy in the World Cup of 70 is still considered as one of the finest goals in the tournament. After a certain injury he had to compensate with his positioning and dribbling as he lost his pace. Brazil silenced the Italian crowd banging 4 goals into their net, the last being a beautifully set up goal involving 8 Brazilian team mates .

Clubs: Fluminese, Santos

• DUNGA (1994) : Dunga, famous for his thuggish style of playing, defined a complete period of Brazilian football known as the Dunga era. Though he couldn’t contribute to the national side in ’90, he compensated that by winning the World Cup of 94 by beating Italy on penalties. DUNGA got his name from the Portuguese translation of Dopey, one of the dwarfs in Snow White as he was very short when he was a kid and nobody expected him to grow much. But it was Dunga who stood tall after the final against Italy.

Clubs: Internacional, Santos, Fiorentina, Jubilo Iwata

• CAFU (2002) : With the pain of losing to France in ’98 final, Cafu did avenge it by winning the 2002 edition in style. Brazil dominated throughout the tournamnent and defeated Germany in the final. Cafu has the honour of being the highest capped player in the history of international football. He, along with Ronaldo, is the only player to play in three World Cups and win two of them.

Clubs: Roma, AC Milan, Sao Paolo