Bellini, Captain of 1958 Brazilian Team, Dies

03/21/2014 - 09h24

The captain of the Brazilian national team world champion team in 1958 and a reserve for the 1962 team, former fullback Hilderaldo Luís Bellini, better known as Bellini, died yesterday at age 83.

He was admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Nove Hospital, in São Paulo.

At the request of his family, a medical report with more information about the death of the former player was not made public by press time.

He will be buried today in Itapira (164 kms from the state capital), where he was born.

He had been suffering from Alzheimer's over the last 10 years, a disease responsible for deteriorating brain function.

Bellini, captain of 1958 Brazilian team

Last month, after being hospitalized for 60 days, he was receiving medical care at home.

His disease had been gradually worsening and the former defender lost his speech about three years ago.

Bellini began his career in Itapirense in São Paulo, his homeland, and became famous playing for Vasco, a team he joined in 1952 and played for until 1961. He also played for São Paulo and ended his career with Atlético-PR in 1969.

He ended up being responsible for creating the famous gesture of lifting the trophy of the championship above his head, when Brazil won its first world title in Sweden in 1958.

The gesture was made at the request of photographers, who could not take a photo of him with the cup in his hands and asked him to lift it over his head. Before that, the captains received the cups and simply took them away.

The act was eventually repeated by, among others, Brazilian captains in 1962 (Mauro Ramos), 1970 (Carlos Alberto Torres), 1994 (Dunga) and 2002 (Cafu).

Maracanã stadium's covering, which has a statue honoring Bellini's gesture, will be lit in green and yellow at night as a tribute.

Translated by STEVE HUGHES

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