Didi (footballer, born 1928)

Didi

Didi in 1958
Personal information
Full name	Waldyr Pereira
Date of birth	(1928-10-08)8 October 1928
Place of birth	Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
Date of death	12 May 2001(2001-05-12) (aged 72)
Place of death	Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder Inside forward
Youth career
1944	São Cristóvão
1945	Industrial
1945	Rio Branco
1945–1946	Goytacaz
1946	Americano
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1947–1949[1]	Madureira	32	(8)
1949–1956	Fluminense	150	(51)
1956–1959	Botafogo	64	(40)
1959–1960	Real Madrid	19	(6)
1960–1962	Botafogo	44	(19)
1962–1964	Sporting Cristal	32	(4)
1964–1965	Botafogo	11	(1)
1965–1966	CD Veracruz	29	(4)
1966	São Paulo	4	(0)
International career
1952–1962	Brazil	68	(20)
Managerial career
1962–1964	Sporting Cristal
1967–1969	Sporting Cristal
1969–1970	Peru
1970–1971	River Plate
1972–1975	Fenerbahçe
1975	Fluminense
1977	Cruzeiro
1977–1981	Al-Ahli
1981	Botafogo
1981	Cruzeiro
1982–1983	Al-Shabab[2]
1985	Fortaleza
1986	São Paulo
1986	Alianza Lima
1989–1990	Bangu
Medal record Men's Football Representing  Brazil FIFA World Cup Winner 1958 Sweden Winner 1962 Chile Copa América Runner-up 1953 Peru Runner-up 1957 Peru Runner-up 1959 Argentina Panamerican Championship Winner 1952 Chile
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Waldyr Pereira (8 October 1928 – 12 May 2001), also known as Didi (Brazilian Portuguese: [dʒiˈdʒi]), was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder or as a forward. He played in three FIFA World Cups (1954, 1958, and 1962), winning the latter two.

An elegant and technical player, Didi was renowned for his range of passing, stamina and technique. He also was a free-kick specialist, being famous for inventing the folha seca (dry leaf) dead ball free kicks, notably used by modern-day players such as Juninho and Cristiano Ronaldo, where the ball would swerve downward unexpectedly at a point resulting in a goal.^[3][4][5]

During his career, he was part of Fluminense between the end of the 1940s to the mid-1950s and one of the main players of the iconic squad of Botafogo in the early 1960s with other world champions such as Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Zagallo and Amarildo.