Mário Américo
Mário Américo (born July 28, 1912 in Carmo do Rio Claro , Minas Gerais , † April 9, 1990 in São Paulo ) was known to a wide audience as the massage therapist for the Brazilian national soccer team . He accompanied her at all seven world championships from 1950 to 1974 and was one of her medical supervisors.
Life
Américo originally wanted to be a musician, but first worked as a miner in Monte Santo de Mina . From 1937 he established himself as a welterweight boxer in what was then the boxing stronghold of Madureira , a northern suburb of Rio de Janeiro . Here he was able to achieve numerous successes and also assert himself in wrestling in Germany.
In 1937 he began to work as a masseur. After he had taken off the boxing gloves in 1942, he deepened his knowledge at the National School for Physical Education ( Escola Nacional de Educação Física ). In the same year he found his first job in football with the club CR Vasco da Gama , which was just entering its golden era. Already there he gained great popularity and was part of the team that won the state championship in Rio de Janeiro five times by 1952 and, as the climax, in 1948 the Copa Libertadores predecessor Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões . He often sprinted around the field and brought the players the latest instructions from the coach, which earned him the nickname pombo correio ("carrier pigeon"). In 1953 he joined the then top club Portuguesa in São Paulo, where a high salary was waiting for him.
From 1950 to 1974 he also looked after the Brazilian national soccer team, which won the World Cup three times in that era. As a “ medicine man ” so dubbed by the press, he enjoyed a legendary reputation during his active time. Equipped only with a water bucket and a leather belt with various "miracle cures", the muscular Brazilian ran onto the pitch when a player was injured. After a short treatment by him, the footballer was usually able to continue playing. If this was not the case, usually no stretcher was needed; Américo often shouldered an injured player or carried him off the pitch in his arms for further treatment. Rumors of mysterious tinctures made from plants and medicinal herbs that Américo had mixed together made the rounds. The sports ointment “Amazonas Balm”, based on a recipe from America, was also available in Germany.
At the 1962 World Cup, however, he did not succeed in getting the injured Pelé fit again. After the 1962 final against Czechoslovakia , he secured the match ball. After FIFA insisted on getting the ball back, he simply gave it an identical ball. Hence, this precious relic of sport is in Brazil these days.
After the soccer World Cup in 1974 , Américo withdrew from the sport and was elected as a member of the state parliament of São Paulo. The author Henrique Matteucci wrote the biography Memórias de Mário Américo - O Massagista dos Reis ("Memories of Mário Américo - the masseur of the kings").
Web links
- Instituto Mário Américo , (as of March 1, 2019)
- Mario Americo , profile on BoxRec (as of March 1, 2019)
- Rogério Revelles: Mário Américo… mãos santas de éter e gelo , Tardes de Pacaembu, October 12, 2012
- Oswaldo Faustino: A História do Massagista da Seleção Mário Américo , Revista Raça, October 16, 2016
Individual evidence
- ^ "Augsburger Allgemeine" from March 20, 2006: The mysterious medicine man
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Américo, Mário |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Brazilian physiotherapist, supervisor of the Brazilian national soccer team |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 28, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Carmo do Rio Claro , Minas Gerais |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 9, 1990 |
| Place of death | São Paulo |