The Maria

Club

The Maria was born into a family of farmers ^[3] . He had two more brothers with whom he played football from a young age ^[4] . He began his career at the local club Lajeado ^[5] , from there he moved to the Ferrovaria Botucatu club in 1962 and in one of his first games began to play on the right side of the defense ^[6] . In 1966, he began playing for the club’s main team, making his debut in a match with Nacional, in which his club won 5-1 ^[4] . In total, he played for Ferroviaria for a year and a half.

In 1967, he moved to the Portuguese Desportos . He made his debut in the composition of the “Portuguese” in a match with the club “ San Bento ”, which “Portuguese” lost 0: 1 ^[7] . Altogether Zé Maria played for Portugal for 3 years. In 1969, negotiations began between Portugal and Corinthians over a player’s transfer. The negotiations were conducted by the father of Ze Maria, Durvalino, who was a lawyer and agent for the football player ^[8] . Father negotiated without even asking Ze Maria for an opinion on the transition ^[9] .

After the World Cup , The Maria began training with Corinthians, despite the fact that an agreement between the clubs had not yet been signed ^[8] . The Maria himself said: “It was the greatest opportunity in my life” ^[8] . Despite the fact that The Maria trained with Corinthians, according to the current legislation, he was still forced to play for Portugal, who filed a lawsuit: the club did not want to release The Maria ^[8] . Soon the contract was signed, and Corinthians paid an amount in excess of the amount that originally appeared in the contract ^[8] . He spent his last games during a tour of Bolivia , in which his club defeated Ferrovario Oruro 12-0 , and then the club Jorge Wilstermanu with a score of 6-0 ^[7] . In total for “Portugal” he spent 176 matches. Due to the trial, Ze Maria could not speak for Corinthians. He himself said: "These were the longest months of my life."

As part of Corinthians, Ze Maria made his debut on November 8, 1970 in a match with Gremio , in which his club lost 0: 1 ^[6] . In 1974, Corinthians reached the finals of the São Paulo State Championship , where they lost to Palmeiras. In 1977, he won the São Paulo State Championship with his team, where his club defeated Ponte Preto , becoming the champion 23 years later ^[3] . In the same year, on April 3 , he scored a goal against Internacional , which became the first Corinthians goal in the Libertadores Cup draws ^[3] . In subsequent years, The Maria won 3 more Sao Paulo Championships. The last of them, in 1983 , he won as a playing coach of the team ^[3] . On the coaching “bridge”, he made his debut on March 31, 1983 in a match with Vasco da Gama , which ended in a 0-0 draw. In total for Corinthians, Ze Maria held 599 games (284 wins, 183 draws and 132 losses), scoring 17 goals ^[8] . He was a team captain for a long time, right up to joining Socrates club ^[6] . After leaving Corinthians, Ze Maria spent several months at the club International Limeira , where he ended his career in 1984 ^[6] .

After completing a player’s career, Ze Maria worked as a sports manager for the CASA foundation, promoting sports among juvenile delinquents ^[8] .

“The purpose of my work is to help juvenile delinquents so that they begin a new life” ^[5] .

Team

The Maria made his debut with the Brazilian national team on June 20, 1968 in a friendly game with Poland , in which the Brazilians won 6-3 ^[7] . This game was the only one for The Maria held in the national team during a performance in Portugal. In 1970, The Maria went to the World Cup , where the Brazilians became champions. However, he did not play at the tournament, being the understudy of Carlos Alberto ^[7] . In 1974, he went to his second world championship , where he spent all 4 games ^[10] . In 1978, Ze Maria had to go to the next world championship , but before the very start of the tournament he was injured and did not get into the application. All in all, The Maria played 47 official matches for the national team. The Maria also played 19 unofficial matches for the national team ^[7] .

Total: 47 matches; 29 wins, 14 draws, 4 losses.

Total: 19 matches; 13 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss.

Coaching

The Maria is married. Wife - Josephine ^[9] . Zie Maria divorced her first wife, Siomara, when she was 8 months pregnant and filed a lawsuit against her husband regarding the use of physical force against her ^[9] . The Maria said that this accusation was just an excuse for her leaving home ^[9] .

The Maria, after the death of her father, who always managed the finances of his son, began to make various friends in his house who did not pay for shelter. These people often used the things of The Maria, wore his clothes ^[9] .

Team

  Brazil national team

• World Champion : 1970
• Doom Cup Winner : 1971
• Brazil Independence Cup Winner: 1972

  Corinthians

• Brazilian silver medalist: 1976
• São Paulo State Champion (4): 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983
• Silver medalist at São Paulo State Championship: 1974

Personal

• Brazil Silver Ball Winner (2): 1973, 1977

• Player profile on worldfootball.net (German)
• Profile on FIFA.com
• Profile on SambaFoot (inaccessible link)
• Footpedia Profile
• Profile on brasilnacopa (inaccessible link)