Ademir de Menezes

Ademir de Menezes
	Ademir in 1947
Personal information
Full name	Ademir Marques de Menezes
Date of birth	8 November 1922
Place of birth	Recife, Brazil
Date of death	11 May 1996 (aged 73)
Place of death	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Sport Recife
Senior career*
Years	Team
1939–1942	Sport Recife
1942–1945	Vasco da Gama
1946–1947	Fluminense
1948–1956	Vasco da Gama
1957	Sport Recife
International career
1945–1953	Brazil
Managerial career
1967	Vasco da Gama
show Medal record
Men's Football
Representing Brazil
FIFA World Cup
South American Championship
Panamerican Championship
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ademir Marques de Menezes (Portuguese pronunciation: [adeˈmiʁ]; 8 November 1922 – 11 May 1996) was a Brazilian footballer, regarded as one of the best forwards in the country's history.^[1] His prominent underbite earned him the nickname Queixada (The Jaw). He was also the top goalscorer of the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Ademir began his club career with Sport Recife before moving to Vasco da Gama. He played for Vasco for two spells, 1942–1945 and 1948–56, broken by a spell at Fluminense. In total, Ademir won two Pernambuco State League Championships (1941, 1942) and five Rio State League championships (1945, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956). He won another with Fluminense (1946). He was the league's top scorer in 1949 with 30 goals and again in 1950 with 25 goals. Ademir finally retired from playing in 1956, going on to work as a commentator, coach and businessman.

International career

Ademir is best known for his exploits in the 1950 World Cup held in his native Brazil. Playing in an outstanding forward trio involving Zizinho and Jair he won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the competition with 9 goals, and he also helped the team with 6 assists in the tournament. He was the scorer of the first competitive goal at the Maracanã stadium.^[2] Despite this feat, he could not bring victory to Brazil in the decisive match against Uruguay – a national tragedy which was later dubbed the Maracanazo.

Ademir also enjoyed success in the Copa América. He played in the 1945, 1946, 1949, and 1953 editions of the tournament, with 13 goals and 3 assists in 18 appearances in the competition, including a tournament-winning hat-trick in the final play-off against Paraguay in 1949. He also won the Panamerican Championship with Brazil in 1952 scoring two goals on the title match against Chile. In total, Ademir played 39 times for his country, scoring 32 goals (according to RSSSF) between 1945 and 1953.

Style of play

A fast and powerful striker, with a strong shot in both feet,^[1] Ademir began his career as a left winger before moving to the centre, causing havoc in opposing defences with his skill and sublime finishing. People at the time considered him an unequalled ball juggler who knew every trick in the book. He used to wreak havoc among defences with his quick changes in tempo, fooling his opponents with deceptions carried out almost at lightning speed, his mastering of the ball in all situations and the ability to accelerate rapidly.

Career statistics

International

^[3]^[4]

Brazil national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1945	9	7
1946	6	1
1947	2	0
1948	0	0
1949	5	7
1950	9	14
1951	0	0
1952	5	2
1953	3	1
Total	39	32

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 January 1945	Santiago, Chile	Bolivia	1–0	2–0	1945 South American Championship
2.	15 February 1945		Argentina	1–2	1–3
3.	21 February 1945		Ecuador	1–0	9–2
4.				2–0
5.				9–2
6.	20 December 1945	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Argentina	?–?	6–2	1945 Copa Roca
7.	20 December 1945	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Argentina	?–?	6–2	1945 Copa Roca
8.	9 January 1946	Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay	1–?	1–1	1946 Copa Río Branco
9.	3 April 1949	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Ecuador	9–1	9–1	1949 South American Championship
10.	17 April 1949	São Paulo, Brazil	Colombia	4–0	5–0
11.	17 April 1949	São Paulo, Brazil	Colombia	5–0	5–0
12.	24 April 1949	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Peru	6–1	7–1
13.	11 May 1949		Paraguay	1–0	7–0
14.				2–0
15.				4–0
16.	6 May 1950	São Paulo, Brazil	Uruguay	?–?	3–4	1950 Copa Río Branco
17.	6 May 1950	São Paulo, Brazil	Uruguay	?–?	3–4
18.	14 May 1950	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Uruguay	?–?	3–2
19.	18 May 1950		Uruguay	1–0	1–0
20.	24 June 1950		Mexico	1–0	4–0	1950 FIFA World Cup
21.	24 June 1950		Mexico	4–0	4–0
22.	1 July 1950		Yugoslavia	1–0	2–0
23.	9 July 1950		Sweden	1–0	7–1
24.				2–0
25.				4–0
26.				5–0
27.	13 July 1950		Spain	1–0	6–1
28.	13 July 1950		Spain	5–0	6–1
30.	20 April 1952	Santiago, Chile	Chile	1–0	3–0	1952 Panamerican Championship
31.	20 April 1952	Santiago, Chile	Chile	2–0	3–0	1952 Panamerican Championship
32.	12 March 1953	Lima, Peru	Ecuador	1–0	2–0	1953 South American Championship