Place of birth Campinas, Brazil Role Football player Height 1.74 m | Years Team Name Moacir Nascimento | |
 | ||
Full name Moacir Barbosa Nascimento Date of birth (1921-03-27)27 March 1921 Date of death 7 April 2000(2000-04-07) (aged 79) Died April 7, 2000, Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil | ||
Place of death Praia Grande, Brazil | ||
Moacir Barbosa Nascimento
Moacir Barbosa Nascimento (27 March 1921 – 7 April 2000) was a Brazilian professional international football goalkeeper whose career spanned 22 years. He was one of the world's best goalkeepers in the 1940s and 1950s and known for not wearing gloves because he wanted to feel the ball with his bare hands. Although he won many trophies, his fame is mainly associated with the defeat of Brazil in the decisive match of the 1950 FIFA World Cup against Uruguay.
Contents
- Moacir Barbosa Nascimento
- Success with Vasco da Gama
- 1949 Copa America
- The 1950 Maracanazo match and its aftermath
- In popular culture
- Club
- International
- Books
- References
Success with Vasco da Gama
At club level, Barbosa had his greatest successes with CR Vasco da Gama, Rio de Janeiro. He won several trophies with the side, including the Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões in 1948, the original precursor to the Copa Libertadores.
1949 Copa America
With the Brazilian national side, Barbosa won the 1949 Copa América. The 7–0 final victory over Paraguay remains to date the highest victory in a final of the competition.
The 1950 Maracanazo match and its aftermath
In the 1950 FIFA World Cup held on home soil, Brazil played Uruguay in the decisive match of the World Cup finals at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil was heavily favoured to win, and needed only a draw to win the round-robin tournament, but despite scoring first, Brazil lost 2–1 when Alcides Ghiggia scored the winning goal for Uruguay in the 79th minute after skilfully dribbling past Brazilian defender Bigode and then drilling the ball into the net while Barbosa was out of position, expecting a cross into the middle of the pitch. The loss stunned Brazilians and plunged the country into mourning, over what became known as the Maracanazo, or "the Maracana blow."
Barbosa was blamed for the defeat, for which he suffered for the rest of his life as the match became part of Brazilian folklore. In 2000, shortly before his death, he said in an interview: "The maximum punishment in Brazil is 30 years imprisonment, but I have been paying, for something I am not even responsible for, by now, for 50 years." In 1993, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ricardo Teixeira, did not allow him to be commentator during the broadcast of one of Brazil's international matches. He was also turned away from a Brazil training session on one occasion out of fear of his being a jinx for the team.
In 1963, Barbosa was presented with the old square wooden goalposts from the Maracanã as a present, which he took home and burned.
On 7 April 2000, he died of a heart attack at the age of 79.
In popular culture
Barbosa plays a large role in Ian McDonald's science fiction novel Brasyl. Barbosa is the main subject of the novel "The Last Save of Moacyr Barbosa" by Darwin Pastorin.
There is also a Brazilian short film named Barbosa, premiered in 1988, in which a 49-year-old man (Antônio Fagundes) travels back in time trying to avoid Ghiggia's goal.
Club
International
International
¹) irregular friendly tournament between Brazil and Argentina
²) irregular friendly tournament between Brazil and Uruguay
Club
¹) with CR Vasco da Gama, CR Flamengo (both R.d Janeiro), CA Boca Juniors and. Racing Club (both Argentina)
²) with CR Vasco da Gama, Millonarios (Bogotá) and CSD Colo-Colo (Santiago)