# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/didi
# Generated: 2026-08-31T21:45:54.009Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/didi"
name: "Didi"
slug: "didi"
description: "He invented the folha seca — the dipping free kick that now belongs to Ronaldo and Juninho but started with him. Didi played midfield with the kind of elegance that made Brazil's back-to-back World Cups in 1958 and '62 look like they'd been scripted."
tagline: "Brazilian footballer (1928-2001)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Waldir_Pereira_1958.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Brazil"
  isoCode: "BR"
category:
  name: "Footballers"
  slug: "footballers"
profileType:
  name: "Football / Soccer Player"
  slug: "footballer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q937857"
birthDate: "1928-10-08"
deathDate: "2001-05-12"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           60.94
  momentum:             25
  historical:           24.77804933333334
  currentAttention:     100
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "BREAKOUT"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Footballers"
    slug: "footballers"
  - name: "Football / Soccer Player"
    slug: "football-soccer-player"
  - name: "Soccer"
    slug: "soccer"
  - name: "Football"
    slug: "football"
  - name: "Brazil"
    slug: "brazil"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312486"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Didi"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%89"
    title: "ديدى"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Did%C3%AD"
    title: "Didí"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ay.wikipedia.org/wiki/Did%C3%AD"
    title: "Didí"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C_(%D9%81%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA)"
    title: "دیدی (فوتبالیست)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D1%8B%D0%B4%D1%8B"
    title: "Дыды"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8"
    title: "Диди"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BF"
    title: "ডিডি"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdir_Pereira"
    title: "Valdir Pereira"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdir_Pereira"
    title: "Valdir Pereira"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi_(fotbalista)"
    title: "Didi (fotbalista)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8"
    title: "Диди"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi"
    title: "Didi"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9D%CF%84%CE%AF%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9"
    title: "Ντίντι"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi_(footballer%2C_born_1928)"
    title: "Didi (footballer, born 1928)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Did%C3%AD"
    title: "Didí"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdir_Pereira"
    title: "Valdir Pereira"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C_(%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%86_%D9%81%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84)"
    title: "دیدی (بازیکن فوتبال)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi"
    title: "Didi"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi"
    title: "Didi"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi"
    title: "Didi"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A8_%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%94"
    title: "ואלדיר פריירה"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi"
    title: "Didi"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi_(labdar%C3%BAg%C3%B3%2C_1928)"
    title: "Didi (labdarúgó, 1928)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikiquote.org/wiki/Didi_(futebolista)"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didi_(Fu%C3%9Fballspieler%2C_1928)"
    title: "Didi (Fußballspieler, 1928)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A_(%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A8_%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A9_%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85_%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AF_1928)"
    title: "ديدي (لاعب كرة قدم مواليد 1928)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Waldyr Pereira came up through Fluminense in the late 1940s, a midfielder whose range of passing and dead-ball technique set him apart in an era when Brazilian football was still defining itself. He played three World Cups — 1954, then the wins in '58 and '62 — and became the architect in a generation that included Garrincha and Pelé. By the early 1960s he anchored Botafogo's iconic squad alongside Nilton Santos, Zagallo, and Amarildo, a collection of world champions whose club dominance mirrored what they'd done internationally. The folha seca free kick — the swerving, dropping shot that still bears his fingerprints — was his invention, a piece of technique that outlived him. He died in 2001, seventy-two, two World Cup medals to his name.