Didi

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.