Rivelino
Attacking Midfielder / Left Midfielder · Corinthians · Brazil
About Rivelino
Rivelino is one of the most technically gifted Brazilian players of the 1970 generation — the left-sided creative force in Brazil's greatest team, known for a thunderous left foot that produced some of the most powerful free-kicks in football history. He won the 1970 World Cup alongside Pelé, Jairzinho, and Tostão, and played at three World Cups. His 92 international appearances and 26 goals make him one of Brazil's most decorated players of his era.
Rivelino's story
The Left Foot
Rivelino's left foot was the most powerful in Brazilian football — producing free-kicks of extraordinary pace and swerve that goalkeepers of the 1970s had no reference point for defending. His technique — striking the ball with the instep at full swing — generated a combination of power and curve that would not be replicated until Roberto Carlos's era. At the 1970 World Cup, his free-kick against Czechoslovakia was so fast the goalkeeper moved after the ball was already in the net.
Three World Cups
Rivelino played at three consecutive World Cups — 1970 (winner), 1974 (fourth), and 1978 (third) — making him one of a small group of Brazilian players to have competed across three tournaments. He scored 3 goals at 1970 and made decisive contributions at 1974 alongside Zico in a Brazil side that was not as talented as 1970 but still reached the final four.
Corinthians
Rivelino spent ten years at Corinthians — the São Paulo (BRA) club known as "O Timão" — becoming the most beloved player in the club's history. His creativity, vision, and goalscoring from attacking midfield made him irreplaceable across a decade of state championship campaigns. When he left for Fluminense in 1974, Corinthians fans held a wake.
Did you know?
- 🦵 His free-kick against Czechoslovakia at the 1970 World Cup was struck so hard that the goalkeeper moved to parry it after the ball had already crossed the line — one of football's most celebrated power-vs-anticipation moments.
- 🏆 He won the 1970 World Cup alongside Pelé, Jairzinho, Tostão, and Carlos Alberto — playing at three World Cups and finishing in the top four at all three.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married; had children. He settled in Brazil and later Egypt where he worked as a coach. Remembered as one of the great creative forces of Brazilian football.
- 🌟 Pelé said: "Rivelino's left foot was the most dangerous weapon in football in the 1970s. A free-kick from Rivelino was not a set piece — it was a goalscoring opportunity every time."
- 🌍 He was named in FIFA's 100 greatest living footballers in 2004 — one of eight Brazilians — maintaining his status as one of the definitive players of the 1970s despite his career predating widespread video archive.
- 👨👧 His moustache became one of football's most recognisable individual features in the 1970s — an image so associated with the era that retrospectives of 1970 Brazilian football use it as their visual shorthand.
- 📊 He scored 26 goals in 92 international appearances for Brazil — a rate of 0.28 per game from attacking midfield — reflecting both his goalscoring and his primary role as a creator of opportunities for others.
- 🔴 He played 10 years for Corinthians — becoming the most celebrated player in the club's history before Sócrates — across a period when the São Paulo state championship was one of South America's most competitive domestic competitions.
- ⚽ His banana free-kick technique — striking the ball with the instep to generate simultaneous power and curve — was studied by Brazilian coaches as the textbook method and taught at academies across the country for decades.
Honours
- FIFA World Cup: Brazil (1970)
- South American Player of the Year: 1976
- Campeonato Paulista x4: Corinthians
- FIFA 100: Named one of the greatest living footballers by Pelé (2004)
- Greatest Free-Kick of the 1970 World Cup: His banana free-kick vs Czechoslovakia was measured as football's hardest-struck free-kick of the decade
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