Tostão

Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade (born 25 January 1947), generally known as Tostão, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder. He is a medical doctor.

Tostão
Tostão in 1970
Personal information
Full name Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade
Date of birth (1947-01-25) 25 January 1947
Place of birth Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Forward / Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1961 Cruzeiro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1962–1963 América (MG) 26 (16)
1963–1972 Cruzeiro 378 (249)
1972–1973 Vasco da Gama 45 (6)
Total 449 (271)
National team
1966–1972 [1] Brazil 54 (32)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Tostão was a diminutive, intelligent, hardworking, and prolific left-footed forward, who was known for his creativity and technical skills, and was considered one of the best players in the world in his prime.[2] He played most of his 11-year career with Cruzeiro.

Tostão represented Brazil in two World Cups, winning the tournament in 1970. He formed a lethal offensive partnership with Pelé in the national team.

Football career

Born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Eduardo Andrade received, like the vast majority of Brazilian footballers, a nickname early into his football career, being dubbed 'Tostão' (little coin). Legend has it that as a six-year-old school boy he netted 47 goals in one game for his primary school football team.

Tostão made his professional debuts aged only 15, for local América Futebol Clube (MG), returning after two years to Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, where he had started his youth career. Although being a centre midfielder, he was crowned the Campeonato Mineiro's topscorer on three consecutive occasions, the first in 1966, and left the club as its all-time scorer, with a total of 249 goals.[3]

In the 1970 FIFA World Cup, improvised as a forward, Tostão scored two of his 32 goals for Brazil, as the national team won its third trophy, whilst finding the net on 19 occasions. The previous year, after being hit in the face by a ball during a match against Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, he suffered a detached retina from which he never fully recovered. In April 1972, he signed for CR Vasco da Gama for a then record fee in the country but, after good overall displays, was forced to retire from the game at only 27, after his sight problems resurfaced, despite attempts at corrective surgery.

Weary of football and fame, Tostão became a medical doctor, but ultimately rejoined the footballing world, working as a journalist and pundit on TV.[4][5]

Style of play

Tostão was a diminutive and forward, who, due to his small stature and slender frame, was not particularly skilled in the air; in spite of his lack of pace, strong physical attributes, or long-range shooting abilities, however, he was a mobile, intelligent, and hard-working footballer, who stood out throughout his career due to his anticipation and timing in the penalty area, which made him a prolific goalscorer. A predominantly left-footed player, in his prime, he was considered one of the best players in the world, and was known for his technique, balance, and dribbling skills, while also contributing with many assists thanks to his vision, creativity, precise passing and playmaking abilities, as well as his work-rate, which often saw him drop back into midfield in order to retrieve the ball and start attacking plays. He was also known for his ability to disorient defenders and get onto the end of passes or create space for teammates with his movement and runs off the ball, which saw him act in a role which was essentially functioning as a precursor of the modern false 9 role with Brazil during the 1970 World Cup, despite being deployed as a centre-forward on paper. Due to his versatility and wide range of skills, he was capable of playing in several attacking and midfield positions including as an attacking midfielder, as a second striker, as a left winger, as an out-and-out striker, or even as an offensive-minded central midfielder, known as the mezzala role in Italian football jargon.[2][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

Career statistics

International goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
1.5 June 1966Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Poland2–14–1Friendly[17]
2.3–1
3.8 June 1966Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Peru2–03–1Friendly[17]
4.30 June 1966Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Sweden1–03–2Friendly[17]
5.3–1
6.15 July 1966Goodison Park, Liverpool, England Hungary1–11–31966 FIFA World Cup[17]
7.9 June 1968Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo, Brazil Uruguay1–02–01968 Copa Río Branco[18]
8.16 June 1968Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, West Germany West Germany1–21–2Friendly[18]
9.20 June 196810th-Anniversary Stadium, Warsaw, Poland Poland3–26–3Friendly[18]
10.4–2
11.25 June 1968JNA Stadion, Belgrade, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia2–02–0Friendly[18]
12.30 June 1968Estádio da Machava, Lourenço Marques, Mozambique Portugal2–02–0Friendly[18]
13.17 July 1968Estadio Nacional de Lima, Lima, Peru Peru3–04–0Friendly[18]
14.6 November 1968Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilFIFA XI3–04–0Friendly[18][lower-alpha 1]
15.9 April 1969Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Peru2–12–1Friendly[19]
16.12 June 1969Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil England1–12–1Friendly[19]
17.6 August 1969Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia Colombia1–02–01970 FIFA World Cup qualification[19]
18.2–0
19.10 August 1969Estadio Olímpico, Caracas, Venezuela Venezuela1–06–01970 FIFA World Cup qualification[19]
20.3–0
21.4–0
22.21 August 1969Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Colombia1–06–21970 FIFA World Cup qualification[19]
23.2–1
24.24 August 1969Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Venezuela1–06–01970 FIFA World Cup qualification[19]
25.2–0
26.3–0
27.14 June 1970Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico Peru2–04–21970 FIFA World Cup[19]
28.3–1
29.30 September 1970Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Mexico2–02–1Friendly[19]
30.14 July 1971Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Czechoslovakia1–01–0Friendly[20]
31.31 July 1971Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina Argentina1–12–21971 Roca Cup[20]
32.26 April 1972Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil Paraguay2–03–2Friendly[20]
  1. This match celebrated the 10th anniversary of Brazil's 1958 FIFA World Cup victory. In 2001, FIFA decided not to count matches involving its representative team as senior internationals, but the Brazilian Federation continues to recognise it as official.[18]

Honours

Club
Cruzeiro

International
Brazil

Individual

References
  1. "Tostão – Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  2. "Tostao the visionary". FIFA. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. The 10 Best Brazilian soccer players of all time
  4. Robinho career at crossroads; BBC Sport, 20 December 2004
  5. Controversy on the road to 1,000; BBC Sport, 21 March 2007
  6. "Brazil's greatest strikers". Sky Sports. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  7. Duarte, Fernando (5 March 2014). "Brazil's World Cup striker problems laid bare by Diego Costa's Spain debut". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  8. "Brasile 1970: una storia di numeri 10" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  9. Godfrey, Mark. "THE UNSPOKEN GENIUS OF TOSTAO". In Bed With Maradona. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  10. Atzenhoffer, Thomas (25 November 2012). "11 Flashiest Brazilians in World Football History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. Tsoir, Mark (17 June 2018). "Brazil, 1970 and the most beautiful football in history". thesefootballtimes.co. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. "World Cup Countdown: 12 Weeks to Go - Pele 1970 vs Messi 2018 & the Importance of the Trequartista". Sports Illustrated. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  13. Sisti, Enrico (16 September 2019). "Da Joao Felix a Sancho, la Champions degli Oliver Twist del pallone". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  14. Gandolfi, Remo (12 February 2019). "Se Pelé non fosse nato, Tostao sarebbe stato Pelé. E voleva fare il medico..." (in Italian). Calciomercato. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  15. Downie, Andrew (16 February 2005). "Europe awaits the new Pele". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  16. Atkins, Christopher (2 June 2014). "Ranking Brazil's 20 Greatest Strikers of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  17. Leme de Arruda, Marcelo; do Nascimento Pereira, André (15 January 2017). "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 1964–1966". RSSSF and RSSSF Brazil. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  18. Leme de Arruda, Marcelo; do Nascimento Pereira, André (3 March 2017). "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 1967–1968". RSSSF and RSSSF Brazil. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  19. Leme de Arruda, Marcelo; do Nascimento Pereira, André (3 March 2017). "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 1969–1970". RSSSF and RSSSF Brazil. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  20. Leme de Arruda, Marcelo; do Nascimento Pereira, André (3 March 2017). "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 1971–1973". RSSSF and RSSSF Brazil. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  21. Bola de Prata Placar 1970 Archived 2015-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
  22. IFFHS' Century Elections
  23. World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time Retrieved on 28 November 2015
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