Soccer: Brazilian great Didi dies aged 71

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian footballer Didi, who won the World Cup with his own country in 1958 and 1962, and led Peru to the quarter-finals as coach in 1970, has died, aged 71.

Hospital sources in Rio said that Didi, a midfielder who also made his name when he became the first player to score a goal at the world-famous Maracana Stadium in 1950, died of natural causes.

Didi, full name Waldir Pereira, was regarded as one of the greatest footballers Brazil has produced and was famous for his long-range shots nicknamed "the dry leaf," which dipped viciously at the last moment.

Pele, who played alongside Didi at the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, led the tributes.

"Didi was very important for me in 1958. I was only 17 and he was like an older brother," said Pele, who scored two goals in the final against Sweden.

"For him, playing football was as easy as peeling an orange."

Didi invented a lot of important moves, such as the dry leaf and the "three-toe pass" (striking the ball with the outside of the foot to give it an outswinging curve).

He began his career in 1943 with Rio club Sao Cristovao as a junior. His first big club was Fluminense, who he joined in 1949.

He later played for Botafogo, Spain's Real Madrid and clubs in Mexico and Peru.

In 1950, he became the first player to score at the Maracana, built for the 1950 World Cup which Brazil hosted, in a match between a Rio de Janeiro XI and a Sao Paulo XI.

He made his debut for Brazil in 1952 in a 2-0 win over Mexico and played in the 1954 World Cup when Brazil were knocked out by Hungary in the infamous "Battle of Berne."

He last played for his country in the World Cup-winning match against Czechoslovakia in 1962.

After that Didi took to coaching and in 1970 led Peru in their first World Cup, to the quarter-finals.