World Cups won: Sweden 1958 and Chile 1962.
The legs
Manuel Francisco dos Santos was born in Pau Grande, Rio de Janeiro state, in 1933, with a deformed spine and legs bent in opposite directions, the right shorter than the left by several centimetres.
Medical opinion at the time was that he should not play sport.
The asymmetry produced a change of direction that defenders could not read from his hips, and it was the basis of his entire career.
1958
Garrincha was left out of Brazil's opening matches, partly on the advice of the team psychologist, who considered him unsuitable for the role.
Senior players requested his inclusion. He played from the third match onward and Brazil won the tournament.
1962
Pele was injured in the second group match and took no further part.
Garrincha scored twice against England in the quarter final and twice against Chile in the semi final, and was widely judged the outstanding player of the tournament.
Brazil retained the World Cup.
The unbeaten record
Brazil did not lose a match in which both Garrincha and Pele were in the starting eleven, across more than fifty games.
After
His career declined through knee problems from the mid-1960s. He had persistent financial difficulties and alcoholism.
He died on 20 January 1983 of cirrhosis, aged forty-nine.
His funeral drew very large crowds in Rio de Janeiro and in Pau Grande.
Why it goes on a wall
Because the trick never changed and never stopped working, and because the man who gave a country its happiest football did not get to keep any of it.
Alegria do povo.