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Brazil were one of the 13 teams in the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
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Brazil's Valdemar de Brito became the first player to miss a penalty in World Cup finals in 1934. De Brito missed the penalty in Brazil's 3-1 loss to Spain on 27 May 1934. That was Brazil's only match in the 1934 finals, and the only finals in which Brazil did not win any match. He later amended his reputation as he discovered and nurtured Pele.
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Brazilian player Leonidas, the top scorer of World Cup 1938, had a job as a private eye.
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At the start of a 1938 finals match against Poland, Brazilian player Leonidas took off his boots because he wanted to play in the muddy pitch barefooted. The referee immediately ordered Leonidas to put his boots back on, and Leonidas went on to score 4 goals in that match, finishing top scorer of the 1938 tournament with 8 goals in 4 matches.
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Brazilian player Leonidas was left out of the team for the 1938 semi-final against Italy as the Brazilian coach wanted to save Leonidas for the Final. It was obviously a wrong decision as Brazil unexpectedly lost 2-1 to Italy in the match. Ironically, in the third-place match two days later, Leonidas scored two goals and helped Brazil achieve a 4-2 victory over Sweden.
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Brazil also hold the attendance record for their defeat to Uruguay in front of 200,000 spectators on home soil in 1950.
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Brazil won their first FIFA World Cup title in 1958 in Sweden with a team which included a 17-year-old legend-in-the-making named Pelé.
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The Brazilian managers of 1954 (Zeze) and that of 1962 (Aimore Moreira) were the only brothers to have managed the same nation in World Cup finals.
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Brazilian player Garrincha suffered from infantile paralysis as an infant. The operation that enabled him to walk left him with a distorted leg, but he grew up to become a speedy winger nicknamed 'The Little Bird'. He won the World Cup in 1958 & 1962. He died of alcohol poisoning in 1983 at the age of 49.
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Brazilian player Rivelino collapsed after beating Italy in the 1970 Final under the weight of the celebrations from Brazilian fans and had to be carried away on a stretcher.
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After the Jules Rimet trophy was paraded by the Brazilian players after the 1970 Final match, the top of the trophy disappeared. Brazilian reserve Davio retrieved the valuable gold top from a young spectator at the stadium exit. As a result, the new trophy was designed to have no top!
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Brazilian player Tostao give his 1970 World Cup winners' medal to his his surgeon. Tostao wished to express his gratitute to the American surgeon who had performed two operations on his eye before the 1970 finals.
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Ronaldo changed his hair style after Brazil beat England in the 2002 quarter finals so as to look more different from his teammate Roberto Carlos. He wanted to have a new look because his son Ronald had wrongly recognized Roberto Carlos as Ronaldo - their toddler son kissed the TV screen shouting 'daddy' when Roberto Carlos appeared on TV during the quarter final match.
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Despite winning the FIFA World Cup in 2002, Brazil still had to qualify for the 2006 tournament, as the rules changed from previously where the winner of the World Cup automatically qualified for the next tournament.
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Brazil are the only country to have appeared in every finals, 18 finals tournaments from 1930 to 2006. In these, they have won the FIFA World Cup on five occasions: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.
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Where is Brazil? Check out this map.
