Mario Zagallo: Giant of Brazilian and Gulf football dies aged 92

Mario Zagallo, the legendary Brazil World Cup-winning player and manager with strong ties to football in the Gulf, has died, aged 92.

Zagallo was a key member of the Brazil team that won back-to-back World Cups in 1958 and 1962, starting in both finals. He returned to the national team as manager of what is widely regarded as the greatest international side of all time: the 1970 World Cup-winning team of Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto.

Zagallo's final World Cup triumph came as Carlos Alberto Parreira's assistant in 1994, as Brazil beat Italy on penalties in the United States. He returned as manager after that tournament and led them to the final in 1998, where they were beaten by a Zinedine Zidane-inspired France in Paris.

Intertwined with his glorious feats with Brazil was a long association with football in the Gulf, first in Saudi Arabia as manager of Al Hilal and then the national team, before he arrived in the UAE in 1989 and masterminded their one and only World Cup qualification campaign, for Italia '90.

Nicknamed 'Old Wolf' or 'The Professor', Zagallo played a part in almost every chapter of modern Brazilian football and was known for his superstitious obsession with the number 13, and also his catchphrase, “You will have to put up with me” – usually aimed at his critics.

Brazilian football confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues confirmed Zagallo's death in a statement in the early hours of Saturday. No cause of death was released by the federation or his family.

As a young man Zagallo completed his national service and so began his association with the World Cup.

In 1950 he was detailed to the Maracana Stadium where he was among an estimated 200,000 who saw Brazil beaten by Uruguay in what was the first