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TOP \| SANDRA AND KIDS rthur Antunes Coimbra was born of natural delivery on march 3rd, 1953 at 7:00 a.m. His place of birth was the house number 7 of Lucinda Barbosa street, located on the Quintino Bocaiuva district, Rio de Janeiro’s north zone. He is the youngest of the six children of José Antunes Coimbra, a portuguese immigrant, with the local born Matilde da Silva Coimbra. The old Antunes, devoted rooter of Flamengo, played as an amateur goalkeeper during his youth and almost got pro at his favorite team. He even worked on a bakery, but by the third year of the fifties, was already a crafted tailor. On her turn, Matilde, also called Tidinha, was responsible for the settlement of the house team, which has lately received another member. Following the birth order, the Coimbra family was already formed by Maria José (Zezé), José Antunes (Zeca), Fernando (Nando), Eduardo (Edu) and Antônio (Tunico). The four letters that astonished the whole soccer world, Z-I-C-O, came into Arthur’s life during his first years. Small and skinny, it was kind of natural that he soon became called by nicknames denoting his thinness. First, Arthurzinho and then Arthurzico. Till one day one of his cousins, Ermelinda, kindly reduced it to Zico. His other nickname, Galinho de Quintino (Quintino’s Rooster), was given years later by the sports speaker Waldyr Amaral, inspired by the way the all-star used to walk. It was common for Zico to play on the neighborhood streets and make small services at the local open air-market in order to get some money, so then he could buy collective cards and his favorite candy, honey bread. All supervised by his parents’ alert and rightful eyes and also by his elder brothers and sister advices. He was breastfeeded by Mrs. Matilde for six years, growing up as any regular local kid. But so far, attributes as creativity and organization were already notable on his behavior. One of the best examples of his focusing is the fact that he wrote down every one of his goals on a small notebook. Due to his mother’s insistence, he had piano lessons and even took part of amateur dramatic plays on school. But the stage reserved for him was another. His artistic aptitude was pretty clear when he had a ball under his feet. Having closely followed Zico’s growth, his sister Zezé speaks about the family youngster’s childhood:
	"Zico was very close to his brothers, and all played soccer. Initially, Zeca and Nando at the street's club, the Lucinda. Edu was the mascot and I was the godmother. My cousins also played, and Zico, very young then, used to sit and watch the games. Due to the age difference, he was the most demanded one and also very rigorous on everything he did. He played alone and was very fond of everything related to soccer: table soccer was his favorite amusement, beaten only by the ball. A curious thing is that he played against himself and it was always Flamengo versus Flamengo, so he would never lose. Zico was a healthy boy, living with freedom. I remember that when he was about 10 years old the Juventude club was founded. A football team and carnival association installed right on our house's backyard. When the field where they played was destroyed, our father used the house's backyard to build an indoor soccer size field. All the brothers were part of the team. And it was already very noticeable one of Zico's main characteristics, which is the need to overcome his own achievements. A never ending will to improve his marks and break limits: a certain aura of immortality. Only geniuses have this thing about not being satisfied with present victories and keep always searching for more"
The Coimbra family grew up very together, and the kids' education tempered with good amounts of discipline helped to form a real team of professionals. Antunes majored on Business and Economics, Nando on Journalism, Tunico on Law, Edu on Physic Education. and Zezé on Psychology. And Zico only was allowed to keep playing soccer under the promise that he would continue his studies. In order to make it possible, he faced a daily marathon from the city's north zone (Quintino) to the south zone (Gávea), passing by the city centre, where his school was located. Studying first at Haiti School and then attending his high school course on Rivadávia Correia, he graduated on technical accounting at Santos Dumont school. Zico also studied Physic Education for two years at Castelo Branco University, but had to quit in 1983, due to his transference to the Italian soccer. This interruption caused him some deception, because of his will to achieve a deeper knowledge of other sports, mainly athletics. TOP \| SANDRA AND KIDS Copyright © 2004, Zico Participações. The total or partial reproduction of Zico Official Website's content for commercial purposes is forbidden. Sandra and kids Family is a key word to Zico, and its importance on his growth process was something he noticed very soon. He saw the difficulties faced by his parents to raise all the kids and shared lots of good moments with his most loved ones. He closely observed the injustices against his brothers Zeca and Edu and listened many of their advices regarding the soccer business. Then Zico was able to think about the world he would find ahead and give the deserved importance to what he had at home. And as the tough routine of games and training started, the boy soon focused on creating a structure similar to the one he experienced during his childhood, putting aside the youth pleasures to open his way towards greater objectives. An early maturity. His shyness was not of much help, but destiny decided to make things easier for him. So, Zico didn't have to look much further for his soul-mate. Sandra Carvalho de Sá was Edu wife's sister, Flamengo's fan and also a next door neighbor. Could not get better than this! Zico met her in 1969, and a few months after, they started to date. Five years later, they married in 1975. Kids did not take long to come, and then the party of five was formed. The first came in 1977 and received the father's name, soon starting to be called Junior. With no interval, Sandra gave birth to Bruno, in 1978. The factory would be open one more time in 1983, when Thiago was born. Sandra was always a true backup all-star, keeping daily life very calm and giving her husband the needed support during the hard times. Both then and now, she is very careful about him and is always aware in what concerns their three boys. During his years as a soccer player, Zico used to describe Sandra's importance to his career as the one that assured his boosts during the game. Sandra speaks about Zico, both as father and husband:
	"It's 32 years together, the most of our lives, and I always saw him as a righteous and determined man. I saw all that he has been through. And although his job, the pregame concentration period, he was always a perfect husband and we never had any serious argument. He always respected me as a woman, supported my initiatives, showing a true interest on taking part of everything. He also gave me many advices. He is romantic and tender with me and our kids. As a father, he is very concerned and, even when during his soccer player years, made every effort to follow our boys' growth. He diapered, checked if they were studying and wanted to get updated of everything, even by telephone. He argued the boys, mainly Junior and Bruno, in order to get them prepared for the school tests. He supported the boys' professional choices, giving them all the freedom he could. The only part of the day that you cannot count on him is at night, because Zico has a very deep sleep. He is very calm and wise on every decision, in a way that he makes an inner analysis of the problem before taking any kind of action. He has no hasten decisions and is also extremely intuitive. It seems that he feels what is going to happen."
One of the hardest moments of his life happened in Italy during the year of 1985, and shows perfectly the way how Zico built his whole life. He was pronounced guilty on first instance for the crime of fiscal evasion and had to struggle a lot, in order to prove his innocence. Directly involved on a political quarrel that had the objective of implicating the president of Udinese, club for which he played, Zico left the country sentenced to eight months of prison and a fine of 800 thousand dollars. The sentence was never fulfilled. Even distant, he made every effort to clean his name, once he truly had no fiscal debts and also had enough proofs of this. Zico went all the way through the process and, naturally, was absolved. On march of 1989, during a dinner on the day before his farewell game to the Brazilian team at the city of Udine, the all-star opened his heart and spoke about life story. The report made all the presents come to tears, even the ones that condemned him four years ago. Injuries, defeats and deceptions did not modify the way Arthur Antunes Coimbra saw the world. And the man that resulted from the boy that grew up on the Quintino district, showed himself ever clearer as a responsible citizen after retiring. Even taking part of initiatives for the soccer players' defense (like being the labor union president) and using his prestige to assure better work conditions for the players, Zico could only effectively fight for a better soccer business after 1990, when he faced the challenge of becoming the first Brazilian National Secretary of Sports. In 1991, he accepted a proposal to play soccer again for a Japanese team, one among a league of amateurs at that time. But he did not abandon his mission of working for the Brazilian soccer. On the social field, he set up a very important seed at creating the Soccer Center. After 1995, the center became a project of reference on the development of young athletes, and soon became a professional soccer team, with seats both in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília (Brazilian national capital). Zico's first act after creating the Center was to incorporate to the project some of his competent friends, many of them former soccer players that were out of the work market. Managing the Kashima Antlers team, Zico lived on Japan until 1998, when he asked for a temporary dismission from the service. On that year, the love for his country was preponderant and he accepted an invitation for the position of technical coordinator of the Brazilian team for the World Cup. He wanted to help his country to conquer its fifth championship. Unfortunately, external problems came and it ended not happening, although the beautiful campaign the team had until the final game. The team was defeated on the decision by France, the cup's host. Nowadays, Zico lives in Tokyo, Japan. He runs the country’s national team since July of 2002. And still finds time to return home for the carnival, getting appropriately dressed for the parade, when he joins his favorite school of samba, Beija-Flor, his white and blue passion. From Japan, Zico hopes the best for Flamengo and follows his boys' steps: Junior, unexplainable a Guarani fan, is slowly undertaking his father’s projects. On his turn, Bruno preferred to pursue an artistic career, and released his first solo album, influenced by Flamengo's former winger and his family’s long time friend, Júnior, a first class pagode player. The youngest Thiago follows a soccer player career. Zico's parents are unfortunately deceased: Mr. Antunes in 1986 and Mrs. Matilde in 2002. TOP \| SANDRA AND KIDS Copyright © 2004, Zico Participações. The total or partial reproduction of Zico Official Website's content for commercial purposes is forbidden.

TOP \| SANDRA AND KIDS rthur Antunes Coimbra was born of natural delivery on march 3rd, 1953 at 7:00 a.m. His place of birth was the house number 7 of Lucinda Barbosa street, located on the Quintino Bocaiuva district, Rio de Janeiro’s north zone. He is the youngest of the six children of José Antunes Coimbra, a portuguese immigrant, with the local born Matilde da Silva Coimbra. The old Antunes, devoted rooter of Flamengo, played as an amateur goalkeeper during his youth and almost got pro at his favorite team. He even worked on a bakery, but by the third year of the fifties, was already a crafted tailor. On her turn, Matilde, also called Tidinha, was responsible for the settlement of the house team, which has lately received another member. Following the birth order, the Coimbra family was already formed by Maria José (Zezé), José Antunes (Zeca), Fernando (Nando), Eduardo (Edu) and Antônio (Tunico). The four letters that astonished the whole soccer world, Z-I-C-O, came into Arthur’s life during his first years. Small and skinny, it was kind of natural that he soon became called by nicknames denoting his thinness. First, Arthurzinho and then Arthurzico. Till one day one of his cousins, Ermelinda, kindly reduced it to Zico. His other nickname, Galinho de Quintino (Quintino’s Rooster), was given years later by the sports speaker Waldyr Amaral, inspired by the way the all-star used to walk. It was common for Zico to play on the neighborhood streets and make small services at the local open air-market in order to get some money, so then he could buy collective cards and his favorite candy, honey bread. All supervised by his parents’ alert and rightful eyes and also by his elder brothers and sister advices. He was breastfeeded by Mrs. Matilde for six years, growing up as any regular local kid. But so far, attributes as creativity and organization were already notable on his behavior. One of the best examples of his focusing is the fact that he wrote down every one of his goals on a small notebook. Due to his mother’s insistence, he had piano lessons and even took part of amateur dramatic plays on school. But the stage reserved for him was another. His artistic aptitude was pretty clear when he had a ball under his feet. Having closely followed Zico’s growth, his sister Zezé speaks about the family youngster’s childhood:
	"Zico was very close to his brothers, and all played soccer. Initially, Zeca and Nando at the street's club, the Lucinda. Edu was the mascot and I was the godmother. My cousins also played, and Zico, very young then, used to sit and watch the games. Due to the age difference, he was the most demanded one and also very rigorous on everything he did. He played alone and was very fond of everything related to soccer: table soccer was his favorite amusement, beaten only by the ball. A curious thing is that he played against himself and it was always Flamengo versus Flamengo, so he would never lose. Zico was a healthy boy, living with freedom. I remember that when he was about 10 years old the Juventude club was founded. A football team and carnival association installed right on our house's backyard. When the field where they played was destroyed, our father used the house's backyard to build an indoor soccer size field. All the brothers were part of the team. And it was already very noticeable one of Zico's main characteristics, which is the need to overcome his own achievements. A never ending will to improve his marks and break limits: a certain aura of immortality. Only geniuses have this thing about not being satisfied with present victories and keep always searching for more"
The Coimbra family grew up very together, and the kids' education tempered with good amounts of discipline helped to form a real team of professionals. Antunes majored on Business and Economics, Nando on Journalism, Tunico on Law, Edu on Physic Education. and Zezé on Psychology. And Zico only was allowed to keep playing soccer under the promise that he would continue his studies. In order to make it possible, he faced a daily marathon from the city's north zone (Quintino) to the south zone (Gávea), passing by the city centre, where his school was located. Studying first at Haiti School and then attending his high school course on Rivadávia Correia, he graduated on technical accounting at Santos Dumont school. Zico also studied Physic Education for two years at Castelo Branco University, but had to quit in 1983, due to his transference to the Italian soccer. This interruption caused him some deception, because of his will to achieve a deeper knowledge of other sports, mainly athletics. TOP \| SANDRA AND KIDS Copyright © 2004, Zico Participações. The total or partial reproduction of Zico Official Website's content for commercial purposes is forbidden. Sandra and kids Family is a key word to Zico, and its importance on his growth process was something he noticed very soon. He saw the difficulties faced by his parents to raise all the kids and shared lots of good moments with his most loved ones. He closely observed the injustices against his brothers Zeca and Edu and listened many of their advices regarding the soccer business. Then Zico was able to think about the world he would find ahead and give the deserved importance to what he had at home. And as the tough routine of games and training started, the boy soon focused on creating a structure similar to the one he experienced during his childhood, putting aside the youth pleasures to open his way towards greater objectives. An early maturity. His shyness was not of much help, but destiny decided to make things easier for him. So, Zico didn't have to look much further for his soul-mate. Sandra Carvalho de Sá was Edu wife's sister, Flamengo's fan and also a next door neighbor. Could not get better than this! Zico met her in 1969, and a few months after, they started to date. Five years later, they married in 1975. Kids did not take long to come, and then the party of five was formed. The first came in 1977 and received the father's name, soon starting to be called Junior. With no interval, Sandra gave birth to Bruno, in 1978. The factory would be open one more time in 1983, when Thiago was born. Sandra was always a true backup all-star, keeping daily life very calm and giving her husband the needed support during the hard times. Both then and now, she is very careful about him and is always aware in what concerns their three boys. During his years as a soccer player, Zico used to describe Sandra's importance to his career as the one that assured his boosts during the game. Sandra speaks about Zico, both as father and husband:
	"It's 32 years together, the most of our lives, and I always saw him as a righteous and determined man. I saw all that he has been through. And although his job, the pregame concentration period, he was always a perfect husband and we never had any serious argument. He always respected me as a woman, supported my initiatives, showing a true interest on taking part of everything. He also gave me many advices. He is romantic and tender with me and our kids. As a father, he is very concerned and, even when during his soccer player years, made every effort to follow our boys' growth. He diapered, checked if they were studying and wanted to get updated of everything, even by telephone. He argued the boys, mainly Junior and Bruno, in order to get them prepared for the school tests. He supported the boys' professional choices, giving them all the freedom he could. The only part of the day that you cannot count on him is at night, because Zico has a very deep sleep. He is very calm and wise on every decision, in a way that he makes an inner analysis of the problem before taking any kind of action. He has no hasten decisions and is also extremely intuitive. It seems that he feels what is going to happen."
One of the hardest moments of his life happened in Italy during the year of 1985, and shows perfectly the way how Zico built his whole life. He was pronounced guilty on first instance for the crime of fiscal evasion and had to struggle a lot, in order to prove his innocence. Directly involved on a political quarrel that had the objective of implicating the president of Udinese, club for which he played, Zico left the country sentenced to eight months of prison and a fine of 800 thousand dollars. The sentence was never fulfilled. Even distant, he made every effort to clean his name, once he truly had no fiscal debts and also had enough proofs of this. Zico went all the way through the process and, naturally, was absolved. On march of 1989, during a dinner on the day before his farewell game to the Brazilian team at the city of Udine, the all-star opened his heart and spoke about life story. The report made all the presents come to tears, even the ones that condemned him four years ago. Injuries, defeats and deceptions did not modify the way Arthur Antunes Coimbra saw the world. And the man that resulted from the boy that grew up on the Quintino district, showed himself ever clearer as a responsible citizen after retiring. Even taking part of initiatives for the soccer players' defense (like being the labor union president) and using his prestige to assure better work conditions for the players, Zico could only effectively fight for a better soccer business after 1990, when he faced the challenge of becoming the first Brazilian National Secretary of Sports. In 1991, he accepted a proposal to play soccer again for a Japanese team, one among a league of amateurs at that time. But he did not abandon his mission of working for the Brazilian soccer. On the social field, he set up a very important seed at creating the Soccer Center. After 1995, the center became a project of reference on the development of young athletes, and soon became a professional soccer team, with seats both in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília (Brazilian national capital). Zico's first act after creating the Center was to incorporate to the project some of his competent friends, many of them former soccer players that were out of the work market. Managing the Kashima Antlers team, Zico lived on Japan until 1998, when he asked for a temporary dismission from the service. On that year, the love for his country was preponderant and he accepted an invitation for the position of technical coordinator of the Brazilian team for the World Cup. He wanted to help his country to conquer its fifth championship. Unfortunately, external problems came and it ended not happening, although the beautiful campaign the team had until the final game. The team was defeated on the decision by France, the cup's host. Nowadays, Zico lives in Tokyo, Japan. He runs the country’s national team since July of 2002. And still finds time to return home for the carnival, getting appropriately dressed for the parade, when he joins his favorite school of samba, Beija-Flor, his white and blue passion. From Japan, Zico hopes the best for Flamengo and follows his boys' steps: Junior, unexplainable a Guarani fan, is slowly undertaking his father’s projects. On his turn, Bruno preferred to pursue an artistic career, and released his first solo album, influenced by Flamengo's former winger and his family’s long time friend, Júnior, a first class pagode player. The youngest Thiago follows a soccer player career. Zico's parents are unfortunately deceased: Mr. Antunes in 1986 and Mrs. Matilde in 2002. TOP \| SANDRA AND KIDS Copyright © 2004, Zico Participações. The total or partial reproduction of Zico Official Website's content for commercial purposes is forbidden.