Ademir Ferreira da Guia Former Brazilian footballer, midfielder, politician Date of Birth: 03.04.1942 Country: Brazil

1. Biography of Ademir da Guia
2. Early Life and Career
3. Club Career
4. International Career
5. Later Life and Political Career

Biography of Ademir da Guia

Ademir da Guia is a former Brazilian football player, midfielder, and politician. He is considered one of the best players in South America in the 20th century, ranking 34th according to the MFPIIS. In 2008, he was inducted into the Brazilian Football Hall of Fame. Ademir is the son of another famous player, Domingos da Guia, and the nephew of Ladislau da Guia. He earned his nickname "Divinity" from his father, known as the "Divine Teacher." Ademir holds the record for the most appearances for the club Palmeiras, with 901 matches played, and is ranked 3rd in the club's history for the number of goals scored, with 153. In 1986, he received a bust on the Palmeiras Walk of Fame. After retiring from his playing career, he became a politician and was granted the honorary citizenship of the state of São Paulo in December 2003.

Early Life and Career

Ademir was born in Bangu, a western suburb of Rio de Janeiro, into a family of footballers. He began playing football at the age of 10 for the youth team of the Kerés club. In 1956, he joined Bangu, thanks to his father's former teammate Moacyr Bueno, who was the coach of Bangu at the time. Ademir's youth team at Bangu finished third in the Rio de Janeiro Youth Championship in 1957 and won silver medals the following year. In 1959, Bangu became the champion of the Rio Youth Championship, and the club's council decided to promote four young players to the first team.
In 1960, Ademir started playing for the Bangu first team and also represented the Rio de Janeiro state youth team. He scored his first goal for the team on June 19, 1960, in a friendly match against Atletico Mineiro. However, he struggled to find playing time and scored his next goal on January 19, 1961, against Ferroviário. On February 3, 1961, Ademir scored his first and only hat-trick in his career, scoring three goals against CSA. In August 1961, he signed his first professional contract with Bangu, just three days before the club's birthday. Ademir scored a total of 12 goals for Bangu. In 1961, he transferred to Palmeiras, paying 6 million cruzeiros for his transfer, snatching him from Fluminense at the last moment. He made his debut for Palmeiras on December 10, 1961, in a friendly match against Promeca, which ended in a 2-0 victory for Palmeiras. Ademir scored his first goal for the club on April 15, 1962, against Internacional Limeira.

Club Career

Ademir initially spent his first two years at Palmeiras mostly as a substitute. It was only in 1963 that he secured a place in the first team and helped the club win the São Paulo State Championship, where he was also named the tournament's best player. In 1965, Ademir won the Rio de Janeiro Centenary Tournament and the Rio-São Paulo Tournament with the club. He went on to win the São Paulo State Championship in 1966 and the Copa do Brasil and Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Cup in 1967. In the early to mid-1970s, Ademir won three state championships and two national championships with Palmeiras. In the year of his first national championship victory, he was awarded the "Silver Ball" as the best midfielder in the championships. Ademir played his last match for Palmeiras on September 18, 1977, in a 0-2 loss to Corinthians. He was substituted at halftime due to breathing difficulties, which he struggled with towards the end of his career. Ademir played a total of 901 matches for Palmeiras, with the club winning 509 games, drawing 234 matches, and losing 158 matches. He scored 153 goals for the club. A farewell match was held for Ademir on January 22, 1984, where Palmeiras played against a team of his friends.

International Career

Despite his success at club level, Ademir was not called up to the Brazilian national team. He only played a few friendly matches in 1965 under coach Vicente Feola. He made his debut for the national team on June 2, 1965, in a match against Belgium, which Brazil won 5-0. However, he was unable to displace Gerson from the national team, who was highly regarded by the Brazilian press. As a result, Ademir did not play for the national team for 9 years, from September 7, 1965 (match against Uruguay) to March 31, 1974 (match against Mexico). Ademir was initially selected by coach João Saldanha to travel to the 1970 World Cup, but Mario Zagallo, who replaced Saldanha, removed Ademir from the squad. Ademir finally participated in the World Cup in 1974. He played in one match, on July 6, in the third-place match against Poland, which Brazil lost 0-1. Ademir found out about his selection just a few hours before the match, while having lunch in the cafeteria. This match was his last appearance for the national team. Overall, he played 12 matches for Brazil.

Later Life and Political Career

After retiring from football, Ademir became a coach, working in the youth academy of Palmeiras. He also pursued a career in politics and served as a city councilor in São Paulo from 2004 to 2008. In the October 2003 elections, he received 27,541 votes. In 2008, he attempted to be re-elected, but was unsuccessful, receiving only 17,009 votes. In 2005, Ademir filed a complaint alleging that employees of the city council were misusing funds for personal purposes. Ademir continues to live in the Perdizes neighborhood of São Paulo with his wife. They have a son, Ademir da Guia Junior, who plays in the youth team of Palmeiras.