Brazilian football legend Mario Zagallo, the first person to win the World Cup as both player and coach, has been hospitalized with a urinary infection, doctors said Wednesday, a week after his 92nd birthday.
The Barra D’Or hospital in Rio de Janeiro said Zagallo had been admitted Tuesday, adding he was “clinically stable, lucid and breathing unassisted.”
There is no date set for his release, it said.
The news comes just over a year after Zagallo spent nearly two weeks in semi-intensive care in the same hospital for a respiratory infection.
Zagallo played alongside Pele on Brazil’s 1958 and 1962 World Cup-winning teams, standing out for his unique mix of attacking flair and defensive solidity.
He then coached the Brazil squad that won the 1970 World Cup, considered by many the greatest team in history.
The only other people to win the World Cup as both player and coach are Franz Beckenbauer of Germany (1974 and 1990) and Didier Deschamps of France (1998 and 2018).
Celebrating his 92nd birthday last week, Zagallo posted a picture of himself on Instagram, smiling and surrounded by family.
“Spending my birthday in the best possible way, with my family. Thank you for all the affection,” he wrote.
