For another Brazilian footballers named Ademir , see Ademir da Guia

Ademir da Guia

Ademir da Guia is a councilman for the city of São Paulo, Brazil. He was elected in 2004 for the legislative period 2005–2008....

 and Ademir Roque Kaefer

Ademir Roque Kaefer

Ademir Roque Kaefer was a former Brazilian football player.In his career he played for SC Internacional, Toledo, Racing Club , Matsubara, Santo André and Cruzeiro...

.

Ademir Marques de Menezes (8 November 1922 – 11 May 1996), best known as Ademir (adeˈmiʁ), was a Brazilian footballer

Football in Brazil

Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record 5 times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. It is among the favourites to win...

, regarded as one of the best centre forwards in the history of the Brazil national team

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

. His prominent jawbone earned him the nickname Queixada, which means "Jaw".

He is best known for his exploits in the World Cup 1950 held in his native Brazil. Playing in an outstanding forward trio involving Zizinho

Zizinho

Thomaz Soares da Silva, also known as Zizinho , was a Brazilian football player, who played as an attacking midfielder or winger for Brazil's national team. He came to international prominence at the 1950 World Cup, where scored two goals...

 and Jair

Jair da Rosa Pinto

Jair da Rosa Pinto, or simply Jair, was an association footballer who played offensive midfielder – one of the leading Brazilian footballers of the 1940s and 50s, who is best remembered for his performance in Brazil's 1950 FIFA World Cup campaign.-Pre-1950:Born March 21, 1921 in Quatis, Rio...

 he won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the competition. He was the scorer of the first competitive goal at the Maracanã stadium

Estádio do Maracanã

The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final...

 There is some disagreement in the records as to how many goals Ademir scored, with some sources citing seven and others, including the authoritative RSSSF

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation is an international amateur organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football...

, nine. Despite this feat, he could not bring victory to Brazil in the decisive match against Uruguay

Uruguay national football team

The Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez...

 – a national tragedy which was later dubbed the Maracanazo.

Ademir also enjoyed success in the Copa América

Copa América

The Copa América —previously known as South American Championship—is an international football competition contested between the men's national teams of CONMEBOL, the sport's continental governing body...

. He played in the 1945, 1946, 1949, and 1953 editions of the tournament, scoring 12 goals in 18 appearances in the competition, including a tournament-winning hat-trick in the final play-off against Paraguay

Paraguay national football team

The Paraguay national football team is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association and represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions. The team has reached the second round of the World Cup on four occasions . The 2010 trip also featured their first appearance in the...

 in 1949. He also won the Panamerican Championship

Panamerican Championship

The Panamerican Championship was a football tournament held by the Panamerican Football Confederation every four years from 1952 through 1960. Since the Americas' premier tournament, Copa América, was restricted to South American teams, the Panamerican Championship was an attempt to create an...

 with Brazil in 1952

Panamerican Championship 1952

The first edition of Panamerican Championship was played in Santiago, Chile, between March 16 and April 20 , in 1952; and was won by Brazil.-Results:March 16, 1952, Santiago, Chile - 6 - 1 March 23, 1952, Santiago, Chile - 7 - 1...

. In total, Ademir played 39 times for his country, scoring 32 goals (according to RSSSF) between 1945 and 1953.

He began his club career with Sport Recife

Sport Club do Recife

Sport Club do Recife, more popularly known as Sport in Recife or Sport Recife in Northeastern Brazil, is a football team from Recife, Pernambuco.-1905 - Foundation:...

 before moving to Vasco da Gama

Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama

Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama |Rowing Club]]), usually known as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a famous and traditional Brazilian multisports club from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, founded on August 21, 1898...

. He played for Vasco for two spells, 1942–1945 and 1948–56, broken by a spell at Fluminense

Fluminense Football Club

Fluminense Football Club is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in the beginning of the 20th century as a single-sport institution, Fluminense is today an umbrella organization for several teams in more than 16 different sport activities. The most popular endeavor of Fluminense,...

. In total, Ademir made 429 appearances for Vasco, scoring 301 goals, winning five Rio State League championships

Campeonato Carioca

The Campeonato Carioca, also known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, is the football league of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is one of the most prestigious national football tournaments...

 (1945, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956). He won another with Fluminense (1946). He was the league's top scorer in 1949 with 30 goals and again in 1950 with 25 goals. Ademir finally retired from playing in 1956, going on to work as a commentator, coach and businessman.

Ability

A fast and powerful striker, with a strong shot in both feet, Ademir began his career as a left winger

Winger (sport)

In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...

 before moving to the centre, causing havoc in opposing defences with his skill and sublime finishing. People at the time considered him an unequalled ball juggler who knew every trick in the book. He used to wreak havoc among defences with his quick changes in tempo, fooling his opponents with deceptions carried out almost at lightning speed, his mastering of the ball in all situations and the ability to accelerate rapidly.

Ademir Marques de Menezes’s 1950 World Cup statistics

The scores contain links to the article on the 1950 FIFA World Cup

1950 FIFA World Cup

The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

 and the round in question. When there is an special article on the match in question, the link is in the column for round.

Game no.	Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Ademir’s goals	Times	Ademir’s playing time	Venue	Report
1	Group 1	24 June 1950		4–0 (1–0)	2		90 min.	Estádio do Maracanã Estádio do Maracanã The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final... , Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=7/results/matches/match=1187/report.html
2	Group 1	28 June 1950		2–2 (2–1)	0		90 min.	Estádio do Pacaembu Estádio do Pacaembu Estádio do Pacaembu , as it is usually called, is a football stadium in São Paulo, located on Praça Charles Miller, no nº - in Pacaembu neighborhood. Its official name is Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho and it is owned by the Municipal Prefecture of São Paulo... , São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...	http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=7/results/matches/match=1188/report.html
3	Group 1	1 July 1950		2–0 (1–0)	1		90 min.	Estádio do Maracanã Estádio do Maracanã The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final... , Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=7/results/matches/match=1191/report.html
4	Final R.	9 July 1950		7–1 (3–0)	4		90 min.	Estádio do Maracanã Estádio do Maracanã The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final... , Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=7/results/matches/match=1189/report.html
5	Final R.	13 July 1950		6–1 (3–0)	2		90 min.	Estádio do Maracanã Estádio do Maracanã The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final... , Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=7/results/matches/match=1186/report.html
6	Final R.	16 July 1950		1–2 (0–0)	0		90 min.	Estádio do Maracanã Estádio do Maracanã The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final... , Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=7/results/matches/match=1190/report.html

National team statistics

|-
|1945||9||7
|-
|1946||6||1
|-
|1947||2||0
|-
|1948||0||0
|-
|1949||5||7
|-
|1950||9||14
|-
|1951||0||0
|-
|1952||5||2
|-
|1953||3||1
|-
!Total||39||32
|}

Honours