Danilo Alvim Faria (3 December 1920 – 16 May 1996) was a Brazilianfootballer. He was a member of the ill-fatedBrazilian 1950 World Cup team. Considered to be one of the greatestcenter-halves in the world during his prime, he was renowned as a very sophisticated and elegant player who possessed fine ball control and accurate long range passing.
Danilo Alvim was an amateur playing withAmerica-RJ whenFlávio Costa'sRio de Janeiro squad practiced against them in 1941. He was asked to fill in for one of the injured players and so impressed the famous coach that he was asked to join the squad. At first he thought it was a joke, but when he realized it was true he went out to celebrate. On his way back home he was hit by a car and had his leg broken (in 39 places according to some sources).
In 1942 he came back toAmerica and was cut by the manager to save costs. Rather than cutting him outright the team's directors sent him toCanto do Rio where he led the team to a Rio de Janeiro championship. He was promptly recalled to America as well as the Rio de Janeiro state team that Flávio Costa had invited him to join before his accident. In 1946 he joinedVasco de Gama and became a huge part of the "expresso da vitória" (the victory express), one of Brazil's best ever club teams and the first to win an international title (theSouth American club championship in 1948 — before theCopa Libertadores came to be). Danilo retired while playing forBotafogo. He was known as "Prince" due to the characteristic elegance of his style of play.
He played 25 games with 2 goals between 1945 and 1953, winning the 1949Copa América. He was a starter for the famous 1950 World Cup team, unjustly remembered for losing the last game toUruguay, despite being one of Brazil's best ever squads. Brazil only needed to drawUruguay to win the1950 FIFA World Cup at theMaracanã stadium. Uruguay came from a goal down to win the match 2-1. This defeat is remembered today as theMaracanaço. It is considered one of two Brazil's worst disasters in history, next tofatal accident of Ayrton Senna in the1994 San Marino Grand Prix.Danilo is, till today, considered one of Brazil's most complete centre-halves and, by some, a top 10 among Brazil's craques. Just asAdemir,Zizinho,Jair and others on the 1950 team, he would likely be regarded even more highly if it were not for that one day in the Maracanã stadium.
After ending his playing career and revealing that ever since his accident he could never fully extend or bend his right leg, Danilo became a coach. In 1963, he ledBolivia to their only title –Copa América – with a 5-4 win over Brazil along the way. He became the first non-native coach of a winning Copa América team sinceJack Greenwell ledPeru to victory in 1939.
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