Garrincha was in his pomp more than 60 years ago but he is still remembered as one of the greatest players the football-mad country of Brazil has ever produced. Diminutive, tricky and with lightning feet, the winger won back-to-back World Cups in 1958 and 1962, and in the latter edition became the first player ever to win the trophy itself, the top-scorer award and the best player award at the same tournament.

But for all of his remarkable achievements on the pitch, the story of Garrincha's life is chequered at best. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1933, he was told early on that he would never be a professional footballer due to a birth defect which left him with legs that were both bent and different lengths.

Garrincha wouldn't let that stop him, however, as he made a professional breakthrough in 1953 with Botafogo - the club at which he spent the vast majority of his career. He earned the nickname 'O Anjo de Pernas Tortas', which translates from Portuguese as 'The Angel With Bent Legs'.

Several years prior, Garrincha would take the first steps in what turned out to be a highly eventful love life. But it was far from a fairytale beginning. According to The Sun, he lost his virginity at only 12 years old - to a goat.

By 1952 he had married his first wife, Nair Marques. The pair welcomed eight daughters into the world and Garrincha was only just getting started.

After ditching Marques for famous samba singer Elza Soares, Garrincha built his reputation as a notorious ladies man, had numerous affairs, and fathered at least 14 children with five different women.

The Brazilian's career stalled after ending a 12-year spell with Botafogo in 1965. He had stop-start stints with other clubs in his homeland but they didn't get out of first gear. His career with the national team ended in 1966, and he did not play for another top-level club after 1969.

In that same year, tragedy struck. Garrincha was already developing a serious alcohol problem that he inherited from his heavy-drinking father. And the addiction is said to have worsened after he was at the wheel during a head-on collision with a lorry which killed his mother-in-law in the passenger seat.

There was yet more tragedy in store for the player Pele said 'could do things with the ball that nobody else could'. He died in 1983, at the age of 49, from cirrhosis of the liver, before hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets for his funeral procession.

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