In 1941 he transferred to Flamengo with the hard task to replace Leonidas da Silva—who had been 1940 Rio State Championship's top scorer with 30 goals.

[7] Pirillo became an idol when by the end of 1941 Rio State Championship he had been its top scorer with 39 goals—an unbeaten record until today.

In 1948 he signed with Botafogo and once again he had a difficult assignment: to replace Heleno de Freitas.

In the same year he won the Rio State Championship with Botafogo, becoming an idol in another major club.

As Brazil's coach, he was the first one to draft Pelé in 1957, for the Roca Cup, a match against Argentina, at Maracanã Stadium.