[3][4][5] During his career, he was part of Fluminense between the end of the 1940s to the mid-1950s and one of the main players of the iconic squad of Botafogo in the early 1960s with other world champions such as Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Zagallo and Amarildo.

Didi was born into a poor family in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, 150 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.

As a youngster, he sold peanuts in order to help his family, and began playing football in the streets [4][5] and nearly had his right leg amputated when he was 14 due to a severe infection following an injury to his knee.

In 1959, he was signed by Real Madrid of Spain, playing alongside many historical players such as Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stefano and Francisco Gento.

Despite his great reputation after the 1958 FIFA World Cup, he played only 19 matches with six goals for the Spaniards and often clashed with the team leader Alfredo Di Stéfano, who felt offended by the divide in the fans' attention with this newcomer; this situation precipitated his exit from the club.

The Botafogo in the early 60s with the well-known Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Zagallo, Amarildo, Quarentinha and the very promising youngsters such as Manga, Gérson, Rildo and Jairzinho.

[10] By this time he was quite ill and died the following year in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 72, after contracting pneumonia from complications arising from intestinal cancer.