Brazil is worried about one of its football legends: Mario Zagallo, world champion as a player in 1958 and 1962, as a coach in 1970 and as a technical coordinator in 1994, was hospitalized with a urinary tract infection. This was announced on Wednesday by the Barra d’Or Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, where the 92-year-old is being treated.
“His clinical condition is stable, he is of sound mind and not on mechanical ventilation,” the hospital said in a press release. However, a release date cannot yet be given.
The “old wolf” Zagallo was involved in four of the Selecao’s five world titles. He also coached Ronaldo and Co. in the 1998 World Cup final, which France won 3-0. At the 2006 finals in Germany, he returned to the bench as Carlos Alberto Parreira’s assistant, and his success story with the national team ended again in the quarter-finals against the French (0-1).