Domingos da Guia

Domingos da Guia
	Domingos da Guia in 1937
Personal information
Full name	Domingos Antônio da Guia
Date of birth	19 November 1912
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date of death	18 May 2000 (aged 87)
Position(s)	Defender (retired)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1929–1932	Bangu
1932–1933	Vasco da Gama
1933–1934	Nacional
1934–1935	Vasco da Gama
1935–1937	Boca Juniors
1936	Flamengo → (loan)
1937–1943	Flamengo
1943–1947	Corinthians Paulista
1947–1950	Bangu
Total
National team
1931–1946	Brazil
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Domingos Antônio da Guia (born in Rio de Janeiro, November 19, 1912 – died in Rio, May 18, 2000) is a former Brazilian football player. He has played for Brazil national team. He is regarded as one of the best defenders of all time. He is considered one of the greatest idols in the history of Flamengo and Corinthians and the best central defender in Brazil in the 1930s. Nicknamed "The Divine Master". The way he played he led a revolution in football, he liked to keep the ball next to his foot and he never punted away. Watching him was true entertainment, and if isn't enough, he was solid and consistent in his marking.

Early days

Domingos was born into a very humble family in the Bangu neighborhood. He worked for a few years in a textile factory before starting to play for Bangu in the Rio de Janeiro tournament.

Club career

He quickly gained fame as one of the main players (central defender) of Bangu between the years 1929-1932. Despite the fact that Bangu had a history of black players (Francisco Carregal was the first in 1905) Domingos witnessed racism in soccer as he grew up. Seeing the brutality some of the black players received is believed to have inspired Domingo's extraordinary ability to dribble the ball around defenders, a trait Brazilians would become famous for around the world. After Bangu, Domingos moved to Uruguay 's National Football Club for just one season, after brief spells at Vasco da Gama (Brazil), in the Club Atlético Boca Juniors (Argentina) and then finding a home in Flamengo (between the years 1935-1943). A brief spell at Corinthians saw Domingos return to his beloved Bangu in 1947 where he would stay until his retirement in 1950.

International career

In the Brazilian national team, Domingos played 30 matches, of which the team won 19, drew 3 and lost 8. He made his debut for the national team on July 2, 1931, when the Brazilian national team defeated Ferencváros 6-1. He wasn't selected to play for the 1934 FIFA World Cup. He was left out to be in the Brazilian squad that took part for the Copa América in 1937. He played in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, with Brazil taking third place. With the national team as a team captain and he was selected as one of the best defenders during that tournament, he won the Rio Branco Cup in 1931 and 1932, and the Roca Cup in 1945 as team captain. And he participated in three Copa América tournaments in 1942 when Brazil finished third, 1945 and 1946 when Brazil finished as runners-up.