Brazilian Football Star Remembered on 25th Death Anniversary · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

It is through video online that many Brazilians and football fans from around the world have found a way to pay homage to one of the best dribblers in football history, Manuel Francisco dos Santos, best known as Garrincha.
Brian in runofplay  has a video tribute linked on his post. His introduction:
In case your memory needs refreshing, then, this is Garrincha, the angel with the crooked legs, the joy of the people, a player whose absolute lucidity on the pitch (he is probably the best dribbler in football, despite being born with a curved spine and legs of different lengths) was matched by his absolute disarray off it.
He played between 1953-1965 with the football team Botafogo and is still remembered fondly: he was known in Brazil as the Joy of the People or as the “Angel with bent legs”, due to his physical birth defects.
On lavidaendomingo.es, Sergio Cortina quotes Eduardo Galeano on Garrincha [es]:
Alguno de sus muchos hermanos lo bautizó Garrincha, que es el nombre de un pajarito inútil y feo. Cuando empezó a jugar al futbol, los médicos le hicieron la cruz, diagnosticaron que nunca llegará a ser un deportista este anormal, este pobre resto del hambre y de la poliomelitis, burro y cojo, con un cerebro infantil, una columna vertebral hecha una S y las dos piernas torcidas para el mismo lado.Nunca hubo un puntero derecho como él.
One of his many siblings nicknamed him Garrincha, which is the name for a useless and ugly bird. When he began to play football, doctors counted him out, they diagnosed that this abnormal person would never become an athlete, this poor leftover from hunger and polio, dumb and with a limp, with a childlike brain, his spine and S and both his legs twisted to the same side. There has never been a right winter like him.
We can hear about his game, but it is through the many video tributes fans have uploaded that anyone born after his times or who doesn´t usually follow football, can discover what an incredible player he truly was, and see the masterful moves that earned him his international fame.
Mauro Maciel writes in enlasbotas[es]:
Muchos de los amantes del fútbol que no superamos los 45 o 50 años de edad es lógico que sólo sepamos de sus hazañas y sus virtudes de tanto haber sentido nombrar tantas veces su nombre artístico: Garrincha. Compartió el elenco estelar del Brasil campeón en Suecia 58, junto a Vavá, Didí, Mario Zagallo y Pelé.
Es cierto que por aquél entonces el juego se desarrollaba a otra velocidad y se apreciaba más la técnica por sobre la condición física, pero al ver las imágenes de Garrincha y su dominio del balón, parecería que se trata de un niño que ejerce el control absoluto del video juego. El que lo sabe todo, y va por el campo sobrado. Vaya desde aquí un homenaje!
For many of the football fans who aren´t over 45 or 50 years old it is only logical that we only know about his deeds and virtues from hearing him named so many times with his artistic name: Garrincha. He was part of the stellar cast of Brazil´s championship Sweden 58 team, along with Vavá, Didí, Mario Zagallo and Pelé.It is true that back then the game was played at a different speed and technique was appreciated over physical condition, but when we see the images of Garrincha and his control over the ball, he seems like a little kid with complete control of the videogame. The one that knows it all and goes onto the field completely confident. So from here, let´s pay him homage!
From Bolivia futbol club,  Jorge González Cordero writes:
“Fue un pequeño mortal que ayudó un país entero a disimular sus tristezas. Lo peor es que las tristezas vuelven y no hay otro Garrincha disponible. Necesitamos uno nuevo que nos alimente el sueño”.
Así escribió a respecto de Garrincha, el mayor poeta brasileño: Carlos Drummond de Andrade.
¿Nunca vieron a Garrincha jugar?
Deléitense:
“He was a slight mortal who helped a whole country  conceal their woes. The sad thing is that these woes return and there isn´t another Garrincha available. We need a new one to feed our dreams.”This is what the greatest Brazilian poet: Carlos Drummond de Andrade had to say about Garrincha.
You never saw Garrincha play?
Well, then enjoy:
This is the video he selected, uploaded by menezesdan:
Also, journalist and blogger Diego Valor writes a first hand account of the time he met Garrincha [es], having to chase him down to talk, and once he got him to talk, Garrincha refused to speak about anything other than his football playing. Nothing personal, historical or romantical. Just football.
And it´s just football what the tribute videos posted to Mané Garrincha´s honor, show. Videoclips and pictures of his best moves, his playful and tricky stops and turns, moves that for the greater part of his carreeer were limited to those who got to see him playing in person, and for many just imagined as the football commentators exitedly commented on his plays over the radio. It´s been 25 years since Garrincha passed away, poor, forgotten and alone, on January 20th, 1983, but these days, it seems he still lives strong in the memory of both new and old football fans.
Following, the final episode of the 3 part tribute user Dayhan posted named  Garrincha – A Sad Story Of Some Happiness: