João Ramos do Nascimento (2 October 1917 – 16 November 1996), nicknamed Dondinho, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a centre forward. He was the father, mentor and trainer of Pelé. During his own playing career, Dondinho played for a number of clubs, including Atlético Mineiro. He became known as "Maleável" due to his ability to score headers.
Club career
In 1933 Dondinho joined Atletico Mineiro playing for its youth section until 1935. He then started his senior career with Yuracan in the Itajuba championship. In 1940 he returned to Atletico Mineiro, but did not play a lot after suffering a serious knee injury.
Record
In 1938 Dondinho scored 5 goals with headers in Yuracan's 6–2 win against their arch-rivals Smart Futebol Clube in the 1939 regional Interior Championship of Itajubá, Minas Gerais. He became the second player to achieve this feat, after Fred Roberts did it 7 years before. Later in 1972, Dušan Bajević also scored five headed goals for Yugoslavia against Venezuela.
Death and tributes
He died of heart failure at the age of 79, on November 16, 1996.
On September 15, 2012, the statue "Monumento ao Dondinho" was erected in the João Ramos do Nascimento Municipal Park in Bauru. The approximately 5 meter statue depicts Dondinho and Pelé as children. The artist used cement, plaster and iron and created the work in less than 2 months.
Honors
1939 Itajubense Football Championship (Sociedade Desportiva Yuracan Futebol Clube)
1941 Guaraína Cup (Atlético Clube Três Corações)
1946 Amateur Champion of the state of São Paulo (Bauru Atlético Clube)
A viral internet rumor frequently attributes an unverified career statistic of 893 goals in 775 matches to Dondinho. Additionally, some online sources claim he scored 19 goals in 6 matches for the Brazil national football team; however, Dondinho never represented Brazil at the international level.
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