Vanderlei Lázaro

Vanderlei Lázaro, known throughout Brazilian football simply as Vanderlei, was the left back who helped Cruzeiro Esporte Clube win its first Copa Libertadores in 1976 and who became one of the most capped players in the club's history. He was born in Uberaba, in the Triângulo Mineiro region of Minas Gerais, on 20 June 1947, and he died at his home in the western part of Belo Horizonte on 9 November 2026, aged 79.

Vanderlei came from a modest background. Before football he worked as a bricklayer's assistant (servente de pedreiro), and he later recalled that during his childhood and youth "something or other was always missing." His professional career began in 1967 at Nacional de Uberaba, his home town club. In 1968 he was signed by América Mineiro, which quickly loaned him to Corinthians. He made his Corinthians debut on 6 October 1968, a 2 to 1 defeat to Santos in the Taça de Prata.

His career was defined by Cruzeiro. Arriving from América at the end of the 1960s, he became the team's first choice left back for roughly a decade, with short loan spells at Londrina in 1971 and back at Corinthians in 1972 and 1974. Supporters nicknamed him "Fantasminha" (little ghost), and he was also called "Cuspida" and "Pérola Negra." Contemporary accounts describe a player known for physical vigour and tight marking who could also get forward and deliver crosses. He faced great sides of the era, from Pelé's Santos to the Atlético Mineiro of Reinaldo.

With Cruzeiro he won six Campeonato Mineiro titles (including 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1977) and the 1973 Taça Minas Gerais, and he was part of the teams that finished runners-up in the Brazilian championship in 1974 and 1975. In 1975 he was called up by coach Osvaldo Brandão to the Brazil squad for the Copa América, a team made up largely of players from Cruzeiro and Atlético that became known as the "Seleção Mineira." According to O Tempo, he did not play in the tournament.

The high point came in 1976. Vanderlei was an undisputed starter as Cruzeiro, coached by Zezé Moreira, reached the Copa Libertadores final against River Plate. He played all three matches of the final, including the play-off in Santiago, Chile, on 30 July 1976, which Cruzeiro won 3 to 2 thanks to a late Joãozinho free kick. It was the club's first continental title. Later that year he was in the squad that played Bayern Munich in the Intercontinental Cup. The bonuses from that Libertadores run, he said, allowed him to furnish his parents' house.

A year later came the moment that Argentine football still remembers. Cruzeiro reached the 1977 Libertadores final against Boca Juniors. After a 1 to 0 win for each side, the play-off at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on 14 September 1977 finished 0 to 0 after extra time. The first nine penalties were all scored, and Vanderlei took Cruzeiro's fifth. Boca goalkeeper Hugo Gatti dived to his left and saved it, giving Boca its first Libertadores. Gatti later said he guessed the direction because Vanderlei was left footed. Fans and journalists in Belo Horizonte were hard on him afterwards, but he remained a respected figure for the club.

Vanderlei left Cruzeiro in 1978. Sources differ on his total: ge.globo and O Tempo count 538 appearances, while Cruzeiro's own statement cites 536. Either way he is the left back with the most matches in the club's history and seventh on its all time list, behind Fábio, Zé Carlos, Dirceu Lopes, Wilson Piazza, Raul Plassmann and Eduardo Amorim. His last club was América Mineiro in 1979. In 2012 Cruzeiro inducted him into its Hall of Fame, an honour reserved for players with more than 400 appearances or 100 goals.

Life after football was not easy. Without formal study to become a fitness coach, he tried running bars, first near his home and later in the Parque Fernão Dias, and later admitted, "I didn't know how to handle business. It didn't work out." With help from the Associação de Garantia ao Atleta Profissional he obtained a permit to trade in Belo Horizonte's Parque Municipal in 1982. He began by selling ice cream and later switched to pizza, sold from a cart near the park's carousel horses. His wife, Soraia Pitangui, whom he met in the park when she ran a popcorn cart, made the pizzas. Former teammate Procópio Cardoso was a regular customer, and in 2019 a group of Cruzeiro supporters surprised him at the kiosk with chants and a personalised number 6 shirt. He was proud that football had allowed him to buy his house in the Nova Suíça neighbourhood. "Thanks to Cruzeiro, I was able to buy my house," he said.

In his final years Vanderlei faced health problems and, according to his family, was receiving palliative care. He felt unwell in the early hours of Monday 9 November 2026 and died at home. The family did not disclose the cause of death. Cruzeiro announced the death that afternoon, calling him a "celestial idol." His wake was set for 10 November at the Cemitério da Paz in Belo Horizonte, and the family said his body would be cremated. He is survived by his wife Soraia and seven children.