Speaking of the brazilian legendary star Bebeto, the first thing people think of is definitely the scene of his "dream combination" with Romario in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, especially after the Goal scored in the Quarter-final of the World Cup between Brazil and the Netherlands, Bebeto and teammates Romario and Mazinjo ran to the sidelines and danced together to the cradle dance dedicated to the newborn son Mateus Oliveira, which has become an eternal classic memory of the World Cup. Now, 26 years later, Bebeto has once again danced the cradle dance, but this time he has become a grandfather — Mateus has added a granddaughter to him.
Bebeto's youngest son, Mateus, and his newborn granddaughter
Of all the goal celebrations, Bebeto's cradle dance is undoubtedly one of the most famous and creative. On July 9, 1994, Brazil played against the Netherlands in the quarter-final of the World Cup, and just two days before this match, Bebeto learned that his wife Dennis, who was far away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, had added another son, because Bebeto's favorite star was Mateus, so he simply named his son Mateus. Before Mateus, Bebeto had a pair of children, the eldest son Betinho was born in 1989, the daughter Stefani was born in 1992, and when the eldest son and daughter were born, Bebeto accompanied his wife and picked up the newborn at the first time. But when his youngest son, Mateus, was born, Bebeto could only compete in the World Cup in the distant United States, not to mention hugging him, and he didn't even know what his son looked like. Thus, this classic cradle dance celebration takes place. The reason why it impressed the world is not only because it happened in the historic competition of Brazil's fourth World Cup victory, but more importantly, it vividly showed the deep fatherly love in the heart of a father who was not good at expression, which seemed to have surpassed all language expressions.
In an interview with FIFA many years later, Bebeto made an interpretation of his cradle dance, "The day before the game, I prayed to God in the room, hoping that I would have a chance to score a goal, because I wanted to pay tribute to my wife and son. So, after the goal was actually scored, that celebration naturally happened. When I started celebrating, Romario and Mazinjo joined in, and I looked left and right, and they were doing the same thing as me. Oh God, this is a completely heartfelt feeling, full of love and tenderness. To be honest, I didn't expect much of a reaction, but now that it's in the annals of history, I think maybe that's the reason! ”
It is worth mentioning that among Bebeto's three children, only Mateus inherited his father's business and became a professional player. Mateus debuted in the Brazilian league giants Flamengo, playing as a frontman, he has been selected for the Brazilian U13, U16, U17 and U20 national teams, but has never been able to cash in on his father's outstanding football talent, and his career can only be said to be tepid. In May 2017, Mateus landed at European giants Portuguese Sport for £3.5 million, but he failed to gain a foothold and was soon loaned out and is now on loan to The League side Coritiba.
Mateus often paid tribute to his father on social media, expressing love and gratitude
After 26 years, Bebeto is now 56 years old, and like his old partner Romario, he has embarked on a career after retiring from a green killer to a politician who cares about the people's suffering and advocates for the interests of the people. Nowadays, when people see Bebeto, whose sideburns have been white, it is inevitable that they will not sigh, where has time gone?
On November 27, local time in Brazil, people finally found the answer - Mateus, who was cradled by Bebeto at the World Cup, and his wife Dennis welcomed a daughter, because Mateus was the first of the three siblings to have a child, so this is also The first time Bebeto became a grandfather.
In 2019, after scoring in the Brazilian Senatorial Tournament, Bebeto and his teammates performed the classic cradle dance
Of course, for Bebeto, who has long known his destiny, in recent years he has been thinking about retiring to the mountains or the countryside and enjoying the landscape and the joy of heaven. In particular, maradona's recent death seems to have brought him a greater touch. At the 1994 World Cup, in addition to remembering Bebeto's cradle dance, there was also the crazy roar of Maradona's World Cup finale performance rushing to the sidelines. In fact, the two had a meeting long before that World Cup, when In a 4 vs 4 mini-exhibition match between Brazil and Argentina, Tafarell, Blanco, Dunga and Berberto represented Brazil beat The Argentine team of Goyetia, Ruggeri, Bruchaga and Maradona 7-4. At that time, Bebeto shone all over the place and "humiliated" Maradona in his crotch. After the game, Maradona laughed and said, "I finally found a bit of a World Cup feeling."
In South American football, Brazil and Argentina are a pair of old enemies, but Bebeto and Maradona have always maintained a close friendship. On October 30 this year, Bebeto sent his 60th birthday wishes to lao ma through social media, "It is my honor to meet you, and it is my greatest honor to be your friend." May you continue to be healthy, happy and happy, my friend! Let's enjoy life together and look forward to seeing me with a big smile when we see each other again on TV shows or friendly matches! My friend, Maradona, see you later! ”
But just over a month later, Maradona was separated from Bebeto, which also made Bebeto very sad, he processed the same photo of the old Ma Qingsheng in black and white, and wrote affectionately, "Immersed in the great sorrow of losing friends, we have never regarded each other as opponents in our lives, always admiring and respecting each other." Every time we meet, I always tell you: I love you, Diego! It's the same now. Rest in peace, my friend, we will never have another Maradona! ”