Google have honoured what would have been Leônidas da Silva’s 100th birthday, by changing their home page logo to an image of him performing one of his famous bicycle kicks.
The legend of Brazilian football from the 1930s and 40s is also being honoured by São Paulo today, as the team will wear special Leônidas inspired uniforms for their game against Criciuma.
The forward was nicknamed “The Rubber Man” for his agility in the pitch, which included the execution of his famous bicycle kicks – a techinique he is said to have invented. He was also nicknamed the “Black Diamond” due to his dark skin tone and exceptional ability on the football field.
Leônidas played 211 games for São Paulo, scoring 144 goals, and also played in two World Cups for Brazil, finishing as top scorer with 7 goals in the 1938 World Cup in France. Which maybe explains why this doodle was initially on Google’s French site!
Google will occasionally change it’s home page logo to represent commemorate an important holiday or anniversary, and they will also use it to celebrate the lives of people who made a significant impact on the world during their time on it.
Leônidas passed away at the age of 90, on the 24th of January 2004, and would have turned 100 years old today – Friday September 6th 2013.
São Paulo’s media communications leader, Julio Casares, recently commented that:
“To recognize Leonidas da Silva is to recall the image of one of the biggest idols of São Paulo.
“I’m pretty sure that if he played today, with all the exposure that football has in the media, he would have been named the best in the world on several occasions. It is apt to honour him in his centenary.”
Nice to see that historic greats are still being remembered and honoured.
Though if his legs really were twice as long as the rest of his body, it’d be no surprise he scored so many spectacular goals!
Haha yeah, Google do throw up the odd surprise with these things, and even though he probably wasn’t the inventor of the bicycle kick, it’s still good that a pioneering player like him gets some recognition.