Gérson
Although his childhood idols had been strikers Jair, Zizinho, Ademir and Vasco da Gama midfielder Danilo, his first professional club Flamengo had him take the place of the most influential player in Brazilian midfield at the time: Didi. The young Gerson combined his speed and relentless shooting power with his intelligence to control the game from midfield. One of his most important assets was to switch from defensive to offensive play from his own half, via a long, clean ball, at lightning speed. He had understood early on that the ball was much faster than any player. Soon people were talking about the successor of the famous Didi. However, he himself refused to make that comparison, he was the original Gérson and not the next Didi. He admitted that he had some affinity with the playmaker of the 1950s, but the midfielder had never served as an example for him.