European football mourns Inter hero Jair da Costa
Sunday, April 27, 2025
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Jair da Costa, the great Brazilian winger who won four league titles, two UEFA European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups with Inter, has passed away at the age of 84.
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Known for his great pace, Jair joined Inter in 1962 and played for the Nerazzurri until 1972 with a brief interruption of a single season with AS Roma in 1967/68.
"Jair has passed away,” said an Inter statement. “A right winger with phenomenal dribbling, he won everything with the Grande Inter and has place in the eternity of a legendary team. The club stands with his family in this difficult moment.”
Jair quickly established himself as a key player of Helenio Herrera’s "Grande Inter". He scored the first ever goal of the Nerazzurri in the European Cup against Everton in 1963 and the only goal of the game in the 1965 final against Benfica.
He retuned to Brazil after scoring 70 goals in 266 games for Inter to play alongside Pelè at Santos, before finishing his career in Canada. Having the great Garrincha ahead of him in his role, he only played one game for Brazil during his career but was a member of the squad which won the FIFA World Cup in 1962.