Heleno de Freitas was born to a rich Brazilian family in São João de Nepomuceno, which was in the state of Minas Gerais. Although he initially wanted to become a lawyer and even obtained a law degree, life had other plans. The Brazilian began to play beach football in amateur tournaments, and was eventually signed by Botafogo at the age of 15.
The talented forward went on to spend the majority of his career at Botafogo, scoring 209 goals in 235 matches. An interesting fact is that he scored most of the goals with his head, which is a testament to his aerial abilities. In 1948, he joined Argentine club Boca Juniors. However, he returned to Brazil in the following year and won the 1949 Campeonato Carioca with Vasco.
This was followed by a stint in Colombia with Atlético Junior. Afterwards, De Freitas had short stints at Santos and Brazilian club América, before calling it a time on his coveted career.
Time at Brazil national side
De Freitas had scored 19 goals in 18 appearances for Brazil between 1944 and 1948. This meant that he had a rare record of averaging more than a goal per game. He was unfortunately a part of the Brazilian side that were runners-up in both the 1945 and 1946 Copa América championships. The 1945 edition saw the very best of De Freitas, as he was joint top goalscorer alongside Argentine Norberto Doroteo Méndez with 6 goals. By the time the 1950 FIFA World Cup was approaching in home soil Brazil, De Freitas was unfortunately not selected for the national team. The forward was sadly considered to be past his prime by that stage.
Player profile
De Freitas was described as a tall and elegant forward, who was known for his entertaining playing style back then. His excellence as a player has seen him later be labeled with nicknames such as Brazil's Pelé in the 40s and the prince of Rio.
The Brazilian began his career as a hard–tackling central defender/defensive midfielder. However, during his youth, he was converted into a centre-forward by his Fluminense youth manager Carlo Carlomagno. This was primarily done to limit his possibility of committing fouls and being booked.
It was a tactical masterstroke by the manager, as the player excelled in this new attacking role. De Freitas was brilliant due to his speed, technique, vision, intelligence, and positioning ability. Furthermore, he had an excellent understanding of the game and was a master finisher as well. His ability to drop deep was special as well, with the Brazilian retrieving the ball to carve out his magic. De Freitas' ability to lose his markers and ability to play with his back to goal were also magnificent.
In addition to his abilities as a player, he was applauded for his perfectionist nature and highly competitive spirit. These traits had also resulted in him being given the captaincy.
On the downside though, he struggled with his temperament and ability to cope with pressure at times. These factors led to the player committing rash challenges at times. Furthermore, he was indisciplined at times, inconsistent, and even had a poor work-rate. Shockingly, the player even caused problems to his managers, teammates, opponents, and even officials at times. This resulted in the player being sent-off on multiple occasions in his career. Despite his outstanding capabilities as a player, his personal life problems and bohemian lifestyle outside football were detrimental to his career.
De Freitas was undoubtedly an outstanding player, but the sad truth is that he would have achieved much more if not for his personal demons. Hence, he was later labeled as The Cursed Prince.
Nonetheless, he will forever remain as one of the finest in Brazilian football history.
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