Didi

Lore & Background

Didi is a nickname or stage name for various people, characters, and entities. In football, it refers to multiple Brazilian players including Waldyr Pereira (born 1928), as well as other footballers from Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and Angola. It also appears in arts and entertainment, such as a song by Khaled, a character in Samuel Beckett's play, a German comedy show, a Rugrats character, and a 2024 film. Other uses include a Chinese vehicle-for-hire company and a village in Iran.

In Their Own Story

The air in Råsunda Stadium was thin and cold, the kind of Swedish June that makes a Brazilian shiver in a yellow jersey. Didi stood in his half of the pitch, hands on his hips, watching the Swedish defenders shift their shape. Around him the noise was a wall — forty thousand voices, a drumbeat of anticipation. He could feel the weight of a continent behind his back, the millions of Brazilians hunched over radios in Rio, in São Paulo, in the favelas.

The ball came to him. He didn't look up. He didn't need to. His left foot swung through the leather with a soft, almost lazy arc, and the ball sailed over the heads of two Swedish midfielders, over a third, and dropped onto the chest of a winger who was already running. The crowd inhaled. The winger cut inside, crossed, and the net bulged.

Didi turned, raised one finger to his lips, and whispered something to the man beside him. Then he walked back to his position, hands on his hips again, as if he had merely stretched. The scoreboard said 2-0. The game was not over. His eyes were already calculating the next pass.

Reader's Guide

Use the source article to determine which Didi is being referenced.

Did You Know?

• Didi (footballer, born 1928) is Brazilian footballer Waldyr Pereira.
• Didi is also the nickname of a character in Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot.
• Didi is the name of a Chinese ride-hailing company.
• Didi (footballer, born 1963) is a Brazilian women's football goalkeeper named Diedja Maglione Roque Barreto.