João Coelho Neto, known more commonly as Preguinho (February 8, 1905 – October 1, 1979) was a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 in the striker position. He was born in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

.

Son of Brazilian writer Coelho Neto

Coelho Neto

Henrique Maximiano Coelho Neto was a Brazilian writer and politician...

, Preguinho was born on February 5, 1905. He played from 1925-1938 for Fluminense and scored 184 goals. A varied athlete,(playing volleyball, basketball, waterpolo, swimming, hockey, track & field and ornamental jumps) he received in 1952 the title of "Grande Benemérito Atleta".

For Brazil

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

 he participated in the 1930 FIFA World Cup

1930 FIFA World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930...

 and was the first captain of the Brazilian national team, scoring the first goal ever from Brazil in a FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 in a match against Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia national football team

The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...

, and other two goals in match with Bolivia

Bolivia national football team

The Bolivia national football team is the national team of Bolivia and is controlled by the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol. After playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they qualified just once—in 1994...

.

He died at the age of 74 on September 29, 1979. In his honour, Fluminense dedicated a statue. A Brazilian TV-programme of his life was produced by Carlos Niemeyer for Canal 100 and directed by Carlos Leonam and Oswaldo Caldeira.