Heleno de Freitas

Who was Heleno de Freitas?

Heleno de Freitas, nicknamed Prince Cursed, was a Brazilian footballer.

The striker spent most of his career with Botafogo, scoring 209 goals for the club, most with his head. In 1948 he transferred to Boca Juniors in Argentina, but returned to Brazil the following year, winning the 1949 Campeonato Carioca with Vasco. He ended his career with América in Rio, he played only one match for the club and it was the first and last game in the Maracanã. He died from complications related to late-stage, untreated syphilis in 1959 in a sanatorium in Barbacena.

De Freitas scored 19 goals in 18 appearances for Brazil as the team finished runners-up in both the 1945 and 1946 Copa America championships. He was joint top goalscorer in the 1945 tournament.

Heleno de Freitas was biographed by Marcos Eduardo Neves in the book Nunca houve um homem como Heleno. The title of this book is a reference to his mocking nickname Gilda. He was nicknamed after the Gilda main character due to his good looks and hot temper.