There have been quite a few losses to mourn this year in the world of sports, particularly in cricket. While the news of the passing of a great athlete was always met with sadness, it was also, as always, a chance to celebrate the individual’s extraordinary achievements in their careers and their lives. Here, in no particular, we remember and celebrate some of the more prominent names that were lost from the world of sports in 2024.
Mario Zagallo was the first, and thus far one of just three individuals to have won the men’s football World Cup both as a player and a coach. One of the most charismatic and superstitious figures in Brazilian football, he also was known for his fondness of the No. 13 and constant use of the phrase “You will have to put up with me” — voiced loudly at critics. He said 13 was his lucky number because it carries the last two digits of his birth year: 1931.
Zagallo played a role in nearly every major chapter in Brazilian football history, from its first World Cup title in 1958 to the tournament it hosted in 2014. He was Brazil’s forward when it won the World Cup in 1958 in Sweden and 1962 in Chile, and one of the first players to act as a false winger, playing between midfielders and strikers.
Zagallo retired in 1965 and and began his coaching career with Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo the following year. Named national team coach in 1970, just before the World Cup in Mexico, he inherited a squad that included Pelé, Jairzinho, Gerson, Roberto Rivellino and Tostão. Brazil crushed Italy 4-1 in the final, becoming the first three-time champion. Zagallo was assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira when Brazil won the 1994 World Cup in the United States, again beating Italy in the final. Zagallo died on January 5.
Widely regarded as the greatest defender of all time and the man who pretty much invented the libero role in defensive midfield, Franz Beckenbauer’s death led to a tidal wave of tributes from almost all walks of life. Nicknamed Der Kaiser, or “The Emperor”, Beckenbauer was the second man after Zagallo to have won the FIFA World Cup as a player and as manager, with the third of those being France’s Dider Deschamps. Beckenbauer was captain of the West Germany team that won the World Cup in 1974 and he later led them to the title as a manager once again in 1990. He also won the European Championship with West Germany in 1972.
Beckenbauer won 104 caps for West Germany and over 400 with Bayern Munich. In his 13 years with the Bavarian club between 1964 and 1977, Beckenbauer was part of the Bayern sides that won a hat-trick of European Cup titles, now called the UEFA Champions League, in 1973/74, 1974/75 and 1975/76. He also won five German league titles and as many German Cups alongwith an Intercontinental Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1966/67.
The same year as he hung up his boots, Beckenbauer was made West Germany manager. Despite having no prior experience as coach, Beckenbauer led the side to back to back World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990, winning the title itself in the latter year. Backenbauer headed Germany’s successful bid for the 2006 World Cup and was part of the tournament organising committee. However, incidents related to this period and subsequent allegations of corruption, which followed him until his death, somewhat tarnished Beckenbauer’s legacy. He died aged 78.
Dattajirao Gaekwad was the oldest living Indian cricketer at the time of his death. He played 11 Tests for India between 1952 and 1961, captaining the national team in 1959 when it toured England. India lost all five Tests and fared badly even in the first class games, although Gaekwad himself batted courageously scoring 1174 runs (34.52) on the tour. The right-hander made his debut against England at Leeds in 1952 and his final international game was against Pakistan in Chennai in 1961.
In the Ranji Trophy, Gaekwad represented Baroda from 1947 to 1961. He scored 3139 runs at an average of 47.56, including 14 hundreds. His highest was a 249 not out against Maharashtra in the 1959-60 season. He became India’s oldest living Test cricketer in 2016 after the death of former batter Deepak Shodhan at the age of 87 in Ahmedabad. Gaekwad himself died aged 95.
Mike Procter was South Africa’s first coach on their return to international cricket after the fall of apartheid and an all-rounder par excellence that the world saw little of due to the country’s isolation from international cricket. Procter played just seven Tests between 1967 and 1970 and would’ve joined the era of great all-rounders alongwith Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Richard Hadley had it not been for South Africa’s isolation.
He was a pioneering player for Gloucestershire and in 401 first class matches, Procter scored 21,936 runs at an average of 36.01 with 48 centuries and 109 fifties. He also took 1417 wickets, maintaining an incredible strike rate and average of 46.1 and 19.53 respectively. Procter then played a role in South Africa’s return to success after being reintegrated into international cricket, leading them to the semi-finals of the 1992 World Cup in Australia.
Arguably the greatest spinner England has ever produced by some distance, Underwood remained the world’s number one bowler for nearly four years between 1969 and 1973. Sunil Gavaskar hailed Underwood as one of the toughest bowlers he ever faced. Underwood bagged 297 wickets in 86 Test matches between 1966 and 1982. The spin-bowling icon dedicated his entire first-class career to Kent.
Underwood sealed England’s famous win over arch-rivals Australia at The Oval back in 1968. The legendary England spinner picked up match-winning figures of 7-50 against the Ashes rivals at the time. Underwood was 21 when he made his Test debut in 1966. He played his final Test for the Three Lions in 1982. Underwood played 86 Tests in which he took 297 wickets at an average of 25.83 with 17 five-wicket hauls. He took a total of 2465 wickets in 676 first class matches.
Just about six months after his father Datta Gaekwad died, Anshuman Gaekwad, passed away as well. Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs from 1975 to 1987. He scored 1985 runs in Tests; his highest score in the format was 201, which came against Pakistan in a marathon 11-hour innings. Gaekwad’s numbers may not have been too impressive but he was known for his grit with the bat. Apart from the marathon double century against Pakistan, Gaekwad was also known for standing up to West Indies’ tyranny during the controversial 1977 Jamaica Test. Gaekwad scored a valiant 81 in that match where captain Bishan Singh Bedi had to declare early just to protect the health of his teammates.
Gaekwad was the head coach of the Indian men’s team in two separate stints; from 1997 to 1999 and then in 2000. During his tenure, India finished as runners-up in the 2000 Champions Trophy, too. Gaekwad also had a brief stint with the Kenyan team. He was also the member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) to the BCCI, from which he resigned in 2019. In recent years, he had served as the president of the Indian Cricketers’ Association.
Graham Thorpe’s death sent quite a few shockwaves around the world of cricket and opened up conversations on mental health in the game. The prolific former batter died of suicide at the age of 55 on August 4. Thorpe scored 6744 runs in 100 Tests at an average of 44.66 with 16 centuries and 39 half-centuries between July 1993 and June 2005. He also played 82 ODIs, scoring 2380 runs at an average of 37.18 with 21 half-centuries.
Thorpe retired from ODIs in 2002 and took an indefinite break from cricket with his marriage falling apart quite publicly. He then made a fairytale return to the game, returning with a century in the final Test gainst South Africa at The Oval in 2003 that set up England’s incredible fightback to draw the series 2-2. Thorpe went on to score 1511 runs at an average of 54 from there until the end of his career.
Thorpe went on to take up coaching positions at various level. He was England’s batting coach and assistant coach before stepping down in February 2022 after a 4-0 loss in the Ashes. He was appointed as Afghanistan’s head coach in March 2022, but was hospitalised with a serious illness before he could join the team. It was later revealed by his widow Amanda that this was the first attempt he made on his own life. Thorpe ended up never taking charge of Afghanistan.
In November this year, Thorpe’s legacy was honoured when he was named on the new trophy that England and New Zealand would be competing for henceforth in Test cricket. The trophy is called the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, named after Thorpe and New Zealand cricket great Martin Crowe.
Swedish football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is best known for his time as the manager of England men’s football team between 2002 and 2006. Eriksson had told public broadcaster Sveriges Radio that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer and that his doctor’s assessment was that he had “at best maybe a year (to live), at worst a little less”. “We have known about this but it happened very quickly. We were not prepared for it to happen today,” Gustavsson told AFP.
Born February 5, 1948 in Sunne in western Sweden, Eriksson, who goes by “Svennis” to Swedes, found success as a football manager after retiring from a modest career as a defender. In 1977, he became manager of Swedish club Degerfors IF. After leading the small club to success in lower divisions, he attracted the attention of bigger clubs.
He went on to manage Sweden’s IFK Goteborg before finding success internationally, managing Benfica in Portugal, as well as several Italian teams including Roma and Lazio. His most high-profile position was as the first foreigner to manage England’s national squad. During his spell, he took England to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002, where they were knocked out by Brazil.
