G Magazine, ‘vampetaço’, somersault: Vampeta turns 50 by telling stories and entertaining Brazil

Known for having played for teams such as Corinthians, Vitória and Flamengo, and also for being part of the five-time world champion Brazilian team in 2002, former player Vampeta turns 50 this Wednesday (13).

Currently a sports commentator for Jovem Pan, Marcos André Batista Santos, a native of Bahia from Nazaré, is known not only for his talent with the ball but also for being a good storyteller. Starting with the origin of his nickname. He received the nickname as a child, when he lost his first tooth — hence the “vampire”. Capeta came from her, let’s say, supposed lack of beauty. Vampiro with Capeta gave Vampeta. He picked up.

Spontaneity is not restricted to speeches in interviews. In 2002, he broke protocol by literally lying down and rolling down the ramp at Palácio do Planalto. This happened when the five-time champion team passed through Brasília (with the players somewhat reluctantly, it’s true), and, in front of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Vampeta did a somersault at the Palace door. Historic moment. On the internet, his stories frequently go viral and, to this day, some phrases he said are used in the world of football to describe certain situations.

Here is a selection of “vampires” available on the web:

1) G Magazine and the restoration

At the height of his popularity with Corinthians, in 1999, Vampeta accepted an invitation and posed nude for the January edition of the gay magazine G Magazine. The essay became a great classic to this day.

Vampeta used the money he earned from his work to buy and restore Cinema Rio Branco, founded in the 1920s in his hometown. He was fulfilling a promise made to a restorer, who asked him for help to keep the exhibition room standing.

Over the last few years, Rio Branco has only been open for public exhibitions, and is mostly used as a tourist museum for the city. Vampeta, however, did not give in to temptation and, even though she knew she could earn much more, she did not give in to the attempts to get rid of him. “To this day, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God makes me an offer to buy Rio Branco, but I don’t sell it,” he said recently on his YouTube channel.

2) “Vampetaço”

More recently, Vampeta’s G Magazine essay became a kind of response to statements considered unpleasant or absurd by public figures on the internet. This is what is called “Vampetaço”.

In other words, it is a form of cancellation used as a protest against public figures who post something that bothers them on their social networks, mainly on X (formerly Twitter). But not only. During street protests, the magazine’s cover image became a poster and appeared pasted in several places, in a kind of “shut up” to the demonstration in question.

That’s what happened in February this year, at the act and defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro, in São Paulo. The walls near the Fiesp building were the scene of a Vampetaço, with reproductions of G Magazine in some spots.

Vampeta stated that he did not care about Vampetaço, praising him in an interview with the website Mundo Mais. “I don’t find it uncomfortable. On the contrary. I think it’s very timely. I would like to congratulate whoever created this,” he said. Vampetaço gained so much popularity that it became an object of social study in universities.

3) “They pretend to pay and I pretend to play”

In 2001, Vampeta arrived at Flamengo after a lackluster season in European football, where he played for Inter Milan (ITA) and Paris Saint-Germain (FRA). It was a big deal at the time: in exchange for Vampeta, PSG received the promising striker Reinaldo. The deal also involved Adriano Imperador going to the Milanese team, in addition to US$5 million.

Flamengo’s financial situation was bad. After demands for a better performance, the midfielder said a phrase that was remembered at a press conference: “They pretend to pay me, and I pretend to play.”

In just 16 official games, Vampeta scored just one goal, in a match against Gama, at Maracanã, in the 2001 Brazilian Championship.

To this day, the player mentions how he used part of his earnings from Europe to help employees and younger athletes in the squad, having never received a single salary from Flamengo.

Whenever he can, Vampeta needles Flamengo. “The only thing I received there was the money for the stickers,” she joked, on Jovem Pan in 2021.

4) Prison with Edílson

In February 1998, striker Edilson Capetinha stopped his car in a double line on the corner of Avenida Doutor Arnaldo and Rua Major Natanael, in São Paulo, to have a snack with Vampeta.

When he returned, he saw a police officer leaving a ticket and blurted out. He was arrested for contempt of authority, and Vampeta ended up going to the police with him.

“I was Edilson’s lawyer and witness”, he joked at the time, in an interview with TV Globo. To this day, the report made is the subject of ridicule.

5) Surprise best man at a friend’s wedding who was already married

In April 2022, already as a commentator on Jovem Pan, Vampeta told a curious story: he was the best man at a surprise wedding.

On the Bate-Pronto program, he recalled the seasons he played for Goiás, between 2006 and 2007.

“I lived in an apartment hotel in Praça Tamandaré, in Goiânia. I can’t give the names, but there was an attacker who lived with his family in the same apartment hotel with me, the apartment opposite,” he said.

According to Vampeta, the emerald team was off on a Sunday and he arranged to have lunch with his wife and two daughters. But the then attacker looked for him and asked him to take him somewhere.
“He arrives and says ‘I don’t know how to drive, take me there somewhere’. I say: ‘But you don’t know anything about Goiânia’. He: ‘Take me there, I have to do some business’. He is married, with two children,” he began.

“I did. I arrived at a house, full of parties, his engagement. I said: “What’s it like? You’re married…” He said: “And you’re still going to be the best man at my wedding, sit here'”, he said. Vampeta said he stayed at the party and even said some biblical words during the ceremony.

However, being late for lunch angered his family. The five-time world champion with the Brazilian team had to come up with an excuse for his wife.

At the end of the story, Vampeta ended up unintentionally revealing the player’s name, something he doesn’t usually do: it was Nonato, a striker who played for famous clubs in the 2000s. At the end of the program, Nonato laughed: “How do you reveal my name on that?”