For a start, he played in the famous gold of Brazil, which in itself is a huge achievement, but then consider that he captained his country and you’d be even more impressed. Then bear in mind he was captain of the 1970 Brazil side, the greatest World Cup side ever assembled in the history of the game – and you’ll begin to see what a great player he was.
But if that wasn’t enough, throw in the fact that Carlos Alberto, despite being a right back, scored the greatest goal ever scored in a World Cup final. Brazil started at the goalkeeper and proceeded to showboat and dazzle the crowd with some fantastic dribbling and passing as they toyed with the great Italian side they’d already scored three goals against.
Clodoaldo beat three Italians with three extravagant dummies before laying the ball off to Gerson, who fed Jairzinho down the left wing. He tormented the Italian defence before cutting inside and passing to the great Pele, who simply played the ball from one foot to the other and nonchalantly laid the ball into the path of the flying Carlos Alberto. The right back hit the ball perfectly, smashing the ball into the corner for the perfect World Cup-winning goal. Kenneth Wolstenholme described it as "Sheer delightful football" and it certainly was. The entire move was a footballing masterclass from start to finish - and Carlos Alberto was the man who finished it off.
To captain the best side ever, to win the World Cup and to score the best World Cup goal ever makes you somewhat of a legend – and he will forever have a place in the annals of football history.