Aldyr Garcia Schlee may not be known to the vast majority of football followers but his design certainly is. He is the man responsible for one of the most famous creations in sport - the yellow shirt and green collar and cuffs of the Brazilian national football team, nicknamed the Little Canary.

Uruguay Defeat Brazil in 1950 World Cup Final

The 2-1 home defeat to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final hit Brazil hard. Losing to near neighbours on home soil was regarded a national humiliation with goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa being vilified for what was deemed a culpable performance. The playing strip was also seen as not sufficiently patriotic with its white body and blue collars not reflecting every colour on the national flag.

As the decade progressed Brazil still suffered from the ignominy of the Uruguayan reverse and a competition was held to design a shirt that encompassed all the colours contained in the national flag - yellow, green, blue and white.

The Design of the Little Canary

Near the Uruguayan border, in a small town named Pelotas, lived 19 year old Aldyr Garcia Schlee. He worked as a newspaper illustrator and entered the competition with a classically simple design. Yellow shirt with green collar and cuffs, blue shorts with white vertical stripe and white socks. In December 1953 he was declared the winner and Brazil wore his creation for the first time in March 1954.

1970 World Cup Winners

The 1970 World Cup was the first to be shown on colour television and the brilliant Brazilian team of Pele, Rivelino, Jairzinho and teammates brought the tournament to vivid, memorable life. The yellow shirt became a romantic symbol of the beautiful game and that team in that tournament wearing that shirt retain a mythical status in the world of football.

Aldyr Garcia Schlee and the History of The Brazilian Football Shirt

Part of the prize for Aldyr Garcia Schlee was a period with the newspaper who supported his design - Correio de Manha. During this period he was provided with rooms shared by the Brazilian football squad. He did not enjoy the experience and soon returned home, finding the player's hedonism superficial and puerile.