Expresso da Vitória
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The Expresso da Vitória (English: Victory Express) is known as one of the best association football squads in the history of CR Vasco da Gama and played between 1944 and 1953. The name would have appeared in a musical show of Rádio Nacional, where a singer, when performing, said that he would dedicate the music to Vasco, called by him "Express Train of Victory", for running over his opponents on the pitch.
This generation of players, was mainly commanded by the Uruguayan coach Ondino Viera and was one of the first Brazilian team to use the 4-2-4 tactical scheme, which strongly influenced Brazilian and Uruguayan football in the 50s.[1] The Vasco squad was also the first Brazilian team (either club or national team) to win an international title outside Brazil, the South American Championship of Champions in 1948. In all, there were eighteen titles in ten years, of which five were Cariocas, three undefeatedly defeated. It formed the basis of the Rio de Janeiro national team that won the Brazilian State Teams Championship in 1946 and 1950,[2] of the Brazilian team, champion of the Copa Rio Branco in 1947 and 1950 and champion of the South American Championship in 1949, in addition to taking Brazil for the first time in history to a final of the 50th World Cup, with eight Vasco players more the coach, Flávio Costa.