On this day in 1959, Francisco Ernandi Lima da Silva was born. The Brazilian, known to all as Mirandinha, would go on to play for Newcastle United in the late 1980s and made around 67 appearances in all competitions.
The 61-year-old would speak fondly of his time in the North East too, saying in a 2012 interview sourced by NUFC.com: “I had a fantastic time at Newcastle, it was my best football experience.
“I played in Brazil, Portugal (and) Japan, but the Newcastle fans are passionate. They are like Brazilians. They love their football like we do here. It is a very special place and I loved it there.”
Newcastle signed Mirandinho for £575k from Palmeiras in August 1987. He was the first Brazilian in English football and attracted the Magpies’ attention after scoring against England at Wembley while manager Willie McFaul was watching.
His debut at St James’ Park led to lot of fans coming to a midweek clash against Norwich, but they had to wait until a 2-2 draw with Manchester United for Mira to get on the scoresheet. He ended his debut season (1987/88) as Newcastle’s second-highest scorer with 12 across the board.
Unfortunately, he struggled with injuries in his second season (1988/89) and was inconsistent when he did feature, so Mira ended up leaving at the end of the campaign, one year before his contract was up. He rejoined Palmeiras on loan and turned the move permanent a year later.
The Brazilian is looked upon fondly by supporters and returned to St James’ Park in April 2016 during a meeting with Manchester City. Time will tell if he comes back again.
In other news, Fabian Schar celebrates reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2020
