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Geninho
Personal information
Full name	Ephigênio de Freitas Bahiense
Date of birth	10 September 1918
Place of birth	Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Date of death	21 June 1980 (aged 61)
Place of death	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Palestra Itália-MG
Senior career*
Years	Team
1938–1940	Palestra Itália-MG
1940–1955	Botafogo
Managerial career
1949	Botafogo
1950	Botafogo
1955	Botafogo
1956–1957	Botafogo
1959–1960	Bahia
1962	Palmeiras
1962–1963	Cruzeiro
1964–1965	Botafogo
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 February 2024

Ephigênio de Freitas Bahiense (10 September 1918 – 21 June 1980), also known as Ephigênio de Freitas or by the nickname Geninho, was a Brazilian professional footballer and manager, who played as a midfielder.

Career

Born in Belo Horizonte, Geninho started with Palestra Itália (now Cruzeiro), defending the club from 1938 to 1940. Nicknamed "architect" for his great ability to distribute balls in play, in September 1940, he was traded to Botafogo, a club he defended until 1955, making 422 appearances and scoring 115 goals.^[1]

^[2]

Managerial career

Geninho, now referred to as Ephigênio de Freitas, managed Botafogo even before retiring on a few occasions. In 1956 he officially took over the team for the first time. He then coached Bahia, becoming state champion and one of the coaches of the 1959 Taça Brasil winning campaign alongside Argentine Carlos Volante.^[3]^[4] Due to his job as a police officer, he ended up not coaching the team in the final, and returned to Rio de Janeiro the following year. In 1964 he was the champion manager with Botafogo in the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, and also coached Cruzeiro and Palmeiras.

Personal life

Ephigênio served in the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in 1944, interrupting his football career, alongside another Botafogo player (Walter). He embarked for Italy, but only served in medical groups. After retiring as a player in 1955, he became a police officer.^[5]^[6]

Honours

Player

Botafogo

Campeonato Carioca: 1948
Torneio Início: 1947

Manager

Bahia

Campeonato Baiano: 1959

Botafogo

Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1964

References

^ "Conheça os 10 jogadores que mais atuaram pelo Botafogo". Mercado do Futebol (in Portuguese). 2 November 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "Geninho… o patriota da Estrela Solitária". Tardes de Pacaembu (in Portuguese). 27 April 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ Tom Barros (29 December 2022). "Foi argentino o primeiro técnico campeão brasileiro". Diário do Nordeste (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "Esquadrão Imortal - Bahia 1959-1962". Imortais do Futebol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "Filho de Geninho relembra 'pausa' do pai para servir Exército na 2ª Guerra". Sportv (in Portuguese). 13 July 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "Geninho, o craque que virou pracinha da FEB". Montedo (in Portuguese). 14 July 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2024.