Fio Maravilha

On 15 January 1972 Ben was in the Maracanã watching Flamengo play Benfica. The crowd chanted for the coach, Zagallo, to bring on the reserve forward João Batista de Sales, known as Fio Maravilha. On his first touch Fio beat two defenders, went round the goalkeeper and scored, and Ben wrote this song about the moment. Maria Alcina sang it to victory at that year's International Song Festival, Flamengo supporters took it up in the stands, and Ben's own two-minute version appeared on Ben later that year.

Then Fio, encouraged by a lawyer, sued Ben for using his name without permission. He lost, but Ben said he could hardly believe it when a court officer knocked at his door, and he changed the lyric to "Filho Maravilha", which is how it appears on Ao Vivo no Rio. In 2007, on a Globo television program, Fio called it all a misunderstanding, apologized and gave his blessing to the original words. The French singer Nicoletta had a version in 1973. It is one of Ben's most played songs live, often joined to Umbabarauma, the other great football song.