A right back, Mariano started playing for his local club, Goiandira Esporte Clube, in 1973 when he was 52 years old. He was still playing there in 2008 when, at the age of 87, the Guinness Book of World Records listed him as the world's oldest footballer.
A farmer who walks 10 kilometers every morning, Mariano rejected suggestions that he was too old to continue, saying "as long as I have legs, I will play." And even though sidelined at times by injuries, including a dislocated shoulder and surgeries to his neck and back, he continued to play until he passed away in March 2015 at the age of 93.
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