Ancelotti sticker and 1970 World Cup album in 400-plus collection | OneFootball

Donário Rodrigues Braga Neto, 69, has amassed more than 400 completed sticker albums, including every World Cup. A standout is Mexico 1986 with Carlo Ancelotti for Italy.

According to Globo.com, the Porto Alegre collector began swapping at school in 1966 and has kept at it for more than 60 years.

His trove spans the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, the Brasileirão and specials on Pelé and Beira-Rio’s inauguration. Some albums are valued at up to R$ 15,000, notably the 1969 Robertão.

He rates 1970 as the most iconic, citing a higher competitive level and what he sees as a tougher era. Brazil became three-time champions with Pelé, the best team he says he has seen.

He long bought at newsstands, then from 2005 turned to online and auction sites. The collection is stored in an apartment in Gravataí, about 30 kilometres away, and he has even hauled a 40 kg suitcase of items.

He welcomes younger collectors and enjoys swap meets that unite grandparents, parents and grandchildren. For him, the thrill is the hunt.

One pursuit endures, a complete Spain 1982 album. He has only a digitised version with printed names and photos, which he does not count, and says he has searched for 10 years.

His 1969 Pedrosa album still lacks one sticker, Gilberto Alves de Souza, Flecha of Grêmio. At school he paid 2,000 cruzeiros for one special but refused 5,000 for the other, leaving it incomplete.

Source: Globo.com