Brazil 1970 - A trip down memory lane

Brazil 1970

With the World Cup coming up this year in Brazil, fans of the nation known for Samba football will be hoping for a run to the trophy for the Selecao. In keeping with the carnival spirit about to envelope the competition, we take a trip down memory lane to recollect the exploits of possibly the greatest team ever to enthral football fans all over the globe.

          The Brazilian team for the 1970 World Cup, held in Mexico, was shepherded by the canny Mario Lobo Zagalo, himself a Brazilian legend and winner of two World Cups as a player. In fact, it also happened to be the first World Cup to be telecast, in all its glorious colour. The heightened impact of the whole world watching them made the Brazilian team’s feat that much greater, and left an everlasting imprint on the football world.

 After the debacle of 1966, where they made a first round exit, Brazil were not favourites to win the tournament. The team had faced several off-pitch troubles, including the removal of their coach, Joao Saldanha, after the qualification rounds, inspite of having won all their games. But they could not have asked for a better replacement than Mario Zagalo. He brought with him a calmness and sense of purpose that the players sorely needed, as well as the vital experience of having played in a World cup himself before. The Brazilian team included experienced campaigners like Pele, the team’s star centre-forward, Carlos Alberto, and Felix in goal. El Rey, as Pele was known, had been a member two World Cup winning squads, 1958 and 1962, and at 29, it seemed evident to everyone that this would be his last World Cup. Also at stake was the prospect of retiring the Jules Rimet trophy, by winning it for an unprecedented third time. It was quite simply meant to be.

How Brazil Lined Up.

          Zagalo built the team around a novel and brave approach: filling the team with the most talented players at his disposal, and reinforcing the defensive aspect of things with a few solid players here and there. Brazil played what at first look appeared to be a highly risky 4-2-4 formation, with Pele and Tostao slotting up top centrally. Supporting them on the flanks was Jairzinho on the right, a direct, pacy, powerful winger who often served as the team’s only true forward, and Rivelino on the left, originally a more central playmaker whom Zagalo deployed on the wing as playing him centrally would leave their defence exposed. The midfield two comprised two players with highly contrasting styles and roles.  Gerson was what we would call today a deep lying playmaker, very much in the Xavi and Andrea Pirlo mould, and quite possibly the original. Serving as the perfect foil for him was Clodoaldo, akin to a modern day box to box midfielder, who with his sheer energy and driving runs, proved the perfect counterpart to Gerson’s inventive genius. Carlos Alberto at right fullback remains probably the template for all the right wing backs of today, known as much for his goal scoring prowess as his defensive abilities. In Brito Brazil possessed a classic centre back, tall and perfectly capable of negating any aerial threat, while his partner Piazza was the ball-playing centre back of the pair. Everaldo provided a stable, if not extraordinary, presence at left-back. Felix in goal rounded off the team, an unreliable and nervous presence between the posts. It is interesting to note that, even in those times, Zagalo envisioned the need for holding midfielders, or essentially men to stem the flow of opposition attacks, and yet to serve as the starting point of Brazilian attacks.

England vs Brazil

          First up was their tricky group game against Czechoslovakia. Brazil fell behind to an early goal, only to come back strongly and record a resounding 4-1 success. During this game, Pele nearly scored from 65 yards out, from well in his own half, having spotted the Czech keeper off his line. The image of the ball drifting just past the post remains iconic, a perfect illustration of Pele’s almost extra –peripheral vision on the football field. Next in line though, lay England, a different and altogether much more difficult proposition. They were defending champions and were widely believed to possess the best defence in the world. A tough, edgy game was played out, with the highlight being a save considered by many including Pele himself, to be the best of the last century, by Gordon Banks. Also pivotal to a Brazilian victory by a solitary goal, was a moment of magic from Pele. Well placed to shoot, in the box, he instead deftly tapped the ball out to his right into the path of an onrushing Jairzinho, who rifled the ball home with precision. Brazil thereafter topped their group, beating Romania 3-2. They had already conceded 3 goals, and it was quite evident that this was a team built entirely on an attacking philosophy, with defending a mere afterthought.

Pele was instrumental in Brazil's success

Another game that stood out was the semi-final against Uruguay, bitter rivals of the Selecao. Brazil went behind early in the game, only to come from behind and win 3-1, with goals from Clodoaldo, Tostao and Jairzinho. In doing so, the men in yellow showed a hitherto unseen steel and resilience, a clear indicator that they were capable of playing direct football when the occasion so demanded, as well as to face the harsh tackling.

Brailian flair v Italian organisation

          The final game of the Cup was what truly enshrined them as one of the most magical teams ever to play The Beautiful Game. Brazil faced Italy, who by then had unleashed the catenaccio (or ‘door-bolt’) on the football world. Based on a rigid five-man defence, intended to shut out opponents and hit them on the counterattack, the match would prove to be a direct contest between Brazil’s flair and Italy’s organisation.  Brazil went ahead with a wondrous Pele header, where he rose high above his much bigger marker. Italy equalised, only to find themselves flattened by a tap-in from Jairzinho and a thunderous strike from Gerson. Carlos Alberto completed the rout with a spectacular finish from the edge of the box, laid off by that man Pele once again.  His little swivel on the spot, and the opening of his instep to caress the ball into Carlos Alberto’s path, is testament to the man’s almost deceptively simple genius. The Jules Rimet trophy was a fitting adornment to his glittering career.

Carlos Alberto scoring THAT goal

El Rey shaping up for a shot

          The comparisons for the coveted tag of the ‘Greatest Ever’ have often been thrown around, with many teams staking a claim. Prominent amongst them are Pep Guardiola’s Barca, as well as the current Spanish side that is lording over world football. However, the football that Zagalo’s men played is far more exquisite and is above such comparisons, evident in the various feats they achieved. Jairzinho scored in every game of the competition, Pele was adjudged the best player of the tournament, and Tostao left everyone bedazzled with his delightful skill. With 19 goals scored in the six games, Brazil played with flair and with nothing held back, a glorious abandon that is rarely seen in modern teams, or even in teams belonging to that time. Overlapping fullbacks and wingers, deep lying playmakers, men rotating in and out of position, all these concepts gained prominence from the manner in which this Brazilian team exploited and developed them. They were blessed with some of the greatest forwards ever, in Pele, Tostao and Jairzinho, incredible talented midfielders such as Rivelino and Gerson, a strong defence (Brito), and a fascinating right full back (Carlos Alberto). Even the only blight on the horizon, the floundering Felix, cannot hide the breathtaking nature of the football they played. A complete team in every sense, one hopes that they can serve as inspiration for the current crop of Brazilian talent, and maybe spur on the likes of Oscar, David Luiz, Dani Alves and Neymar to glory.

Is another Brazilian victory in the wings?

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Somdeep Dey

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