The Golden Age of Brazilian Futbol: 1958-1970

So, Brazil advanced to the final to face the host country, Sweden, who had soundly beaten the Soviet squad, and the 1954 champion West German team on its way to the finals. Continuing what developed as a theme, Brazil got early goals from Edvaldo Izídio Neto (Vava), and two more goals from Pele, and overwhelmed the Swedish squad 5-2, for Brazil’s first World Cup championship.

 

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The momentum that had been generated by the 1958 Cup carried over to the 1962 World Cup, as Brazil rode the magnificent play of Manoel Francisco dos Santos (Garrincha), swept through the round robin, then beat England, host country Chile, and eventually Czechoslovakia in the final to claim their second consecutive World championship.

The 1962 tournament was notable for the fact that Pele was injured in the first game against Mexico and did not see playing time in any of the games after that, thus making the Brazilian achievement all that more amazing.

In 1966, Brazil was undergoing lots of political changes, and fielding a soccer team appeared to be the least of their concerns, but as the two-time defending champions, they were pressured into taking a team that was less cohesive than the 1958 or 1962 units, and as a result came home from England without even advancing to the quarter finals.

With internal issues finally put to rest, the national team seemed to have assembled a extremely talented squad for the 1970 Cup, and based on it’s performance, many have labelled the 1970 unit as the greatest futbol team of all-time, and the 1970 World Cup as the greatest of all-time.

Led by captain Carlos Alberto, Jair Ventura Filho (Jairzinho), Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade (Tostao), “Gérson” de Oliveira Nunes, Roberto Rivelino, and of course, Pele, Brazil won their first three games by a combined score of 8-3, in what was considered to be the toughest group once again.

They defeated Czechoslovakia 4-1 in a rematch of the 1962 final, and then took on England in a game titled “the Clash of the Champions,” because of England’s victory in the 1966 World Cup. It was an intense back and forth game, but Brazil emerged victorious on a lone goal by Jairzinho. Romania actually gave the Brazilian squad the best game, and held a lead on Brazil for almost twenty minutes before the squad recovered, winning 3-2.

The squad then soundly defeated upset-minded Peru 4-2 in the quarter finals, and then beat Uruguay 3-1 in the semis in a rematch of the 1950 World Cup final. Brazil faced Italy in the championship game, a match up of the only two nations to have won the World Cup twice.

Pele struck first for Brazil, heading in a cross in the 18^th minute and Brazil maintained the lead for most of the first half. In the 37^th minute, however, Italy tied it up because of a miscue by the Brazilian defense. The game went to halftime tied at one all, and remained tied until the 66^thminute when Gérson punched a goal through. The goal put Brazil up 2-1, and they got two more goals, one by Jairzinho in the 71^st minute, and another by Carlos Alberto in the 86^th to ice the game, allowing Brazil to claim their third World championship since 1958.

The team was looking for a second repeat in 1974, but the retirement of many aging veterans, including Pele, had taken it’s toll on Brazil, and they could manage no better than fourth place.

They fared a little bit better in 1978, defeating Italy to take home a third place finish. In 1982 Brazil was heavily favored, but were upset by Italy and sent home.

In 1986 Brazil swept through match play, and the first quarter final game, but lost to France on penalty shots, completing one of the greatest collapses in Brazilian soccer history.

Brazil managed to win two more World Cups in 1994 and 2002, bringing their total to five, but they never have managed to recreate the amazing run of the team from 1958-1970.

From 1958 to 1970 Brazil won three World Cup championships and capitalized on the talent of international superstars like Pele, Carlos Alberto, Garrincha, Jairzinho, Gérson, Rivelino, Tostao, Didi, Vava, and Bellini, who all did their part to transform Brazil from a promising soccer nation into the world’s biggest futbol juggernaut.

No other country can top this era of performance, even fewer can even imagine what it is like, and probably none ever will match what the soccer club from Brazil, A Selecao, did in that thirteen year period from 1958-1970.

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