Greatest World Cup Matches: Brazil-Italy (1970)

Expectations to Brazil, who had been outstanding during the entire tournament, were huge before the final, where the somewhat cynical Italians would nevertheless not be an easy task.
Brazil was coached by Mario Zagallo, who had played in the 1958-world champions side in Sweden. He had taken over the team after the previous coach, João Saldanha, had resigned amid pressure to include some of the immensely talented players on the Brazilian team. This did not seem to affect Zagallo, who put an extraordinary team together.
Of course, most outstanding among the stars was Pelé, who 29-years old was about to play his last World Cup, also the crowning achievement of his career. Other players were: the Botafogo striker Jairzinho, who had scored in every match of the tournament (and scoring in the final, he is one of only three players, the other being Alcides Ghiggia and Just Fontaine, to have done this); the São Paulo midfielder Gerson, who was and still is considered one of the best passers of all time; the captain of the team, Carlos Alberto, perhaps the best defender in Brazilian football ever; the outstanding left-winger with the powerful left-foot (Mexican fans in the tournament had dubbed him “Patada Atómica”) Rivelino, from Corinthians, who is today ranked as the fourth best Brazilian player of all time (after Pelé, Zico and Garrincha); Tostão, from Cruzeiro, a prolific goalscorer with outstanding passing abilities.
The team is arguably the best national team in the incredible history of Brazilian football.
In spite of being the underdogs, Italy, defending European champions, had a very strong team centered around AC Milan’s Gianni Rivera, an incredibly strong and well-organised defense, and some powerful strikers in Cagliari’s Gigi Riva and Inter’s Roberto Boninsegna. Their way to the final had nevertheless not been overly impressive with two 0-0 ties against Israel and Uruguay and a 1-0 win against Sweden. Italy had then defeated the home side of Mexico 4-1 in the quarterfinals, and then West Germany 4-3 in the semifinals in a memorable extra-time drama. The Italians had not been overly popular for their defensive style, and most fans in the full Azteca Stadium were most eager to see the Brazilian attacking machine in action.
The match was more than a match for the world championship: both teams could get their third win, and thus get the Jules Rimet trophy for good.
The game between the two different styles of football started as was expected, with Brazil attacking and the Italians defending, hoping to get a lucky strike and defend. However, after 18 minutes Brazil took the lead by what is probably Pelé’s most famous goal: after a throw-in, Rivelino crossed the ball into the area from the left side, and Pelé rose majestically above the Italian defenders and headed downwards, not giving goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi a chance for catching the ball. This was Brazil’s 100th world cup goal ever, and had brought Brazil one step closer to the Jules Rimet trophy.
Although the Italians now had to attack, they patiently waited for their chance, and after 37 minutes it came; Clodoaldo clumsily made a back-heel pass that caught the Brazilian defense off guard, and a quick Roberto Boninsgna caught the ball, and alone with the goalkeeper Felix, equalized for Italy.
It was not a well-deserved goal, but Italy had shown that they could not be underestimated as the result held until halftime.
Italy continued defending in the second half, but this time the Brazilians made no mistakes in their continuous attacking. Twenty minutes into the second half Gerson scored a beautiful goal with a powerful shot outside the area, and only five minutes later a high ball into the Italian area was picked up by Pelé, who headed it on to Jairzinho, who pressed by an Italian defender nevertheless managed to push the ball into goal.
After this the result was clear: the tired Italian players had little response to the Brazilians, who made no mistakes and instead continued attacking. Only four minutes before the end of match beautiful Brazilian combinations ended with Pelé, who without looking up somehow saw Carlos Alberto coming from behind in full speed into the Italian penalty box; Pelé set up the ball perfectly for the Brazilian captain, who with a precise and hard shot made it 4-1 for what was undoubtedly the best team in the world, and playing a style of football that captivated the entire world.
Brazilian coach Mario Zagalo had become the first man ever to become world champion as player and as coach, while Pelé had won his third title, sealing his status of one of the greatest football legends of all time. Brazil had become an outstanding world champion, and won the Jules Rimet trophy for their permanent ownership (in 1983 the trophy was stolen from the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters, and has never been recovered).

Match Stats:

• 21st June, 1970, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
• Attendance: 107,000
• Referee: Rudi Gloeckner (West Germany)

Brazil-Italy 4-1
Goals: 1-0 Pelé (18). 1-1 Bonninsegna (37), 2-1 Gerson (65), 3-1 Jairzinho (70), 4-1 Carlos Alberto (86)

Teams:
Brazil: Felix, Carlos Alberto, Brito, Piazza, Everaldo, Clodoaldo, Gerson, Jairzinho, Tostao, Pelé, Rivelino
Italy: Albertosi, Cera, Burgnich, Bertini (Juliano), Rosato, Domeghini, Mazzola, de Sisti, Bonninsegna (Rivera), Riva

Greatest World Cup Matches: West Germany-Italy (1970)

West Germany entered the 1970 World Cup in Italy with a strong team of quite experienced players. Among them was Franz Beckenbauer, who only 25 years old already was one of the most experienced and established players in international football. The team was still captained by the legendary Uwe Seeler, who was playing his last World Cup, while the Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller had seemed unstoppable, scoring seven goals in the first three matches, which the Germans won against Peru, Bulgaria and Morocco.
In the quarterfinals West Germany had played England, in a repeat of the 1966 final. This time though, the Germans were better prepared against an English team that was arguably better than it had been in 1966, but was apparently not well-adapted to the intense Mexican atmosphere. Also, Coach Alf Ramsey made obvious tactical changes when England could have carried the match away. In the end, West Germany won 3-2 after extra time, on a Gerd Müller goal.
This was only the second time England lost to West Germany, and as has happened so much since, the English swam over in references to the war.
Italy had not had good results for the World Cup for many years, but under coach Feruccio Valccareggi had built up a very strong team playing the reputed “Catenaccio” style, around a highly organised and very strong defense. The midfield led by AC Milan’s Gianni Rivera (who and 1969 had won the “Balon d’or” as best player of the year), and with powerful strikers, notably Gigi Riva from Cagliari (who is still the most scoring player in the history of the Italian national team). In 1968 Italy had won the European championship and was surely one of the best teams of the world at the time.
However, the Italians were not popular for their “catennaccio” style after their first round matches where they tied 0-0 with Uruguay and Israel, and defeated Sweden 1-0. In the quarterfinals they had nevertheless shown their attacking power against the hosts of Mexico, and won 4-1, and were now ready to the semifinal, where the winner would play the winner between Brazil and Uruguay.
The match in from of a full Azteca Stadium started well for the Italians: only eight minutes into the match the Inter striker Roberto Boninsegna got a return ball at the edge of the German area and resolutely shot and scored.
After this, Italy pulled back around its strong defense, and while the Germans had the ball the most, they were unable to open up the defense. It was frustrating for the many spectators as well as for the German players, to see the German team in possession and attacking, but unable to score. In particular Franz Beckenbauer was playing a strong match, and in the second half he dislocated his shoulder in a fearless tackle. However, unwilling to be substituted, the Bayern Munich star continued playing with a bandaged shoulder for the remainder of the match for what must have been a very painful sacrifice.
In the 90th minute of the match, the frantic German attacks finally paid off when the AC Milan defender Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (”Volkswagen”) suddenly found himself alone in front of the Italian goal on a cross by Jurgen Grabowski, and just had to put the foot on the ball, that went straight into the net. It was one of the few mistakes that the well-organized Italian defense had made.
West Germany had equalized and now seemed to have everything going for them as the match went into extra time.
Only four minutes later, Gerd Müller took advantage of a misunderstanding between the goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi and the defender Fabrizio Pelotti; when either decide to grab the ball, Gerd Müller quickly got in between them and squeezed the ball into goal for a German lead.
With the match completely turned on its head, it was now Italy’s turn to start attacking against the partly amputated German defense, and only four minutes later the Inter defender Tarcisio Burgnich scored after receiving a bounced off ball from a German defender. Another defensive mistake had equalized it for the Italians, who nevertheless continued attacking after the goal. At the end of the first half of the extra time, Gigi Riva was given too much space at the edge of the German area, and in spite of it not being a very hard shot, it was well-placed towards the far corner of the goal, and Sepp Maier had no chance.
The match had in fifteen minutes turned around twice!
Again it was West Germany’s time to attack as the teams went into the last fifteen minutes of the match, and after only a few minutes Gerd Müller scored to 3-3 on a header.
But the Italians, immediately when putting the ball into play, scored again, without the Germans even touching the ball: Boninsegna crossed the ball to a Gianni Rivera and the Milan striker made no mistake when carefully placing the ball perfectly behind Sepp Maier!
Anything seemed possible in this crazy semifinal, but it was the last goal of the extraordinary drama which Italy won 4-3 and put them in the World Cup final against Brazil.
An anecdote of this match tells that the guards at a prison near Acapulco, absorbed in the dramatic match on TV, didn’t notice the escape of 23 prisoners…
Surely one of the greatest World Cup dramas!

Match Stats:

• 17th June 1970, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
• Attendance: 102,000
• Referee: Arturo Yamasaki Maldonado (Peru)

West Germany-Italy 3-4 (After extra time)
Goals: 0-1 Boninsegna (8), 1-1 Schnellinger (90), 2-1 G. Muller (94), 2-2 Burgnich (98), 2-3 Riva (104), 3-3 G. Muller (110), 3-4 Rivera (111)

Teams:
West Germany: Maier; Schnellinger, Beckenbauer, Schulz, Vogts, Seeler, Overath, G. Muller, Patzke (Held), Loehr (Libuda), Grabowski
Italy: Albertosi; Burgnich, Facchetti, Cera, Rosato (Poletti), Bertini, Riva, Domenghini, Mazzola (Rivera), De Sisti, Boninsegna