by Nick Holt
Uruguay needed to beat Sweden to stay in the tournament and add meaning to the final match. Conceding after four minutes was presumably not part of the plan, but the control and finish from Palmér was excellent. Slowly Varela and Rodriguez Andrade, nephew of the great Jose Andrade, took control of the midfield and gave the forwards more space. Ghiggia, who was proving Uruguay’s most effective player, equalised with an excellent run and a dipping shot. Sweden were ahead again two minutes later when Anibal Paz, deputising for Máspoli, obligingly dropped a cross at Sundkvist’s feet.
The second half of this match was perhaps the moment when Uruguay’s easier schedule did count in their favour. Sweden tired and Uruguay just kept coming at them with their neat little interlocking moves and occasional burst of speed from Ghiggia and the inside-forwards. Neither of the two goals from Omar Míguez that earned them the vital win was noteworthy, both coming from goalmouth scrambles, one of them when Svensson cancelled out that gaffe by Paz by dropping a similar cross for Míguez to ram home.
Sweden’s consolation was third place as they comfortably beat a chastened Spain; they had shown great resolve throughout the tournament and demonstrated what a sound coach English football was missing in George Raynor.
Only three people have silenced the Maracanã with just one movement: Frank Sinatra, The Pope, and me.
Alcides Ghiggia, years after scoring the
winning goal in the 1950 World Cup Final
WORLD CUP FINAL No.4
16 July 1950, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro; 205,000*
Referee: George Reader (England)
Coaches: Flávio Costa (Brazil) & Juan López (Uruguay)
Brazil (2–3–5): Moacyr Barbosa (Vasco de Gama); Augusto da Costa (Cpt; Vasco de Gama), Juvenal Amarijo (Flamengo); José Carlos Bauer (São Paulo), Danilo Alvim (Vasco de Gama), João Ferreira, known as Bigode (Flamengo); Albino Friaça (São Paulo), Thomaz Soares da Silva, known as Zizinho (Bangu), Ademir Menezes (Vasco de Gama), Jair Rosa Pinto (Palmeiras), Francisco Aramburu, known as Chico (Vasco de Gama)
Uruguay (W-M): Roque Máspoli (Peñarol); Matías González (Cerro), Obdulio Varela (Cpt; Peñarol), Eusebio Tejera (Nacional); Schubert Gambetta (Nacional), Victor Rodriguez Andrade (Central); Julio Pérez (Nacional), Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Peñarol); Alcides Ghiggia (Peñarol), Oscar Míguez (Peñarol), Rubén Morán (Cerro)
Before you start emailing my publisher, yes, I do realise it is technically incorrect to refer to this match as a World Cup Final. But in every other sense it was the final of this tournament. It was the last game and the winner would be awarded the trophy; the only difference from any other last game was that a draw would see Brazil crowned champions – let us be thankful the competition wasn’t decided in such an anti-climactic manner.
The entire city of Rio was at fever pitch before the tournament. There was an assumption among press and officials that Brazil would win. Stories abound of presentations to the President being arranged and commemorative coins being hammered out before a ball had been kicked in anger. Thousands crammed into the Maracanã; the official paying figure was just over 170,000 but contemporary photographs suggest more than that packed into this glorious edifice – the noise was deafening.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of football in Brazil, although Alex Bellos, in Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life, tries hard. Bellos claims that twentieth-century Brazilian history is divided into World Cups – a glance at a couple of chapter headings in Brazilian histories is enough to suggest that is a bit over the top. But they are passionate about it, and it is a symbol of national identity and pride, just as Rugby Union is in New Zealand or weightlifting in Turkey. It can be divisive at times – look at the furore over the expenditure on the 2014 tournament, and the accompanying protests – but it is also a great unifier. In 1950 all Brazil was behind the team – but woe betide them if they failed to deliver.
It was inconceivable that Brazil would play for the draw. They had a decent goalkeeper and a couple of rugged tacklers, but their defence was no better than average. Their attackers, on the other hand, were sublime. The right-half, Bauer, was a skilful player as well as a good tackler, and he was the principal feeder to the inside-forwards, Jair and Zizinho. Jair was a powerful runner who liked exchanging quick passes with his colleagues; he would often be the one to inject some urgency into the languid passing moves of the Brazilians; Zizinho was all close control and tricks and flicks, able to go past defenders at close quarters and fire off a shot with no backlift. Both sported the clichéd colonial look of swept-back hair and pencil moustache, as did many of the other South American footballers of the day. Ademir had a large, jutting jaw that made him look fierce, and he was a pretty fearless sort, good in the air and not afraid to give the goalkeeper a hard time under crosses. But it was his finishing that set him apart in this tournament; he adopted a shoot-on-sight policy and was a clean, accurate striker of the ball, usually choosing to hit low and make the goalkeeper scramble. Put through on goal in a couple of games, he seemed to have remarkable composure and time to pick his spot.
The wingers outside them were not the influence they were in later Brazilian teams but they were energetic and had an eye for goal. The best wide player on the pitch, Ghiggia, was playing for the opposition. He was Uruguay’s form player and had scored in all three of their games so far. In contrast to Brazil, their defence was their strength; Máspoli was the tournament’s best goalkeeper, Tejera was a limpet-like marker, Varela was dominant and composed and the half-backs Gambetta and Andrade could tackle. Gambetta did not look like an athlete; slightly tubby and prematurely lined, he looked like someone’s dad who had sneaked onto the pitch for a dare. The prompter in chief was Juan Alberto Schiaffino, a stick-thin sliver of a man who glided through the midfield with the ball glued to his feet. The other inside-forward Pérez was a worker, another who added grit to the Uruguayans when they were defending.
And did they have some defending to do. The Brazilians came at them in waves, urged on by the vast crowd. Uruguay defended in numbers; Varela truly did play as a centre-half, rarely venturing forward in the way he liked, while the two halfbacks sat tight on Zizinho and Jair. Brazil had chances – reports claim thirty shots on goal, but many of these were overambitious – but few were clear cut. Ademir might have twice done better in the first half but shot straight and hard at Máspoli and didn’t get enough power on a rare clean header after escaping Tejera’s clutches for once. Half-time arrived with no score – Uruguay at least knew they weren’t going to be steamrollered like Sweden and Spain.
Only two minutes into the second half Ademir feinted to turn but released the ball instead to Friaca, cutting in from the right wing. The São Paulo winger chose a fine moment to score his first international goal, scudding the ball into the far corner when Máspoli seemed to expect a drive for the near post. The decibel level in the stadium soared, if that were possible, and you could sense the dissipation of tension as if a valve were released. Everything was going to be fine.
That illusion lasted almost twenty minutes. Uruguay hadn’t read the script; having conceded, they were supposed to bow before the invincible champions. Instead, they upped their game. Varela, an awesome professional and terrific leader, started to step out from the back and Andrade started to press forward behind Schiaffino allowing the playmaker to go walkabout a little more. Uruguay had worked out that Ghiggia had the beating of stocky Bigode, and that he wasn’t frightened of the clattering the Brazilian had handed out to previous opponents. Schiaffino concentrated on feeding the ball to the right instead of to the debutant (in a World Cup Final!) Morán on the left, and Ghiggia did his thing. Three or four times he teased and tormented Bigode before sprinting past on the outside; finally Schiaffino timed his run into the box to get on the end of the cross and the ball flew high and handsome past Barbosa.
The Brazilians later stated that the stunned reaction of the Maracanã crowd did them more damage than the goal. The doubts of the audience transferred
to the pitch and the game was up for grabs. Brazil were just getting back into it when Ghiggia got past Bigode again, this time played in by Pérez. Brazil had done nothing to compensate for the gaping hole on their left side and no one stepped across to cover Bigode, so Ghiggia just kept on going. Instead of crossing as he done three or four times already, he hit a low shot to the unguarded near post, almost passing the ball into the goal. There were ten minutes left and Brazil needed a goal. They made some half chances and Máspoli made one last good sprawling save from a Jair shot, but Brazil had lost the belief and lost the crowd, and they lost the game. The Maracanã (and the nation) was heartbroken. They would need to wait sixty-four years for another shot at redemption on their own turf.
Reports state that Jules Rimet, the guest of honour, had a speech in his pocket congratulating Brazil on their victory; let’s hope the FIFA President was able to extemporise. It was the end for most of this generation of Brazilian stars; only Bauer of the starting XI in the Maracanã made the squad for the next tournament. One other thing would never be the same again; Brazil dropped the white shirts with a blue neckline, believing them cursed after this defeat. They went instead for yellow.
“We won because we won, no more . . . if we had played a hundred times we would have won only that one.”
Uruguay captain and leader, Obdulio Varela,
reflects later on the match
In an unsavoury coda to the defeat, the Brazilian press focused on the “poor contribution” of the black players in the team – goalkeeper Barbosa, one of the best in the world, was picked out for particularly harsh treatment. It was a hangover from colonial days that took a while longer to tackle – only with the establishment of Pelé and his golden generation of black players did a truer sense of acceptance arrive.
World Cup Heroes No.5
Alcides Ghiggia (1920–)
Uruguay
Ghiggia, with his distinctive sunken cheeks and round shoulders, is one of the forgotten greats of the World Cup. He only won twelve caps, four of them in this tournament, but he was Uruguay’s key weapon in the attacking third. Whippet thin and whippet quick, Ghiggia had an astonishing change of pace from a hunched run with the ball to a sudden sprint past a defender.
He played for Peñarol alongside Schiaffino, hence their fabulous understanding, and won the league title in 1949 and 1951. Part of the reason he won so few caps was a ban for attacking a referee – a slightly out of character act for a quiet, if determined, man. The other reason was a move to Italy – perhaps prompted by the ban – to start an eight-year spell with AS Roma. The Uruguay World Cup squad of 1954 featured only players still resident in Uruguay. Like many others, Ghiggia took citizenship of his adopted country and became one of the oriundi while at Roma, winning five caps for Italy.
Ghiggia is the oldest surviving World Cup winner and it is hoped that he will appear at the Maracanã again in 2014, having survived a head-on collision with a lorry in 2012 (aged eighty-six) – that’s a tough old boy.
1950 Team of the Tournament: 2–3–5
Máspoli (Uruguay)
Tejera (Uruguay) Nilsson (Sweden)
Bauer (Brazil) Varela (Uruguay) Rodríguez Andrade (Uruguay)
Ghiggia (Uruguay) Zizinho (Brazil) Ademir (Brazil) Schiaffino (Uruguay) Basora (Spain)
Leading scorers: Ademir (8); Míguez (5); Basora, Zarra, Chico, Ghiggia (4)
Official Team of the Tournament: Máspoli (Uruguay); Parra (Spain), Nilsson (Sweden); Rodríguez Andrade (Uruguay), Bauer (Brazil), Varela (Uruguay); Ghiggia (Uruguay), Zizinho (Brazil), Ademir (Brazil), Schiaffino (Uruguay), Jair (Brazil).
Heaven Eleven Features
Just for fun (and because we can), I have selected, along with a panel of global football experts, some all-time sides to contest a Fantasy World Cup (post-war players only). Seven of the eight winners get a team – Uruguay get help from the other South Americans apart from Brazil and Argentina, as their recent history has been less glorious. Holland also get an entry as the only team to lose three finals, and to have underachieved with such consistency.
The rest of Europe is divided into five teams: Scandinavia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union and a Mediterranean team, with some help from North Africa. There is also a British Isles team and a Rest of the World team.
I’ve stuck to post-war players – so hard to compare otherwise.
Heaven Eleven No.1
Uruguay & South America (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela)
Coach:
Juan López: coach of the Uruguay side that won in 1950 and beat England in 1954
Goalkeepers:
René Higuita (Col): just for a giggle, I am aware he wasn’t actually that good
José Luis Chilavert (Par): you never know when a game might go to penalties . . .
Roque Máspoli (Uru): a top goalkeeper, best in his day along with Grosics of Hungary
Defenders:
Iván Cordóba (Col): hold down a centre-back spot at Inter for a decade and you ain’t a mug
Carlos Gamarra (Par): played the 2002 World Cup without conceding a foul and outstanding at the Olympics two years later Hector Chumpitaz (Per): put in a couple of almost Beckenbauer-like performances in 1970
Elías Figueroa (Chi): classy, played mostly in Uruguay and Brazil so missed a lot of caps
Obdulio Varela (Uru): the captain and tank in the 1950 winning team, a veritable one-man army, could play at centre-back or as a holding player
Maxi Pereira (Uru): exciting wing-back, a real star of 2010
José Santamaria (Uru): pedestrian for Portugal in the early 1960s but in his youth for Uruguay he was an imposing presence
José Navarro (Chi): captain of the 1962 team, unavailable for the semi-final when Garrincha roasted his replacement
Midfield & Wide:
Freddy Rincón (Col): more urgent and effective than his countryman Valderrama and less likely to be left a passenger against high-tempo opposition
Teófilo Cubillas (Per): Peru’s greatest, and one of South America’s greatest; fantastic passing ability and a rocket shot Eliado Rojas (Chi): the tough guy in midfield in Chile’s 1962 team; here for balance, because he could pass better than most enforcers
Enzo Francescoli (Uru): Zidane’s favourite player, he was a solitary beacon in a grim era for Uruguay
Juan Schiaffino (Uru): the twig-like inside-forward who inspired his side in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups
Alcides Ghiggia (Uru): blisteringly quick right-winger – his career for Uruguay was curtailed when he defected to Italy
Juan José Muñante (Per): another speedster, part of the Peru team that destroyed Scotland in 1978 – inconsistent but lethal
Arsenio Erico (Par): Paraguay’s best creative player, he played in the 1930s and 1940s and became the Argentinian league’s highest ever goalscorer during his years with Independiente
Strikers:
Victor Ugarte (Bol): Bolivia’s solitary world-class player in an era where they struggled in the main; scored twice against Brazil to clinch their shock 1963 Copa América win
Iván Zamorano (Chi): successful in Spain and Italy, and a consistent and passionate performer for his country
Marcelo Salas (Chi): just sneaked in ahead of Carlos Caszely on his World Cup record – I wanted Caszely in because he was one of the few public figures to openly oppose Pinochet’s government, but I couldn’t really justify it!
Diego Forlán (Uru): one of the great workhorses and hold-up players of the modern game; one of the few players from whom Alex Ferguson didn’t get the best
Omissions: Carlos Caszely (Chi, see above); Carlos Valderrama (Col, see above); Hugo Sotil (Per, another top attacking player in the 1970s team); Luis Suárez (Uru – he and I wouldn’t get on); Óscar Míguez (Uru) – the punchy, direct goalscorer in the great 1950s Uruguay side
Strengths: Excellent central defenders, good creative midfield players
Weaknesses: Lack of outstanding
full-backs, lack of power up front
Likely first XI:
Máspoli
Santamaria Figueroa Cordóba Pereira
Rojas
Cubillas Schiaffino
Ghiggia Francescoli
Zamorano
2.2 WORLD CUP 1954
This was a good one. Brutal, occasionally, one famous game in particular, but a good tournament with some terrific football, a ton of goals and an unexpected outcome. Switzerland had eight years to prepare, having been the only country to put their name forward in 1946; it made sense, they had suffered less depredations during the war than most European countries. If there was any resentment, it was that they had done rather well out of their neutrality.
Switzerland had good stadiums, all holding more than 50,000, in Basle, Berne and Lausanne, while smaller grounds in Zurich, Lugano and Geneva would be used in support. The final was earmarked for the 50,000 Wankdorf Stadium in Berne. No tittering at the back, please. One can assume everything ran on time – they’re good at timekeeping, the Swiss. Actually they are, it’s a national stereotype for a reason.
Qualifying
Qualification went pretty much to plan. The only minor shock in Europe was the elimination of 1950 semi-finalists Sweden by Belgium, but Sweden were being stubborn about not picking their Italian-based professional stars and were hugely weakened by their absence. Once again the British Home Internationals served as a qualifying group with two places up for grabs; this time Scotland didn’t get sniffy about qualifying in second place. Maybe the trip to Switzerland was more appealing than crossing the Atlantic by boat. England won all three matches easily, but a better assessment of their standing came in two friendlies against Hungary.
