In a four-team tournament to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Brazilian FA, England were faced with the daunting task of taking on the host nation in front of well over 100,000 people in the magnificent Maracanã Stadium. For an hour they more than held their own but in the final third of the game they fell to the superb magic of a man called Pelé at his extraordinary best.

England began confidently and with Maurice Norman, Bobby Moore and Ray Wilson in outstanding form they contained the Brazilians in some style. Johnny Byrne showed some lovely touches, although he did miss a couple of good chances from George Eastham's promptings. These were vital misses and probably the key to the eventual downfall of the visitors.

Peter Thompson, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves all performed well and Gordon Milne was always in the thick of the action. But just before the interval, Pelé began to make his mark by setting up the the new brilliant young winger, Rinaldo, to shoot past Tony Waiters. It was a blow for England, losing a goal so close to half-time, especially as they had played their hearts out. But undaunted they came straight back after the interval to equalize through Jimmy Greaves. A typical piece of opportunism gave him his goal.

The next few minutes saw England pushing forward well. Eastham fired in a fine shot, only to see Gilmar push the ball onto the crossbar, and then twice more Byrne and Greaves came within a whisker of snatching the lead. Alas, all this was but a dream as in a devastating 15-minute spell which began on the hour, Brazil, and in particular, Pelé, took the game by the scruff of the neck. The Brazilian legend was unbelievable.

First he fed a pass to Rinaldo again and a cracking left-foot shot left Waiters groping at thin air as the ball flew into the top corner. Before Pelé could inflict more damage, England made a spirited attack that almost brought another equalizer. Thompson's fierce shot was blocked by Gilmar and the ball rebounded to Greaves. The Spurs striker got in a shot but somehow the Brazilians scrambled it from the line. From the clearance, the ball fell at Pelé's magical feet and the number-ten set off on an amazing dribble that went fully 40 yards before he finished off in style with a rasping shot wide of Waiters. It was a memorable goal.

Straight away, George Cohen was fouled as he broke down the right. The free-kick was blocked, Pelé broke away again and gave Julinho the pass to make it 4-1. It must be said that Julinho looked blatantly offside and the free-kick which started it all should never have been awarded as Cohen would have had a vital advantage had the referee played on. But there was no denying the deadly breakaway instigated by Pelé.

The 'Black Pearl' continued to shine brightly and in the last minute the England defence, by now in a desperate state, up-ended Pelé on the edge of the area and from the free-kick Dias chipped in the fifth goal

Though the scoreline slightly flatters Brazil the scintillating play of Julinho, Dias, Gérson, Rinaldo and of course Pelé, was always going to make it tough for England. In the final analysis though the main difference between the sides had to be Pelé. The man was a marvel and on this form he could take on the world. Some of his play was sheer poetry.
  

Alf Ramsey preferred Tony Waiters to Gordon Banks in goal for this 'Little World Cup' tournament match against the world champions. Greaves equalized a first-half goal that Pelé created for Rinaldo, and then midway through the second-half Pelé took over and pulverized England with a purple patch that produced three goals in five minutes. Twice he earned free-kicks just outside the penalty area while dancing through the England defence juggling the ball like a circus performer.  Waiters was completely deceived by swerving free-kicks from Rinaldo and Julinho, and then Pelé contributed a magical goal of his own, pushing the ball through the legs of first Bobby Moore and then Maurice Norman before sending a long-range shot screaming into the net. Dias scored goal number five after Pelé had again confused the England defence two minutes from the end. Jimmy Greaves summed up the feelings of the England players when he said: 'Pelé is on another bloody planet.'
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
____________________

CG