Brazil Team

England Team

This was carnival-night in Rio, a night of never-to-be-forgotten atmosphere, and at the end of it all England were so unlucky not to have a result to take home with them.

With 125,000 football-crazy people crammed into the magnificent Maracanã stadium, the teams took the field to a crescendo of drums and samba-beat throbbing across the night-air. Rockets were fired and in the distance the floodlit statue of Christ looked down on it all from the top of the Corcovado mountain.

After all the pre-match rituals, the game finally got underway. With 15 minutes gone, England, sensationally, took the lead. A flowing move involving Bobby Moore, Colin Bell, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters ended when Peters's left-wing cross swung into the middle of teh Brazilian penalty-area. Bobby Charlton dived forward and although he missed the ball, it did enough to divert the defenders' eyes and in moved Bell to shoot into the roof of the net.

England then defended superbly for the next 65 minutes. Gordon Banks and Moore were outstanding as the samba rhythm inspiired Brazil to wave after wave of exciting, attacking moves. Alan Mullery, Keith Newton, Tommy Wright, Bell and Alan Ball all worked tirelessly as the whole team showed all the discipline and teamwork that had stood them in good stead for such a long time. Brazil tried everything they knew. Tostão and Gèrson were supreme in midfield and the man they call 'the new Garrincha', Jairzinho, was a constant danger with his long-legged style. Pelé, meanwhile, was simply...Pelé! Although well-covered for much of the game by England, he still managed some magical moments. But despite all this good play, Brazil just could not pull the goal back.

Just after the interval Charlton missed a fine chance and if England had scored then, the victory might have been theirs. Still the visitors held-on comfortably to their precious lead and fought like tigers to preserve it. Tragically, all of their hard work 'went out of the window' with only ten minutes to go when Brazil turned the match 'upside-down'.

When a loose ball spun away from Peters on the edge of the England penalty-area, four players swooped on it. Brian Labone and Mullery were in there, but suddenly Tostão thrust out his left foot and the ball crept slowly past Banks who had for so long been the hero. The crowd went berserk and the musical accompaniment seemed to rise several decibels. England were stunned, but not nearly as stunned as they were to be after Brazil's next attack.

Hardly had the cheers died down when Tostão 'dummied' his way around Newton on the right. A swift, low, diagonal pass across the face of the goal and there was the dangerous Jairzinho lurking in just the right spot to glance the ball past Banks.

So there it was. One minute England were looking forward to all the plaudits of a sensational win and the next it was all over for them as Brazil, quite simply, snatched the game from out of England's grasp.
  

Colin Bell gave England a 1-0 half-time lead and victory hopes were high when Banks saved a penalty from Brazilian skipper Carlos Alberto that briefly silenced the 160,000 crowd in the magnificent Maracana Stadium. Alan Mullery policed Pele so well that he made hardly any impact on the match, but England tired in the final twenty minutes and they were brought to their knees by late goals from Tostao and Jairzinho (a sign of things to come!). Sir Alf Ramsey said after the match: "I am proud of every one of our players. We were so close to a deserved victory. I am delighted with our overall performances on this tour, and it will be of great benefit when we come back next year for the World Cup."
  

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
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CG