An astonishing save by Gordon Banks from a header by Pele inspired England and found its way into the land of footballing legend. The game was staged in the heat of the mid-day sun on a scorching Sunday that was ideally suited for a siesta rather than soccer.  Only mad dogs and footballers would have gone out in such sweltering 98-degree conditions, and at a thin-air altitude that made walking let alone running a challenge. The match was just ten minutes old and goalless when the master of all strikers - Pele - came face to face with a genius among goalkeepers - Gordon Banks - in a High Noon duel. Carlos Alberto, Brazilian right-back and captain, pushed a carefully calculated pass down the right wing into the path of the skilled Jairzinho, who suddenly and dramatically accelerated past Terry Cooper to the by-line. He then stabbed a centre into the goalmouth that seemed to hang invitingly for Pele, who had instinctively read the situation as only he could. He had got himself perfectly positioned beyond his marker Alan Mullery to meet the ball.  The master climbed above the ball and headed it with ferocious power down - and so he thought - into the net. Mullery later reported that Pele shouted 'Goal!' as the ball flew off his head. So did most spectators in the stadium, including the commentators sending their descriptive phrases around the world to millions of television viewers and radio listeners. Banks looked rooted on the wrong side of goal but suddenly, with the blurring speed of a panther, sprinted and then dived to his right and somehow managed to get an outstretched hand under the ball to flick it up and away over the bar. Pele stopped dead in mid-celebration to mourn what had somehow become a missed chance. This moment of astounding gymnastics from Banks inspired England to give the eventual world champions their hardest match of the tournament, but after a magnificent battle they finally succumbed to a superbly drilled shot by Jairzinho on the hour. He cut in from the right to score after an arrowing Tostao pass and a deft, perfectly delivered pass from Pele had ripped open the middle of the England defence. Jeff Astle had a gilt-edged chance to equalise within moments of coming on as a substitute but - yes, even in those heatwave conditions  - he was caught cold and shot tamely wide.  A lasting memory of the match for all those lucky enough to have witnessed the classic confrontation is of Bobby Moore and Pele cuddling each other before swapping jerseys, two masters of the game recognising each other's genius. Evidence that the England players had given their all is that several of them lost up to ten pounds in weight after running round in the mid-day sun so that the World Cup organizers could satisfy the deadline demands of the great god of world-wide television. The millions tuned into the match will always recall it for having seen one of the saves of the century.

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Actual TV footage, courtesy of ESPN
Official FIFA Match Report
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