WFI‘s Adam Brandon counts down to Russia 2018 with 90 World Cup goals in 90 days, scored in the minute corresponding to the day in the countdown.
Context
After failure at the 1966 World Cup in England, Brazil went into Mexico ’70 determined to win the Jules Rimet trophy for the third time.
Carlos Alberto, who was surprisingly left out of the final squad in ´66, formed part of a side that trained harder and were better prepared for this World Cup than any team before them.
Every player in the Seleção had boots specially designed for them. The kit, which glistened under the Mexican sun, had been redesigned to deal with the heat and humidity.
They cruised to the final playing wonderful football, and the fact this was the first World Cup being broadcast in colour gave them increased iconic status.
The final against Italy was billed as the best attack against the best defence.
The Goal
The Brazilians were already 3-1 up, a scoreline that reflected their superiority. It was their captain and right back Carlos Alberto who finished off one of the greatest team goals of all-time.
What Happened Next?
Brazil’s ”Team of the Century” was broken up during the seventies and they were on the end of a football lesson from the Netherlands four years later.
It would take them 24 years to win football’s greatest prize again despite sending two very talented sides to World Cups during the eighties.
For winning it three times, Brazil got to keep the Jules Rimet trophy. However, it was stolen during the late 1970s and has never been recovered and probably never will.
It’s suspected that it was melted down for its value in gold.
Carlos Alberto tried his hand at management but it didn’t work out. He had a son, Alexandre Torres, that had an unremarkable career in Brazil and Japan but did somewhat surprisingly manage to win 1 cap for Brazil.
Extras
Diagram artwork of the goal here
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