1958: Team Tactics And A New System
This tournament – now looked back on nostalgically as marking the end of a simpler, less frenetic era in football – was given to Sweden now that the Swedish Federation had admitted shamateurism and gone over to professional football played by professional footballers. Raynor was called back to take charge. He was a happy manager with a happy team and in this manner Sweden were to scale the heights of World Cup football. Fifty-three nations entered for a place in the finals.
Russia was there for the first time and so was Northern Ireland. France returned with fresh and surprising results. So too did a well-behaved and richly talented Brazilian team, who introduced to the world a young Pele surrounded by names such as Didi, Zito, Garrincha and Zagalo. They also introduced to football a new system, 4-2-4. Here was planned football, four forwards, two midfield players, and four men in defence, a system which as played by Brazil made for entertainment. The footballing world took note. Team tactics were of paramount importance for all the national teams and they were beginning to replace the individual’s exploits on the pitch. This was the beginning of the end of an era.
1958 also marked the end of the great Hungarian team of the past and saw a sadly depleted England. Hungary, the proud and mighty finalists from 1954, had suffered the loss of their key players after the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Some were expatriates – Puskas and Kocsis had exiled themselves. The team that arrived was a parody of the once-great side. Meanwhile, England had been badly hurt by the Munich air disaster in February 1958, when the Manchester United side was decimated. This tragic air crash killed eight key club players, internationals Byrne, Edwards and Taylor amongst them. Matthews and Finney were considered too old and were dropped. Morale, not surprisingly, was low.
France started in devastating form by beating Paraguay 7-3 and eleven goals saw them through to the quarter-finals. Their free-scoring football netted 23 goals altogether in this tournament and their star player Just Fontaine found the target thirteen times. Northern Ireland and Wales reached the knock-out stage of the tournament but England failed 1-0 in a play-off with Russia, Hungary were out but didn’t shame themselves; they won their penultimate match against Mexico 4-0, but lost the play-off against Wales 2-1. Brazil excited the world public and marched confidently to the quarter-finals, and so did little Sweden. The Swedish crowds began to get increasingly patriotic as game after game was won. The nation was beginning to believe Raynor’s promise: ‘We’re slow, but we’ll reach the final’.
The semi-finals arrived and the strong West Germans were there, Brazil danced through, goal happy France arrived and Sweden had mastered the Russians. Now Sweden were to meet the West Germans in Gothenburg. The chants of ‘Heja! Heja! Heja!’ swirled around the stadium, the crowd incited to fervent patriotism by frisking cheerleaders. At half-time the score was I-1 and in the second half Sweden scored twice more. The ‘Tortoise Team’ had won a famous race and reached the final. So did Brazil, who ran riot in a 5-2 victory.
In crowd terms, the final in Stockholm was a quiet affair. The World Cup committee strictly forbade any cheerleaders on the pitch, and the Swedish crowd cowed to the stricture and created little atmosphere for their astonishing team. But on the pitch the match was anything but docile. David was meeting Goliath and within four minutes Brazil were one down, the first time they had been in arrears throughout the competition. The giant tottered, then hit back quickly. At half-time Brazil led 2-1, and in the second half played some wonderfully exciting football. The third goal, by Pele, was breathtaking. Catching a high ball on his thigh in a packed penalty area, he hooked it over his head, swivelled and volleyed past a helpless ‘keeper. Sweden got a consolation second goal but the final result stood at 5-2 — exciting, explosive stuff.
The Swedes were still happy, though, and the Brazilians overjoyed. For the crowd chorusing ‘Samba! Samba!’ the best team had won the World Cup. Brazil’s golden days had arrived at last with the presentation of the Rimet Trophy by FIFA’s new president, Arthur Drewry.
1962: The Cautious Sixties Arrive
A broken country was the host in 1962. Two years earlier, Chile had been torn apart by a series of major earthquakes, and Carlos Dittborn, President of the Chilean Football Federation, was aware of the commercial and political advantages of staging a World Cup competition. He pleaded his country’s case with FIFA, coining the memorable phrase, ‘We must be given the World Cup because we have nothing’. The FIFA Committee sympathised and by 1962 a fine stadium was built in Santiago. Another, smaller but just as good, sprang up on the coast of Vina del Mar. Splendid team quarters were supplied, and overall – against the odds – the organization was first class.
So too was the organization of the main contenders. Travelling, preparation, training and the playing were being planned and examined in detail. Teams were terrified of losing and most countries borrowed each other’s systems and tactics to survive. Less goals were the result, only 89 in 32 matches. Even Brazil became more defensive and adopted a 4-3-3 system; however, they still looked the masters, and arrived sporting Pele, now at 21 undoubtedly the best footballer in the world. Their team also featured Garrincha, the naturally gifted super-forward, Didi, Zagalo and Zito. New players were produced in the central defence and the footballing world knew it would be a very special team that could wrench the World Cup from the holders. Spain arrived with a deal of talent, but little cohesion. Puskas was playing with them now, joining up with di Stefano. England was present, managed by Walter Winterbottom for the country’s fourth tournament. A new team was being built; Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves looked useful talent and the squad had landed excellent quarters in the mountain retreat, Coya.
The West German warriors reached the final sixteen; full of tactics and physically strong, they would be a match for anyone. The giants of football, Russia, Uruguay and Yugoslavia were there, and so was a Hungarian team growing stronger year by year. Of Chile, very little was known. They were to use a 4-2-4 system and had lately achieved worthy results against Hungary. However, as the tournament unfolded, the Chilean streets were to ring out with ‘Viva Chile!’ and the capital was to be galvanised by an impassioned crowd. Russia, Germany and Chile managed eight goals apiece in their approach to the quarter-finals. Brazil slipped easily into their fourth game and beat England 3-1 for a semi-final place. By this time it was apparent that world football had changed; physically tougher all round, the game had become much slower and very defensive.
Chile shocked the tournament and electrified the country with a 2-1 win over Russia. The Czechs were back, tough and fighting for a semi-final place, which they achieved by beating Hungary 1-0. Yugoslavia made up the winning quartet by managing a 1-0 win over West Germany. It was an excellent game, finesse triumphing over muscle and the Slav’s short pass against the German’s long.
Manic support swept across this poor country for the meeting with Brazil in the semi-final. The feverish enthusiasm was to be slapped down by a completely one-sided match. Within thirty-two minutes it was Garrincha two, Chile nil. At half-time it was 2-1 and Chile had edged back into the game, at full-time it was 4-2. Brazil had mastered a team that had fought to stay alive until the last few minutes when Landa, the Chilean forward, followed Garrincha to the dressing rooms. Garrincha had been sent off for retaliating violently to a continual flow of hard tackles. Sadly, as he made his way out of the arena he was struck by a bottle and was badly cut about the head.
At Vina del Mar, a beautiful setting, Czechoslovakia won the other semi-final against Yugoslavia. The favourites in this match were out 3-1. A packed Czech defence preserved their goal in the first half, the forwards doing their stuff in the second.
Thus Brazil played Czechoslovakia again; in Group 3 they had already played a goalless draw. Pele was injured and would Garrincha be allowed to play? Sir Stanley Rous, President of FIFA, informed the media he would. The Czechs went one goal ahead after quarter of an hour, but it was 1-1 at half-time. In the second half Brazil, without Pele and fielding a subdued Garrincha, won the World Cup 3-1. For the second consecutive time they paraded the Rimet Trophy.
A record 53 teams had participated in this world tournament. It was presided over by a greatly admired, firm yet gentle president in Sir Stanley Rous, but the football had not been particularly admirable and was anything but gentle. The desire to win had been overcome by the fear of losing.
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