1962 WORLD CUP

CHILE 1962

The 1962 World Cup returned to South America for the first time in 12 years, and Brazil became just the second team in the history of the competition to retain the title. The tournament retained the same format as four years previously in Sweden. There were few surprises when it came to qualifying, and, for once, there were very few high profile withdrawals! There were four seeded teams - Brazil, England, Italy and Uruguay - and goal difference superceded goal average for the first time. When it came to qualifying for the quarter-finals, surprises were few and far between. Uruguay were knocked out by USSR and Yugoslavia, though this was a team in decline and they have never again been the world footballing power of either side of World War Two. Argentina were knocked out on goal difference by England. Italy, the seeded team, were surprisingly dumped out by hosts Chile, in part due to the horrifying spectacle which would become known as 'The Battle of Santiago.' But more on that later. Probably the saddest incident of the tournament was the injury Pele sustained in Brazil's second game against Czechoslovakia. The star that was born in Sweden four years earlier faded slightly as he would not play in the rest of the tournament, but Brazil displayed their awesome strength in depth as Pele's replacement Amarildo, as well as Garrincha, both went on to have fantastic tournaments. The quarter-finals showed that the shift in formation and strategy had put the emphasis more on defence and solidity. But this didn't maken it boring! Chile continued their remarkable run with a surprising win over the miuch fancied USSR, in thanks part to a poor performance from the great keeper Lev Yashin. Brazil defeated England 3-1 in what was the game of the tournament, and which many thought should have been the final. Garrincha's two goals proved the difference, and he was growing in stature as the tournament progressed. The other quarte-finals saw narrow 1-0 wins for Czechoslovakia over Hungary, and, somewhat against the odds, Yugoslavia against West Germany. So that leaves us with the semi-finals - the South American semi-final (Brazil vs Chile) and the Slavic equivalent (Czechoslavkia vs Yugoslavia). They were slightly more free flowing than what had preceeded in Chile. Brazil, who were beginning to look more imperious, did for the hosts, 4-2, with two goals each from Garrincha and Vava. The Chileans did themselves proud, though, and thought gallantly until the end. Czechoslovakia became the surprise package, with a 3-1 victory over fellow Eastern Bloc neighbours Yugoslavia, two late goals from Adolf Scherer, having scored the winner in the quarter-final win over Hungary, proving the difference. Brazil were, not surprisngly, overhwelming favourites in the final. But the Czechs had not read the script. The great Josef Masopust gave the Czechs a surprise lead in the 15th minute, but once Amarildo equalised two minutes later, there was only one winner. Zito and Vava scored the goals to win Brazil win their second World Cup. Their reign would end four years later, in what has been described as one of the greatest events of English history. Ever.

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT - GARRINCHA

Stepped into the mantle left by the injury to Pele, Garrincha became the key figure in Brazil retaining the trophy. He is regarded by some as the greatest dribbler in football history, he relished the chance to step out from Pele's shadow in South Africa. He scored four goals in the wins over England and Chile, but it was his vision and crossing ability that really stood out, as he created a number of important goals. The fact he was a footballer at all was a minor miracle. Born with one leg shorter than the other, this earned him the nickname 'little bird', but did not hinder his footballing ability. Prodigiously talented, his story was not to have a happy ending. Plagued by alcoholism throughout his career, a problem inherited from his father, when his career ended prematurely due to a knee injury, his problems escalated. After a series of financial and marital problems, as well as killig his mother-in-law ina car crash in 1969, he died through alcohol related problems which destroyed his liver in 1983, at the age of just 49. A sad end to a marvellous player.

CONTROVERSY OF THE TOURNAMENT - THE BATTLE OF SANTIAGO

An absolute disgrace from start to finish, and a huge blemish on an otherwise superb effort by Chile, both on and off the field. There were some unwise comments by Italian journalists about Santiago in the lead up to the game. The first foul occured after 12 seconds and it all escalated from there. Italy's Giorgio Ferrini was sent off after 12 minutes, but refused to leave the pitch and had to be dragged off by policemen. English referee Ken Aston decided to overlook a punch by Chile's Leonel Sanchez on Mario David. When David seeked retribution minutes later and kicked Sanchez in the head, Aston brandished another red card. Sanchez immediately punched David again, which again went unpunished. Sanchez continued in his role as pantomine villain, breaking the nose of Humberto Maschio with another punch, which again went unpunished. There were scuffles throughout the remainder of the match, and the police had to intervene three more times. In the midse of all this, there was a football match and Chile won 2-0 with two late goals. But that was practically irrelevant due to what was happening around the action.

GAFFE OF THE TOURNAMENT - KEN ASTON

Maybe slightly harsh, as the match between Chile and Italy was baited with bad blood from the start and was devilishly hard to maintain discipline in. But there appeared to be genuine favouritsm towards the hosts, which can only have riled the Italians. He may have thought if he had sent off a Chilean player there would have been a riot in the crowd, but the situation could barely have gotten any worse. Leonel Sanchez alone earned himself at least three red cards over the course of the match!

HOME NATIONS

England will be disappointed with their performance, just scraping through ahead of Argentina before falling to eventual champions Brazil. That in itself was not a disgrace, but this was a talented England team, with the likes of Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves, and Johnny Haynes, all England legends. But this team definitely laid the foundations for Sir Alf Ramsey and 1966.

GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT

This accolade falls to Amarildo, but the goal owed much to the brilliance of Garrincha, and the showed the world that Brazil wouldn't miss Pele as much as originally feared. It came in the final group game against Spain, and Pele had been injured in the previous game. Garrincha set up the winning goal for Amarildo by dribbling part one defender on the touchline, pausing, before going back and dribbling past the same defender and one of his colleagues, before crossing for his teammate to head the winner.


ENGLAND 1966

And so onto the greatest sporting moment in English sporting history. Fact. In this month's History Today magazine, it has even been referred to as the second greatest event in English history ever, behind the 1066 Battle of Hastings. While that might seem like hyperbole, it has had a huge impact on English heritage, both on and off the field. This team is the benchmark with which all future England teams have been compared with. In the summer of 1966, everything just came together. The qualifying competition for 1962 was fairly seamless, but there were was more controversy and recriminations for the 1966 tournament. 16 African nations withdrew from qualification in protest, as they felt winning the African qualifying zone should have been enough to gain a place in England, but FIFA disagreed - they would have to beat the winners of either the Asian or Oceania zones. But despite the Africans absence, there was a record number of entrants in qualifying - 70. The global football community was growing. The format remained the same as in the previous two editions. The draw for the finals was the first ever to be televised. And again, the shift was more towards defence. The 4-4-2 system was born, and England won the World Cup with Ramsey's 'Wingless Wonders.' England won their group, scoring just four goals and conceding none. Three of these goals came from Liverpool forward Roger Hunt, the forgotten man of England's front-line. Uruguay pipped France thanks to a 2-1 win against the latter in their second match. In the second group, West Germany proved somewhat more expansive, scoring seven goals in their three games. Uwe Seeler and Lothar Emmerich were impressive leaders of the attack, while a young Franz Beckenbauer was emerging as a superb ball playing sweeper, who scored two in the opening game against Switzerland. Argentina joined them in the quarter-finals, but were warned by FIFA over their violent play. The biggest shock of the tournament came in the next group, where Brazil were surprisingly eliminated. Again, Pele was kicked out of the World Cup, this time by Bulgaria and Hungary. But this time, Brazil did not have anyone who stepped up to plate, as Garrincha's best days were behind him and Tostao was incredibly inexperienced. Eusebio was fast proving himself as one of the world's greatest player, his goals eliminating their former colony in the final group game. Hungary joined portugal in the last eight. The biggest upset, however, came in group four. In fact, it was one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. The high-fancied Italy were dumped out by the inheralded North Korea, in their first, and until this summer, only World Cup appearance. The USSR breezed through with three wins, and the Italians only needed a draw in their final game against the Koreans in Middlesbrough. But a goal from Pak Doo-Ik sent Italy home in disgace, to a hailstorm of tomatoes when they returned home. This was another example of world football expanding. The excitement went up a notch in the quart-finals, and none more so than an extraordinary game between North Korea and Portugal. The conquerors of Italy raced into a 3-0 lead after just 25 minutes. But from there, the Asians ran out of steam. Four goals from Eusebio turned the tide and Portugal went on to win 5-3. But the Koreans had done a great deal for Asian football. Only South Korea, when hosting the tournament in 2002, bettered this performance from their local neighbours. West Germany thrashed Uruguay, who were on the way down, 4-0 - Beckenbauer and Seeler were again impressive for the 1954 champions. The USSR continued their impressive run with a narrow win over Hungary, but there was a great deal of controversy in England's quarter-final with Argentina. A tetchy game spilled over in the 35th minute when the Argentinian captain Antonio Rattin was sent off, and then refused to leave the pitch. The first ever sending-off in a Wembley international would be one which was never forgotten. Geoff Hurst came into the team for Jimmy Greaves and scored the winning goal, and kept his place for the rest of the tournament. In the semis, the tournaments outstanding players were pitted against each other in England vs Portugal - Bobby Charlton vs Eusebio. The former won with two superb goals, and Eusebio's penalty reply was not enough to save Portugal. In the other semi, it was equally hard fought. Beckenbauer scored the crucial second goal, cementing his reputation as an outstanding prospect. The Soviets lost 2-1 in the battle of east versus west. So, July 30 1966 turned out to be one of the greatest days in English history. It started in pretty inauspicious fashion for England - a lack of communication between Jack Charlton and Gordon Banks led to Helmut Haller continuing his fine form and giving the Germans the lead. But the lead lasted only seven minutes, when Geoff Hurst headed in Bobby Moore's free-kick in the 19th minute. The game continued in a quiet fashion, until England snatched the lead through Martin Peters in the 77th minute. And he was so close to securing his status as English hero. But it was not to be, as Wolfgang Weber finished off a goalmouth scramble in the 89th minute to agonisingly halt English celebrations. But, if that had not happened, we wouldn't have had one of the most controversial events in world football history. In the 11th minute of extra-time, Alan Ball swung in a cross for Hurst, who swivelled and shot on the turn. The ball smacked off the crossbar, and bounced down on the line. To this day, most are unsure whether it crossed the line or not, but the Soviet linesman, Tofik Bakhramov gave the goal, and made himself an unwitting English hero in the process. The rest, as they say, is history. Geoff Hurst clinched his hat-trick in injury-time in extra-time, to be the only player in history to have that accolade, which remains the case to this day. This also drew the iconic phrase from commentating legend Kenneth Wolstenholme - 'here comes Geoff Hurst. He's got....some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over. It is now.' And that has been repeated in every international competition since, and also became the name of a popular sports quiz show! This all had a huge impact on England - most can recall England's team that day, even those who weren't alive. The nine surviving players from that team will probably be hoping for some English success somewhere down the line, to take some of the focus off themselves! So, here goes: Banks, Cohen, Moore, J.Charlton, Wilson, Ball, Stiles, B.Charlton, Peters, Hunt and Hurst. Eleven men who became English heroes overnight and wrote themselves into history. Or do you think that's a bit too hyperbolic?!

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT - EUSEBIO

As easy as it would be to choose and England player, Sir Alf Ramsey's men was collectively great and stronger than the sum of its parts. Eusebio was the outstanding player in the 1966 World Cup. One of the greatest footballers ever to play the game, he dragged his country to success they would not experience again until the new century, with nine goals and his brilliant forward player. A great finisher with searing pace and athleticism, he became a truly great with a truly great World Cup.

GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT - BOBBY CHARLTON VS. PORTUGAL

The other great player of this World Cup. He clinched the win with his second goal of the game - striding forward from midfield, he launched a long range shot from 30 yards into the top corner, out of the reach of the Portuguese keeper. He was England's brightest star in their glorious summer.

CONTROVERSY OF THE TOURNAMENT

Geoff Hurst's second goal in the World Cupn final. See above!

DISGRACE OF THE TOURNAMENT

England's quarter-final with Argentina was won with a goal from Geoff Hurst, who would become a regular in the side. But it was remembered for all the wrong reasons. Argentina had already been warned about their conduct in the group game against West Germany. The Argentine captain, Antonio Rattin, had been having a running battle with the referee for most of the first-half. He finally got his just rewards for one vicious foul too many. That's where the real problems started. Rattin refused to leave the pitch for ten minutes, and the match descended into farce, and he had to be escorted by several policemen. The match is still called el robo del siglo (the robbery of the century) in Argentina, and a huge football rivalry was born. This of course, would spill off the pitch in the early 1980s, but that's another story.

GAFFE OF THE TOURNAMENT

This award goes to the Italians collectively, for their shambolic display. It all started well enough, with revenge against Chile in their opening game. But they narrowly lost to the USSR, before the much talked about defeat to North Korea. That still ranks as the biggest upset in World Cup history. With players of the quality of Sandro Mazzola, Giacinto Facchetti and Gianni Rivera in their ranks, the Italians should not really have struggled to progress. But that's why we love football!

HERO OF THE TOURNAMENT

The hero of the tournament was undoubtedly Pickles the dog. The famous Jules Rimet trophy was stolen in the build up to the tournament. This led to panic in the higher echelons of FIFA. But disaster was averted by the unlikely figure of Pickles, who discovered the trophy wrapped in newspaper while sniffing some bushes. And thus an unlikely World Cup hero was born.

MASCOT - WORLD CUP WILLIE

World Cup Willie became the first World Cup mascot in 1966. He was the lion, a typical symbol of the United Kingdom, wearing a Union Jack flag emblazoned with the words World Cup. How very British! But England definitely showed that fighting spirit on the pitch!