Early history (1914–1957)
The first match of the Brazil national football team ever is normally believed to be a 1914 match stuck between a Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo select team and the English club Exeter City, held in Fluminense's stadium. Brazil won 2–0 with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, whilst others claim a draw. In contrast to its future achievement, the national team's early appearances were far from brilliant, partly due to an internal strife within Brazilian football associations over professionalism, which rendered the Brazilian Football Confederation unable to field full-strength teams.
In meticulous, disputes between the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro state football federations meant that the team would not be composed of players coming from either of the federations.In both the 1930 and 1934 tournaments, Brazil were knocked out at the very first stage. But 1938 was a sign of things to come, as Brazil ended up in third place, with Leonidas da Silva finishing the tournament as the top scorer of the tournament.
Brazil hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup, which was the first tournament to be held after World War II. It is the only time Brazil has hosted this championship to date (excluding the upcoming 2014 tournament). The 1950 tournament was unique in not having one single final, but rather a final round-robin stage of four teams. However, for all intents and purposes, the deciding match between Brazil and Uruguay acted as that tournament's "final". The match was hosted at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, watched by 199,854 people, and Brazil only needed a draw to win, but lost the match 2–1 after being up 1–0. This match has since been known in South America as the "Maracanazo". In Brazil it is called the "Final Fatídica" ("fateful final").
For the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, the Brazilian team was then almost completely renovated, so as to forget the Maracanã defeat, but still had a group of good players, including Nílton Santos, Djalma Santos, and Didi. Brazil didn't go very far though. The quarterfinals saw the favorites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the ugliest matches in football history, which would become infamous as the Battle of Berne
The Golden Era (1958–1970)
Brazil's coach, Vicente Feola, imposed severe rules on the squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, held in Sweden. The players were given a list of forty things that they were not allowed to do, counting wearing hats or umbrellas, smoking while wearing official uniforms and talking to the press outside of owed times. They were the only team to bring a psychologist to the training camp (because the reminiscences of 1950 still affected some players) or a dentist (for, because of their humble origins, many players had dental problems, which caused them infections and also had negative impact on performance), and had sent a representative to Europe to wristwatch the qualifying matches a year before the tournament had begun.
Brazil were drawn in the toughest group, with England, the USSR and Austria. They beat Austria 3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. The Brazilians had been worried about their match with the USSR, who had exceptional strength and were one of the favorites to win the tournament; their strategy was to take risks at the beginning of the match to try and score an near the beginning goal. Before the match, the leaders of the team, Bellini, Nílton Santos, and Didi , spoke to coach Vicente Feola and persuaded him to make three substitutions which were vital for Brazil to defeat the Soviets and win the Cup: Zito, Garrincha, and Pelé would start playing against the USSR. From the kick off, they passed the ball to Garrincha who beat three players before hitting the post with a shot. They kept up the pressure relentlessly, and after three minutes, which were later described as "the greatest three minutes in the history of football", Vavá gave Brazil the lead. They won the match by 2–0. Pelé scored the only goal of their quarter-final match against Wales, and they beat France 5–2 in the semi-final. Brazil hit the host Sweden, in the final by 5–2, winning their first World Cup and becoming the first nation to win a World Cup title outside of its own continent. A celebrated fact was that Feola would sometimes take naps during training sessions and would sometimes close his eyes during matches, giving the impression that he was asleep. Because of this, Didi was now and again said to be the real coach of the team, as he commanded the midfield.
In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Brazil earned its second title with Garrincha as the star player, a mantle and responsibility bestowed upon him after the regular talisman, Pelé, was injured during the first group match against Mexico and unable to play for the rest of the tournament.
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the preparation of the team was affected by political influences. All the major Brazilian clubs wanted their players included in the Brazilian team, to give them more exposure. In the final months of preparation to the World Cup, the coach Vicente Feola was working with 46 players, of which only 22 would go to England; this caused lots of internal dispute and psychological pressure on the players and managing staff. The result was that, in 1966, Brazil had their worst performance in all World Cups. Another perhaps bigger issue was that Pelé, who possibly had been at the height of his career at this stage, was chopped off at seemingly every opportunity in the group matches.The 1966 tournament was remembered for its excessive physical play, and Pelé was one of the players affected by such play. After becoming the first player ever to score in three World Cups, with a direct free kick against Bulgaria, he had to relax, owing to fatigue, for the match against Hungary, which Brazil lost. He then faced Portugal, and several violent tackles by the Portuguese defenders caused him to leave the match and the tournament. Brazil lost that match and were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup for the first time since 1934. After the tournament, Pelé declared that he did not wish to play in the World Cup again.
Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Brazil fielded what has since then been considered the best association football squad ever, led by Pelé in his last World Cup final, captain Carlos Alberto Torres, Jairzinho, Tostão, Gérson and Rivelino. After winning the Jules Rimet Trophy for the third time, Brazil were allowed to keep it for good.
Brazil’s results in 1970 were as follows:
Group 3: Brazil 4-1 Czechoslovakia Brazil 1-0 England Brazil 3-2 Romania
Quarter-final: Brazil 4-2 Peru Semi-final: Brazil 3-1 Uruguay Final: Brazil 4-1 Italy
Six games, six wins. Jairzinho was second top scorer with seven goals, Pele finished with four goals. Most importantly, Brazil lifted the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy for the third time, which meant they got to keep it. An incredible achievement that no nation has ever equalled. The dominance of the Brazil teams of 1958 to 1970 are the reason we have a different World Cup trophy today. However, it would be 24 years before Brazil got their hands on the new version.
- 1 History
- 2 Olympics
- 3 Nicknames
- 4 Venues
- 5 Colours
- 6 Competitive record
- 7 Players
- 8 Managers
- 9 Honours
- 10 See also
- 11 Notes
- 12 References
- 13 External links
