Maracanazo redemption and la joga bonito

WORLD CUP 2014

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ENGLAND may have invented modern day football, but it is said that the Brazilians perfected it. That is why this World Cup is surely going to be the most special of all time.

Brazil has been aching for another chance at hosting the World Cup since the very day after its first one ended.

And that is because it ended, 64 years ago, with the Maracanazo - a word which no doubt still sends a shiver down the spine of any Brazilian old enough to remember it.

It was Brazil's first appearance in a World Cup final. But, roared on by a home crowd of almost 200,000 in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, the hosts were expected to win against their fellow South Americans, Uruguay.

The final indeed began as the form book had predicted with Brazil on the front foot and the Uruguayans defending.

Nevertheless, it took until two minutes after half time for Brazil to take the lead when Friaça hit a low shot past the goalkeeper.

There had been some controversy to the goal, though, with Uruguayan captain Obdulio Varela claiming Friaça had been offside.

Valera dragged out his argument, with the English referee George Reader even seeking the assistance of an interpreter - and, by the time the game resumed, the noisy crowd was rather more settled.

Gradually, Uruguay began to take control of the game and, realising Brazil's biggest weakness was its defence, they went on the attack.

The equaliser came on 66 minutes when Juan Alberto Schiaffino converted Alcides Ghiggia's centre - and then, with 11 minutes left, came the winner from Ghiggia himself.

The remainder of the game was played out in almost complete silence, the Brazilian crowd unable to believe quite what was happening.

Indeed, so ingrained was the memory of the eerie atmosphere, that match-winner Ghiggia later commented: "Only three people have ever silenced 200,000 people at the Maracanã with a single gesture: Frank Sinatra, John Paul II and me."

It was a national disaster for Brazil, matched only by the death of three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna years later in 1994.

Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues explained later exactly what the Maracanazo meant to his country: "Everywhere has its irremediable national catastrophe, something like Hiroshima.

"Our catastrophe, our Hiroshima, was the defeat by Uruguay in 1950."

Former FIFA president and originator of the World Cup, Jules Rimet, had said at the time: "The silence was morbid, sometimes too difficult to bear."

And that was in fact the case, with some supporters even committing suicide. Yes, while football should never be more important than life or death, on that occasion it clearly, sadly was.

Even still now, the final is repeatedly revisited with a morbid sense of fascination.

As writer Alex Bellos notes in his excellent read Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life, "The match has spawned a thriving literary genre", including a best-seller in Brazil by Paulo Perdigão called Anatomia de uma Derrota ('The Anatomy of Defeat').

But, the pain of the Maracanazo is more than a few books - it has affected the nation's psyche, as Bellos goes onto explain.

"Unable to admit that maybe Uruguay were a better team, the idea emerged it was somehow deserved - that the Brazilians were naturally a defeated people," he writes.

"A victory would have vindicated Brazil's national optimism and euphoria. The defeat reinforced a sense of inferiority and shame."

Of course, there has already been some redemption - plenty of it, in fact.

Brazil, the only country to play at every single World Cup, has since become the competition's most successful competitor with five wins, including three in 12 years between 1958 and 1970.

It also produced a team in 1982, considered alongside Hungary in 1954 and the Netherlands in 1974, as the best never to win the World Cup.

But that failure 32 years ago could not be compared to the Maracanazo. For a start, the defeat to eventual champions Italy was abroad and it also came in spite of the Brazilians sticking to its principle of la joga bonito.

La joga bonito is what Pele calls 'The Beautiful Game' - and, certainly, the Brazil sides of the Pele era played it, with the 1970 success culminating in perhaps the greatest World Cup goal of time by Carlos Alberto.

Although, by contrast, the 1982 campaign would end in defeat to an Italian side inspired by a Paulo Rossi hat-trick, the team featuring Socrates, Zico and Falcao are still very much admired.

Bellos writes: "Despite its failure to win a title, the Class of 82 is remembered more fondly than any other since 1970 - much more, unquestionably, than the 1994 champions when victory was bittersweet since the team played defensively and won on penalties."

"In 1982, Brazil were Braziiiil; they looked like they played for pure enjoyment."

Hopefully, we will get to see some of that this summer, for only an unlikely England victory would please me more than watching Brazil indulge properly in la joga bonita.

It seems unlikely to come to pass, however - not while Luis Felipe Scolari is coach, at least.

That is not to say that Scolari will not be successful - after all, he has already won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002.

But Scolari, perhaps understandably in the modern day, favours a pragmatic approach of getting results by defending from the front rather than just allowing his attackers to find their own way.

Of course, with players like Neymar and Oscar in the team, there will surely be flashes of brilliance.

However, Scolari's sole concern will be that, whatever happens, the team produces enough to win a sixth world title.

After all, the thought of him allowing another Maracanazo - to Lionel Messi and Argentina or to Luis Suarez and Uruguay again... put simply, is actually unthinkable.

WORLD CUP: ROLL OF HONOUR

	Hosts	Winners				Top scorer(s)
1930	Uruguay	URUGUAY	4-2	ARGENTINA		Stabile (8)
1934	Italy	ITALY	2-1	CZECHOSLOVAKIA	aet	Nejedlý (5)
1938	France	ITALY	4-2	HUNGARY		Leônidas (7)
1950	Brazil	URUGUAY	2-1	BRAZIL		Ademir (8)
1954	Switzerland	WEST GERMANY	3-2	HUNGARY		Kocsis (11)
1958	Sweden	BRAZIL	5-2	SWEDEN		Fontaine (13)
1962	Chile	BRAZIL	3-1	CZECHOSLOVAKIA		Garrincha, Vava, Sanchez, Jerkovic,  Albert, Ivanov (4 each)
1966	England	ENGLAND	4-2	WEST GERMANY	aet	Eusebio (9)
1970	Mexico	BRAZIL	4-1	ITALY		Muller (10)
1974	West Germany	WEST GERMANY	2-1	NETHERLANDS		Lato (7)
1978	Argentina	ARGENTINA	3-1	NETHERLANDS	aet	Kempes (6)
1982	Spain	ITALY	3-1	WEST GERMANY		Rossi (6)
1986	Mexico	ARGENTINA	3-2	WEST GERMANY		Lineker (6)
1990	Italy	WEST GERMANY	1-0	ARGENTINA		Schillachi (6)
1994	United States	BRAZIL	0-0	ITALY	aet. 3-2 on pens	Stoichkov, Salenko (6)
1998	France	FRANCE	3-0	BRAZIL		Suker (6)
2002	Korea/Japan	BRAZIL	2-0	GERMANY		Ronaldo (8)
2006	Germany	ITALY	1-1	FRANCE	aet. 5-3 on pens	Klose (5)
2010	South Africa	SPAIN	1-0	NETHERLANDS	aet	Forlan, Muller, Sneijder, Villa (5 each)