An historic earthquake failed to destroy Chile’s dreams of hosting the 1962 FIFA World Cup, with a version tarnished by violent roughness, poor goal and Brazilian flight giving it a second golden star, despite Pele’s participation in just two games.
“Since we have nothing, we will do anything.” The Chilean Carlos Dittborn was able to convince the International Federation from 1954 of his poor country’s record, and this defeated Argentina, “ready to host”, with 32 votes against 11, after two versions in Europe.
Dietborn, who served as president of the South American Confederation (CONMEBOL), obtained government support and was appointed head of the Organizing Committee, in parallel with the construction of a stadium with a capacity of 75,000 spectators. But what happened on May 21, 1960, two years before kick-off, was never taken into consideration.
The country was hit by an earthquake measuring 9.5, the most violent of the twentieth century, which killed about 3,000 people and left two million homeless. It destroyed several host cities for the World Cup, such as Concepcion, Talca and Valdivia.
FIFA has threatened to withdraw the organization from Chile, but Dietborn, known for his strong personality, has issued an emotional appeal: “We have nothing left, so we want to host the World Cup.”
Help arrived, but a new chapter stunned the Chileans: a month before the start of the tournament, Dietborn, 38, died of a heart attack!
Battle of Santiago
Maintaining poor Chile’s hospitality did not impress many, especially the Italians, so their press launched a vicious campaign against the “backward” South American country with articles insulting the dignity and honor of its people, which paved the way for the ” Battle of Santiago”.
8 minutes after the match in the first round, which ended in victory for Chile with two late goals, in front of 66,000 spectators who wanted revenge for the humiliation of the Italians, a fight broke out, as a result of which Giorgio Ferrini was expelled, so the match stopped for ten minutes and the Italian only left the stadium after the intervention of the police.
And while the Italian Umberto Mascio broke his nose with an elbow, a new brawl broke out before the break between Lionel Sanchez and the Italian Mario David, which ended with the expulsion of the latter for a kick in the neck of the Chilean .
The fighting was not limited to that match, as Soviet right-back Eduard Dubinsky broke his leg in the clash with Yugoslavia. He died a few years later of complications from his injury.
Brazilian replica
With the participation of 16 teams, including 10 from Europe, four matches ended goalless in the first round, so the goal counter stopped at 89, against 126 in the 1958 edition and 140 in 1954. Brazil also changed plans from 4 From -2-4 to 4-3-3, while the European teams have adopted the “cattenaccio” defensive plan implemented by the Italian club Inter.
Following the “never change the winning team” principle, Brazil were represented in the final against Czechoslovakia by eight players who had played in the 1958 final in Sweden. But the volatility reached the point of adopting almost the same coaching staff, clothing, aircraft and crew, and only 12 players were used during the tournament.
After a promising start for previous edition’s star Pelé and goal against Mexico, he suffered a serious thigh injury in the second against Czechoslovakia which kept him out of the rest of the games.
With Pelé’s injury, the talented Garrincha took over the role of carrying the offensive burden, proving to be more effective and penetrating, as well as scoring four goals with two braces against England (3-1) in the quarter-finals and Chile (4-2 ) in the semifinals.
Englishman John Heinz said of him: “How did he stop an unstoppable player?”, and his compatriot Mauro, after the semi-final, “The fans were behind Chile, but fortunately nobody was able to stop Garrincha”.
The tournament star’s dismissal against Chile after scoring a brace prompted Brazilian Prime Minister Tancredo Neves to petition a FIFA evaluation committee allowing him to play in the final and the crown. The “Uccellino”, together with his compatriot Fava, was one of six players to score four goals and lead the scoring chart.
Chest of steel
But Garrincha was less brilliant in the final against Czechoslovakia, opening the door for Amarildo, Pele’s replacement, so the final ended on the slopes of the Andes in Brasilia 3-1. Pele tried to play but felt terrible pain during training. He went to young Amarildo and said, “God has given you my position. You must live up to this trust.”
As for Fava, nicknamed “Steel Chest” (Beto del Aso) for his physical stamina, he was the only one so far to score in two consecutive finals, as well as one of four players who have scored in two finals with his compatriot Pelé ( 1958 and 1970), the German Paul Breitner (1974 and 1982) and the French Zen Eldin Zidane (1998 and 2006).
Brazilian president Joao Goulart said: “We don’t have rice or bread, but we have Pelé, Garrincha, Amarildo and we’ve kept the cup. That’s the most important thing.” As for the player, Mario Zagallo, he explained: “Our team was so mature and experienced that even in Pelé’s absence nobody was able to disturb us.”
Czechoslovakia, on the other hand, made a surprise by reaching the final, thanks to saves from their goalkeeper, William Shreve, but ironically, his mistakes caused them to lose the final on a pleasant autumn day.
Spanish puskas
The two teams met in the first round and drew 0-0. In the final, Czechoslovakia advanced with an early goal by the athletic “knight” and European best player of that year, Joseph Masopost, but Amarildo countered after two minutes from a difficult angle. In the second half, Zito and Fava added two goals, thus Brazil retained the title.
The 1962 Finals featured a few stars with new teams. After guiding Hungary to the 1954 final, Ferenc Puskas returned from the Spanish international gates, becoming the first European to defend two nations in the final. Argentina’s Alfredo Di Stefano was also close to representing Spain but for his injury, and Uruguayan Alon La Roja brought in Jose Santamaria.
But the final square saw the arrival of hosts, Chile, after beating the Soviet Union champions of Europe with their goalkeeper, the “Black Spider” Lev Yashin 2-1, before being deposited against Brazil , while Yugoslavia knocked out West Germany with a goal before losing to Czechoslovakia 1-3.
Dog Graves and Garrincha
England’s Jimmy Greaves has been associated with one of the most famous incidents against Brazil, when a stray dog stormed the pitch and Garrincha stepped in to stop it to no avail. But the England forward managed it by glaring at the dog to say: ‘The referee stopped the game and nobody was able to lift the dog. I got down on my knees and hands, because I love dogs and I have called. I got warm encouragement from the fans and I picked up the dog, and as I was hugging him, he urinated on my shirt.”
He continued: “In those days we didn’t have any spare shirts, so I smelled bad. At least the Brazilian defenders stayed away from me.”
And while Garrincha decided to take the dog with him to Brazil, naming him “B” (Pichampionship) in connection with Brazil’s second consecutive title, Graves became famous in the “samba” country as “the man who picked up Garrincha’s dog” .
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