The mighty Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro is a special place. It was built for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and it is the biggest stadium the world has ever seen. But, there are people that say bad memories haunt the corridors – reminders of a day the nation would rather forget. Brazil was chosen to host the first World Cup after the war, and at the time, the host nation had a brilliant squad – one that could be expected to win the tournament, and everyone in Brazil genuinely thought they would. Wearing their original all white kit, they flattened Sweden 7-1, and crushed Spain 6-1 in their group. Uruguay, meanwhile, had struggled, managing only a draw and a narrow win. With the two sets of results compared, the final game seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

 

Brazilian midfielder Zizinho states that before the final match, he signed 2,000 autographs with “Brazil, Champions of the World.” 22 gold medals had already been forged with the Brazilian’s names on them. They mayor of Rio had already given a speech praising Brazil as the victors. The local newspaper printed an early edition with a photo of Brazil and the headline “These are the world champions.” On the 16th of July 1950, the day of the tournaments last match, the streets of Rio were exploding with activity. A street carnival took place with thousands of signs celebrating a Brazilian world title and tens of thousands of fans singing “Brazil will win!” Over 200,000 screaming Brazilians packed into the Maracana, anticipating the ultimate glory. The players, the fans and the media were all convinced that the Jules Rimet trophy was theirs for the taking. What they got instead was the darkest day in the nation’s history, one that would haunt the national psyche for decades to come. It became known as: Maracanazo. 

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The road to the world title was a unique one. Instead of a group stage followed by knockout rounds and a final, as is most often the case, the group stages were followed by another final group stage comprised of the top two finishers from the previous rounds. By some miraculous coincidence, the last match of the tournament turned out to be the world title decider. The bruised and battered Uruguayans needed to achieve the impossible to get their hands on the trophy – somehow, they had to win. The Brazilians meanwhile, only needed a draw. Moments prior to the match, Uruguay’s manager Juan Lopez told his team that their only chance of surviving Brazils incredible attack would be to play as defensively as possible. After he left, their captain, Varela, stood up and said “Juancito is a good man, but today, he is wrong. If we do that, our fate will be the same as Spain and Swedens.” He delivered an emotional speech, saying that Uruguay must face all the odds and not be intimidated.

 

In the game, they found themselves on the defence straight away, but they managed to hold on and the first half ended goalless. Brazil scored the first goal in the 47th minute, and the stadium erupted. Varela argued with the referee about the goal, and by the time the conversation was over, the crowd had calmed down. Varela famously took the ball to the centre and yelled, “Now it’s time to win!” Uruguay took control, and Schiaffino equalised. Against all odds, Uruguay scored again 11 minutes from full time, and the entire stadium fell silent. When the whistle blew, all that could be heard in the Maracana were the shouts of the celebrating Uruguayan team. For Brazil, it was unimaginable despair, and a national tragedy. Many local newspapers refused to accept the fact that they had lost, and some Brazilian fans were so distraught, it drove them to suicide.  Brazil’s traditional white kits were altered to the yellow, green and blue they have worn ever since, and most of their players from the game never played for Brazil again. Despite five subsequent World Cup titles for Brazil, the day of the Maracanazo will never be forgotten, and worse still, decades in the future, it would happen again...

Achievements: FIFA World Cup – Champions x1

Star player: Juan Schiaffino – DoB 25 July 1925, Montevideo, Uruguay, nickname: Pepe

Diminutive and tactically versatile, Juan Alberto “Pepe” Schiaffino Villano was a Uruguayan-Italian forward or attacking midfielder. Also described as a highly skilful and creative playmaker, Schiaffino starred for Uruguayan club Penarol, then made his way to Italy where he played for AC Milan and Roma. He played for Uruguay in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups, and also played for the Italian national team from 1954 to 1958, thanks to his Italian praternal grandfather who was from Genoa. He was one of the “villains” who scored against Brazil in the 1950 World Cup final which caused what became known as the Maracanazo.  Schiaffino has been crowned as the greatest Uruguayan footballer of all time, and the 17th greatest footballer of the 20th century. After 8 successful seasons at Penarol, AC Milan came knocking and purchased the Uruguayan for a then record transfer fee in the region of 52 million Lire in 1954. He played a crucial role in the team that also featured Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Nordahl. With the Rossonieri, Schiaffino won three titles in 1955, 1957 and 1959. He scored 145 times for the club before leaving for Roma. His abilities in play included creating opportunities, reading the game, organising his team mates and dictating the tempo of play. In addition, he was a highly proficient playmaker, with superb technical ability, passing range, positional sense, intelligence, leadership and vision. Plus, he was known to contribute to defence, tracking back, pressuring and challenging opponents and coming in with slide tackles. He died in November 2002, and was buried in his home city of Montevideo.
 

GK:  Roque MASPOLI 1
DF- Schubert GAMBETTA 4 DF- Matias GONZALEZ 2 DF- Victor ANDRADE 6
MF- Eusebio TEJERA 3
MF- Obdulio VARELA (c) 5
FW- Alcides GHIGGIA 7 FW- Julio PEREZ 8 FW- Omar MIGUEZ 9 FW- Juan SCHIAFFINO 10 FW- Ruben MORAN 11
SUBS:
Anibal PAZ 12, Hector VILCHES 13, Juan GONZALEZ 14, Rodolfo PINI 15, Julio BRITOS 16, Juan BURGUENO 17, Oscar MIGUEZ 18

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Manager: Juan FONTANA
Home Ground: Estadio Cenenario