The Sky Sports/Premiership generation who are often maligned on these pages – two of whom deem their dad ‘a soppy sentimentalist‘ or ‘bitter old cynic‘ when it comes to football – no doubt think the novelty of tumbling out of bed in a morning to find a live match on the television, is an innovation unique to their era.
But for the purposes of clarity and contradiction, the point is hereby made such things were occurring fifty years ago; almost to the day in fact, as during the 1970 Mexico World Cup, given the time difference with Great Britain, the breakfast sound of ‘snap, crackle and pop‘ was accompanied by ‘catch, tackle and shot‘ with Sweden playing Israel – the cereal and Group Two game both proving tasty.
Indeed, the 1970 tournament was the first to become truly ingrained in my memory – the black and white paneled ‘Adidas Telstar‘ match ball a lasting image, along with the notion of being able to watch football on television before going to school – Mexico 70 often cited as the greatest World Cup of all.
Watching ‘THE WORLD AT THEIR FEET‘ this week, the official FIFA film of the competition, (a matter-of-fact affair, the distinguished voice of actor Patrick Allen deserving of a much better script), was to be reminded of the heights football attained during June 1970, but also become aware of how less positive aspects of the game had begun to prevail.
Which is not to detract from moments, entire matches in fact, where skill levels still look extraordinary fifty years later – just to temper the eulogizing for 1970 with a degree of realism, a blend of pragmatism and panache making Brazil not only worthy winners but recognized as one of the all-time great teams.
From watching the footage there is plenty to suggest 1970 was the first World Cup of modern times (in the same way 2002 will come to be viewed as the first of the post-modern era). The stadiums have a surprisingly contemporary look – in comparison to the somewhat old-world appearance of English grounds four years earlier – and even if far from full for some group matches, for the most part they are all-seated and covered, the perimeter advertising adding to the sense of football entering the age of consumerism.
On the field, team formations are set in recognizable form (or ‘shape’ to use 2020 parlance). The fluidity of the Brazilians and to a slightly lesser extent that of Uruguay and Peru, bear hallmarks of the tactical flexibility soon to become exemplified by Dutch champions Ajax in dominating the European Cup – and by extension the ‘total football‘ that would serve Holland to great effect at the World Cups of 1974 and 1978.
It was then somewhat ironic (quite why the surprise given they were World Champions at the time) to see England produce a superb move of eleven passes, several of a positive, forward nature, in their enthralling group game against Brazil – such inventive play hard to equate with a team who would look increasingly sterile over the next couple of seasons, resulting in a failure to qualify for the 1974 finals.
Brought in to deter instances of crude tackling which had blighted games at the 1962 and 1966 tournaments, the introduction of yellow and red cards appears to have curbed the worst excesses. There is no repeat, for example, of the Chile v Italy ‘Battle of Santiago‘ in 1962 or the overly physical treatment dished out to Brazil four years later – but in its place has come a more calculated cynicism, manifesting in feigning injury and diving.
The niggle and petty antagonism which takes hold of the aforementioned Sweden v Israel Group Two encounter is described by narrator Allen as ‘a haggle rather than a match‘ and a game ‘that would disgrace schoolboys.’ He has a point, in 1970 such playground petulance would have resulted in 100 lines for all concerned. Awaiting delivery of a free kick, the scene is not dissimilar to that of a penalty area today, although the grabbing and mauling is confined to two or three combatants rather than free for all.
After being challenged in fairly harmless fashion by an Israeli forward, a Swedish defender is admonished for ‘nearly forgetting to dive‘ but even the great Pele is not spared a rebuke when his ‘dive‘ earns Brazil a free-kick twenty yards from goal in their group fixture against Czechoslovakia – a set-piece Rivellino drives powerfully into the net.
Watching Brazil produce excellence in one match after another is also to be reminded their flamboyance came with a combative edge. In the quarter-final victory over Peru it is fair to say they rough-up their opponents before turning on the tap marked ‘tremendous‘ – benefiting as well from some benevolent refereeing.
Against England, goalkeeper Felix is subject to a rash challenge from Francis Lee which earns the striker a yellow card, yet when Carlos Alberto takes retribution with a cynical bodycheck, the Brazilian captain receives a finger-wagging from the approaching referee, with no further action taken.
With other instances of foul play receiving leniency, there is a sense Brazil, due to their attractive style of play, on occasion receive the benefit of the doubt, prompting comparison for example with the All Blacks – France on the end of some tough refereeing decisions in losing a tight Rugby Union World Cup Final to New Zealand in 2011.
Not for a moment, however, is it being suggested Brazil won the competition by virtue of preferential treatment from match officials – although the ‘law unto themselves‘ approach was fortunate not to receive censure after they appeared late on the pitch for the second half against England, whose players were left standing around for five minutes in sweltering heat.
But a team boasting such outstanding individual talents as Pele, Gerson, Tostao, Jairzinho, Rivellino and Clodoaldo, were simply too good for everybody else, their six straight wins at the tournament making them the most emphatic world champions ever.
As a headline act Brazil, for the most part, are magnificent, their matches containing some of the most sublime passages of football ever played, the games against Peru and particularly England, exceptional in content.
Yet there is also much to be admired among the supporting cast – three of the four quarter finals (Brazil v Peru, Mexico v Italy and West Germany v England) are absorbing contests and few, if any, World Cup matches can compete in terms of drama, with the Italy v West Germany semi-final – where five goals are scored in extra-time as the Italians eventually win 4-3.
Neither is the final the one-sided affair it is often portrayed, Italy level at 1-1 and in the match with half an hour to play – only to be swept aside as Brazil set the benchmark for world champions with twenty-five minutes of sustained brilliance, the goal scored by Carlos Alberto to complete their 4-1 win, a work of football art.
After reaching such a plateau (a third success in four tournaments following triumphs in 58 & 62 allowing them to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy as three-time winners), Brazil arrived in West Germany four years later with a much-changed squad, several of their Mexico maestros having now retired.
Wary of the physicality that greeted them in England eight years before, the world champions opted to meet fire with fire, but their attempted mix of hacking and attacking never looked entirely convincing, the Brazilians unable to find the right balance through the next five tournaments.
Usurped by Argentina as the South American football powerhouse, it was twenty-four years before they became world champions again.
In Europe West Germany developed an effective brand of flair and functionality, becoming European Champions in 1972 before winning the World Cup two years later. In the 1974 final they overcame Holland whose artistry won them many admirers, the same inventive style carrying the Dutch through to the 1978 final in Argentina, where they once again lost out to the host nation.
With a game based on caution, Italy left the courage of their attacking convictions behind in Mexico and floundered through the 74 and 78 tournaments, before an excellent, well-balanced team brought glory for the Azzurri at the 1982 event.
All of which, alas, leaves the conundrum of England. Even in a tournament boasting superbly talented Brazilians, Italians, West Germans, Peruvians and Uruguayans, in goalkeeper Gordon Banks and central defensive linchpin Bobby Moore, England had the two best players in the world in those positions – but as a new decade unfolded the national team struggled for cohesion as new styles of international football began to prevail.
Showing over-extended loyalty to a host of his 1966 World Cup winners, Sir Alf Ramsey, for so long a model of clear-thinking, began to look a man not only out of time but out of step with tactical innovations taking place on the continent.
An inglorious two-leg exit to West Germany in the 1972 European Championships showed England were being left behind and would have been the right time for Ramsey to end his tenure – sparing him the spiteful behavior of the FA when they dispensed with his services two years later.
But when he and his players trooped away under the hot Mexican sun in Leon after surrendering a two-goal lead in suffering a 3-2 quarter-final defeat against West Germany, few would have thought England had just played their last match at a World Cup finals for twelve years.
That said, revisiting Mexico 1970 through ‘The World at Their Feet‘ was an enjoyable way to spend 95 minutes of a lock down afternoon.
Suppose I should have watched it having my breakfast………..
This article was first published on 29/6/2020.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
