Brazilian legend Pele celebrates with Jairzinho after the first goal

A fascinating spectacle. A sheer masterclass of football. Brazil’s clash with Italy in the 1970 World Cup final won’t be remembered for an improbable comeback or a dramatic late goal but for one of the finest performances ever seen in the history of the beautiful game. A Brazilian team including inspirational figures such as Pele, Carlos Alberto and Jairzinho, just to name a few, produced a sheer expedition of football to crown themselves as arguably the greatest team of all time. Nevertheless, the final was never expected to be a sheer formality. Italy had shown throughout the tournament that they contained a strong mixture of defensive stability with attacking intensity whilst Brazil heavily relied on the “score more goals” mentality to compensate for their sometimes shaky defence.

Even so, Brazil struck first in the final as a looping cross from Rivelino in the 18th minute found the head of a leaping Pele who firmly headed the ball down into the bottom left hand corner past Albertosi in the Italian goal. Apart from the significance of taking the lead in the World Cup final, the goal broke all sorts of records. It was Brazil’s 100th overall goal in the World Cup whilst Pele became the first ever player to score in two different finals that were twelve years apart.

It was somewhat ironic that Brazil’s individual brilliance contributed to their downfall in conceding the equaliser after 37 minutes. Instead of producing a simple clearance, normally reliable midfielder Clodoaldo attempted a back flick in his own half that was intercepted by Boninsegna who sprinted to goal. Goalkeeper Felix erratically sprinted to the edge of his area before colliding with his own defenders allowing Boninsegna a simple tap in. The unfortunate moment seemed to deject the Brazilians up until half time as Italy began to sense weakness.

The Jules Rimet Trophy which Brazil kept Permanently after their 1970 triumph!

Whatever Brazil manager Mario Zagallo said to his players at half time certainly worked as they began to dominate the Italians with some beatifully manoevred attacking play including a near sliding miss from Pele and a fabulous free kick from Rivelino that struck the crossbar. However, it took until the 65th minute for Brazil to break through. Gerson started off another slick passing move which ended with the midfielder striking a beautiful swerving shot at waist height into the bottom left hand corner from twenty yards out. Less than five minutes later, Gerson helped produce another masterful goal with a pinpoint ball from just inside the Italian half that found Pele at the back post. The hitman turned provider with a controlled header across goal for the deadly Jairzinho who become the first ever player to score in every round of the competition with a simple prod into the bottom corner.

At this stage, Brazil’s play was just a joy to behold and they were giving the Italians a masterclasss in unstoppable pass and move football. It was fitting that the encounter should end in the manner that it did. With 86 minutes on the clock, a move that involved eight individual Brazilian players was capped off with Pele rolling the ball across the penalty area for captain Carlos Alberto to drill an unstoppable shot past Albertosi to cap off an unbelievable 4-1 victory.

The sheer brilliance of the team and that sublime final goal has lived long in the memory of football fans around the globe ever since. As a deserved award, Brazil were allowed to keep the prestigious Jules Rimet trophy permanently after becoming the first nation to win the World Cup three times. It seemed the only fitting reward possible for arguably the greatest team of all time.