Mexico 1970: "Jogo bonito"

Older soccer fans remember the World Cup in Mexico in 1970 as one of the best in history. It was a triumph of attacking football, a triumph of beauty in the game and a triumph of the selection that played for the soul of the fans - Brazil.

"Such beautiful football should be banned", wrote the English press after the "carioca" in the final, the sequences of which are still often played on television, beat Italy 4:1.

Brazilian "jogo bonito" (žogo bonito) - the most beautiful and cleanest game, came to full expression in Mexico.

Four years earlier, Pele announced his retirement from the national team. One of the best players in the history of football was disappointed by the ruffians who were increasingly occupying the football fields. In both 1962 and 1966, he watched the championships from the bench due to injuries. However, he changed his mind - fortunately for football. He came to Mexico and won his third world championship title.

Pele was already the world champion and king of football at the age of 17. At the tender age of 20, the government of Brazil declared it a national treasure and banned its export. And after scoring his thousandth goal, he continued to shake the nets. In the end, he played over 1.300 games and scored almost as many goals. The anecdote is still told that he once stopped a war: Nigeria and Biafra signed a truce to watch him play.

“We jumped together. But, when I jumped to the ground, I saw him still floating up there", said the Italian defender Burgnić, who was in charge of guarding him in the final.

After the final, Pele was carried off the field in tears, in the arms of his teammates. It was his last appearance at the World Cup. A picture of a winner who goes down in legend.

Apart from the attractive football, the World Cup in Mexico is remembered as the first one where the coaches had the right to make two substitutions each. Until then, only the goalkeeper could be replaced, and that in case of injury.

In the land of "sombreros", referees had both yellow and red cards for the first time in history. The yellow was already shown in the first match, and the red was not shown in the entire World Cup.

The 1970 World Cup was turned into a televised spectacle, as all matches in many countries were broadcast live on TV. At the request of the powerful TV companies, some matches had to be played at noon, under the hot Mexican sun. The complaints of players and coaches did not bear fruit.

Unforgettable images from this World Cup are the perseverance of Franz Beckenbauer, who played most of the semi-final match against Italy with a broken shoulder and facial spasm, as well as the courage of the Brazilian Tostao, who played all the matches to the end, even though he had just recovered from eye surgery.

After the most massive qualifiers (75 countries participated), teams such as Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Hungary and Yugoslavia did not travel to Mexico, but that's why the first appearance at the World Cup was won by the national teams of Peru, Morocco and Israel.

There were no sensational surprises during the championship, so four world champions played in the semi-finals: Brazil, Germany, Italy and Uruguay. The English were eliminated in the quarter-finals, losing 3:2 to SR Germany.

In the end, the murderous attack of the "carioca" ruled - along with Pele, Didi, Vava and Garincha were no longer present, but there were new masters such as Zairzin, Tostao, Rivelin, Gershon and Carlos Alberto... The Jules Rime Cup thus permanently remained in the possession of Brazil , who became the champion for the third time without losing a game.

The cup, however, was stolen at the end of 1983, and then, as it is assumed, melted into almost two kilograms of pure gold.

A copy now stands in its place in the display cases.

Third place was won by Germany, and the best scorer was its "torpedo" Gerd Müller with nine goals.