Brazil v Uruguay
Mexico 1970 | Semi-finals
Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara
Attendance: 51,261
Going into the game
The Seleção were hellbent on revenge. The Celeste had made them the victims of a horror story in their only previous FIFA World Cup™ collision in 1950. Getting it wouldn’t be easy. “Uruguay are very, very strong,” warned Pele.
Juan Hohberg’s side, largely thanks to the rapid reflexes of Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, had kept clean sheets in nine of their last 13 matches, boasted the outstanding Luis Cubilla, and knew one another inside out, with 10 of their 11 starters coming from Montevideo titans Nacional or Penarol.
Brazil also had cause for confidence. They had netted 12 goals in four games to reach the final four, in the process overcoming a Gordon Banks miracle and England in ‘The final that never was’. Furthermore, while Mario Zagallo had been ridiculed for attempting to cram five No10s into his side, Gerson, Jairzinho, Rivellino, Pele and Tostao had made a Mexican mockery of positional logic. Jairzinho, in particular, had been uncontrollable, netting in every appearance and being nicknamed ‘The Hurricane’.
The game
Jairzinho’s electricity zapped his opponents from the outset, forcing them into desperate fouls, but it was Uruguay who drew first blood thanks to Cubilla. Clodoaldo, following a glorious clip round the back of the defence from Tostao, slashed home the equaliser on the break’s brink.
‘The Hurricane’ turned Category 5 after the restart, devastating Uruguay with sprinter’s speed and rock climber’s upper-body strength. After stylishly setting up a Pele chance, Jairzinho powered Brazil ahead. The 25-year-old started the move by bursting from deep inside his own half and, after charging on to a Tostao through-ball, rolled the adidas Telstar into the bottom corner.
Rivellino’s thunderous left boot sealed a 3-1 victory late on, but it indubitably belonged to another force of nature: ‘Hurricane Jair’.
Quotes
“In the group stage, everyone was worried about Pele and it gave me more space. But by the knockout phase, I’d scored in every game and a Brazilian commentator had nicknamed me ‘The Hurricane’ after my performance against Czechoslovakia. Everyone was talking about me, opponents were aware of me. Uruguay marked me really tightly, sometimes I would have two men on me, but fortunately that game almost everything came off. I also scored a beautiful goal that gave us the lead, so it’s a game I’ll remember fondly forever.”
Jairzinho
“Jairzinho played amazingly in that game. When he was in that form, the only way you could stop him was by fouling. Uruguay tried but he was so fast, so strong that sometimes they couldn’t even manage that! Jairzinho would strike fear into defenders when he ran at them.”
Pele
“There were few players in history as terrifying for defenders as Jairzinho running at speed.”
Ladislao Mazurkiewicz
