Brilliance and beauty earn Brazil their just deserts

After the victory scored by Alf Ramsey's workmanlike English team four years earlier, 1970's World Cup tournament, and particularly the meeting in the final of Brazil and Italy, belonged to the game's dreamers.

The success of the South Americans and their free-flowing, attacking football over the Europeans with their dreary catenaccio defence was to have a positive effect on the sport the world over for more than a decade after that memorable day in the Aztec stadium.

Pele and co had reached final the hard way. Defending champions England had been beaten in the group stages, and twice winners Uruguay went in the semi-finals. So impressive had Brazil looked along the way that by the day of the final they were odds-on favourites to win the Jules Rimet trophy for the third time, a feat that would entitle them to retain it permanently. In between the defeats of the English and Uruguayans, a surprisingly impressive Peru had shown that the only way to seriously threaten Mario Zagalo's side was to attempt to take the game to them. With a spirited quarter-final display they had gone closer than anyone to upsetting their neighbours before losing 4-2.

Such an adventurous approach was not for the Italians, though. In Luigi Riva they had an attacker of outstanding skill, but the feeling within the camp was that with him up front, everybody else could get behind the ball and games could still be won.

It was a severe miscalculation against a team that possessed players with the flair for attack of Gerson, Everaldo, Jairzinho and, of course, Pele.

The Santos star was to prove a key player in the final, scoring Brazil's first goal and playing a central role in two of the other three. That opener came after 18 minutes; Tostao's throw found Rivelino who crossed. Pele completely out-jumped Mario Bertini and his downward header had too much power to give Enrico Albertosi any real hope of making the save.

Eight minutes before the break a ridiculous lapse in concentration on the part of Clodoaldo handed Roberto Boninsegna the opportunity to equalise.

When the second half started Brazil took complete control of the proceedings. For the Italians, Tarcisio Burgnich took over from Bertini as Pele's marker but he fared little better than his team-mate when it came to containing the great South American.

Elsewhere, the Italian man-markers were being dragged all over the field as the Brazilian forwards showed a far greater willingness to wander than the Europeans had been used to having to cope with.

Having remained deep in midfield for most of the first period, and having therefore gone more or less unnoticed by the markers, Gerson now began to play a far more influential role in the match. And despite the increasing regularity of his moves forward, the Italians never came close to reorganising sufficiently to cope with the difficulties his presence caused them.

It was he who restored his side's lead 20 minutes into the second period, starting the move forward when he pushed the ball out wide to Everaldo on the left. The winger pulled it inside for Jairzinho who in turn returned it to Gerson. Having comfortably beaten off one challenge the midfielder then let fly with a left-footed drive which left Albertosi for dead.

Within five minutes it was 3-1, Gerson's perfectly weighted chip into the area allowing Pele to set up Jairzinho for a simple goal from close range. When the Italians reacted by replacing Boninsegna, easily their most threatening player on the day, with Luigi Rivers (a brilliant but rather thoughtful midfielder), it was clear to most observers that the game was up.

For those still in doubt Zagalo's players finished their opponents off four minutes from time when Clodoaldo beat half of the Italian outfield players on a meandering run forward out of defence. He eventually released the ball to Jairzinho who gave it to Pele 20 yards out. His pass, perfectly timed for the charging Carlos Alberto, allowed the Brazilian skipper to strike a finely placed shot first time. Once again there was little for the unfortunate Italian goalkeeper to do except fetch the ball out of the back of his net.

Afterwards, many of the Brazilian players were stripped of shirts, boots, socks and just about anything else the souvenir seekers could lay their hands on as the team did their lap of honour. Zagallo still had his trademark clipboard in his hands as he was carried shoulder high around the stadium.

The neutrals greeted the victory almost as warmly as the delirious Brazilian fans, for he and his players had shown that in football, boldness, brilliance and beauty still brought their just deserts.