Brazil Football Formation

Lineup (4-3-3)

Brazil "Victorious" XI (1962) - Genius of Garrincha

The greatest dribbler came to the party this time, and won the world cup for Brazil almost on his own. Although Brazil had a very gifted and talented team nonetheless; but Garrincha just dazzled, waltzed and played Samba football at its best.

The years up to 1958 had been marked by inconsistency and turmoil. The 1962 World Cup was all about consistency. Though Brazil had a new coach, Feola departing in 1960 and Aymoré Moreira taking charge, Brazil entered the tournament with the same midfield that had triumphed four years earlier. The midfield was: Mario Zagallo, Didi, Zito and Garrincha. An awesome foursome that The Guardian Sports Blog picked as their #1 midfield of all time, using the following phrase as justification: "The only midfield to play in consecutive World Cup finals, never mind win them both. Next!"

The now 21 year old Pelé was of course expected to shine in Chile, but after scoring in the opening 2-0 win over Mexico, Pelé was injured in the following game, a 0-0 draw with Czechsolovakia. Brazil still beat Spain 2-1 in the final group game, and then Garrincha stepped it up a gear in the group stages.

Semi-final saw Brazil encounter hosts Chile. Garrincha did the business again with a vicious strike into the top corner in the 9th minute, a header (the man looked surprisingly good in the air) for the second. Brazil won 4-2 with Vava getting the other two goals.

So to the final. Brazil’s second in a row. Believe it or not, the opponents in Santiago were Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia took a 15th minute lead, but it lasted only two minutes as Amarildo equalized in the 17th with a torpedo of a striker from an impossibly tight looking angle. Zito scored Brazil’s second after some more genius widework from Amarildo left three Czechoslovakian defenders on their arses and finally Vava added the third, becoming the first man to score in two World Cup finals. Job done, and Brazil were now clearly the team to beat.