The Perfect Goal - Brazil vs. Italy, 1970

 

The 2006 World Cup begins tomorrow in Germany. The first game will be between hosts Germany and Costa Rica. Thanks to the resourcefulness of a fellow soccer fan, I will have the distinct pleasure of being able to watch the game in the company of the German military. It promises to be a raucous affair and I am busy brushing up on my rusty German. I am especially concentrating on how to say "Gooooooaaaaaaal!!!" auf Deutsch.

Instead of posting scores and match results from the games, I thought I would instead try to call attention to some memorable moments from past World Cups. And, what better way to begin than with the artistry of one Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known to most of the world as Pelé.

In the final match of the 1970 World Cup, Brazil beat Italy 4-1 to hoist the World Cup trophy. Pelé scored one of the 4 goals. But the goal that is remembered as arguably the greatest goal in the history of the World Cup was the last goal. It was scored by Carlos Alberto who hammered home a magical pass from Pelé. The ball touched nine of Brazil’s eleven players before it found the back of the net. The Italian players were left dazed by the Brazilians as they developed the attack from deep within their own territory. The culmination came after Pelé received the ball just outside the box on the Italian end. He paused and then effortlessly pushed the ball into empty space to his right. Out of nowhere came Carlos Alberto to drive the ball into the net.

The goal was pure ballet on the field. It was Brazil at their artistic best. It was Pelé with a magical sense of the game. It is why I love the Beautiful Game.

You can click on the image above for a video of the goal. You can also read Carlos Alberto’s retelling of the goal here.

[Note: The naked guy streaking the blog will likely stay for the duration of the World Cup. You can turn him off by clicking the German word for "close" on the right hand corner.]