40 year anniversary of Brazil’s greatest loss and against all odds

[ASHOOR]

Today marks the 40 anniversary of Brazil’s loss to Italy at the 1982 WC, against all odds, thus forever changing the war Brazil plays soccer, to a more pragmatic approach.

But with Brazil having won two titles in the next two decades, a lot would argue that we needed that shift, while a few want Brazil to have kept its tradition.

I think this debate will never be settled , unless Brazil somehow manages to win back to back to back WCs again, but even then the traditionalist will not care, arguing it is not just about titles.

BTW, I don’t have all the details and whether it was mostly same players, but the 1982 core, as magical as it was, couldn’t win other titles, including any Copa America’s and the 1986 WC. Not sure if the core was also there in 1978.

 

[Crocodile Bani]

Till this day, Brazil from 1982 was the greatest team to not win the World Cup in my life time. I was not alive at the time of Hungary 1954 and was still in nappies when Holland failed to win 1974.

My friends and I often wonder how different 1982 would have been if Careca had not injured himself just before the 1982 World Cup. The only weakness of Brazil's 1982 team was their striker Serginho who missed so many chances throughout the tournament. Would Careca have scored those goals that Serginho missed? I guess we will never know.

Here is some trivia. Brazil voted Tele Santana, the coach of the 1982 and 1986 World Cup teams, as well as Sao Paulo FC's coach when they won the Club World Cups of 1992 and 1993, as Brazil's coach of the century. Despite not winning a World Cup, Brazilians loved his coaching style and the flamboyant style his teams always played, and they loved him more than any of the coaches that won the World Cup for Brazil.