uit:
Ruy Castro - Garrincha
the triumph and tragedy of Brazil's
forgotten footballing hero
(p.119-120):
'the
greatest three minutes of footballing history'
"Monsieur
Guigue, a gendarme in his spare time, blow his whistle to start the match. Didi
quickly pushes the ball out to the right: 15 seconds of the game gone. Garrincha
takes the ball with his instep: 20 seconds. Kuznetov goes towards him. Garrincha
feints left, but goes right. Kuznetzov falls to the ground to become the first
João of the World Cup: 25 seconds: Garrincha takes the ball round Kuznetzov
again: 27 seconds. And again: 30 seconds. And once more. The fans are on their
feet. A startled Kuznetzov is on the ground: 32 seconds. Garrincha advances. Kuznetzov
goes after him once more, this time supported by Voinov and Krijveski: 34 seconds.
Garrincha pulls the ball this way, then that, and sets off with it down the right.
The three Russians are scattered on the ground, Voinov with his backside in the
air. The stadium explodes with laughter: 38 seconds. Garrincha fires in a powerful
shot from a tight angle. The ball rockets off Yashin's left-hand post and goes
out for a goal-kick: 40 seconds. The fans go mad. Garrincha returns to the middle
of the park, as ungainly as ever. He is applauded.
'The fans are on their
feet again. Garrincha moves forward with the ball. João Kuznetzov takes
another tumble. Didi asks for the ball: 45 seconds. He sends a curved pass over
Igor Netto and the ball falls at Pelé's feet. Pelé gives it to Vavá:
48 seconds. Vavá to Didi, to Garrincha, back to Pelé. Pelé
shoots, the ball hits the bar and goes over: 55 seconds. The place is mind-boggling.
As is Garrincha's rhythm. Yashin's shirt is soaked in sweat, as if he's already
been on the field for hours. The wave of attacks continues. Time after time Garrincha
decimates the Russians. There is hysteria in the stadium. And an explosion when
Vavá scores after exactly three minutes.
'That was how reporter Ney
Bianchi, writing in the Manchete Esportiva, described
the start of the game, as if he had one eye on the ball and another on the clock.
Another journalist, the Frenchman Gabriel Hannot, would say later that they were
the greatest three minutes in the history of football - and at more than 70 years
old he had been witness to much of it. The onslaught was so impressive that as
soon as Brazil scored Yashin congratulated the first Brazilian to come near him
- which happened to be Pelé.
And there were still 87 minutes to go
..."
Verslag
van het begin van Brazilie-USSR (uitslag 2-0) op het wereldkampioenschap in 1958.
N.B. Verdediger Kuznetzov wordt João
genoemd naar de Brzailiaanse rechtsachter die het stereotype werd van de door
Garrincha vernederde verdediger.
