At Mexico 1970, Brazil, as indeed world football, reached its peak. It was the first World Cup to be broadcasted across the world in color, and the men in canary yellow performed on a level seldom touched before or since, and routinely reduced opponents to wide-eyed spectators at a footballing masterclass.
“We didn’t know much about the world. But then again, the world didn’t know much about us, either.” – Pele
However true in 1958, the same couldn’t be said when teams assembled in Mexico in 1970. By then, the world knew all about Brazil and had pored over videos and planned strategies to stem the samba tide. Brazil needed more structure even as it thrived on the [substantial] natural talents of its individual elements. They needed tactics, teamwork and leadership. And they had the perfect man to help them do that.
On July 16, 1950, an 18-year-old soldier had taken part in the pre-game festivities at the Maracana and decided to stay on. He had watched, with the rest of his countrymen, as the night turned dark and the soul of the land was broken. He had imbibed the sense of failure, yet sworn to change it, to defeat it. In 1958 and 1962, Mario Zagallo held good to his promise, a key player in Brazil’s back-to-back world championships. In Mexico in 1970, at the age of 39, only six years older than the senior-most player on the team, he was a surprise appointment for the manager’s position. The appointment came on the heels of the dismissal of Joao Saldanha, another surprising but more turbulent choice.