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Brazil v Italy Mexico 1970 | Final Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Tostao spent the final 20 minutes of the game crying with happiness. Rivellino described it as the "easiest" match of Brazil's title charge. Italy midfielder Giancarlo De Sisti left the field convinced Pele was an extraterrestrial.
The Seleção had spellbound Italy with their hypnotic football and duly led the 1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico™ decider 3-1 going into the final moments. But they had one final party piece up their sleeve.
Pele and Gerson exchanged passes midway inside the Brazil half, before Clodoaldo – the sole defensive presence in Mario Zagallo's attack-heavy midfield – expertly side-stepped four Italian advancers. Everaldo clipped one down the line for Jairzinho who controlled, burst inside and laid it off to Pele.
The No10 delayed before knocking the ball on to the onrushing Carlos Alberto who lashed home a perfectly bobbled ball into the bottom corner.
"Pele and me played so often together that he knew where I was – I didn’t need to shout," Carlos Alberto told The Guardian in 2013. "He saw me coming and rolled his pass in front of me so I didn’t have to break stride, and I caught it perfectly.”
'The Beautiful Team' had completed 'The Beautiful Game' – two phrases coined by the great Pele – with arguably the World Cup's most beautiful goal. They became the first nation to win the tournament three times to permanently retain the Jules Rimet trophy.
Sources: FIFA Official
