The two Brazilian phenomena recall the epic challenge of the Mundial ’82: “We had not underestimated you, Socrates had even stopped smoking …”
They had to be there too, after the 1982 blues had been on the spotlight of the Festival on Friday. There had to be Brazilians too, and not just any Brazilians: two of that wonderful Selecao beaten in one of the matches of the century were the faces: Zico and Falcao. Two phenomena, two symbols: of an era, not only of their national team. With whom, inevitably, Alberto Cerruti, host of the meeting, that’s where he went right away.
That day in Barcelona
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A Italy-Brazil 3-2, 5 July 1982, Sarrià stadium in Barcelona. “I didn’t like the first question,” Falcao retorted. Immediately giving the idea of what kind of talk it would be. That is bright, nostalgic but with a lot of lightness and joy. “At the start of the game, at 0-0, we were qualified”, continued Falcao. “Then Italy played well, they won. The fairest result would have been a draw. But football is not a question of justice. It is a game. The very fact that the first question is about that match is also ours. victory. We were a team that enchanted “. As if to say that winning or losing is part of the sport. Enchanting is a privilege that few can manage. “And no – continued Zico – we had neither underestimated the game nor anything like that. We never had presumption. Paulo talked to us about Italy (he was already at Rome, ed), for us it was the strongest European team. L ‘Italy had Zoff, Gentile, Cabrini, Tardelli, Conti, Antognoni, Paolo Rossi… “. And Scirea, they suggest. “And Scirea”. Applause.
And Socrates …
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Zico continues: “We were aware of our strength, but we respected Italy. And that day if Brazil had scored 5 goals, Italy would have scored six. But that’s not it, it’s just that if we had played for a draw and lost , today we would not be here talking about it. We played to win. In the national team I played 88 games, that was my only defeat. It’s football “. Falcao continued:” We were focused to win. Socrates had even given up smoking. Brazil in 1982 did not change its game, it did not distort. Tele Santana told us before the game: “We don’t have to change our game… ‘. But then, in closing, as we were leaving the locker room, he added: ‘But let’s remember that a draw is fine for us …’ “.
Pablito
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Equally fatally, the image of Zico’s shirt number 10 torn, torn by Claudio Gentile, passed on the screen. Who still keeps it at home. “Claudio was a great defender and is still a friend. Of course, today he couldn’t do anything of the kind with the Var. Thank goodness he had a yellow card straight away in that match. Claudio invited him to my farewell. And he came. ” Then obviously the discussion fell on Paolo Rossi. “That day, July 5, 1982, he made all of Brazil cry. And when he died again all of Brazil wept for him.” Falcao wrote a book about that game. In which he asked each of the comrades at the time the same question. “Why did we lose?”. But yesterday he specified that that was a defeat. “No Turone’s goal, that was another thing, it was a scandal. Because it was regular. And it’s a shame, because winning a championship with Roma is not easy.” And finally, Franco Causio, “the most Brazilian of Italians”, was also on the stage with those two monsters. Great friend of Zico, with whom he was on the Udinese team. So much so as to mimic a famous goal scored at San Siro against Milan, with a “digging” assists by Causio and overturned by Zico. “We won’t see players like that in Italy anymore”, “Il Barone” concluded a bit bitterly.
September 24, 2022 (change September 24, 2022 | 19:04)
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