Brazil He came to Argentina in World 1978 as a favorite. 'Canarinha’ He had proclaimed world champion 1958, 1962 Y 1970 and he had a team full of stars, as usual. But nevertheless, since the start of the championship, I had to overcome various obstacles beyond mere sport.
First of all it should briefly discuss the context in which this world championship was played. The host country, Argentina, He was plunged into one of the most terrible military dictatorships in its history under the rule of Jorge Videla. For the regime was appropriate to give an image of normalcy and progress (while torture is still practiced and sweeping away thousands of people) so it was important that the albiceleste have a prominent role in the tournament, as it were.
One of the great rivals Argentina in the fight to be champion was, like is logic, Brazil. Already in the first game the Brazilians suffered more rigorous arbitration against Sweden. In the minute 90 with a tie on the scoreboard, Dirceu sent the corner kick that was topped by Zico's network. The referee signaled the end of the match to the astonishment of all players (Brazilian and Swedish) not giving validity to both since according to him, the time was fulfilled while the ball was in the air.
Despite this and the next tie against Spain (with the famous error Cardeñosa), Brazil He managed to qualify for the second group stage (by then the competition system was different from today) thanks to his victory Austria.
BRAZIL AND ARGENTINA FOR A place in the final
In this second phase of the championship equality Brazil Y Argentina He made the finalist had to decide on the final day in which the Brazilians were playing Poland and Argentinians against Peru. to get started, parties had a different schedule that caused the albiceleste play their match against Peruvian knowing the result in the other match (3-1 To Brazil).
Thus, Argentina He played his match knowing that he needed a win 4 goals or more. The end result was 6-0 in a match that was involved in all kinds of suspicions as explained in this other article. The albiceleste champion out, gaining a fairly Holland in the end, World Argentina but that we always leave a sour taste for soccer fans.
