Eusébio vs Pelé
When Edson played at Goodison
Portugal 3-1 Brazil. 19th July 1966
"Pelé would say that it was only when he saw the incident on film that he realised how bad it was. He would swear, then, never to play in a World Cup again. The indulgent, flaccid English referee, George McCabe, allowed Morais to stay on the field, so that now Portugal were playing against ten men". Brian Glanville describing Morais' vicious tackle on an already hobbled Pelé.
This was Brazil's worst result in three decades of football. Indeed, the whole 1966 World Cup campaign shamefully skulks in the corner of Brazil's glorious history. The fans resented how poorly their heroes played and the players resented how they were kicked out of games. Going into this game Portugal and Hungary were both on four points in the World Cup Group. Brazil had two. "Only God could help us qualify now," sniffed Pelé.
Brazil were jittery. A half fit Pelé was tossed into the starting line-up. Goalkeeper Gilmar was replaced by the nervy Manga who repeatedly crossed himself as he came out for the first half at Goodison. On top of this Garrincha was out, as were Bellini and Djalma Santos. Orlando was in the side but was as rusty as a rainsoaked Detroit; he hadn't played in a World Cup game since 1958.
Manga's pre-match prayers didn't work. It took just 14 minutes for him to punch the ball straight to Simoes, who proceeded to score. Ten minutes later Eusébio reintroduced the ball to the Brazilian net and the game was all but over.
Brazil lost and seldom have they ever been that wretched. Throughout the tournament the team was an over shuffled deck of cards, with no consistent lineup. It was a tragedy for Pelé, who missed his chance to play at Wembley, a stadium he never played at in his professional career. So heartbroken was the Brazilian superstar that he considered never playing in a World Cup again.
As the seleção limped back to Brazil their plane was grounded in London for "technical reasons". The real reason? To make sure the team arrived back in Brazil in the middle of the night.