If someone asked you to design the perfect team goal, you would probably end up with Brazil's fourth against Italy in the 1970 World Cup Final.
It came in the 86th minute. Eight Brazilian players touched the ball in a passing move that crossed the pitch at a relaxed pace and then, suddenly, did not. Pelé received it on the edge of the area and, without really looking, rolled a casual sidefoot pass into space. Carlos Alberto, the captain, arrived at full speed and struck it with his right foot into the bottom corner past Albertosi.
That made it 4-1. It sealed Brazil's third World Cup, and it is widely considered the greatest goal in World Cup history.
What made the move work
- the patience: eight players involved, nobody forcing it
- Pelé's layoff, which looked lazy and was anything but
- Carlos Alberto's timing, arriving just as the pass did
- the finish, a right-foot thunderbolt into the bottom corner
FIFA, journalists and supporters have voted it the greatest team goal in World Cup history time and again, and it is hard to find anyone who argues with them.
It was a fitting end to a campaign by a team that many rank as the best ever to take the field. The passing, the movement and the finish were all first class, and they arrived together at the one moment everybody was watching. The captain scoring the goal that summed up the most attacking side of its era is a detail Brazilians still enjoy.
Coming tomorrow: number 5.
