Rio de Janeiro, 16 July 1950. Around 200,000 people packed into the Maracanã, the largest crowd ever recorded for a football match.
Brazil needed only a draw against Uruguay in the decisive match of the final round to win their first World Cup. The country was ready to celebrate, and when Brazil scored first it started to.
Then Schiaffino equalised. Brazil could still take the title with the draw. In the 79th minute Alcides Ghiggia scored again for Uruguay, and 200,000 Brazilians went silent. Uruguay 2-1 Brazil.
Grown men wept in the stands. Newspapers came out edged in black. Brazilian fans were so devastated that several reportedly took their own lives that night.
Why did Brazil change their kit after the Maracanazo?
Because the white shirts reminded everyone of the day. Brazil permanently changed their kit from white to yellow, to erase the memory of the defeat. The famous yellow shirt, in other words, is a consequence of the worst afternoon in the country's football history.
A national trauma
The Maracanazo is still regarded as the worst sporting moment Brazil has experienced. They were 11 minutes from their first World Cup, at home, in front of 200,000 of their own people, and one Uruguayan goal took it away.
What that did to Brazilian football is still felt. The trauma went deep enough to change the colour of the national team, and Brazilians still use the word Maracanazo for the moment everything collapses.
Tomorrow: number 4.
