Top 5 Unforgettable Moments in my Football Experience

Every time I talk about the importance of Didi, Vava, Garrincha & Co to us Brazilians, some smart mouths start saying Ronaldinho is the new King, and that I should live more the present than the past. Let me be clear about this issue. I was born ‘tricampeão’ in 1971, so everything I know about Brazil’s past glories I read somewhere or saw in TV specials. I’ve learned to respect that era. Thanks to them we are the absolute rulers of the competition.

After saying that, I must say my life wasn’t easy growing up without World Cup titles. I knew we were 3 times champions, that we had Pele and stuff, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to see with my own eyes the glory of our sport. A whole generation of Brazilians was frustrated as I was. But things have changed, of course you know that. I don’t remember the 78 World Cup, so my history in the competition began in 1982. Since then I had bad moments and great ones too.

Here is my list of unforgettable moments in World Cup recent history:

Unforgettable Moment #5: Zico playing in 1982 was amazing. Both Italy and Brazil have beaten Argentina and they would decide who was going further on the competition. It was Paolo Rossi’s and Zico’s showdown. Zico was being hunted by the Italian defenders (they even ripped out his shirt in a penalty that the ref didn’t see). Moment #5 is Zico showing his ripped shirt to the referee. Italy went in the lead twice with Rossi’s goals, but Brazil tied the game. The result would get Brazil to the next phase, but Rossi scored the killer goal. To this day I blame that referee. Italy won the World Cup, which means we could be champions too.

Unforgettable Moment #4: The 1986 World Cup would be the second chance for our ‘white Pele’ Zico to win a World Cup. The game was against Platini’s France. Their goalkeeper Joel Bats (maybe the best I’ve ever seen) was absolutely great and annoying at the same time. Our main man Zico lost a penalty kick during the game, fact that most Brazilians can’t swallow until today. The game tied 1:1. Our goalkeeper Carlos was almost as good as Btas and was extremely good defending penalty kicks. Nonetheless the #4 moment in my list was the lack of luck Carlos had that day. One of the French kicks went to the right post and back to Carlo’s back then into the net. That’s tattooed in my mind until today.

Unforgettable Moment #3: In 1994 Romario, Bebeto & Co led the Seleção to victory in that year. It was a phenomenal feeling for every Brazilian. My generation finally was eyewitness of our Football tradition. In the final match Brazil and Italy didn’t manage to score any goals. I don’t know what the Italian feelings about this game were, but I feel we had more chances to score than the Italians. But that’s not important, because we didn’t turn those chances into goals so, no merits there. In the penalty shootout poor Baggio kicked above the crossbar. We were finally ‘tetra’. But moment #3 happened during the game against the Netherlands. The game was tied 2:2 and we were shivering as in a really bad fever. The defender Branco was receiving heavy criticism because of weak performances in the past games. He was down and out like Ronaldo is today. He decided to shoot a free kick near the midfield. He hit the ball very hard while Romario was walking behind the barrier. If you see that image from behind in slow motion you’ll see Romario removing his ass out of the ball’s trajectory in such a subtle movement that the goalkeeper was lost. Romario didn’t score the goal but his talent helped Branco to redeem himself. Branco started to cry while running towards Parreira. That was a magical moment.

Unforgettable Moment #2: The French World Cup in 1998 was good for Brazilians. It’s good still since we managed to reach the final game. Of course the second best is the first loser, right? Many talk about the Zidane genius factor while few talk about Ronaldo’s illness. Doesn’t matter. The #2 moment happened for us before the final. Reports presented a horrific situation of Ronaldo’s health condition. Seizures and faints led him to the hospital on that sunny Sunday. I could not breathe waiting for more news about our main player. As the game lineups were displayed on the screen our reporters were confused, getting mixed information from the officials. Edmundo’s name was displayed in Ronaldo’s place. Fifa reported Ronaldo was not going to play. That was bad. The coach Zagallo said he was going to play. That was even worse! Well, the game was a party to the French fans, but a funeral to our players. The expression “dead man walking” got another meaning that day. You can replace “man” for “men”, if you like. So, moment #2 is Ronaldo’s mysterious health problem in 1998.

Unforgettable Moment #1: What do you think? Winning the title for the fifth time, of course!!! The moment? Ronaldo’s second goal against German legend Oliver Kahn. After all the problems he had, the questioning about the 1998 final, the knee injury, the Brazilian’s natural pressure, after the doubts about his condition to play in 2002 he came back to shine and dazzle the world scoring two times over Germany in a convincing victory. What a great feeling to see Kahn’s face after that moment. What an amazing feeling to see Ronaldo score his eighth goal in the tournament!!! It was breathtaking to see Cafu lifting the trophy that day! The 170 million Brazilians party took over the streets. Rio was burning in a football collective delirium. I remember greeting everyone and anyone that day. Moment #1… Ronaldo’s 2nd goal against Kahn.

Now I hope to see Ronaldinho grabbing the first position in this list. I know he wants that too.

It would be nice to read other team blog’s unforgettable moments list too.