The Football Tragic

The final of the Mundialito tournament took place at the Centenario stadium on January 10, 1981, before over 70,000 spectators. After his authoritative handling of the Brazil v. Argentina game, the Austrian Erich Linemayr was the obvious choice to referee the final, and he once again did a firm and impartial job.

Uruguay made one enforced change, the suspended José Moreira being replaced by Victor Diogo at right-back. Brazil fielded the same side as against West Germany, despite their laboured first-half performance in that encounter. The hosts had enjoyed a week's rest since their previous game, while Brazil were playing their third match in six days. 

The Uruguayans made a nervous start, and Brazil quickly assumed the initiative. Junior, who had scored with a majestic free kick against the Germans, almost repeated the feat in the third minute, but Rodolfo Rodriguez made a fine fingertip save. Brazil enjoyed the majority of the possession, but with Socrates again looking ill at ease as a centre-forward, penetration was hard to come by. 

Although the fouling was not extreme, there were two unpleasant incidents. Diogo was lucky to receive only a yellow card for a dreadful foul on the resourceful Zé Sergio, and at the other end Luizinho might also have been sent off for a dangerous challenge on Ruben Paz; the Brazilian defender, too, escaped with a caution. 

Toninho Cerezo, having a mixed tournament, missed a golden chance to open the scoring on the half-hour when Zé Sergio set him up cleverly on the edge of the box. Paulo Isidoro too had a chance on 36 minutes; Uruguay, despite the vocal encouragement of 70,000 fans, were finding it very hard to get into the game.

Paz at least forced Joao Leite into a save just before the whistle, with a free kick from 25 yards. Brazil's own free kick specialist, Junior, took one in a very promising position on the left just after the restart, but some sly encroachment by the Uruguay wall - unpunished, this time, by Linemayr - rendered it ineffective.

Although the fluffy-haired left-back Daniel Martinez also had a chance for Uruguay, it was still a surprise when they opened the scoring. Fittingly, the goal again had its origin in the combination between Paz and Venancio Ramos, the hosts' two most impressive players throughout the event. Ramos set Paz free on the right, with the Brazilian defence out of shape; Paz's shot was blocked, and the ball rebounded to the talisman Waldemar Victorino, who touched the ball aside for the teenage Jorge Barrios, on as a substitute, to score.

Once again, upon conceding a goal, Tele Santana opted to bring on Serginho for Tita. And once again, Brazil began to look sharper, with Socrates able to scheme from behind the lines instead of playing with his back to goal. Sure enough, just after the hour, the doctor went on a storming run into the box from deep, and was brought down for a penalty. Socrates took it himself, calmly burying it in the right-hand corner. 1-1, and the momentum was now with Brazil.

Chances now came for both sides. Junior, after a slick one-two with Cerezo, missed a good opportunity, while Ramos forced another save from Joao Leite, again from a free kick. The young winger was becoming more prominent, and the decisive goal owed a great deal to his efforts. Holding off two Brazilian defenders by the right touchline and eventually drawing a foul, he sent the resulting free kick tantalizingly between Joao Leite and his defensive line. Just when it seemed that the ball might evade everyone in the six-yard box, who should pop up but the man with the lucky star following him everywhere. Victorino it was, ducking in behind Oscar and stooping to head the ball home for his third goal in as many games.

The remainder of the match petered away inamongst the smoke bombs and the flag-waving. Even a shocking foul by a frustrated Isidoro on Martinez couldn't spoil the party, and Uruguay could proclaim themselves, a tad grandiloquently, the champion of the champions. More tellingly, they had repeated the triumph of 1930.

Forty-odd years later, it is still hard to assess the importance of the Mundialito. A trashy little ersatz mid-season tournament, or an apt celebration featuring some of the finest teams in the world? I incline towards the latter interpretation, with some reservations. Certainly, I think many of the sides involved, Brazil especially, took some lessons from the event. And for the Uruguayans, of course, it still remains a treasured memory. As Shane Davis has pointed out, their record in home competition over the course of football history has been exceptional.

Victory in the tournament did not, it must be said, have much of a lasting effect on Uruguayan football. In the qualifying series for the 1982 World Cup, they were shocked at home by an ageing Peru, and missed out. They did win the 1983 Copa America, but the side that did so featured only a few players from the team that had tasted success at the Mundialito. And when Uruguay returned to the World Cup in 1986, they put in a disappointing performance, ultimately losing out to the eventual champions in the second round. It should be noted, however, that in that game, the arrival of Ruben Paz on the hour transformed the side, who caused the Argentinians plenty of problems in the final minutes. Perhaps the midfield hero of the Mundialito should have been on from the beginning.

But in many ways, the key figure of the fifty-year anniversary tournament was its top scorer. An uncomplicated, journeyman centre-forward who had his moment in the sun at exactly the right time. Waldemar Victorino is hardly a household name anywhere other than Montevideo today. But he had his hour, and it was a glorious one.

# posted by Mike Salter @ 9:39 AM