1950 World Cup Star : „Pepe“ Schiaffino

FIFA World Cup™ Star 1950:

 „Pepe“ Schiaffino 

                                                                                                                                

                 

From their point of view, most of the 199,854 spectators at the fourth FIFA World Cup™ final on July 16, 1950, saw the result as a major sporting tragedy.

Hosts Brazil were the hot favourites to win the title at their Maracana Stadium, specially built for this FIFA World Cup™. But in the last match of the finals when the group winners met, everything went wrong in Rio de Janeiro. With a 2-1 victory over Brazil, Uruguay won the title for the second time in the history of the FIFA World Cup™, 20 years after their initial success in Montevideo. Franca had heightened the hopes of the home team to finish champions by scoring for a 1-0 lead. But the “Urus” Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Alcides Edgardo “Ghigga” shattered local joy with their goals. Schiaffino, 25 years old at the time of this FIFA World Cup™ victory, later described his memories of the tournament: “We hardly knew our opponents, neither the Spaniards nor the Swedes, and we didn’t know much about the Brazilians. But we had arrived to give our best”.

The 1930 FIFA World Cup™ champions crushed Bolivia 8-0 in Belo Horizontein their only group match. In the final round Uruguay could only manage a 2-2 draw against Spain in Sao Paulo, and then beat Sweden 3-2 at the same site. Brazil’s record in reaching the last match of the final round was more impressive: 4-0 over Mexico (in Rio), 2-2 against Switzerland (in Sao Paulo) and 2-0 over Yugoslavia (in Rio) were their results in the group matches. The favourites opened up in the final round, crushing Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1 in Rio. The last game, which was not recognised as the final because of the then format of the tournament but nevertheless was the decisive match, seemed to be a mere formality. If it hadn’t been for Juan Alberto Schiaffino…

Together with 10 team mates, among whom Ghigga earned a special mention, “Pepe” Schiaffino proved a sensation. Schiaffino, born on June 28, 1925, in Montevideo, scored the equalizer for 1-1 with a pass from Ghigga. When Ghigga scored the 2-1 winner, it was Schiaffino who returned the compliment by passing the ball to him.
“Pepe” Schiaffino was in outstanding form during the entire FIFA World Cup™ tournament. The inside forward who could also adopt the role of centre forward, was the “head” of the “Celeste” and the extended arm of coach Juan Lopez on the pitch. Schiaffino’s strong points were his technique, his quickness, his decisiveness and the precision and fierceness of his shots. His excellent performance against Brazil turned him into a national hero in the small country on Rio de la Plata. Juan Alberto Schiaffino died on November 13, 2002, after he had been elected his country’s “Football Player of the Century”.
Schiaffino had to recount to his countrymen every aspect of the 1950 FIFA World Cup™ “final”, over and over again. “Our chances showed odds of 99-1. Brazil was in pure euphoria. But we were not the least bit worried or nervous. When we stood on the pitch in front of almost 200,000 ecstatic people, a certain amount of indifference crept in. During the match we waited to see what happened, and then let fly. Our victory sent Brazil plunging into disappointment, desperation and resignation”, Schiaffino said, adding for good measure the legendary happenings. “Two people are said to have died, many suffered heart attacks. The Brazilian coach fled the Stadium disguised as a woman, our opponents hid for days and even weeks from the fans”, he remembered. His return home remained unforgettable, with the two-time FIFA World Cup™ champions receiving a festival-type reception at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
The Maracana Stadium proved to be the stepping stone for a successful career in Italy for Schiaffino, as well as Ghigga. After the 1954 FIFA World Cup™, Schiaffino moved to AC Milan for the then world record transfer sum of £72,000 sterling. With Milan, he won three national titles and made the European Cup final in 1958. The club later elected him one of the ten best players in the history of the club. After six years in Milan, the forward played another two years with AS Roma and retired from his career in Italy after 188 matches and 50 goals in Seria A. In 1962 he returned to Uruguay, where he had earned 25 caps (11 goals/seven of them in the FIFA World Cup™). His colleague Ghigga played in Rome for eight years before moving to Milan for two years, and finally hanging up his boots in 1964.
In 1976, Schiaffino became coach of Penarol Montevideo for six months, and later stood in for two matches as the interim coach for Uruguay’s national team. As a star of the two-time FIFA World Cup™ champions Schiaffino was very popular until his death. But the impoverished Ghigga had to rely on the government to get him a job in a casino.
Schiaffino, whose passes and combinations were outstanding, achieved his breakthrough as a professional with Penarol at the age of 18. He gained six national titles with this club. At the age of 20 he made his international debut against Argentina in the South American Cup, which Uruguay won. The FIFA World Cup™ title followed five years later. In a memory to the site of this football miracle, Juan Alberto was also called “El Maracanazo”. At the 1954 FIFA World Cup™ in Switzerland, Schiaffino was again Uruguay’s key player, leading his team into the semi-finals where they lost to Hungary. The son of Italian immigrants, he later played in four matches for Italy when they failed to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup™ finals. With no Schiaffino, the 1950 FIFA World Cup™ victory has remained the last big triumph for the “Celeste”.