On the day of the Maracanazo, Uruguay silences Argentina

On the 61st anniversary of the Maracanazo, Uruguay made history again. This Saturday, they held Argentina to a 1-1 draw during the 90 minutes of regulation time, plus 30 minutes of extra time, before winning 5-4 on penalties and eliminating their biggest rival from the Copa América. In the stadium known as the Cemetery of the Elephants, the giant Argentina buried its dream of a home title. Tevez, the most beloved player by the local fans, missed the penalty that decided the game.

The game had everything: two shots hitting the woodwork, two expulsions, two disallowed goals (one from each side), and nine yellow cards. Uruguay held Argentina to ten men for 48 minutes after Pérez's red card in the first half, and only regained numerical equality when Mascherano also received his second yellow card. However, the match could have been decided in the 44th minute of the second half, but Muslera made two fantastic saves in quick succession, taking the game to extra time. Then, the Lazio goalkeeper, the hero of the night, secured the victory by saving Tevez's penalty. According to him, it was the greatest game of his life.

Messi, who saw the crowd display a banner apologizing for the boos during the game against Colombia, had a good first half, providing the assist for Higuaín's goal, but his performance dropped significantly after the break, only returning to form in the second half of extra time. With four minutes remaining, he had a chance to decide the match, but González made the save.

In the semi-final, Uruguay will face Peru, who earlier defeated Colombia 2-0 in extra time. The match takes place on Tuesday in La Plata at 21:45 PM.

THE GAME - Without Coates, suspended for his second yellow card, Cruzeiro's Victorino entered the Uruguayan team to partner Lugano in central defense. On the Argentinian side, Sergio Batista kept the same team that won convincingly against Costa Rica, making all four substitutions compared to the opening match.

Uruguay was not intimidated by the pressure from the Argentine fans, who packed the Brigadier General Estanislao López stadium, also known as the "Elephant Cemetery". Just four minutes in, they opened the scoring. Forlán crossed into the box from the left, Cáceres headed at the far post, Romero made the save, and Diego Pérez scored on the rebound.

With all of Argentina's plays going through Messi's feet, the hosts' goal was bound to come eventually. And it did in the 17th minute. Uruguay lost possession in attack, and the ball quickly reached Messi on the right. The Barcelona player saw Higuaín moving in the box and delivered a perfect cross to the striker, who appeared unmarked at the penalty spot and headed in to equalize the game.

The combination was repeated at the 30-minute mark. Messi took a free kick from the right and again placed the ball on Higuaín's head, who once more found the back of the net. This time, however, the striker was offside and the goal was correctly disallowed by Paraguayan referee Carlos Amarilla.

If Argentina had Messi, Uruguay had Forlán. At 34, the best player of the last World Cup took a free kick from the left, Cáceres headed the ball and sent it against the crossbar. On the rebound, Lugano scored, but the play had already been stopped for offside, once again correctly called by Amarilla.

The balance was broken in the 38th minute. Pérez, who had already committed a violent foul before scoring the goal and could have been sent off right there, received his second yellow card for stopping a counter-attack just outside the Argentine penalty area. He was eventually sent off, leaving Uruguay with one less player. Earlier, the team had already lost Victorino to a left thigh injury. Scotti came on in his place. Even at a disadvantage, Uruguay almost scored in the 44th minute. Forlán crossed the ball into the area from the right, Lugano headed it and hit Romero's crossbar.

While the first half was very lively, the pace slowed at the start of the second. With one player less, Uruguay tightened their defense, hoping for a devastating counter-attack. Argentina, feeling the absence of a playmaker to partner Messi – the fans were calling for Pastore – failed to create scoring opportunities and was already unsettling the crowd 20 minutes into the second half.

Batista only heeded the crowd's request in the 26th minute, bringing on Pastore in place of Di Maria. Argentina quickly improved. In the 32nd minute, Messi passed to Agüero, who controlled the ball, turned past Lugano, and shot, forcing a reflex save from Muslera. This was the Barcelona player's only good play in the entire second half. Uruguay responded immediately. Forlán received the ball from Suárez in the area, shot past the goalkeeper, but Romero saved Argentina.

Besides tactical consistency and grit, Uruguay had its individual talents. At 40 minutes, Forlán took a corner from the left and Lugano headed dangerously over the goal. A minute later, Mascherano fouled Suárez from behind on the right flank, almost on the halfway line, received his second yellow card and was sent off. Without the former Corinthians player, Messi became the Argentine captain.

At 44 minutes, an incredible play. Tevez took a long-range free kick, the ball deflected off the wall and almost fooled Muslera, who saved with his foot. On the rebound, Higuaín shot point-blank, but the Uruguayan goalkeeper came out in a spectacular fashion, like a handball goalkeeper, and made a save that will go down in history. In stoppage time, Suárez performed a futsal-style dribble on Millito, almost on the goal line, and crossed to Forlán, who headed over the bar.

In extra time, it seemed that Argentina, having lost Mascherano, was left with one less player. Uruguay gained ground and almost scored a second goal with a powerful shot from Álvaro Pereira. The ball, however, went too high and grazed the crossbar. Argentina came close to scoring in the 13th minute when Higuaín received the ball on the left side of the area, shot low, and hit the post of Muslera's goal.

Argentina played better in the second half, largely due to Messi's improved performance. Uruguay reverted to focusing on defending and waiting for a counter-attack. In a pivotal moment, in the 11th minute, Messi received the ball in the box, dribbled past defenders, and shot towards goal, but González made a sliding tackle to make the save. The Barcelona player threw himself to the ground, his face buried in the grass, and remained there for a few seconds, lamenting his misfortune. The game would indeed be decided by penalties.

The two stars started by taking the penalties. Messi and Forlán sent the goalkeepers the wrong way and converted their kicks. Muslera and Romero guessed the right way, but couldn't save Burdisso and Suárez's shots. Tevez shot powerfully, at mid-height, making it easy for Muslera to save, missing the first penalty for Argentina. The Uruguayan goalkeeper also almost saved Pastore's shot, but couldn't hold onto the ball, which went under him. Scotti and Gargano put Uruguay ahead.

Uruguay could have sealed the game with a penalty kick by Higuaín. The ball hit the crossbar, bounced on the line, hit the crossbar again, and went in. The victory came with a perfect strike by Cáceres.

CREDITS:

Argentina 1 (4) x 1 (5) Uruguay

Argentina - Romero; Zabaleta, Burdisso, Gabriel Millito and Zanetti; Mascherano, Gago (Biglia) and Di Maria (Pastore); Messi, Agüero (Tevez) and Higuaín. Coach - Sergio Batista.

Uruguay - Muslera; Maxi Pereira, Lugano, Victorino (Scotti) and Cáceres. Diego Pérez, González, Arévalo Ríos and Álvaro Pereira (Gargano). Forlán and Suaréz. Coach - Oscar Tabárez.

Goals - Diego Pérez, at 5 minutes, and Higuaín, at 17 minutes of the first half.

Referee - Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay).

Yellow cards - Tevez, Gago, Burdisso, Gabriel Millito, Mascherano, Zabaleta, González, Cáceres and Diego Pérez.

Red cards - Diego Pérez and Mascherano.

Revenue and audience - Not available.

Location - Brigadier General Estanislao López Stadium, in Santa Fe (Argentina).

Below is what Wikipedia says about the Maracanazo, when the same Uruguayans, on the same July 16th, made Brazil cry:

Foreword

The path to the 1950 World Cup title was particularly unique: Instead of the knockout system (which is commonly used today in all competitions, not just football), the regulations stipulated that the champion would be decided through matches between a group of finalists. The four finalists were: Brazil (host country and overwhelming favorite), Uruguay (which needed to win only one match to reach the finals, crushing Bolivia 8-0), Spain (which eliminated England in its group), and Sweden (which defeated Italy).

The start of the final round was more than promising for the Brazilian public and the press, as Brazil had easily won its matches against Sweden (7-1) and Spain (6-1). Brazil had scored 4 points and was the leader of the group; followed by Uruguay, which had only drawn with Spain (2-2) and managed a narrow victory over Sweden (3-2). Uruguay therefore had 3 points before the decisive round.

Although not structured in this way, the final round featured the Spain-Sweden match for "third place" (Spain had only 1 point, while Sweden had none). Brazil-Uruguay was the "decisive game." Even a draw would guarantee the title for Brazil, due to their points total. Uruguay necessarily had to win the game to take the Cup.

Early celebration

The specialized press and the general public had already begun to acclaim Brazil as the new world champion days before the final, and they had reason to. Brazil had won its last two matches with a very offensive style of play against which all efforts had proven futile. On the other hand, Uruguay had encountered considerable difficulty in both its matches against Spain and Sweden, managing a draw against Spain and a narrow victory over Sweden. When these results were compared, it became obvious that Brazil was prepared to easily defeat Uruguay, just as it had defeated Spain and Sweden.

On the morning of July 16, 1950, the streets of Rio de Janeiro were in an uproar. An impromptu carnival erupted to the sound of "Brazil needs to win!". This encouraging spirit did not cease until the start of the final match, which filled the legendary Maracanã Stadium with an audience of approximately 200.000 people, a record that still stands today.

How did Uruguay prepare?

In the Uruguayan locker room moments before the match, coach Juan López determined that a defensive strategy would be the most appropriate way to face Brazil's offensive power. After he left, Obdulio Varela, the team's captain, stood up and told the team, "Juancito is a good man, but today, he's wrong. If we play defensively against Brazil, our fate will be no different from that of Spain and Sweden." Varela then gave an emotional speech about how they needed to face all the difficulties and not be intimidated by the Brazilian fans. The speech, as was later confirmed, had enormous importance in the outcome of the match. Something he said was "Muchachos, los de afuera son de palo. Que comience la función," which could be translated as "Guys, those on the outside don't play. Let the game begin."

The game

The match began as expected: an imminent Brazilian onslaught against the defensive Uruguayan team. However, unlike Spain and Sweden, Uruguay's defensive line managed to hold off the many Brazilian attacks. The first half ended goalless, and even with the score still favoring Brazil, Uruguay's strategy managed to lessen the intensity of the crowd's excitement.

Brazil scored the first goal of the match just two minutes into the second half, which roused the crowd. Varela again played a crucial role, grabbing the ball and contesting the goal's validity with the referee, claiming the Brazilian player was offside. After being overruled by the referee, Varela took the ball to the center of the field and shouted to his team, "Now is the time to win!"

Uruguay really managed to turn the game around. Despite their admirable attacking prowess, the Brazilian team showed weaknesses in their defense, and in the 21st minute, Juan Alberto Schiaffino equalized.

The crowd fell silent, in contrast to the eruption of shouts and cheers that had occurred shortly before the goal (when the score was still favorable to Brazil). With only 11 minutes of the game remaining, Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia ran down the right side of the field and scored another goal. The crowd died down. And so it continued until the referee of the match, George Reader of England, blew the final whistle.

Jules Rimet, president of FIFA and organizer of the cup, commented on what had happened: "The silence was absolute, sometimes hard to believe," as a crowd of two hundred thousand people still couldn't believe they had lost a title they considered rightfully theirs.

Jules Rimet had prepared a speech in Portuguese to congratulate the winners, whom he expected to be Brazilians, so he was shocked when, on his way to the field, the crowd was standing still, there was no national anthem, no celebration of the cup victory, nothing.

The Brazilian Sports Confederation had prepared 22 gold medals, engraved with the names of its players (at the time FIFA did not award medals to the winners, as it does now), which also never fulfilled their purpose.

In an interview, Ghiggia (who scored the second goal) said: "The silence was so profound that if a fly had been buzzing around, we would have heard it buzzing."

After the match

With that result and the consequent ruin of the celebration, the World Cup organizers left Jules Rimet alone on the field, with the trophy in his hands. Without any ceremony to assist him, Jules Rimet ended up calling Varela over to hand him the trophy. This was the second and, to date, the last world title won by Uruguay - 2010.

Brazilian society was in a state of shock at the outcome of that World Cup. Many newspapers seemed unable to accept the fact that the national team had been defeated. Some of the players retired, and none of them were ever considered for the national team again.

The Brazilian Sports Confederation decided to change the color of the national team's uniforms, as it considered bad luck to be the reason for the defeat. Before the Maracanazo, the Brazilian home uniform consisted of a white shirt with a blue collar and white shorts, which was changed to the one used to this day: a yellow shirt with a green collar and blue shorts.