How many people silenced the Maracaná stadium in Rio de Janeiro? The Uruguayan Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia He said that only three: the Pope, Frank Sinatra And he.
With her goal, the Celeste sealed the 1-2 comeback in front of Brazil And on July 16, 1950 he wrote one of the most important pages in the history of football by completing the ‘Maracanazo’.
It was against almost 200,000 people in a party that left consequences of all kinds in both countries and led to Pelé to confess that day he saw his father cry for the first time. Todo Brazil cried.
“Your father beat the Brazilians”
Arcadio Ghiggia He was just a child when his family returned from Italy, where he was born. Between 1954 and 1962 Alcides defended the colors of Rome and Milan.
“Your father beat the Brazilians!” His classmates told him in which he resumed his studies when he arrived in the South American country. He didn’t understand anything.
Arcadio Ghiggia is the son of Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia, author of the goal of the triumph of Uruguay in the Maracanazo
“I didn’t know what a World Cup was, or that it was Maracaná. When I went home I talked to Mom, she smiled at me and said: Talk to her with your father who will explain it better, “Arcadio recalls in an interview with the EFE agency.
“It was a football game in which I made a goal and won,” the hero of the ‘Maracanazo’ And he said nothing more. Over time he spoke much more about that subject with his father, whom he defines as a very jovial, very sincere and very affectionate person.
Arcadio assures that being the son of Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia It is easy on the one hand: “You carry it as a banner and a pride for the father who had in the sports part and also in the family part (…) I never took it as a weight, on the contrary, proud to be the son of who was a legend of world football.”
However, the son of Ghiggia Recognize how difficult are situations as – for example – when the same sport is practiced and the comparisons appear immediately. His father, the hero of ‘Maracanazo’, He died in Montevideo on July 16, 2015, 10 years ago, the same day that 65 of the deed was fulfilled
Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia died 10 years ago, just 65 after the Maracanazo
Schiaffino’s book
Before Ghiggia will go back to 79 minutes, Juan Alberto Schiaffino He had achieved the tie for Uruguay at 66 of time. On several occasions, the player acknowledged that he had not wanted to put the ball in the place where he entered, but had wanted to finish off the other post.
Raúl Schiaffino, His nephew, he heard that anecdote many times and indicates in an interview with the Efe agency that his uncle was a man “very honest and very attached to the truth.” He also remembers it as an extremely methodical, orderly, punctual and systematic person.
Recognize that being a relative of one of the heroes of the ‘Maracanazo’ It was at some point “very difficult” and remember that when I was a child and I was going to play football I felt the pressure of all the people who knew who it was. “I didn’t play badly, but I didn’t stand out either. I felt that pressure and avoided several times to play football,” he says Raúl Schiaffino. He also remembers that he was very small when Juan Alberto He returned from Italy, where in the period 1954-1962 he defended Milan and Rome.
Raúl Schiaffino, nephew of Juan Alberto Schiaffino, author of the first goal of La Celeste against Brazil in the 1950 World Cup final
“To the extent that time went by I realized the magnitude of what had been the ‘Maracanazo’ And what had been his career, “he says Raúlwho being a child thought his uncle would become famous thanks to a book he was writing.
Juan Alberto He began working in that manuscript after the end of his career as a footballer and concluded a first part in 1974. Then he added analysis of the different World Cups who were played and reached the one played in Spain in 1982.
Published only in 2024, the book ‘Schiaffino’s memory’ It counts several details of the 1950 World Cup and the last game of that tournament.
A ‘Maracanazo’
So much Arcadio Ghiggia as Raúl Schiaffino They have no doubt in ensuring that ‘Maracanazo’ It is much more than a football match. In Uruguay, the term transcends that sport.
Arcardio He learned with his father that it is “the impossible to do his best.” He adds that what happened 75 years ago is “the miracle come true.”
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Raúl assures that Maracaná It means a lot. “Maracaná It is synonymous with what you can work as a team and having an impressive attitude as each of the players have had, “he says.
And he adds: “It became a verb. We have already adopted it in that way and I think it goes far beyond what Uruguayan society is. In the whole world they know what the ‘Maracanazo’ “.
