Uruguay v Brazil (World Cup 1950)

Uruguay vs. Brazil was a football match which decided the winners of the 1950 FIFA World Cup tournament.

Strictly speaking it was not a final, but rather a deciding game in the final group stage: Brazil only needed a draw to clinch the World Cup. Uruguay beat their Brazilian counterpart 2–1 at the Maracanã stadium, and as a result, the term "Maracanazo" ( _pt. "Maracanaço", roughly translated as "The Maracaná Blow") has come to be used in reference to this game. It is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in football history.

Prologue

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Brazil decided to change the design of their national uniforms after the defeat since they considered it to be a jinx. Before the Maracanazo, Brazil's home shirt was white with a blue neckline along with white shorts, and this is when they changed it for what they use today, yellow shirt with a green neckline along with blue shorts.

As it transpired, the victory was a "last hurrah" for Uruguayan international football, as they have not won the title since. Conversely, Brazil would go on to win the World Cup on a record five occasions.

"Maracanazo" as slang

The term "Maracanazo" is often used as a slang in Latin American football culture. It usually refers to the victory of an underdog playing in Maracana stadium either against the Brazil national football team or against one of the so called "quatro grandes" (Portuguese for "the big four", referring to the four most popular teams in the city; namely Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Botafogo). One example was the way the Latin American specialised media referred to the 3–0 victory of Club América from Mexico against local Flamengo in the 2008 edition of the Libertadores Cup [ [http://www.futbolizados.com/2008/05/07/copa-libertadores-maracanazo-de-america-ante-flamengo/ Futbolizados » Copa Libertadores: Maracanazo de América ante Flamengo | Un weblog de Fútbol ] ] which culminated in the elimination of the Carioca side from the competition. Having won the away match 4–2, the competition rules gave Flamengo a two goals head start being the 3–0 achieved by Club América the minimum score for the Mexican team to go through to the following stage of the competition.

References

External links

* [http://www.germany2006.com/index/index_en.php?cat_id=24&article_id=44&logger_name=1950 1950 - the greatest World Cup surprise so far]
* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/cs/maracana.html Maracanã] at the [http://www.fifaworldcup.com official FIFA World Cup website]
* [http://www.futbol.com.uy/noticias/2000/16-07-00.html es icon"El dia menos pensado - 50 años del Maracanazo"] - detailed match report
* [http://www.guarda-meta.com/2007/07/08/uruguay-brasil-como-el-dia-mas-glorioso/ es icon"Uruguay-Brasil, como el día más glorioso"]