World Championship --Jules Rimet Cup 1966 Final ... - FIFA.com

was excellent and Suarez when near goal showed brilliant attack. The
game had many fouls but players accepted them in good spirit . Spain had
no difficulty in beating Switzerland in the second match, and therefore
they had to win against Germany West to have any chance of progressing
to the Quarter-Final . They attacked from the beginning of play and
scored first, but Germany West gradually took control . Spain ran
unceasingly trying in vain to open up a very strong West German defence .
BULGARIA
Although Bulgaria finished last in their Group, losing all matches, they
showed a surprisingstrength and tenacity in their play. Playing 1-1-4-2-3,
they were very compact in defence but sometimes their interpassing out
of defence was too deliberate and therefore readily intercepted . They
did not seem to have enough variety or ability in attack to threaten
Brazil. The same pattern was revealed against Portugal, when sometimes
five Bulgarian defenders, with Zhechev outstanding, were held back to
stop two Portuguese forwards, Torres andEusebio . Amongsttheforwards,
Yakimov and Asparuhov were clever in dribbling. In the final match,
Bulgaria attacked with more conviction and with some intelligently
constructed football . They had several splendid chances to increase
their lead at certain stages of the game, but when Hungary scored a
third goal, Bulgaria became dispirited . Technically, Bulgaria were a
sound team, but they lacked speed and thrust to capitalise on basic
mid-field control.
BRAZIL
Brazil played their customary 4-2-4 and demonstrated their great
individual technical skill. In mid-field, they were able to accelerate in
control of the ball across any oncoming opponent, thereby evading a
tackle . Near the penalty area they revealed particular skill in bringing
the ball under control with the chest and turning to evade an opponent
as it dropped to the ground . Every forward seemed willing to run unselfishly
to shake off close marking by opponents, and was able to play fast
"one touch" football, sometimes using a clever chip overhead. Against
Bulgaria, they scored two goals from curving free kicks, a speciality of
Brazilian play. In the second match, playing without Pele, Brazil still
showed high individual ball skill in their attempts to score, but the
Hungarian defence smothered most of the final stages of attack. The
spedd of Hungarian attacks often uotpaced the Brazil full backs . In the
final match, though Pele was back in the side, there were many changes
particularly in defence which seemed to start the game under emotional
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