Galeano’s Goals: “Goal by Jairzinho”

By | September 22, 2009

Eduardo Galeano, in Soccer and Sun and Shadow (London: Verso, 2003), provides beautiful descriptions of famous goals from footballing history. Here is one of his descriptions, and a video of the goal. What do you think of the description? Can you find clips of other goals he describes?

“It was at the ’70 World Cup. Brazil was playing England.

Tostao got the ball from Paulo Cesar and scurried ahead as far as he could, but all of England was spread out in the penalty area. Even the Queen was there. Tostao eluded one, then another and on more, then he passed the call to Pele. Three players suffocated him on the spot. Pele pretended to press on and the three opponents went for the smoke. He put on the brakes, pivoted and left the ball on the feet of Jairzinho, who was racing in. Jairzinho had learned to shake off his markers on the sandlots of the toughest slums of Rio de Janeiro: he came on like a black bullet and evaded one Englishman, before the ball, a white bullet, crossed the goal line defended by the keeper Banks.

It was the winning goal. Swaying to the rhythm of a fiesta, Brazil’s attackers had tossed off seven guardians of the steel fortress, which simply melted under the hot breeze blowing from the south.” Galeano, 135-136

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