It was passing football, only one player dribbled, there was very little precision in maneuvers, it was not usual to play from the back, the ball was played excessively, there was much less defending than now, there were large spaces for movement. and the stars we had in our imagination as such were not, at least not in that game. What are we talking about…? Since the 1966 World Cup final, in which England beat Germany 4-2. Beauty came through on the other side, through simplicity and lack of guesswork.

In his lifetime, this chronicler saw fifteen world championships, eleven on the page and four on television, the first of which – England 1966 – was delayed, film of each game arrived two days later and we enjoyed it with as much enthusiasm as the live action. From Mexico 70, when the satellite appeared, the transmissions were live. It’s not easy to remember in detail something that happened 57 years ago, that’s why we set ourselves the journalistic goal of seeing the fifteenth of the final again, an exercise that destroys many myths. We had already started Argentina 3 – France 3. Just three months after it was played, we already had a second impression when we saw it in person on December 18th.

What kind of football was that…? Very different from the present, more elementary above all. The old hose that used to be slower but more valuable is not correct. Zero fantasy. There were large free spaces for movement, but miracles with the ball were not seen. The players lacked the individual technique of the current players. 9 like Benzema would have been a deity at the time, due to his exceptional quality. And, at least on July 30, 1966, it didn’t rain, the ball didn’t even weigh two kilograms, and nobody kicked. They simply played as they played. And we are thinking of England and Germany in the world final. In the 120 minutes played, there was only one strong attack: Höttges, Werder Bremen’s right back, hung Alan Ball to prevent him from escaping from the top. Therefore, this power cannot be raised. Ball, Blackpool’s 21-year-old winger, was the standout figure of the afternoon, facing every play and being brave.

Yes, there was mobility, they were not fixed in place. Nobby Stiles, Bobby Charlton, Alan Ball, the famous German striker Uwe Seeler, were fashionable, moving all over the field. Goalkeepers Banks and Tilkowski, when they would have covered a shot, performed by shooting from fifty or sixty meters, unintentionally, but far from their own goal. A few saves too. The case of Schnellinger, known at the time for his origins in Milan, Italy, is particularly striking. It was disappointing to see that. Every time he received the ball, he gave his all to the other field, it didn’t matter if a teammate was nearby or not.

The TV was black and white, with one camera on the side, the goals were hardly repeated (only once and without slow motion). The narrator limited himself to saying the last name: “Charlton… Stiles… Moore…”. With a few exceptions, it did not elicit comments or additions. The stopwatch and score board were not displayed on the screen, it just showed the clock ticking every fifteen minutes. There were no substitute benches because there were no changes, whoever was left out of the starting eleven watched from the stands. No one received a yellow or sent off, red and yellow cards have not yet been realized. Added time is not indicated; Exactly in the 90th minute, the referee stopped the duel. Same with two overtimes, without the added second. There were 96,924 spectators at Wembley that afternoon, but that didn’t mean much encouragement, barely a murmur. Nor were goals celebrated as wildly as they are now.

The happiest club in the world that day was West Ham United, at that time a kind of Argentinos Juniors. He was the only one to have three footballers in the final. And what three…!: Bobby Moore, the great captain, Geoffrey Hurst, the author of three goals, and Martin Peters, who scored the fourth. England dominated most of the time and were very fair winners, they had more offensive intent. Germany won 1-0, the home team turned it around and in the last minute, similar to Germany, Wolfgang Weber, a center back, pounced on a rebound in the penalty area to make it 2-2 which sent the game into overtime. No English player had too many regrets, we just had to carry on for a while longer.

The first English goal was, to say the least, curious. Bobby Moore crossed from the left side across the German area, and Geoffrey Hurst completely alone, without a single rival defender even three or four meters away, picked his stick and headed the ball into the net with unusual ease.

And in the 11th minute of stoppage time, a controversial goal arrived, Hurst’s famous ghost goal. West Ham’s nine stopped the ball in the penalty area and finished high very briskly. The ball hit the crossbar and crossed the line, the English footballers scored a goal, and the Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst went to consult the Soviet line of Tofik Bakhramov and said a goal: 3 to 2. The German boys complained, but moderately. Over the years the topic has grown. It was never clarified whether he went in or not because there were no special cameras from the goal line, like today. The most critical ensure that the ball enters 85%, but not all. It happened that the ball stung Tilkowski behind his body and obscured his view. And at that time there was no VAR. Honestly, if we were in Bakhramov’s place, we would have conceded a goal too. In the 120th minute, when Germany had already surrendered, Hurst scored to make it 4-2, an anecdote at the time because the game ended immediately. The Swiss referee Dienst did a magnificent job, rigorous, made no mistakes and did not allow anyone to waste time or get into friction. Nor was it overly necessary, the protagonists showed exemplary correction.

Individual performances were quite a surprise. Most Valuable Player, without a doubt, Alan Ball, sort of A burrito Ortega, one-on-one imbalance, submitted. Then we located Nobby Stiles, an all-rounder, smart, predictive, steals a lot of balls. He had the key to the whole of England, he was the owner of that team. Immediately there is Willi Schulz, the famous defender of Hamburg with a stunning delivery of the ball. It never looked rushed and resolved safely and easily. In fourth place would be Uwe Seeler, a midfielder who dropped a lot and helped create maneuvers. Fifth, Gordon Banks, a fantastic goalkeeper who conjured up three clear chances to score. Immediately, Bobby Moore, a very clean and efficient centre-back; Jackie Charlton, his partner at the back, a brave, strong defender with character; Overath, class 5, type Fernando Redondo, with neat left leg. And Bobby Charlton…? And Beckenbauer…? They didn’t shine. Franz was irrelevant, it was not noticed at all, not even his handling of the ball. He played central midfielder. Charlton entered the game more, got involved, but did not stand out. All players, except Jackie Charlton, giraffe, they were quite short in stature. Along with all of them, George Best, from the same era, was a football god, full of magic, skill and goals. It was, without a doubt, far superior to the 22 that played in that final.

It was a wonderful trip back in time, and yet the duel had its appeal. All football eras were beautiful. (OR)