Opinion – PVC: Books fuel mysteries about the 1982 selection

The launch in Brazil of the book “Anatomia do Sarriá”, by Italian journalist Piero Trellini, allows the library to have three works on the mythical 1982 selection, with three different views.

The Italian one, by Trellini, is joined by the Brazilian one from “82 – a Cup for Ever”, by Celso Unzelte and Gustavo Longhi de Carvalho, and the Spanish one: “España 82 – La Historia del Nuestro Mundial.”, by Juan Antonio Simón .

The last one is not available in Portuguese, which does not prevent us from seeing how incredible the legacy of Zico, Sócrates, Júnior, Falcão, Cerezo and Telê Santana is. There are numerous books on Cruyff, but none on Germany v Holland.

There is a movie, “The Miracle of Bern”, but not a specific work on the Hungarian team.

The defeat to Italy turned 40 years old and gave away three great books, capable of fueling the mystery of why a selection, which was not unanimous, was so beloved.

No, it was not unanimous.

João Saldanha wrote the day after the elimination that the good part of losing was “ending with the charlatanism”. Recently, Tite read the text, published in “As 100 Melhores Crônicas de João Saldanha”. She was amazed at how the brilliant columnist wrote in a personal tone against Telê.

In “Uma Copa para Semper”, Celso Unzelte and Gustavo Longhi report a dialogue at half-time of Brazil 4 x 1 Scotland, in which Zico says he is overloaded, having to play on the right: “There’s no problem falling there, but there must be a relay. Otherwise, I’d rather leave”.

The team was not perfect, and Italy was strong. Trellini recovers alert from Falcão to Telê, on the eve of Sarriá. He knew his rival, having played for Roma: “The Italians will not be fragile, like in the group stage”.

Why the 1982 team owns the only failure loved by the fans is a mystery that crosses the minds of Brazil and Spain. Here, renewal was breathing, three years after the amnesty, four months before the first post-coup 1964 gubernatorial elections.

We say that the fall in Sarriá gave birth to pragmatic football in the country of football. Lie. The 1974 and 1978 selections were gray, like the lead years.

If it were true, São Paulo would not have the joy of the Menudos three years later, or the world champion Telê, ten years later, putting Cruyff and Guardiola’s Barcelona in the wheel.

Spain was also experiencing new times, seven years after Franco’s death. On the eve of Brazil v Italy, we watched Poland v Soviet Union. We wanted to know who would be the team’s rival in the semifinals.

The Poles, ranked 0-0, challenged the Russian settlers in the stands, opening a banner with the phrase “Solidarnosc”, a reference in Polish to the social movement called “Solidarity”.

The police proved to be heirs of Francoism. Bats dropped on the protesters.

The well-worn question “win like in 1994 or lose like in 1982” is a false dilemma for whoever won with the best attack, like in 1970 and 2002. Sarria. Even realizing, from recent readings, that the stupendous team of Telê had incorrigible imperfections.

We love Zico, Sócrates, Cerezo, Falcão and Júnior, we love the memory of idols playing here, not in Europe. Everything coincided with the air of freedom.

The 1982 team was happier than in the 1970s and made us unconsciously celebrate the time when hope conquered fear. That’s why for 40 years, pride conquers sadness.