The 1962 side was obviously top notch also. It's a great shame that Pele was "injured" in 1966 and the world was deprived of the chance to see an individual win an unprecedented three world cups. Happily, the "greatest player ever to have played the game," (oh oh, there goes another argument) survived the hackers long enough to grace the field in Mexico, 1970. He went on to win that elusive third medal in what was breathtakingly exciting action.
The good news was that I was now 14 years old and a TV veteran of two world cups. I had to sneak downstairs at one a.m. and quietly put on the TV each night to get the "live" pictures from Mexico. I was 6,000 miles away but wasn't going to wait until the next day to find out what happened next. No beer, no chips, not even pop, but it was worth it. It educated me in the game and how it "could" be played, so much so that to this day, I still draw on those experiences. You see, I don't believe that any team, before or since, quite got the delicate balance of attack and defence that Brazil 1970 possessed. You've probably all heard of 4:4:2 and 4:3:3 formations among many others. The wonderful Dutch teams — beaten in successive finals later in the '70s — were credited with playing what became known as "total football" — and it was truly wonderful to watch. Well, the truth is Brazil 1970 did not play any recognizable formation. It might be decribed as 0:5:5. I just know that nobody has managed to match their style since.
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