Great World Cup sides of the past have been built around ego-free forwards and Sterling’s cunning is utterly irreplaceable
In the minds of those who watched them win the 1970 World Cup, Mário Zagallo’s Brazil still represents the fulfilment of all the seldom-kept promises of international football. The mere mention of their star players – Pelé, Jairzinho, Roberto Rivelino, Carlos Alberto – conjures images of suave magic under the Mexican sun. But there was one player, a little less celebrated, without whom their triumph would have been much harder to achieve.
Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade, known as Tostão, was a 23-year-old centre-forward who had appeared fleetingly in Brazil’s 1966 campaign in England while still a teenager. Four years later he arrived with Zagallo’s squad having just recovered from a serious operation on a detached retina.
It would certainly be useful if Sterling could end his England drought. But there is a more important job to be done.
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