'Defeating Uruguay in final is only redemption'

Brazil avenging their traumatic 1950 World Cup final defeat by beating Uruguay in the final in July would be the ideal result, said Brazilian legend Pele.

The 73-year-old three time World Cup winner said in answer to a question of whether he would like a Brazil vs Argentina final on July 13 at the Maracana it would be much more to his taste to play Uruguay and beat them.

“I would prefer to have a Brazil vs Uruguay final in order that we could avenge our defeat in 1950,” Pele told a select group of journalists invited by FIFA to a bar in Sao Paulo.

The Uruguayans stunned the 200,000 spectators at the Maracana into silence back in 1950 when a late goal earned them a 2-1 win and that was enough on the old system for them to be crowned world champions and not Brazil, who went into the match just requiring a draw.

The match earned the nickname the ‘Maracanazo’ on the back of it.

Pele, the record goalscorer for Brazil, said that the importance of what football had done for Brazil’s worldwide reputation could not be underestimated.

“I would say to the young that the World Cup is the tournament which allowed people throughout the world to learn about Brazil.

“I began my World Cup career in 1958 in Sweden when I was 17 years old.
“Nobody knew anything about us. Nobody, not even a journalist came to see us.
“People confused Brazil with Argentina and the Amazon.....they were all the same thing to people. Brazil became known to them because of the World Cup.”

Pele, said that he wouldn’t give a scoreline for Brazil’s opening game of the tournament against Croatia on Thursday.