SoccerObituaryJuan Schiaffino
Legendary Uruguayan footballer whose World Cup goal helped his country beat BrazilDespite being pale and slender, and looking like the antithesis of the footballer as athlete, the Uruguayan Juan Alberto Schiaffino, who has died aged 77, was one of the great inside forwards of his day - a man with exquisite ball control, a gimlet eye for the telling pass, and a left foot which scored many an important goal.
Unquestionably the most important was his equaliser against Brazil in the decisive game of the 1950 World Cup. It shocked into silence the 200,000-strong crowd in the new Maracanà stadium, and spurred Uruguay to go on and win the cup, beating Brazil 2-1.
Four years later, Tommy Docherty, the hard-tackling wing-half who marked Schiaffino when Uruguay thrashed Scotland 7-0 in the 1954 World Cup in Basle, called him the greatest player he had ever faced. Docherty talked of the moment when he felt he had Schiaffino penned in on the goal line, only to find the Uruguayan, almost magically, slipping past him.
Born in Montevideo, Schiaffino made his mark with Peñarol, one of that city's two famous clubs. A players' strike before the 1959 South American Cup tournament meant that the Uruguayans entered a team made up, technically, of amateurs, but, as one of them, Schiaffino comfortably held his own against more established players. By 1950, he was a major star, an outstanding positional player who could dribble past opponents with ease.
The vagaries of the 1950 competition, which attracted only 13 finalists, meant that, to qualify for the final pool, Uruguay had merely to beat the feeble Bolivians; this they did 8-0, with Schiaffino helping himself to four of the goals. A contorted system decreed there be no final as such; the winners of the final pool would take the cup, and Brazil had a one point lead over the Uruguayans. All they needed to win was a draw.
Uruguay held out against terrific pressure, with Brazil urged on by a fanatical crowd. When Friaca scored for Brazil early in the second half, that seemed to be that. But twice in the first half, Schiaffino had threatened a goal. When served by Miguez, and the little right-winger Ghiggia, he struck a shot which the Brazilian keeper, Barbosa, only just managed to reach. Then, coming suddenly to life from seeming torpor, Schiaffino dribbled his way clean through Brazil's defence, only for Barbosa to frustrate him again.
But it could not last. For all the crowd's triumphalism, Schiaffino had plainly found the range. In the second half, Uruguay counter-attacked often and crisply. Obdulio Varela, their heroic centre-half and captain, sent Chico Ghiggia flying down the right wing. His cross, astoundingly, found Schiaffino unmarked. He took four strides forward, then walloped his shot past Barbosa to make the Uruguayans level. Fourteen minutes later, Ghiggia scored the winner.
The rich Italian clubs made strenuous efforts to buy Schiaffino, particularly in 1951. Roma offered half a million pesos, a hefty sum in those days, and Juventus sent their Fiat patron, Gianni Agnelli, to Montevideo. Schiaffino himself was keen to go to the land of his ancestors, but it was all in vain; Peñarol would not let him go.
There were rumours that if his club held out, Schiaffino had his passport ready to take off for Colombia, then outside the international body, Fifa. In the event, he stayed and, though Uruguay did not retain their World Cup in Switzerland in 1954, both he and they gave a fine account of themselves.
In their opening game, Schiaffino scored the second goal in a 2-0 win against Austria. Then came the demolition of Scotland. Although he did not score any of his side's seven goals, Schiaffino pulled the strings throughout, showing an almost clairvoyant understanding with his centre-forward, Hector Miguez.
Next, in a sweltering Sunday afternoon quarter-final, England gave Uruguay a powerful run for their money. But it was Schiaffino's controversial goal, which made it 3-1, that really tipped the balance. Varela illicitly took a free kick from hand; Ambrois and Miguez conjured the ball to Schiaffino; and goalkeeper Gil Merrick was too slow to stop the shot. When injuries led Uruguay to realign their forces, Schiaffino, in the words of a commentator, "was withdrawn to take over the central defensive position, from where he was to show his real mastery as one of the greatest and most balanced all-round footballers on the contemporary scene".
In a magnificent semi-final against Hungary, a depleted Uruguayan team virtually used Schiaffino as centre-forward. With 15 minutes left, and Uruguay 2-0 down, his pass sent Hohberg, a naturalised Argentinian, racing through to score. Three minutes from time, Schiaffino made Hohberg the equaliser, but Hungary scored twice in extra time. In the meaningless third-place match against Austria, Schiaffino yet again sent Hohberg clear to score the first goal, though weary Uruguay lost the game 3-1.
Now Italy really beckoned. For a record fee of £72,000, pocketing £23,000 himself, Schiaffino joined AC Milan, fitting in at once, and helping his new team to win the Campionato - he played in all but seven games. Less than six months after his last game for Uruguay, he was playing for the Italians against Argentina.
This was a shameless exploitation of his double nationality, but an all too familiar one. Three years later, he was capped by Italy again, in their ill-starred game against Northern Ireland at Belfast, a match meant to be a World Cup eliminator but played as a so-called friendly because the Hungarian referee was held up by fog. With a ferocious kick that broke Wilbur Cush's shin pad - and could have broken his leg - Schiaffino showed a less pleasing side of his character.
In 1955-56, he helped Milan to reach the semi-finals of the first European Cup (they lost to Real Madrid), won another championship medal in 1957, and played a salient role in the 1958 European Cup final, when Real again just beat Milan - used at centre-forward, Schiaffino scored Milan's first goal from a pass by Liedholm, though, unlike Liedholm, he did not go on to the 1958 World Cup finals. He won his last two Italian caps in the eliminators against Portugal and Northern Ireland.
In 1960, Schiaffino was transferred to Roma, where he played only in carefully chosen games. Two years later, he returned to Uruguay, becoming, first, a scout, then manager of his old club, Peñarol, and of the national team. His shrewd business dealings had already guaranteed him a comfortable future.
Juan Alberto Schiaffino, footballer, born July 28 1925; died November 13 2002
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