Maracanazo – The Goal that Silenced 200,000 People

By H. Janér

“When witches go riding, and back cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, it’s Halloween.” 
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of the year once again. When kids are trick or treating on the streets, everybody watches their favorite horror movies and fills their houses with all sorts of “scary” decorations. 
However, this story is no horror movie; it is much worse than that because this is real life. 
In 1950, the FIFA World Cup was set to be in Brazil for the first time. The country was exhilarated, and so the government initiated a project to build the biggest stadium in the world at the time, the Maracanã. Brazil started the World Cup on fire, with 21 goals in 4 games. They battered Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1 en route to the final against Uruguay. Brazil was the heavy favorite; how couldn’t they be? 
The game day arrived in the newly built Maracanã, and so did 173,000 fans, which is the World Cup game with the highest attendance in football history. Brazil opened the game 1-0 with a goal from Friaça just after halftime but was met with an equalizer in the 66th minute by Juan Alberto Schiaffino. The crowd became concerned, but only in the 79th minute when Alcides Giggia scored the game-winner that made 170,000 people become dead silent, to the point it became eerie. Giggia mentioned later in his life that silence was “the scariest experience of his life.” The country was still, and Brazil had lost its first final appearance.