Mexico 1970 was the World Cup in which football and television became one and the same event. This book reconstructs the tournament that introduced color broadcasting and live satellite transmission to a global audience, turning a football competition into a shared visual experience for the first time in history. At its center stands Brazil's celebrated attacking side, Pelé, Jairzinho, Tostão, Rivellino, and Gérson, built on the defensive platform of captain Carlos Alberto, whose fluent, attacking football became known worldwide as jogo bonito. The book follows England's title defense and the iconic save by Gordon Banks against Pelé's header, Italy's dramatic extra-time semifinal against West Germany, still remembered as the Game of the Century, and the tactical, physical, and technological conditions, altitude, heat, new substitution rules, that shaped every match. Readers interested in football history, television's transformation of global sport, or the story behind some of the game's most reproduced images will find here a rigorous, narrative account of the tournament that made Mexico 1970 unforgettable.
Mexico 1970 was the World Cup in which football and television became one and the same event. This book reconstructs the tournament that introduced color broadcasting and live satellite transmission to a global audience, turning a football competition into a shared visual experience for the first...