19/07/2024
Barbosa... The scapegoat for Brazil's loss of the World Cup on their home ground to Uruguay.
Everything was heading towards Brazil's victory in the World Cup on their home soil in 1950.
All indications pointed to this.
Brazil crushed the Swedish team with seven goals and followed it with six against the Spanish team to reach the final match of the tournament, where a draw against Uruguay would guarantee them their first World Cup title.
The match was held at the Maracanã Stadium in front of more than 170,000 spectators, with some sources suggesting the attendance was close to 200,000.
Brazil took the lead with a goal, but Uruguay quickly equalized.
Even then, a draw was enough to secure the title, but Uruguay had another opinion. Uruguayan forward Ghiggia advanced and entered the right side of the penalty area.
Barbosa stayed in his goal and expected Ghiggia to play a cross, so he took two steps forward.
Ghiggia noticed this and surprised Barbosa by playing the ball into the narrow corner on Barbosa's right.
The impact of the goal was like a nightmare that haunts Brazilians to this day.
But defeat needs a scapegoat, and that goal turned Barbosa from the best goalkeeper in Brazil to the number one enemy of the Brazilian people.
He was expelled from the national team and did not play a single match with them afterwards, as his mere presence in the team was considered a bad omen, so they preferred to isolate and stay away from him.
Barbosa repeatedly said: I wasn't the only one at fault, we were eleven players...
But everyone avoided Barbosa.
He tried to get a job in football, but he failed, and all doors were closed in his face.
He finally found a job but as a swimming coach at the Maracanã Stadium. He had to visit this stadium every day for 20 years, reminding him of the tragedy that befell him.
Barbosa himself said:
Not a day passed without having to convince myself that I wasn't solely responsible, but people need a reason.
Some say I failed, whether I actually failed or not,
who will go back in time to fix that?
He hated Maracanã and hated looking at it, but he was forced to relive his sorrows every day.
He was kept away from the Brazilian national team camps in the subsequent World Cup tournaments, as bad luck was believed to exist where Barbosa was.
He was offered a job to analyze the Brazilian national team's matches in the 1994 World Cup finals, but the president of the Brazilian Football Federation refused.
Barbosa commented on this saying:
The maximum criminal sentence in Brazil is 30 years, but I spent 50 years paying for a crime I didn't commit. Even the criminal, when he serves his sentence, is forgiven, but I was never forgiven.
He had a small chance for revenge later when he was gifted a piece of the remains of the Maracanã Stadium during some maintenance work.
That piece was a wooden plank, he lit it on fire and grilled a piece of meat over it, along with his burning sorrow.
He said sarcastically that day:
It was the best-grilled piece of meat I've ever eaten in my life.
Barbosa passed away in 2000 due to a heart attack and did not leave behind children to carry his name and be reminded that they are the children of Barbosa, the Barbosa who deprived Brazil of the World Cup on their home ground.
