Just a few meters from the Montevideo Wanderers stadium, on Avenida Buschental, stands the tall statue of Obdulio Varela. To some “El Negro Jefe” (The Black Chief) might be a forgotten football hero from the past, but others will never forget about the man who silenced 200.000 people.
Varela was born in poverty in Montevideo in 1917 – coming from a black family has chances were low. He worked as a shoeshine boy and newspaper deliverer until his talent on the ball was recognized by Juventud de Montevideo. A few years later he signed for Montevideo Wanderers, although he is mainly associated with Peñarol.
Not just his technique was impressive – standing 1,83 meters (6 feet) tall, he was considered a giant. His physique and leadership skills gave him the nickname ‘El Negro Jefe’, the Black Chief.
The real captain
The finest hour of Varela came in 1950, when he was captaining Uruguay during the world cup in Brasil.
If we are honest about it, Uruguay was not very impressive during that tournament. The 1930’s world champion played a 2-2 against Spain, and managed to win against Sweden with only a narrow margin (3-2).
Brasil on the other hand was swinging, beating Sweden (7-1) and Spain (6-1) with large numbers. To win the tournament, the Brasilians only needed a draw against Uruguay.
About 200.000 fans went to the impressive Maracana stadium to see their country grab the world cup. Juan Lopez, coach of the Uruguayans, told his squad that their best chances were when playing defensively.
At the moment Lopez left the changing room, captain Varela however started a speech: “Juan is a good man, but if we do defend ourselves then we will suffer the same fate of Sweden and Spain. The game is played on the pitch, when you come out to the pitch, don’t look to the crowd, those on the outside are made of wood”
Maracanazo
In the 50th minute of the game, the Maracana exploded with joy when Friaça scored the opening goal – now Uruguay needed to score twice to win the world cup!
In all the hectic and celebration, Varela remained calm. His first step was protesting the goal fiercely – claiming there was an offside situation. He knew this was absolutely not the case, but it helpen to calm the atmosphere in the stadium and get his team ready to kick off again.
After that he said to his teammates ‘Now it’s time to win the game’ – and they did. Uruguay scored through Schiaffino and then, 9 minutes before the finish, with a very nervous Brazil team, Alcides Ghiggia scored the 2–1 for Uruguay, winning the World Cup.
Winning against all odds, silencing 200.000 Brasilians: in Uruguay this event quickly became known as the ‘Maracanazo’. Without Obdulia keeping his cool, this would very likely never have happened.
Varela celebrated the victory drinking in a bar:
“I was sad about the suffering of the people with that defeat they did not deserve. I sat at a bar and I started to drink sugarcane hoping that no one would recognise me, because I thought that if they did, they would kill me. But they recognised me straight away and, to my surprise, they congratulated me, they hugged me and many of them stayed to drink with me into the night.”
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