Brazilians began to doubt. Schiaffino’s equaliser killed them, but I
thought to myself: ‘We won’t have time to beat them’. But then came
Ghiggia’s goal and they couldn’t come back from that.”
Although the whole of Brazil blamed goalkeeper Barbosa for the decisive goal, Maspoli always defended his counterpart: “Ghiggia’s shots were hard to stop because he used to put swerve on them. From what I could see, Barbosa came off his line to cut out a cross because there were other players coming up in support. When you consider the way Ghiggia always hit the ball, the goal was more down to his skill than a mistake by the keeper.” Such comments led the Brazilian player and coach Tele Santana to describe Maspoli as a “footballing gentleman”.
Maspoli followed that stunning triumph by winning the league with Penarol in 1951 and again two years later, and it came as no surprise to see him between the posts again at the 1954 FIFA World Cup Switzerland. After winning their two group games without conceding a goal, Uruguay downed England 4-2 in the quarter-finals before suffering their first ever FIFA World Cup loss in a semi-final against Hungary that many would describe as 'The Game of the Century', the Magyars prevailing 4-2 after extra time. A 3-1 reverse then followed in the match for third place against Austria, leaving Maspoli and Co without a medal.
On his return he won his last league crown with Los Aurinegros, and in the middle of 1955, at the age of 38 and hampered by an expanding waistline, he retired from the game to take over as caretaker coach at Penarol with Obdulio Varela.
Life in the hotseat
In 1964, almost a decade on from that fleeting introduction to the world of coaching, Maspoli took over at his beloved Penarol once more, guiding them to the championship that year and repeating the feat 12 months later. His charges would top those achievements in 1966, when they won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup, beating a Real Madrid side containing the likes of Pirri and Francisco Gento.
“What an amazing person,” said the Paraguayan Juan Vicente, who played libero in that ground-breaking team. “He spoke to you like a father and you could feel the warmth in him. He always kept the dressing room happy.”
Maspoli left the club in 1967, after securing another league title, though he would return on no fewer than five occasions, winning further championships in 1985 and 1986. It was right at the end of that second triumphant campaign, after a goalless play-off final against eternal rivals Nacional, that he served further notice of his gift for leadership, instructing the 18-year-old Gustavo Matosas to take the winning penalty kick in the shootout.
Maspoli did not just win titles in Uruguay, however. His successful coaching career also included championship success in Peru, with Deportes Lima in 1973, and in Ecuador, with Barcelona in 1987.
He also enjoyed two separate spells in charge of Uruguay, the first between 1979 and 1982, and which included victory in the 1981 Mini World Cup held in Montevideo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inaugural FIFA World Cup. The competition featured teams of the calibre of Argentina, Brazil, West Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, although disappointment followed when La Celeste failed to reach Spain 1982. As fate would have it, one of the players responsible for Uruguay’s demise in the qualifiers was Peru’s Julio Cesar Uribe, whom Maspoli had refused to promote to the first team when in charge of Sporting Cristal in 1977.
Maspoli’s second stint with the national team came in 1997, when he stepped in for the last five games of the qualifying competition for France 1998, although the seven points his team would collect were not enough to take them to the tournament. After preparing the ground for his successor, former Argentina international Daniel Passarella, he bade farewell to the game for good in the middle of 1998.
On 10 February 2004 he was admitted to hospital after suffering heart problems and died 12 days later. He was 86, having dedicated 64 of those years to the game of football, a game that will always remember him as El gran portero de Uruguay – Uruguay’s Goalkeeping Great.
Although the whole of Brazil blamed goalkeeper Barbosa for the decisive goal, Maspoli always defended his counterpart: “Ghiggia’s shots were hard to stop because he used to put swerve on them. From what I could see, Barbosa came off his line to cut out a cross because there were other players coming up in support. When you consider the way Ghiggia always hit the ball, the goal was more down to his skill than a mistake by the keeper.” Such comments led the Brazilian player and coach Tele Santana to describe Maspoli as a “footballing gentleman”.
Maspoli followed that stunning triumph by winning the league with Penarol in 1951 and again two years later, and it came as no surprise to see him between the posts again at the 1954 FIFA World Cup Switzerland. After winning their two group games without conceding a goal, Uruguay downed England 4-2 in the quarter-finals before suffering their first ever FIFA World Cup loss in a semi-final against Hungary that many would describe as 'The Game of the Century', the Magyars prevailing 4-2 after extra time. A 3-1 reverse then followed in the match for third place against Austria, leaving Maspoli and Co without a medal.
On his return he won his last league crown with Los Aurinegros, and in the middle of 1955, at the age of 38 and hampered by an expanding waistline, he retired from the game to take over as caretaker coach at Penarol with Obdulio Varela.
Life in the hotseat
In 1964, almost a decade on from that fleeting introduction to the world of coaching, Maspoli took over at his beloved Penarol once more, guiding them to the championship that year and repeating the feat 12 months later. His charges would top those achievements in 1966, when they won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup, beating a Real Madrid side containing the likes of Pirri and Francisco Gento.
“What an amazing person,” said the Paraguayan Juan Vicente, who played libero in that ground-breaking team. “He spoke to you like a father and you could feel the warmth in him. He always kept the dressing room happy.”
Maspoli left the club in 1967, after securing another league title, though he would return on no fewer than five occasions, winning further championships in 1985 and 1986. It was right at the end of that second triumphant campaign, after a goalless play-off final against eternal rivals Nacional, that he served further notice of his gift for leadership, instructing the 18-year-old Gustavo Matosas to take the winning penalty kick in the shootout.
Maspoli did not just win titles in Uruguay, however. His successful coaching career also included championship success in Peru, with Deportes Lima in 1973, and in Ecuador, with Barcelona in 1987.
He also enjoyed two separate spells in charge of Uruguay, the first between 1979 and 1982, and which included victory in the 1981 Mini World Cup held in Montevideo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inaugural FIFA World Cup. The competition featured teams of the calibre of Argentina, Brazil, West Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, although disappointment followed when La Celeste failed to reach Spain 1982. As fate would have it, one of the players responsible for Uruguay’s demise in the qualifiers was Peru’s Julio Cesar Uribe, whom Maspoli had refused to promote to the first team when in charge of Sporting Cristal in 1977.
Maspoli’s second stint with the national team came in 1997, when he stepped in for the last five games of the qualifying competition for France 1998, although the seven points his team would collect were not enough to take them to the tournament. After preparing the ground for his successor, former Argentina international Daniel Passarella, he bade farewell to the game for good in the middle of 1998.
On 10 February 2004 he was admitted to hospital after suffering heart problems and died 12 days later. He was 86, having dedicated 64 of those years to the game of football, a game that will always remember him as El gran portero de Uruguay – Uruguay’s Goalkeeping Great.
