Story highlights
Football star Zico tells CNN Brazil's 1958 team is the best of all time
Spain's Euro 2012 success has led many observers to label them the greatest
Brazil won the 1958 World Cup with a team featuring stars such as Pele and Garrincha
Spain are the first team to have won three consecutive major tournaments
Brazilian soccer icon Zico has hailed the South American country’s World Cup-winning team of 1958 as the best in the sport’s history, ahead of the reigning world and European champions Spain.
After a thumping 4-0 victory over Italy in the final of Euro 2012 last weekend, Spain became the first team to win three consecutive major tournaments – following on from triumphs at the 2010 World Cup and the European Championship of 2008.
The recent success enjoyed by Vicente del Bosque’s team has led some to label them as the finest ever, leading to comparisons with other legendary teams – such as the Brazil squad which became world champions in 1970.
But former “selecao” star Zico, currently coach of the Iraq national team, selected the Brazil team which lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in Sweden 54 years ago as the finest in football history.
The greatest football team: Spain 2012 vs. Brazil 1970?
“For me the best national team of all time is the Brazilian team from 1958,” Zico, who was part of the much-heralded Brazil team which reached the second group stage of the 1982 World Cup, exclusively told CNN.
Is victorious Spain the best team ever?
“Quite simply because it had, in my opinion, the best players in the world. Pele and Garrincha. They scored a bag full of goals and put in a show in almost every game.”
Pele rose to prominence as a 17-year-old at the 1958 tournament, scoring six goals including a brace in Brazil’s 5-2 defeat of hosts Sweden in the final.
The striker is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers the sport has ever seen and, after being hampered by injury during his country’s 1962 World Cup win, he was a key figure in Brazil’s 1970 success.
Garrincha was a tricky winger who not only won the World Cup in 1958, but starred as Brazil retained the trophy in Chile four years later. His four goals made him joint top goalscorer alongside teammate Vava.
The flamboyant Garrincha, who spent the vast majority of his career with Rio de Janeiro-based Botafogo, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1983 aged 49.
Strutting midfielder Zico is fondly remembered by many football fans for his stylish contribution to the Brazil team which lit up the 1982 competition in Spain, alongside playmaker Socrates.