Montevideo, July 17 (IANS) Alcides Ghiggia, the footballer who scored the winning goal for Uruguay in the 1950 FIFA World Cup final, died exactly 65 years after the victory known as the “Maracanazo”.
Ghiggia, the hero of the 2-1 final against Brazil, was admitted to a private hospital, Medica Uruguaya, in Montevideo and died of a cardiac arrest on Thursday, his son, Arcadio, confirmed to local media, Xinhua reported on Friday.
The Uruguay forward was the only surviving member of the team who won the South American country’s second World Cup (1930 and 1950).
In a 2013 interview, Ghiggia said he preferred not to live in the memory of the Maracanazo.
“I don’t like to talk much (about the Maracanazo) because my teammates are no longer here. You cannot live in the past; the memory goes inside,” said the former striker for Uruguay’s Penarol.
In the 1950 World Cup final, Ghiggia’s goal put Uruguay 2-1 ahead and silenced the 200,000 local fans in the stadium.
“Only three people in history have made everyone in the Maracana (Stadium) be quiet with only one gesture: Pope John Paul II, the singer Frank Sinatra and I,” said Ghiggia in a previous interview.