The victory over Italy, securing the bronze medal, had a goal with the mark of Nelinho. A long shot with bend that has been rarely seen in the world of football, making goalkeeper Dino Zoff squirm and helpless in net.
Nelinho played for América, Cruzeiro and Atlético, was one of the greatest goalscoring wing-backs and is considered one of the greatest free-kick takers in history. He scored 165 goals in 764 matches.
After retiring, he did not have a long period as Atletico's coach, managing the club for just 27 games. In this interview with Flashscore, he talks about the significance of the goal 42 years ago and the World Cup in Qatar, while lamenting the lack of free-kick takers in Brazilian football today.
Check out an exclusive interview with Nelinho
Was that goal you scored against Italy in the 1978 World Cup even more important in "introducing" your shooting ability to the whole world?
That goal in 1978 was beautiful, but not the most beautiful. It was the most important because it was a goal in a World Cup, which secured third place. It's a goal that has gone down in my history. Even today I see it on TV, whenever they remember beautiful goals in World Cups, it appears. That makes me very proud.
Were you able to play in the '82 World Cup?
I confess that at the time I was called up, Cruzeiro, the club I was playing for, was not in good form. I wasn't at my best either. But I really believe that if I'd been called up for training and, in the company of those great players, I'd have been able to take part in a good World Cup.
Which are your favourite teams for the World Cup this year? Do you see Brazil with a good chance of going far in the World Cup?
Favourites in the World Cup are always very difficult to predict. Unless you take the usual route by mentioning countries like Germany, Brazil, France, those teams with more tradition and with a better chance of winning the title. There might be another team that we don't talk about now. But I see Brazil fully capable of reaching the final again.
Is there a "Neymar-dependency"?
I think that he himself creates that dependency from the moment he overuses the ball and tries to solve everything on his own. That makes the players dependent on him. When he realises he's very important and can be decisive for the national team, but without trying to solve everything on his own, I think he'll add even more to the team. He's undoubtedly the best player in Brazil today.
Why is there such a lack of free-kick takers in Brazil today? Does it make sense that many athletes don't train free-kicks as they used to, as a precaution to avoid possible injuries?
There are moments in football, as we've had with great full-backs and, at other times, with a shortage of players in this and other positions, like centre-forwards. I think the players who are capable of taking free-kicks need more training. I don't think clubs can justify restricting players from taking free-kicks after training sessions. It's something I hear people say.
If you train with a lot of fouls, you get used to it and the risk of injury isn't that big. The training sessions will make them perfect and can make the difference in a game decided by set pieces. When teams allow this training, it is something short and not to the preference of the player. If it was me playing nowadays, it would be complicated, I would have difficulty. In my day, I used to take free-kicks for one or two hours after training, and clubs should rethink that.
Do you think or would you like to work in football? Or is it a field that no longer holds your interest?
I've done my bit as a player and I've had a good and bad experiences as a coach. The coaches suffer unnecessarily, the players are the ones who decide the matches, the coach's participation is as small as possible.
They help in training and with substitutions, nothing much more than that. I don't agree with that shouting on the edge of the field, guiding some "nonsense", it's something ridiculous. The situation gets even worse when the coaches complain frequently about the referees.
