Josef Masopust was born in Most, in North Bohemia, formerly Czechoslovakia, on February 9, 1931. He died on June 29, 2015.

Also in June, on the 17th, he was in Santiago de Chile, playing in the World Cup final against Brazil. 1962

At the 15th minute, to everyone’s surprise, he made the score 1:0. Czechoslovakia and Brazil have already met each other in the group stage with a 0-0 draw. Pelé was injured in that game and missed the remainder of the World Cup.

On the losing side, the Brazilians, world champions, changed the result to Amarildo, Zito and Vava. Czechoslovakia had a brilliant team (in Brazil they prefer to write Czechoslovakia): Schroif; Quiet, Novak, Plyuskal and Poplugar; Masopust and Pospichal; Scherer, Kadraba, Kwasnak and Jelinek.

Strange names from ancient times.

Masopust was strong, with impressive technique. He played both as a left midfielder and as a central midfielder. Excellent ball control, easy dribbling and flawless passing.

Svatopluk Plyuskal was his partner in Dukla in Prague (died 2005).

Jan Popluhar was the star of Slovan de Bratislava (he died in 2011).

Tomas Pospichal was a figure in Banica Ostrava and Slavia in Prague (he died in 2003).

William Schroif was an excellent goalkeeper for Slovan de Bratislava and Lokomotiv Kosice, predecessor of the giant Viktor (died 2007).

Almost nothing was left of the world second-place team that could have played Portugal for access to the 1966 World Cup in England.

Josef Masopust was already one of the chosen ones, but he left Chile with great authority.

Journalists from nineteen European countries, correspondents for France Football, arguably the best football publication of all time, formed an electoral college that elected him the best player in Europe in 1962. Each of them voted for five players, assigning them a score decreasing from 5 to 1.

Eusebio took second place. The boy from Mafalala commented, “At least I was the forward with the most votes. Next time I’ll try to play Masopust.” He preached three.

Luz, Prague, Bratislava On March 6, 1963, Josef Masopust and Eusebio da Silva Ferreira met face to face at the Da Luz stadium in front of 60,000 spectators. Eusebio: “I was delighted with the Dukla team. Unusual! And Masopust was the best of the Czech players.” Masopust: “Eusebius! What a great player! An element like him should be strictly and rigidly marked. Exchange of pennants at the end.

The match was completed by Benfica: victory 2:1. Mario Coluna: two goals. All unanimously praised the technique and art of the Czechoslovaks. “A ground ball, constant demarcations, drawing the Reds into a sticky web from which it was difficult to escape,” wrote Fernando Soromeño.

The trip to Prague was terrible. Fernando Riera applied a tough marking system to the opponent, which left Kadek, Masopust and Brumovski on the sidelines of the decisions of the game, while forwards Jelinek and Kucera were left on their own. A goalless draw sent Benfica through to the semi-finals and on their way to another European Cup final. Masopust received his Ballon d’Or, but the loud cries of “Dukla in Doho!” – “Before Dukla!!” – in a crowded stadium, Benfica doubled. Three years later it will be Portugal in Bratislava. 1-0, goal by Eusebio. Czechoslovakia, ranked second in the world, would not have gone to England. Portugal yes. And beat Pele in Brazil. Masopust, the prince of paradox, will be missed. Him and his confusing football with unstoppable shots.