This day in sports: Brazil’s Pelé strikes it big in 1958 World Cup
Pelé made a spectacular debut on the world soccer stage on this date in 1958 when Brazil beat France in the semifinals 5-2 and advanced to the championship match of the World Cup at Solna, Sweden, near Stockholm.
With Brazil leading 2-1 in the second half and France down to 10 players because French captain Robert Jonquet had broken his leg in a collision with Brazil’s Vava in the 36th minute, the 17-year old Pele scored three straight goals for a hat trick that set up his country’s final against Sweden.
Five days later, Pelé tallied two more goals in the championship to lead Brazil to its first World Cup title.
The Orlando Pride withdrew from the NWSL’s Challenge Cup tournament after six players and four staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers and Angels were both scheduled to play a day games that would have concluded three-game series. The Dodgers would have met the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, and the Angels were set to play the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium. Both games were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other memorable games and outstanding sports performances on this date:
1928 — John Farrell, nicknamed “The Gentlemen,†beats two-time champion Bobby Jones by a stroke in a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago. It is the only major tournament victory in Farrell’s career, which includes 22 PGA Tour wins and three appearances on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
1936 — Joe DiMaggio is the first Yankee and fifth player in baseball history to hit two home runs in one inning. The 21-year old rookie homers twice in New York’s 10-run fifth inning in its 18-11 trouncing of the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. DiMaggio’s eight total bases and five runs batted in also tie single-inning records.
1968 — Sandra Post of Canada beats defending champion Kathy Whitworth by seven strokes in an 18-hole playoff at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Mass., to become the first non-U.S. player and rookie to win the LPGA Championship. Post and Whitworth finish regulation play tied at 294. In the playoff, Post, 20, fires a five-under par 68 for her only major tournament victory.
1980 — The Atlanta Flames relocate to Calgary, Canada, after playing in the Southeastern city for eight seasons. The NHL allows the team to keep the name “Flames.†The league returns to Atlanta for the 1999-2000 season with the Thrashers, who would later move in 2011 to Winnipeg as the Jets. Their leaving made Atlanta the only NHL city in the modern era to lose two franchises.
1990 — Criminal Type is the first horse to win consecutive $1-million races when he takes the Hollywood Gold Cup by beating Sunday Silence at the wire at Hollywood Park. He previously had won the $1-million Pimlico Special on May 12 by a neck over Ruhlmann. Criminal Type, ridden by Jose Santos and trained by Wayne Lukas, is the 5-year-old son of Alydar.
1990 — Argentina knocks three-time champion Brazil out of the World Cup when Diego Maradona sets up Claudio Canigga’s goal in the 81st minute that gives Argentina a 1-0 victory at Turan, Italy. The win moves the defending champions into the quarterfinals.
1997 — Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners strikes out 19 batters — one short of Roger Clemens’ major league record for a nine-inning game — against the Oakland Athletics at the Kingdome in Seattle. Johnson is the first American League left-hander to fan 19, but he gives up 11 hits to the Athletics, who win 4-1.
2010 — At a weary Wimbledon, American John Isner outlasts Nicolas Mahut of France in the longest match in tennis history. Isner hits a backhand winner to clinch the last of the match’s 980 points, and takes the fifth set against Mahut 70-68. The first-round match takes 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days, lasting so long it is suspended because of darkness two nights in a row. Play resumes at 59-all and continues for more than an hour before Isner wins 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. Both Isner and Mahut receive a special award for their play that includes 183 games and 216 aces.
2010 — John Wall is selected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden in New York, and a record number of Kentucky teammates follow him. Four more Wildcats — DeMarcus Cousins (No. 5), Patrick Patterson (No. 14), Eric Bledsoe (No. 18) and Daniel Orton (No. 29) — are among the top 30 selections, making Kentucky the first school to have five players chosen in the first round.
2013 — Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland score 17 seconds apart in the final 1:16 of the third period and the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup with a stunning 3-2 comeback victory in Game 6 over the Boston Bruins at Boston. Bolland’s game-winner comes on a rebound of Johnny Odyua’s shot from the point the clanks off the goalpost.
2018 — Harry Kane scores three goals to propel England to its most emphatic World Cup victory, 6-1 over Panama at Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. John Stones scores twice on headers and Jesse Lingard curls the ball into the net from 25 yards as England scores five goals in the first half, which opens the door out of group play and into the round of 16.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press
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