The Greatest save of all the time from goalkeeper…
It`s called the Save of the Century!
This is how it was judged by one of the two very authoritative protagonists, and this is how that legendary intervention went down in history.
It’s all about Pele and English goalkeeper Gordon Banks.
Julisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, June 7, 1970.
In the fourth match of Group 2, perhaps the two strongest teams of the entire group faced each other:
the phenomenal Brazil, who would later win the title, and the defending champion England, considered by many to be more mature and complete than the version that had won in their homeland four years earlier (1966).
Ten minutes of play have passed in the first half, when the right wing of the Brazilians, Jairsinho, picks up the ball in the English half and runs towards the end along the touchline. His escape is beautiful, he breaks free of Cooper, tightens towards the center, sees the goalkeeper Banks positioned at the near post and sends a cross to the far one.
Towards which Pelé is running with his marker Mullery at his side. “O` Rey”, who has a stratospheric elevation, jumps very high and hits the ball from above, the ball bounces to the ground a few centimeters before the goal line.
The ace player (Pele`) is shouting for a goal when Banks, who has leapt to the other side of the goal with a prodigious leap, manages to reach the ball and hits it with his fist, making it soar vertically, over the crossbar.
“At that moment,” Pelé said at the end of the game, “I hated Banks more than any other player, I couldn’t believe it. But when the anger passed, I had to applaud him with all my heart. It was the greatest save I had ever seen.”
For his part, Banks told it like this: “When Jairsinho kicked the ball, I started to back away towards the goal. Then I assessed the trajectory: it was impossible for anyone to reach it. Then I saw Pelé. He seemed to climb higher and higher into the sky, until he reached the ball and hit it with all the strength he had in his body. And I went to get it.”
Pele and Gordon Banks will forever be connected by “the save of the century” at the 1970 World Cup and the Brazilian said he was “glad” Banks saved his header in Guadalajara’s Estadio Jalisco because it was the start of a lasting friendship between the two men.
“For many people, their memory of Gordon Banks is defined by the save he made against me in 1970,” Pele said in a Facebook post. “I understand why.”
“The save was one of the best I have ever seen – in real life and in all the thousands of games I have watched since.”
“When you are a footballer, you know straight away how well you have hit the ball. I hit that header exactly as I had hoped. Exactly where I wanted it to go. And I was ready to celebrate.”
“But then this man, Banks, appeared in my sight, like a kind of blue phantom, is how I described him. He came from nowhere and he did something I didn’t feel was possible.”
“He pushed my header, somehow, up and over. And I couldn’t believe what I saw. Even now when I watch it l, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe how he moved so far, so fast.”!
England Squad of the 1970 in the World Cup, Mexico
Translated to English from Italian, by Pjerin Bj.
References: Calcio 2000 magazine / N. 35 / October 2000!
Also, e Pele`s interview, when Banks passed away in 2019.
New York: July 5, 2025
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