July 16th would be a day like any other, but in 1922 it meant that it was the day for the first Coppa Italia final, and the first team to win was Vado FC. Fast forward to 1950 on the same day, the unthinkable happens. In the Brazilian city of Maracanã the World Cup final was played between teams Brazil and Uruguay. The Brazilians were confident of victory that day, but they were almost too sure as they let themselves get beat 2-1. For the Brazilians this defeat caused a sort of collective mourning, meanwhile for the Uruguayans it was practically a national holiday. Juan Alberto Schiaffino played for the winning team that day, not only did he score the equalizer making it 1-1, but he also assisted in the second goal that lead up to an unexpected advantage.
As Schiaffino’s performance showed much class and character, it was so impressive that he caught the attention of AC Milan’s management. They soon decided to purchase him as a midfielder in 1954 and his career with the Rossoneri resulted in 47 goals out of 149 appearances winning 3 Scudetti and 1 Latin Cup. The Milan fans of the time could not ask for anything more, as they called him by his nickname “Pepe.” The name was not anything relating to something the fans came up with, but rather it was the nickname his mother gave him when he was a child. To explain his Italian family name, he was in fact of half Italian. If he was not the inventor of the “tackle,” he was at least considered one of the first to use it.
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