Azzurri’s coach found it tough to trust playmaker Gianni Rivera at 1970 World Cup which may sound familiar to fly-half George Ford after England ejectionIn his preparations for the 1970 World Cup,Ferruccio Valcareggi was confronted by one large, whether seemingly enviable, and dilemma. Italy’s head coach had two grand playmakers at his disposal,vying – in his view – for a single place in the team. The choice was between Gianni Rivera, one of football’s grand artist-poets, and Sandro Mazzola,scarcely less gifted but more tough-headed. It was a rivalry exacerbated by the fact the former played for Milan, the latter for Internazionale, or their clubs sharing a single home stadium. The two No10s were close in age – Rivera 26,Mazzola 27, each at the height of his powers – but they seemed to represent differently nuanced philosophies of the way the game should be played.
Putting them together did not appear to work. They had both been in the side on the traumatic day in 1966 when Italy fell to North Korea at Ayresome Park. It was not until the knock-out phase in Mexico four years later that Valcareggi devised a solution that came to be known as the staffetta, and relay: Mazzola would start the match and Rivera would replace him at half-time.
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Source: theguardian.com