World Cup Moments: The Bobby Moore Tackle

December 28th, 2009 | by: Daryl |

Bobby Moore’s tackle on Brazilian winger Jairzinho at the 1970 World Cup is the stuff of legend in England. It’s known simply as “The Bobby Moore Tackle”. I’m posting it here mostly to find out how well known it is outside the land of the Three Lions.

The tackle is from the famous England vs Brazil group game at the 1970 World Cup, which Brazil won 1-0. The Bobby Moore tackle was not – as many people think – on Pelé, but on the more dribbly Jairzinho instead. That doesn’t make it any less impressive though.

You can see Brazil launch a counter-attack about 30 seconds into the above video, with Jairzinho dribbling at pace, from the wing and into the heart of the England penalty area. Moore waits and waits, backing off just enough not to get beaten by Jairzinho’s pace. Then at the crucial moment he makes a not quite slide but more of a lunge tackle, which could have gone horribly horribly wrong if badly timed.

It wasn’t though. Moore timed his tackle to perfection, wins the ball, then calmly gets up and makes a pass out of defence. Job done. If you keep watching to the end of the video, England really should have scored from the resulting attack. You’ll also see a few slo-mo replays of The Bobby Moore Tackle from a couple of different angles.

Think we can all agree it’s a super bit of defending. But I’m curious as to whether this tackle has an international reputation. If you’re reading this from outside England, then were you already familiar with this World Cup moment?

- Click here for more World Cup moments, including the iconic moment at the end of this game where Pelé and Bobby Moore swapped shirts.

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Gordon

I love how he just calmly gets up and passes the ball out. Legend.
http://flamengo.theoffside.com André

Hahaha. I didn’t know this tackle had a name.
Juanos

Funny when I was watching Chelsea-Brum on Saturday morning the ESPN announcer said they were going to be showing this match next and I was pumped. Then I checked my guide and sadly, the England-Brazil match was for Europe only. Great tackle by Moore there.
Kevin

I had not heard of it before this post. Great tackle, but this sort of thing happens all the time.
Cece

I hadn’t heard much about this tackle, but instead, heard tons about Gordon Banks’ impossible, legendary save from this game. Banks really had so many great saves in that match, he was beyond superb. It was the only game that Brazil 1970 didn’t score at least 3 goals in.
http://littlemissdiana.blogspot.com diana

Vaguely heard of the Bobby Moore tackle before myself. Finally a video to it. Thanks, Daryl.
Darren

Never heard of it
http://soccerlimeyinamerica.com Chris

Interesting that you should post this article . I was 12 years old and like everyone else back home , was glued to the TV that afternoon . Brutally hot at game time and played at a snail’s pace compared to today’s high paced affairs .
The tackle was not that highly regarded at the time , certainly not as much as Gordon Banks’s save from Jairzinho , but Moore was at the peak of his game on that day. Always cool and collected under pressure , his read of the game was his secret . It seemed like he knew exactly where to put himself when the other team had the ball . He was slow but made up for that lack of pace with great anticipation skills .

What was interesting about Moore that day was that although he was by far England’s best player , he actually got nutmegged by Tostao in the lead up to Brazil’s only goal. He was never blamed as it happened outside the area and probably had no influence on the goal , but a small incident that is hardly ever mentioned.

I’m sure that if England had gone on to win the World Cup that year , he would have been elevated to the same stature as Beckenbauer and maybe even Pele but I doubt that this tackle alone created any particular interest outside the UK. Ironically enough , with the advent of the Internet and YouTube , it has probably become more of a legacy of the man.

I remember seeing West Ham play Blackpool a year later in the FA Cup . I was a season ticket holder at Bloomfield Road and he was humiliated by Tony Green . Rumors had it that the West Ham players had been out drinking the night before but by then , unfortunatley , Moore was on the decline.

He was blamed for England’s loss to Poland in the World Cup qualifier in 1973 and his career faded out shortly afterwards.
NMY

great great tackle. only thing is, the tackle should have been attempted before the attacker came into the penalty area. common sense for any defender, legend or otherwise…
Tommy Wong

I like how the commentator says that the Brazillian player “hacks it” away & it had fallen kindly for the winger. :lol:
gregorio

I learned about the tackle from the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96-zW2c8H2o
song for Euro ‘96 which lists some highlights of the English football history. a good song
gregorio

and a cool tackle of course :)