Branco bullet settles Cotton Bowl classic

USA 1994 | quarter-finals Cotton Bowl, Dallas Attendance: 63,500 Goals: Romario (53), Bebeto (63), Bergkamp (64), Winter (76), Branco (81)

Ed De Goey; Jan Wouters, Ronald Koeman, Stan Valckx; Aron Winter, Frank Rijkaard, Wim Jonk, Rob Witschge; Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp, Peter Van Vossen. Substitutions: Bryan Roy for Van Vossen (54), Ronald de Boer for Rijkaard (65) Coach: Dick Advocaat

Taffarel; Jorginho, Aldair, Marcio Santos, Branco; Mazinho, Mauro Silva, Dunga, Zinho; Bebeto, Romario. Substitutions: Rai for Mazinho (81), Cafu for Branco (90) Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira

Significant scepticism saturated the Seleção heading into the tournament. They had lost a World Cup qualifier for the first time ever – unthinkably to Bolivia – in 1993, only made it to the States thanks to late heroics from recalled badboy Romario in their final preliminary, and drawn a warm-up friendly with Canada. After winning Group B, their 10 men eked out a 1-0 victory over USA in the last 16. Parreira was chastised for electing to start Branco, in his 30s and besieged by back trouble, in place of the suspended Leonardo against the Oranje, given that he would have to mark electric 21-year-old Overmars. The Netherlands had also struggled in the preliminaries, finishing behind Norway and only getting through thanks to a controversial win over England. They had nevertheless excelled in the USA, Overmars and Bergkamp dolling out migraines to defenders. Advocaat, who had played for the Chicago Sting in the NASL, named the same side for the third match running.

2 Netherlands wins 1 Brazil win 0 draws

Advocaat’s strategy was apparent from the offset: get the ball to Overmars. They did but ‘Roadrunner’ found Branco impregnable. The Dutch defenders knew Romario well – Valckx has been his team-mate at PSV, Wouters had faced him multiple times in the Eredivisie, and Koeman played alongside him at Barcelona – and they neutralised him during the first 45. His inimitable genius flashed through at the start of the second, though, when ‘Shortie’ slipped out of Valckx’s handcuffs and cushioned a bouncing Bebeto cross home with his outstretched toe. Maker then turned taker, Bebeto capitalising upon backline confusion, jinking past De Goey, slotting home and spontaneously unveiling one of the most iconic celebrations in World Cup history.

The Netherlands’ quest for a maiden star had seemingly ended in ‘The Lone Star State’, but two goals in 12 minutes hauled them back into contention. Bergkamp got the first with a canny finish, before Winter equalised with a header from a corner.

The momentum appeared with the Europeans, but it was the South Americans who snatched a late winner. Romario, acclaimed for dodging past defenders, employed gymnast's flexibility to dodge a thunderous Branco free-kick, which spectacularly swerved home from 30 yards.

• Romario’s goal was astonishingly his fourth toe-poke of USA 1994. No other player in World Cup history has registered more than one toe-poke.

• Bebeto and Romario had been sworn enemies at the start of their careers, playing for arch-rivals Vasco and Flamengo and trading insults in the press. They went on to play 23 times together for Brazil, and didn’t lose once (17 wins, six draws). The pair scored 33 goals between them in those games, including eight at USA 1994.

• Five goals, which incredibly came within 28 minutes, were scored in the second half of a knockout-phase game in the World Cup for only the sixth time. Below is a list of the leaders in that category:

• Jorginho and Dunga had already played against the Netherlands in a FIFA tournament: a 1-1 draw at the FIFA U-20 World Cup™ in 1983. The Dutch attack was formed by Rene Roord – the father of Jill Roord – and Marco van Basten, while Theo Snelders was on their bench that day and again at the Cotton Bowl 11 years later.

• The canary-yellow and peel-orange jerseys of Brazil and the Netherlands are two of the most identifiable in international football. Curiously, when they met for the first time in the World Cup, at the Westfalenstadion in 1974, the former wore blue and the latter white, with shirt-colour history repeating itself when they encountered for a second in Dallas.

• Thanks to setting up Bebeto, Branco is the only man in World Cup history to have registered an assist with a header from inside his own half.

• The famous three men-and-a-baby celebration was unplanned. Bebeto, after rippling the net, spontaneously decided to pay homage to his wife Denise and son Mattheus, who had been born two days earlier in Rio de Janeiro. Mattheus went on to play for the Brazil U-20s and Flamengo.

• A Branco thunderbolt notoriously rendered Murdo MacLeod unconscious at Italia ’90, and he was associated with another knockout at USA ’94. After scoring, he sprinted to the sidelines to thank ‘Knockout Jack’, the Brazilian masseur who had worked relentlessly to ease his back pain.