WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BRAZIL 1963
BRAZIL ONCE AGAIN
While the USSR and Yugoslavia were eliminating the USA, Brazil remained unbeaten and went
from victory to victory, cheered on by a fervent support never before seen on a basketball court.
The Maracanazinho had been a joyful festival in the 1954 edition but this time the Rio fans
surpassed themselves. Every game played by Brazil seemed to be an enhanced edition of their
famous carnivals with garlands, confetti, flags, horns, orchestras, everything possible to give
colour and noise to the atmosphere was used. All of this and 20,000 fans dressed in green and
yellow packing the stadium.
Brazil did not want a further disappointment on home soil and set themselves the challenge of
winning the world title by their own talent on the hardwood, not by the disqualification of their
rivals as had happened in Chile four years before. They had a vastly improved team and were the
current Olympic bronze medallists. They had called up the spectacular Ubiratan Pereira, a
spectacular young player