1970 World Cup: Fifty years ago, it was a Woodstock of football

In the year my parents went on vacation, 12-year-old Mauro is torn between waiting for his parents, ostensibly away on a holiday, and waiting for the 1970 World Cup to begin. Ideally, he would like both to happen. In reality though, his parents are in hiding for opposing the military regime in Brazil. Put under the care of his crusty grandfather who dies midway through the tournament, the boy is more worried about where he would catch the remaining matches. How he manages that, as Pele's Brazil majestically march towards the final, forms the central theme of this gentle coming-of-age 2006 Brazilian film by Cao Hamburger. Today, Mauro would be 62, with the leftist leanings instilled in...