Geoff Hurst was a fine centre-forward, a player who in his own typically astute analysis was "comfortable in world-class company".

The history of football has produced many better strikers but the honour of being the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final belongs to Hurst.

The World Cup is kind to some, and cruel to others. If Hurst can be placed in the former category, then the latter would have to include Zico, Brazil's outstanding player in those years of frustration between 1970 and 1994 when the game's biggest trophy eluded them.

Perhaps not appreciated outside his native land is the extent to which Zico is a working-class hero, a skinny kid from Rio's poor suburbs who was on a mission.

“

I hope to see the same approach from Brazil as in the Confederations Cup in 2013; trying to impose its game, trying to impose its rhythm, trying to impose the fact that they are playing at home

”

Zico

Brazil legend

"In my career I always tried to improve to become one of the great players, because I felt I had received a gift from God and I had to make good use of it, to become worthy of having received this talent," said the 61-year-old.

But his prodigious work ethic - first on the training field, last off it - was never quite enough to land the World Cup. Indeed, in his last chance at the trophy, in 1986, he may have proved too eager for his own good.

He had suffered a serious knee injury "and I asked the coach not to take me to Mexico, because I thought I wasn't going to be fit enough". He was talked out of it, and worked around the clock.

"I had to do lots of exercises. I couldn't train with my team-mates and I trained separately on a machine to build up my muscles."

He was only fit enough to make second-half substitute appearances but when he came on against France in the quarter-final his pass instantly split the opposition defence and led to a penalty to Brazil.

He stepped up to take it but says: "I wasn't in the same rhythm as the other players, which maybe contributed to the fact that I hit it differently from usual, and their keeper Joel Bats made the save.