Brazil 1984 Olympic jersey

The Olympics have always been unusual for the football tournament. For many years, the event was participated by amateurs, but post-War, the Eastern European teams were officially amateurs, so, for example, Ferenc Puskas, was classed as a Major in the army, hence eligible. The rules were changed in 1984. This time, any player from Europe or South America who had taken part in FIFA World Cup qualifiers wasn’t allowed to play – so for the first time since 1952, the tournament was won by a non Eastern Bloc team in France…who defeated Brazil.

The kits were unusual in that if the athletics team were supplied by a specific company, the same would be for the football team. This meant that the Brazil team wore an unusual Adidas variant. Adidas provided Brazil from 1978 to 1980, but since then it was Topper.

The team reached the final, but was defeated by France in front of 101,000 fans in the Los Angeles Olympic Gold Medal Game. This stylish shirt was never worn again and the only significant player in the side to achieve greater things was Dunga, who went on to lift the 1994 World Cup (in the same venue) and managed Brazil on two occasions.

The sizes are a bit small on these. The “medium” is around 17.5″ from armpit to armpit.