On 4 December 1932 Brazil won 2-1 away to Uruguay. It was the day the torch passed from one team to the other, and set Brazil on the path to dominating the global game.

Back then, in 1932, Brazil were nothing special. Of the first 12 Copa Americas they had only won two, both with home advantage. Uruguay had won six, but their fame had spread way beyond their own continent.

The Sky Blues had practically kick-started the modern game into existence when they won the gold medal at the 1924 Olympics with an artistic style of play the Europeans had never seen before.

They won another gold four years later, by which time it was becoming clear that football had outgrown the Olympics. A World Cup was needed.

Uruguay put themselves forward to host it, and won that as well - two and half years before that fateful visit of Brazil.

In truth, 1932 was a good time to face Uruguay. The team which had won all those titles had grown old together, and the greats such as Scarone and Andrade were no longer playing for the national side.

And the long-term crown of the "kings of football" was always more likely to belong to Brazil rather than Uruguay. The huge difference in population between the two countries made it inevitable - as long as Brazil made this difference work in its favour by drawing on the talent available from all sectors of society.

Once money is at stake, the door is open to the best players, whatever their background

This is the importance of that match in 1932. The game and its consequences effectively put an end to the attempts of the Brazilian elite to keep football to themselves and ensured that it would be the sport of the masses.

The outstanding players in the Brazil team that day were Domingos da Guia, an elegant defender who developed the art of bringing the ball out from the back, and Leonidas da Silva, the rubber-limbed striker who scored both the goals.

Both were young players - Domingos was winning his second cap, Leonidas was making his debut - and both were black.

Black players had been making progress in Brazilian football - greatly inspired by the example of Uruguay's Isabelino Gradin, who played in Brazil in the 1919 Copa America. But all sorts of barriers were placed in their way.

In 1921 Brazil's president Epitacio Pessoa intervened to ensure that black players were not selected for that year's Copa America.

After Domingos and Leonidas had helped beat the world champions on their own patch, it was much harder to exclude black players - and when professionalism was introduced, it became all but impossible.

Once money is at stake, the door is open to the best players, whatever their background.

Pele benefited from the changes to the Brazilian game

And professionalism was introduced in Brazil - despite fierce opposition from the pro-amateur elite - in no small part as a consequence of that match in December.

Uruguay's clubs had recently turned professional. The two young jewels in the Brazil side had shown what they could do on the pitch at the Centenario stadium, and so the two Montevideo giants swooped with appetising offers. Penarol signed up Leonidas, Nacional did the same with Domingos.

It forced Brazil to bow to the inevitable. If the clubs were not to lose their best players, then they too would have to turn professional. So the change was made. Players could make a living from their ability on the football field.

Without this, there is no Pele. And this is not just about black players. It means that Zico, son of a poor Portuguese immigrant, could rise in society as a result of football. Or that an upper-middle-class kid such as Kaka would choose the game as his career instead of following in his father's footsteps and become an engineer.