A Magnificent 80 Years of the FIFA World Cup
This year, millions of people will be watching the 2010 World Cup in South Africa on television screens all across the globe. This is a phenomenal number considering the mere 10,000 spectators who witnessed the United States' first game, in Montevideo's Parque Central back in 1930.
In the last 80 years, the Football World Cup has transformed from a modest little kick around, spurned by some of the best sides in Europe including England, into the world's largest single-sport event. As viewers worldwide flick on the television or, better yet, travel to South Africa to watch the latest edition in person, it bears looking back at how the World Cup became the monster it is.
Association football, a sport invented by the British and called soccer for short, gained quite a bit of popularity in the 1920’s at the Olympics. Two events caused FIFA - soccer's worldwide governing body - to form a separate tournament. In 1928, FIFA president Jules Rimet started exploring the option of a separate, soccer-only tournament. Uruguay, looking for a way to celebrate its centenary, offered to pay the travelling cost of any nation which participated. By 1930, 13 nations in all showed up in Uruguay for the first ever World Cup. The hosts, who were the winners of the 1928 Olympics, claimed the trophy, a golden sculpture of Nike which was the goddess of victory. So the trophy, alternately called the Jules Rimet trophy and Victory, remained in Uruguay for four years.
Italy hosted and won the second tournament in 1934, they repeated the same feat to become champions in 1938. However, as teams bid for the 1942 edition, including Germany, World War II broke out. The tournament was abandoned, as well the 1946 Football World Cup. During the war, Italy secretary Otto Barassi stashed the trophy in a shoe box under his bed to hide it from the government. As the rest of the world emerged from the turmoil of the war, so did the World Cup out from under Barassi's bed and over to Brazil. The Samba Kings hosted the first tournament which England attended. In it, two expected outcomes never came to fruition.
Firstly, England did not breeze through to victory with ease. Spain and, earlier, the United States beat the British with ease. Following the USA's undeserved 1-0 win, the jubilant Brazilians in attendance carried goal-scorer Joe Gjaetens off the pitch, raised on their shoulders, mostly because Brazil figured England's loss opened the door for a first ever Brazilian World Cup win. However, in the second surprise of the tournament, Uruguay upset Brazil in the final to earn a second title.
The first of Brazil's record five World Cups would have to wait eight years, when a 17-year-old prodigy who went by the name of Pele led Brazil to a long-awaited trophy in Sweden. In only the second televised World Cup, viewers in their living rooms saw Pele do things with the ball unthinkable before that, including lifting the ball over the head of a defender and half-volleying home in the final with a 5-2 win over the host nation. The only player to come close to Pele's longevity and impact was from Brazil's South American rival, Argentina. Diego Maradona had a habit of hauling teams to championships, as shown with club team Napoli. Maradona is back for the 2010 edition which is the first on the African continent, as coach of Argentina.
The old trophy was stolen and presumably melted down. Stars retire, cycle back as coaches, then retire for good and Uruguay is no longer a force. But the World Cup ticks on, gaining prestige and viewers after every four years. This edition will dwarf previous versions. And to think that this mega-event all began as an upstart little over some 80 years ago. The 2010 World Cup is fast approaching, and just like every World Cup to date, the journey has given something special and new to the world. So shall the World Cup in South Africa this year.
Tags: