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World Cup Countdown: The History Of the World Cup
posted May-30 | 313 hits
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Over a quarter billion people will watch the 2010 World Cup on television, a far cry from the 10,000 spectators who witnessed the United States' first game, a 3-0 win over Belgium, in Montevideo's Parque Central back in 1930.
In 80 years the 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 tube 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 juggernaut it is.
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Association Football, a sport invented by the British and called soccer for short, gained quite a bit of popularity in the 1920s at the Olympics. Two events caused FIFA, soccer's worldwide governing body, to form a separate tournament. Firstly, FIFA disagreed with the International Olympic Committee (and within itself) over the definition of a professional player, which deprived the Olympics of some of the world's greatest stars. Secondly, the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles did not have a soccer tournament in its schedule.
So 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 traveling cost of any nation which participated. By 1930, 13 nations in all showed up in Uruguay for the first ever World Cup.
The hosts, winners of the 1928 Olympics, claimed the trophy, a golden sculpture of Nike, 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 tournament in 1934, then repeated as champions in 1938. However, as teams bid for the 1942 edition, including Germany, World War II broke out. The tournament was abandoned, as well as the 1946 World Cup. During the war, Italy secretary Otto Barassi stashed the trophy in a shoe box under his bed to hide it from the Benito Mussolini-led 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. Following the USA's undeserved 1-0 win, the jubilant Brazilians in attendance carried goalscorer Joe Gjaetens off on 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, as 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, a 5-2 win over the host nation.
After the final whistle, Pele passed out on the pitch. Breathlessly, earnestly, the World Cup had arrived.
Pele went on to participate in four World Cups as a player, helping to establish Brazil as the dominant force on the world scene with free-flowing joga bonito soccer.
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. In 1986 he nearly single-handedly dragged Argentina to victory, scoring five goals and assisting five more along the way.
In his fourth World Cup, 1994, Maradona was sent home after two games after failing a drug test.
Maradona is back for the 2010 edition, the first on the African continent, now 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 every four years. This edition will will dwarf previous versions. And to think it all began as an upstart little event 80 years ago.
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