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The World Cup The World Cup is an international soccer tournament which takes for a period of three weeks in a given country once every four years. It is considered the most popular sporting event in the world next to the Olympics. It is the culmination of international soccer competition. This soccer event has participation from countries all around the world as a side note, the 1990 championship game was played to a television audience of more than 1 billion viewers.
When the World Cup was founded in 1930, there were only 13 teams. Over 140 countries make an attempt to participate in this tournament every four years. These soccer teams, made up of exceptional soccer players, consist of 22 players each. Before being able to participate in the final tournament each team must play an elimination tournament with teams from their own continent. In the end only 24 teams will participate in the World Cup.
In 1904 representatives from seven European soccer associations (France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland) took it upon themselves to put together a governing body for the sport. This governing body was called the F? d? ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
A main goal of FIFA was to organize a world championship. It took some 26 years before it became possible for such an event to take place. At the time, it was unknown if the level of play was adequate enough outside of Europe to consider such a competition. Professional leagues were evolving and the Olympic games was no longer the most competitive sporting event in the world. At that time, the games were restricted solely to amateur athletes. The first World Cup tournament took place in Uruguay in 1930.
Uruguay became the first champion defeating Argentina in the championship game. Even though Uruguay was ignored by other, more competitive European nations, the tournament inspired international interest and was a huge success financially. All major European countries had become interested by this time. The only countries that had not taken any interest were the British Isles, England, Scotland, and Wales. These four countries refused to participate in the tournament because they all had separate national teams and were not part of FIFA. Under the fascist command of Benito Mussolini, the 1934 tournament was organized to be held in Italy, which Italy won.
By 1938, the tournament had become so popular that 36 countries had entered to play. Preliminary elimination games were played to decide who the 16 finalists would be. The 1938 tournament took place in France and Italy repeated for back-to-back World Cup championships. When World War II was taking place from 1939 - 1945, a halt was placed on most international sporting activities. After the tournament took place in France, it did not take place again until 1950 where it was played in Brazil. This was the first time England had entered and despite there European status, they suffered a 1 - 0 loss to the United States, where they were eliminated in the first round.
Uruguay won the tournament for the second time defeating Brazil in the final. The 1954 tournament took place in Switzerland and was won by West Germany. They beat the Hungarians who were expected to win. Up until the final game, the Hungarians had not lost a game in international competition for four years.
The Brazilian team had exceptional soccer abilities. Their control of the soccer ball was done with poise and ease. The European teams found it difficult to match that skill. Everyone knew that Brazil was a great soccer team but they were still missing a championship. They had qualified for every World Cup, up until now, but had yet to win one. The year was 1958 and the tournament was taking place in Sweden.
Brazil was hoping this would be their time to show the world that they were due. They astonished the competition and won the championship. A 17 -year-old by the name of Edson Arantes do Nascimento was the team? s star. He was commonly referred to worldwide by his nickname, Pel? . He went on to become one of the world?
s top soccer players for the next 12 years. The tournament was again won by Brazil in 1962, despite the fact Pel? was injured for most of the event. The World Cup had not yet been played in the sport? s birthplace. In 1966 the tournament took place in England.
The host of the event was also the winner, defeating West Germany in an overtime final. The game was moved to Mexico in 1970. This began an era in which the game of soccer had become more defense-oriented, especially in Europe. Italy had created their own system of play. It featured a packed defense and relied on sudden counterattacks to score goals. This system of play was known to them as catenaccio.
The Brazilians, however, played a more offense-minded game, once again led by their star, Pel? , who was now 29 years old. With this win, Brazil became the first country to win the trophy three times. During the 1970 s, the Dutch became a prominent team with their style of play known as Total Soccer. This method of play required each player to be able to attack or defend depending on the situation demanded.
The Dutch team was led by captain and star player, Johann Cruyff. West Germany was hosting the tournament in 1974. Their team was led by Franz Beckenbauer. They became the new world champions defeating the Dutch that year.
In 1978, Argentina took host to this sporting event. The Dutch once again reached the final but were again defeated by the host team, in an overtime final. The game of soccer had increased in popularity tremendously by 1982. The number of finalists was increased from 16 to 24. Spain hosted the tournament and West Germany was defeated by Italy to win the championship.
No country had yet to host the event twice. Mexico became the first country to do so in 1986. Argentina won the championship under the guidance of their captain, Diego Maradona. There was some controversy over Maradona? s first two goals against England which later became infamous.
Television replays showed that the ball was knocked in the goal by his hand. Maradona gave divine intervention credit for the goals. He claimed that? the hand of God? scored the goal.
One of the most memorable soccer goals in World Cup history was scored by Diego Maradona on this day he dribbled half the length of the soccer field and scored four minutes after his second goal. In the championship game, Argentina defeated West Germany who was being coached by Beckenbauer, their former star player. In 1990, West Germany had a chance to redeem themselves in Italy. They defeated Argentina 1 - 0 in the final.
However, there was only a goal per game average of 2. 2 which was very disappointing. This was the lowest in World Cup history. The game of soccer has not always been all that popular in the United States. FIFA hoped that by scheduling the event here in the US, its popularity would increase. The games were played in nine stadiums filled to capacity. This was a very successful event and changed the view of soccer in our country.
No final had ever gone to a penalty kick shoot-out until now. Brazil defeated Italy in the final and went on to become the first four-time World Cup champion. The game of soccer has taken quite a change in the US. There was a time when foreign countries would not even recognize the United States as a contender to a time, now, where they are playing an extremely competitive game. The game took on a renaissance in the 1960 s and a boom in the 1970 s. By the 1980 s, the country was filled with many young people learning to play the game of soccer.
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) are the ones responsible for providing stadiums, referees, coaches, and fields to those who play at the community, high school, college, or professional level. The American teams, as of late, have put up a fight. Now that the US has earned international acceptance and recognition, competition at various age groups could be compared closely. Both the under 18 and under 16 level teams have competed extremely well internationally. The age groups after that have also showed signs of tremendous international equality. It goes to show how far the United States has come.
Professional soccer has been around the US since 1967. The game at the earlier levels has not had many setbacks while the professional level has had its problems. When professional soccer first began, there were only two leagues: the United States Soccer Association (USA) and the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The North American Soccer League (NASL) was created in 1968. This was a merger of the USA and the NPSL. This new league consisted of 17 teams.
After the 1968 season, the league started to collapse. Twelve of the teams were taken apart. However, there were still 5 franchises to keep professional soccer alive. The number of teams was increased to 8 in 1971. The year 1975 proved to be a strong year for professional soccer, especially one soccer team in particular. Pel? , Brazil?
s former star player, was made an offer by the New York Cosmos of the NASL. He signed a contract for $ 2. 8 million over three years to come out of retirement and play for the Cosmos. He was now the highest paid team athlete in the world. With Pel? now backing the Cosmos, the team was playing in front of record-breaking crowds.
The Cosmos won the championship in 1972 in front of a crowd of 6, 000 spectators. However, in 1977 the team was playing in front of crowds of 45, 000 during the season and 70, 000 during the playoffs. One playoff game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ hosted a record crowd of 77, 691 people. That is still the record attendance for that stadium and a record for any soccer match in the United States or Canada. With this change in professional soccer popularity, the NASL expanded the league to 24 franchises for the upcoming season of 1978. The league was put in turmoil by this expansion.
These changes were entirely too premature causing many teams, both new and old, to suffer losses financially. In 1980, three teams had left the league and another 7 by the start of the 1982 season. The total number of teams left was now 14. Even though there were still enough teams to carry on, there were many conflicts that needed to be resolved. When 1985 rolled around, the NASL had decided it would be best to shut down the whole league. The remaining teams parted their separate ways.
Some went on to play in the Major Indoor Soccer League while others went to their own independent professional soccer leagues. Many great players have played the game of soccer throughout history. From Franz Beckenbauer of West Germany, to Pel? of Brazil, to Diego Maradona of Argentina, these awesome athletes will always be remembered for their ability to play the game of soccer. Every four years when the World Cup rolls around, the all stars of the game come out and devote themselves solely to the game of soccer for three weeks.
When this elite soccer tournament takes place in France this summer, we will see who the next great soccer player of his time will be.
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