INTRODUCTION:
I studied drawing at scool for many years, but I did not like it very much. My favourite subject at school were the olympic sports. I remember when I was a child and I played soccer with my friends. My best memory was when El Salvador,a small Central American country, qualified at the World Cup in 1982.I did not think «ES» defeat Mexico, sixth place in the FIFA World Championship in 1970.
Between 1978 and 1989, El Salvador had one of the worst civil war in the modern history of Latin America.Unfortunately, more than 70,000 people were killed by anti-communist dictatorships and marxist rebels.
Certainly, I was a big fan of Salvadoran soccer. I once said: «ES ganarà el Mundial ( El Salvador will be win the FIFA Soccer World 1982..!).However, the only thing that I clearly remember is that Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in the World Cup in Spain…Good Bye ES…!
Like many people, I think that soccer is «passion» in the world since 1910. When Cameroon, ex French colony in Africa, won its first gold medal at the XXVII Summer Olympics Games in Australia (2000)…Yaoundè, the capital city of Cameroon, was carnival for days.Cameroon was the second African country to win the gold olympic…
Unfortunately, Liberia was the nightmare of the Third World…From 1980 to 2005, more than 180,000 people were killed by dictatorships and AIDS…Currently, the poverty is a plague…Its percapita income of $ 80 a year is one of the worst in the World History. Hundreds of thousands of Liberian people fled the country. Like neighboring Sierra Leone, the African country has one of the highest number of orphans in the Africa in relation to its population.
Fortunately, Liberia is home to George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah, one of the World`s most famous and charismatic players. In 1995 the FIFA selected George Weah as the best footballer of the Year.Certainly, he became a «World Star» in the 1990s.Like Iman (former super-model from Somalia) and Dikembe Mutombo (basketball player from the Democratic Republic of Congo), George Weah is an icon in the African continent. Since then, he made a great contribution to Liberian human development. Currently, George Weah is UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
He was national team captain for many years, but his country did not qualifity for the FIFA Football World. Ironically, Liberia was not one of the best teams of Africa in the 20th Century.
In 1994 Bolivia`s qualification for the finals was one of the surprises in the Third World sport. Under the leadership of Marco Etcheverry, Bolivia beat Brazil 2-0 in the Pre-World Cup in La Paz, Bolivia`s capital. I remember that Etcheverry, best known for his nickname «El Diablo», was the idol of millions of Bolivians.It was one of the greatest sporting moments in Bolivian history since 1978. At that time, Bolivia, under the leaderships of Guadalupe Yañez, qualified for the FIBA Women`s World Championship in Seoul, South Korea´s capital.
In my opinion, the FIFA World Championship is a world without frontiers. Ferenc Puskas, was born on April, 1926, in Budapest, Hungary, made his debut in the friendly against Austria at the age of only fifteen…In the past Century, Puskas represented both Hungary, a former communist State, and Spain.At the time, Santamaria played for Uruguay and Spain. Traditionally American players have Latin American and African roots: Hugo Perez (El Salvador), Tab Ramos (Uruguay), Claudio Reyna (Argentina), Josmer Altidore (Haiti) and Freddy Addu (Ghana).
Today Gerald Asamoah, was born in Accra (Ghana), is one of the best footballers in Germany at the moment. While Alex (Alessandro) Santos, was born in Brazil, is a Japanese player.Santos played many times for Japan, including appearances at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Personally, I think that this Century will be an era of «Sports Miracles» in the Third World. Cote D`Ivoire, best known as Ivory Coast, qualified for the FIFA Soccer World 2006…Angola made its debut in Germany…Trinidad-Tobago made its debut in the World Cup…Paraguay won the silver medal in football in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.
CHRONOLOGY:
1930: FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, one of the most development countries in the 1930s.The final ranking:1-Uruguay,2-Argentina, 3-Yugoslavia,4-USA,5-Chile, 6-Brazil,7-France,8-Paraguay,9-Romania, 10-Peru, 11-Belgium, 12-Bolivia, 13-Mexico.
1934: World Cup in Rome. Uruguay did not participate. The final ranking:1-Italy, Czechoslovakia,Germany, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Argentina, France, Holland, Brazil, Egypt, Belgium and the United States.
1938:World Cup in France.The final ranking:1-Italy, Hungary,Brazil,Sweden,Czechoslovakia,Switzerland,Cuba,France,Romania,Germany,Norway,Poland,Belgium,Holland,Netherlands Indies.
1950:FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In Rio, the host lost the final 2-1 to Uruguay. Brazil was the big favourite… Uruguay had its second World Cup!
1954:World Cup in Switzerland.The final ranking:1-West Germany,Hungary,Austria,Uruguay,Switzerland,Brazil,England,Yugoslavia,France,Italy,Turkey,Belgium,Mexico,Czechoslovakia,Scotland,Korea.
1958: World Cup in Sweden…The final ranking:1-Brazil, Sweden, France, West Germany, Wales, USSR, Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia,Czechoslovakia,Hungary,England,Paraguay,
Argentina, Scotland,Austria and Mexico.
1962:World Cup in Santiago de Chile…Certainly, the people of Brazil produce the World`s best coffee, but also the best soccer…The final ranking:1-Brazil,Czechoslovakia, Chile, Yugoslavia, Hungary, West Germany,USSR, England, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Colombia, Bulgaria and Switzerland.
1966: World Cup in London,UK…The final ranking: 1-England,
West Germany, Portugal, USSR, Argentina, Hungary, Uruguay, North Korea, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil…
1970:Brazil won the FIFA World Cup on June 27th in Mexico City. The final ranking: Brazil, Italy, West Germany, Uruguay,USSR, Mexico, Peru, England, Sweden, Belgium, Romania, Israel, Bulgaria, Morocco, Czechoslovakia and ES.
1974:World Cup in West Germany…After Zaire, today`s Democratic Republic of Congo, qualified for the FIFA World Championship, a legal holiday was declared by Mobutu Sésé Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa zan Banga, tyrannical president of the African country……Haitian footballers sometimes use the language «creole» during games to confuse rivals… Brazil and WGermany were the obvious favorites.The final ranking:1-West Germany, Holland, Poland, Brazil, Sweden, Argentina, East Germany, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Italy, Scotland, Australia, Chile,Uruguay, Haiti and Zaire.
1978: World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The final ranking:1-Argentina, Holland,Brazil, Italy, West Germany, Poland,Austria, Peru, Tunisia, Spain, Scotland, France, Sweden, Iran, Hungary and Mexico.
1982: For first time, there were 24 teams. FIFA World Cup in Spain. Italy won the trophy. The ranking final:1-Italy, West Germany, Poland, France, Brazil, England, USSR, Austria, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Argentina, Spain, Algeria,Hungary. Scotland, Yugoslavia,Cameroon,Honduras,Czechoslovakia,Peru, Kuwait, Chile, New Zealand, ES.
1986: World Cup in Mexico. The final ranking:1-Argentina, West Germany, France, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, England, Denmark, USSR, Morocco, Italy, Paraguay, Poland, Bulgaria, Uruguay, Portugal, Hungary, Scotland, South Korea, Northern Ireland, Algeria, Irak and Canada.
1990:World Cup In Italy.The final ranking:1-West Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Ireland, Cameroon,Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium, Spain, Romania, Colombia, Uruguay,CR,Egypt,Austria,Scotland, USSR,Sweden, South Korea,USA and the United Arab Emirates.
1994: World Cup in the United States. The final ranking:1-Brazil, Italy, Sweden, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Netherlands, Spain,Nigeria, Argentina, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, USA, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, Russia, Colombia, South Korea, Bolivia, Cameroon, Morocco and Greece.
1998:World Cup in Paris. The final ranking:1-France,Brazil,Croatia, Netherlands, Argentina,Italy, Germany, Denmark, England, Yugoslavia,Romania,Nigeria, Mexico, Paraguay, Norway, Chile, Spain, Morocco, Belgium, Iran, Colombia, Jamaica, Austria, South Africa, Cameroon, Tunisia, Scotland, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, South Korea, Japan and the United States.
2002:World Cup in Japan and South Korea…1-Brazil, 2-Germany, 3-Turkey,4-South Korea…SKorea has one of the best sporting infrastructure in the world…
2006: World Cup in Germany…1-Italy, 2-France,3-Germany,4-Portugal…
REFERENCES:
-Laity,Paul. «Costa de Marfil Brujería: que forma de ganar», National Geographic,MexicoDF, junio 2006
-Matthews,Meter.Whitaker´s Almanac Internacional Sports Records and Results 1998-9, London:The Stationery Office, London, 1998.
-Vickery,Tim. «Paraguay:Rags and Riches»,World Soccer Special Edition, London, Summer 2006
-1976 Almanaque Mundial Deportivo, Editorial América, Panama, 1975
-1977 Almanaque Mundial Deportivo,Editorial América, Panama, 1976
-2001 The World Almanac, World Almanac Books, New Jersey,2000