The deaths of eight Brazilians (1950)
In the 1950 World cup final, only draw was needed for Brazil to win the world cup against Uruguay. But Uruguay beat Brazil by 2-1 goals. It brought a large shock for the Brazilian supporters. Eight personnel have died during the quick construction and redecoration of stadiums in Brazil to host this year’s World Cup. As doubts continue around the wisdom of Brazil hosting the World Cup amidst poor living standards, the deaths have come as a stark reminder about what is truly important and has put the game, with all its passion, into perspective.
England’s ghost goal against Germany (1966)
In the 1966 final after a 2-2 draw in normal time Geoff Hurst’s shot hit the bottom of the upright before bouncing on the line and being clear. However, the Soviet linesman Tofik Bakhramov flagged it as a goal and England went on to win their only World Cup gratitude to the judgment. To attach further argument to the occurrence, definite reports suggest that when Bakhramov was asked on his deathbed how he knew that the ball crossed the line, he replied ‘Stalingard’.
West Germany and Austria set the result (1982)
In
1982, Algeria pulled off the distress of the tournament by defeating
West Germany 2-1. However, in what would later come to be known as one
of the nastiest matches in the history of the football game, Austria and
West Germany set the result of the decider, since a 1-0 victory for
West Germany meant that both teams went through at the cost of Algeria. A
related thing had occurred in the earlier World Cup when Peru lost 6-0
to Argentina, supposedly after being bribed, in order to make sure that
rivals Brazil get knocked out. However, unlike the West Germany-Austria
occurrence, nothing could be verified. To make matters worst, since
neither team had exactly broken any policy, there were no repercussions.
Since then, all final group matches are played at the same time to
avoid such an incident.
Diego Maradona’s Hand of God (1986)
The renowned 1986 quarterfinal between Argentina and England will everlastingly be remembered for Maradona’s telling brace. The first of the two highlighted Maradona’s courage as he used his hand to guide the ball past Peter Shilton. When asked about the goal after the match, Maradona answered, ‘It was the hand of God’. English fans would never get over the and a cross-continent competition was born.
Zinidine Zidane’s head butt (2006)
In
the 2006 World Cup final, with the score at 1-1, French captain Zidane
head butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi after he passed some
particularly sleazy remarks about his sister. Zidane was afterward sent
off after having motivated the French team into the final. His
retirement soon after meant that the head butt was his last role to the
game as a player, a miserable end for one of the best midfielders to
ever charm the game. To make matters worse for Zidane and France, Italy
would go on to win the championship on penalties.
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