Threats, thefts, recovery, demolition- the mystery behind non-existence of Jules Rimet trophy
A trophy made of gold-plated sterling silver on a white-yellow marble base was manufactured following the design of French sculptor, Abel Lafleur. It depicted Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory holding a cup. This came to be known as the ‘World Cup’ and later nicknamed ‘the Golden Goddess’. The first Football World Cup tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930. The...
Vava keeps his name in record book- the only person to score in the consecutive World Cup final
Edvaldo Isidio Neto, better known to the world as Vava, has a unique record set against his name. Among the four players who have scored in two FIFA World Cup finals, Vava is the only one who has managed it in successive editions. The dynamic Brazilian scored twice in the 1958 final in Sweden and a single goal in...
‘Lucky 13’ of Just Fontaine- the record of highest goal in a single Cup that still remains untouched
The 1958 World Cup belonged to the Brazilian great Pele. But there was another man; a lesser-known Frenchman who created history. Just Fontaine set a record for the most goals in a World Cup that still remains untouched. Only Miroslav Klose, Ronaldo and Gerd Muller have scored more goals than Fontaine at the tournament but they all needed two...
A promise in 1950 fulfilled in 1958; how Pele won the Cup for Brazil and his father
There could be no other more important event in the 1958 World Cup rather than Pele’s mercurial performance at the age of 17. As Brazil lifted the World trophy, a new era of Football started; it was the day when the story of Pele and Brazil began. Brazil had been so near to win the Cup. They were placed third...
So close yet so far; Hungary’s ‘Mighty Magyars’ famously lost the 1954 Cup, and never won it again
A legendary Hungarian Football team was formed in the 1950s comprising the greats like Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis, Nandor Hidegkuti, Zoltan Czibor, Gyula Grosics and Jozsef Bozsik. The team that successfully implemented the ‘Sebes Method’, the concept of ‘Total Football’ that was later adopted by the Dutch, went into the 1954 World Cup on a 32-game unbeaten run. Hungary was...
The ‘Maracanazo’ of 1950- when Uruguay brought ‘National Tragedy’ to Brazil
It was Maracanazo on 16th July 1950 at Maracana when Brazil was handed a sombre loss by Uruguay in the final of the World Cup. It was regarded as a ‘National Disaster’ in Brazil often compared to the bombing of Hiroshima. The Maracanazo impacted on the country’s self-esteem and effectively paralysed the country emotionally and psychologically. Brazil and Football are...
It was then as Dutch East Indies, Indonesia played the World Cup- the first from Asia in 1938
The World Cup moved from Italy to its neighbour France in 1938. Four of the globe’s continents had participated in the tournament in 1934. It was left for Asia and Oceania to be a part of the Football extravaganza. The team that brought the world’s largest continent into the World Cup was Indonesia, known as Nederlandsche Indiesche or Dutch East...
Child of ‘European Migration’, Luis Monti uniquely represented two nations in two World Cup finals
The stream of Italian immigration to Argentina started in 1880s and became quite a phenomena till 1920s. During this period of Great European Immigration, around 3 million people settled in South American countries among which Argentina was prominent. In 1914, the city of Buenos Aires alone had more than 300,000 Italian-born inhabitants, representing 25% of the total population. In this...
Asian Games preparation: Indian athletes undergoing high-quality training in Poland and Bhutan
Athletics Federation of India have initiated two training programmes- one at Spala in Poland for Indian quarter milers and the other in Bhutan for middle and long distance runners- as part of preparation for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia. A 14-member Indian athletics contingent comprising of 400m specialists (men and women) is undergoing an intensive five-week training at Spala...
Indian Hockey team win silver at the 5th Women’s Asian Champions Trophy
Defending champions Indian Women’s Hockey team won silver in Asian Champion Trophy as they failed to keep their title against hosts South Korea in the summit clash in Donghae City. South Korea scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute when Youngsil Lee found the back of the net from a field effort. South Korea started the...