The World Cup: Difference between revisions

[[Useful Notes/Uruguay|Uruguay]] 1930, [[Useful Notes/Italy|Italy]] 1934, [[Useful Notes/France|France]] 1938, [[Useful Notes/Brazil|Brazil]] 1950, [[Useful Notes/Switzerland|Switzerland]] 1954, [[Useful Notes/Sweden|Sweden]] 1958, [[Useful Notes/Chile|Chile]] 1962, [[Useful Notes/Britain|England]] 1966, [[Useful Notes/Mexico|Mexico]] 1970, [[West Germany]] 1974, [[Useful Notes/Argentina|Argentina]] 1978, [[Useful Notes/Spain|Spain]] 1982, Mexico (as a replacement for [[Useful Notes/Colombia|Colombia]]) 1986, Italy 1990, [[Useful Notes/The United States|USA]] 1994, France 1998, [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japan]] with [[Useful Notes/South Korea|South Korea]] 2002, [[Useful Notes/Germany|Germany]] 2006, [[Useful Notes/South Africa|South Africa]] 2010, Brazil 2014, [[Useful Notes/Russia|Russia]] 2018 and [[Useful Notes/Qatar|Qatar]] 2022.

 

* [[Absurdly High Stakes Game]]: A surprising amount of one-upsmanship in side bets on the 2010 World Cup. First, Diego Maradona <s>promised</s> [[Fan Disservice|threatened]] to run naked through Buenos Aires if Argentina won the World Cup. Responding to this, a Paraguyan lingerie model offered to run naked through Asuncion if her country won<ref> They lost, but she took some pictures naked in an Asuncion stadium. And later appeared on the Brazilian [[Playboy]].</ref>. Responding to ''that'', a Dutch pornstar offered to 'reward' her Twitter followers with free oral sex (115,000+ ) if the Dutch won. They ultimately lost to Spain 1-0.

* [[All Is Well That Ends Well]]: Losses at the group stage by eventual World Cup winners (West Germany in '54 to Hungary and '74 to East Germany, Argentina in '78 to Italy, Spain in 2010 to Switzerland), qualifying with three draws (Italy in '82), the 8-3 group stage battering (West Germany in '54) will not be the topics of conversation they once were.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Ian Darke's excited "CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?" used to describe particularly amazing goals. He's used it for Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria in the 2010 men's tournament and Abby Wambach's against Brazil in the 2011 women's tournament.

* [[Cheaters Never Prosper]]: Averted constantly by everyone - since this is [[Real Life]].

** In 1990, Argentina and Brazil played against each other for a spot at the quarterfinals. Argentina had two bottles of water, one regular for its team, and one drugged for Brazil (which player Branco ended up drinking). Argentina became that year's runner-up.

** Played straight with France's single-point-finish elimination in 2010, given the fact that they got their spot from Ireland through a ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxw1-Id91lQ hand assist]'' by Thierry Henry. Call it poetic justice, [[Karmic Death]] or what you will.

* [[Cold War]]: Hamburg, 22 June 1974, [[East Germany]] 1-0 [[West Germany]]. [[It Got Better]] for West Germany though!

** But it didn't affect the WC as much as the Olympics, where amateur athletes had to compete with the top-level ones from Warsaw Pact countries. The World Cup wasn't easy for Olympic champions USSR, Yugoslavia (both reached only one semifinal and finished 4th), Hungary (a surprising second - when everyone expected a title - in 1954), Czechoslovakia (second in 1962), Poland (third in two Cups) and East Germany (only qualified for 1974, and finished 6th). Bulgaria, runners-up in 1952 and bronze medallists in 1968, fared even worse - during the Cold War era, they qualified for the World Cup five times and didn't win a single match in any of those tournaments.

* [[Consolation Prize]]: Not only medals for 2nd place, but a match (the third-place play-off) held the day before the final to decide who finishes third.

** Since nobody cares very much who comes third and the pressure to succeed is off, this is often the most enjoyable game of the whole tournament.

* [[Cool Mask]]: Some Mexican fans dress in a very ''Lucha Libre'' style in the stands!

* [[Cultural Posturing]]: There's no greater forum for it.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Happens with some regularity due to the weakest teams (usually from Asia, Oceania, Central America, and a few Africans) being seeded with the [[That One Boss|strongest ones]] in the group phase. Scores of 7-0 (Portugal vs North Korea, 2010, the [[Irony]] is that the North Koreans were expecting to get back at their elimination at 1966, then [[It Got Worse]]), 8-0 (Germany v. Saudi Arabia in Sapporo in 2002), 9-0 (Hungary v. South Korea in Zurich in 1954, Yugoslavia v. Zaire in Gelsenkirchen in 1974) or 10-1 (Hungary v. El Salvador in Elche in 1982 - the largest score in the competition so far) or happen every now and then.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: The national teams often collect players that play for rival teams the rest of the year. Some of which are, in fact, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Clasico famous] for ''that'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C._and_Chelsea_F.C._rivalry bitter], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C._and_Manchester_United_F.C._rivalry historical] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_della_Madonnina rivalry].

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Plentiful. [http://www.kickette.com/files/2010/06/nandofit.jpg Look] at [http://www.kickette.com/files/2010/06/reinacasillasvaldes-reuters1.jpg these] [http://www.kickette.com/files/2010/04/davidvillatakemenow.jpg fine] [http://www.kickette.com/files/2010/07/spainsecrets.jpg examples] of [http://www.kickette.com/files/2010/08/fabio-ap.jpg estrogen-baiting][http://newscaster.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ITLAY-Champion-of-FIFA-2006-World-Cup.jpg gents]- and that's just from the 2006 and 2010 champions. On the other hand, there's no shortage of [[Ms. Fanservice|good-looking women]] in the Women's World Cup.

* [[Every Year They Fizzle Out]]: Oh poor Spain. They got better, with their victory at the World Cup 2010 as the climax.

** The Netherlands also count, see [[The Woobie]].

* [[It Got Worse]]: Zaire in 1974 subbed their goalkeeper at half-time because they were 3-0 down to Yugoslavia. They lost 9-0!

* [[Eleventh Hour Superpower|Last Five Minutes Superpower]]: As the entry in Who Needs Extra Time shows, a few teams only get the strength to win when extra time or penalties seem inevitable.

* [[Long Runner]]: Sepp Herberger (he of the [[Xanatos Gambit]] below) was appointed [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] assistant coach in 1932. He became [[Nazi Germany|Germany's]] coach after the coach Otto Nerz failed in the Olympics of 1936. He was first manager of Germany in 1938, but political pressure from [[Those Wacky Nazis]] forced 6 Austrians into his team and Germany lost (in the only case of a walk-over victory in the World Cup's history: Austria was scheduled to play Sweden, but due to them being annexed by [[Nazi Germany]], they withdrew). Despite [[World War Two|some turbulence involving Germany]], Herberger was reappointed manager (of [[West Germany]]) for their return to internationals after the 1950 World Cup, and he guided them to victory in 1954. He remained manager until 1964. This meant he had been part of the German World Cup set-up for 5 World Cups, the first 28 years after the last.

** Herberger's sucessor Helmut Schön also qualifies, coaching for four World Cups (1966-1978). Germany [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany_national_football_team_manager#Statistical_summary used to keep managers for long periods] (before the 2000s "one coach per Cup", six coaches in 14 tournaments)

* [[Loser Leaves Town]]: After the group stages for sure, Brazil vs Turkey in 2002 was a second match between the sides in the same tournament...

** The final of 1962 (Brazil vs. Czechoslovakia) and a semifinal in 1982 (Italy vs. Poland) were also repeats with bigger value.

* [[Mis Blamed]]: Sometimes one players becomes [[The Scapegoat]] for the whole team's failure. In Brazil, there's Barbosa (the goalkeeper in 1950), Toninho Cerezo (who led to Italy's second goal in 1982), Zico (who lost a penalty in 1986) and Roberto Carlos (who let Thierry Henry score the goal which led to their elimination in 2006).

** David Beckham getting sent off against Argentina in 1998. England would lose the game on penalties; headlines the next day famously said "10 heroic lions, one stupid boy."

* [[Never Accepted in His Hometown]]: So you've moved abroad and become a hero, winning bucketloads for your club. Sometimes no-one knows that at home. Previously German-based English midfielder Owen Hargreaves was this until he broke into the side during the 2006 tournament.

** Plus he was born in Calgary and was cut from a Canadian youth team as a youngster. Which is one of the reasons why he ended up playing for England.

* [[Nominal Importance]]: [[Blatant Lies|Maradona won the 1986 World Cup on his own]] (some would say [[A Worldwide Punomenon|single-handedly]]) say the media. How does that make the other Argentines feel?

** The same could be said of Garrincha in 1962 (mainly because Pelé sustained an injury in the second match and didn't play for the rest of the tournament) and Romário in 1994. But, for what can be seen in Brazilian press, the other players didn't feel dejected in the least.

* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: The same US team that defeated England 1-0 in 1950 qualify as this (with the goal scored by a Haitian dishwasher no less! No, really.)

* [[Royal Brat]]: The Kuwaiti sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, president of his country's FA, who interrupted their game with France in 1982 to contest a decision! (see [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]] [[The World Cup/YMMV|here]])

* [[Rule of Sean Connery]]: A World Cup official film seems good enough. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiXl5rt5e7Q One narrated] by [[Sean Connery]] (and scored by [[Yes|Rick Wakeman]])? Pure awesome!

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ns3lvU9r88 Another] has one of the actors listed under [[Rule of Sean Connery]], [[Sean Bean]].

** Also Chris Birchall for Trinidad and Tobago in 2006

* [[Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup]]: Arguably the star-studded midfield of Brazil in 1982 and the wonderful attack of Argentina in 2010, not a lot of defending was considered.

* [[Tradesnark]]: ''Every'' official outlet dubs the event the "FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa™". FIFA has become aggressive at enforcing World Cup™ related trademarks and rights. In 2006, a Dutch brewery got in trouble for having fans wear "leeuwenhose" (orange colored overalls with a lion's tail and their logo on it, distributed with their beer before the tournament) to a Dutch game, considering it an ambush marketing that could confuse people into thinking they were an official sponsor. In 2010, a discount airline was forced to pull an advertisement that was "infringing" their trademarks; it contained soccer and South African imagery (yes, even Vuvuzelas), and had described themselves as "The Unofficial National Carrier of the [[Writing Around Trademarks|You-Know-What]]", and all but [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshading]] that they were not an official sponsor.

* [[Training From Hell]]: Often, but most [[Egregious]] with Iraq in 1986, who were tortured by [[Complete Monster]] Udey Hussein [http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/worldcupwonderland/archive/2010/05/19/86-uday-hussein-shaved-my-perm-quot.aspx for many years]. Somewhat unsurprisingly, his [[Moral Event Horizon|morally questionable]] tactics did not work.

[[Category:The Beautiful Game]]

[[Category:The World Cup]]