At the 2nd.edition of
the FIFA World Cup in Italy in 1934, Uruguay the FIRST country to host the
World Cup and the defending champions, had so little money that they couldn't
afford to send a team to defend their title.
However,Italy,which was under the firm control of Benito
Amilcare Andrea Mussolini ( 29July.1883-28 April 1945.),decided that being
hosts would be good for national pride.
The resulting World Cup,consequently
Set the standard for turning sports to political
propaganda.Under the shrewd coachmanship of the wily,crafty,tactical and
experienced Vittorio Pozzo an endomorph of a man who got timely and adequate logistic support
from Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Italy beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 after extra
time to win the World Cup for the proud
Benito Mussolini and the Italians.
The strong Fascist leader Benito Mussolini also addressed as
11 Duce even took pride in his team and would appear at the Stadio Torino in
Rome to watch his aggressive "Azzurri" (blues) perform the Fascist
salute before matches.The Italians made a million Lire profit from the 1934
World Cup.After winning in the Final the Italian team was presented with two
trophies.One was FIFA's Coupe de Jules Rimet and the other was
La Coppa del Duce, which the Iron man Benito Mussolini had
specially
commissioned.Each player received a 23 -carat gold medal in
recognition of the conquest in football and.a signed photograph of 11 Duce .
Adolf Hitler ( 29 April 1889-30 April 1945)the Austrian born
German Politician,Military Leader and Dictator
had passion for football and motor racing,Adolf Hitler did
all he could to host the 4th.edition of the World Cup
in 1942.FIFA under the Presidency of Monsieur Jules Rimet
were skeptical and luckily the gathering storms of the Second World War, spoilt
the roy of rovers for strongman Adolf Hitler.
When Mobutu Sese Seko took over as the President of Zaire(
nowDR Congo)
In 1965, he invested heavily on.the Zairean National Team nicknamed
The Leopards..and also motivated clubsides.Two years later,a
club from his country won Africa's most prestigeous club competition.
Tout Puissant Englebert Lubumbasi popularly called TP
Mazembe won the African Champion Cup back-to-back in1967 & 1968 while the
National team won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1968 in Ethiopia after
beating.Ghana 1-0 and in 1974 in Egypt after defeating Zambia which gave the
The Leopards earned the ticket to represent Africa at the
10th.edition of the World Cup in Germany in 1974.The
Leopards also annexed the record as the FIRST ALL BLACK Team to play in
the.history of the World Cup.As the first Sub Saharan nation at the World. Cup,
alot was expected from.the well motivated Zairean team. But gwam..like a
thunderbolt the Zairean team coached by a former Yugoslavian international goal
keeper Blagoje Vidnic was
flattered,pummelled,
Shattered and battered...losing all three games lost 0-2 to
Scotland,
0-3 to Brazil and lost most scandalously 0 - 9 to
Yugoslavia.
This was a pill too bitter for strong man.Mobutu Sese Seko
to swallow.
When the team returned home
Mobutu Sese Seko ordered that no one met them at the
airport.
The 80,000 capacity stadium..Stade des Martyrs where the
Leopards played their matches which used
to be filled to capacity became empty when ever the Leopards played after their
disastrous and humiliating fiasco suffered at the 1974 World Cup.
In the early part of the decade of the 1970s,the Duvaliers
Papa Doc the ruler of Haiti and his son simply called
Baby Doc,offered enormous support to the Haitian national
which surprising but commensurately qualified to represent the CONCACAF at the
1974 World Cup
Moumar Gadaffi, the Libyan Ironman
was a great officionado of the Beautiful Game of Football.He
pulled the purse strings and ensured that Libya hosted the Africa Cup of
Nations in.1982..Gadaffi made Libya to become the First country in Africa to
use astro-turf in the Africa Cup of Nations when all the matches were played in
Tripoli & Benghazi.
For millions of people around the World, he was unique and
simple and a living symbol of Isreal.With his distinctive black eye patch &
round boyish face,soldier,statesman and swash buckling hero of Isreali's wars
with its Arab neighbours great man
Moshe Dayan occupied centre stage in Isreal for 39
years.Above his profession Moshe Dayan..the one eyed Defence Minister of
Isreal, had great passion for Football .He gave his total support to
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC and the Isreali national team.
Saadam Hussein the late Iraqi strong man and war lord loved
football
Inspite of his enormous passion.Saddam Hussein never liked
to take chances..In 1993;a.match in the fourth edition of the Asian Cup Winners
Cup was played amidst very tight security when Zewra of Baghdad travelled to
India for a match against East Bengal of India.in.the first leg.
The Iraqis travelled in secrecy over land but recieved Air
Force and Army protection by the orders of Saadam
Hussein who feared that the Iraqi side may be subject to air
attacks.
In India Zewra were under the constant guard of
commandos.East Bengal won 6-2.In the return leg in Baghdad which Zewra won 2-0
over 40% of the spectators were security personnel who had grenades and pistols
tucked in but chanting like fans.After
the match, the Indians
made impromtu arrangements for a chartered flight to take
them back to New Delhi as the felt uncomfortable with what they saw.
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