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