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