Soccer World Cup - Brazil 1950
1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of this sporting event, which took place in Brazil, host of the competition for the first time. With six host cities, the championship began on June 24 and ended on July 16, with matches held in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
The stadiums were already ready at the time, due to the passion of Brazilians for football. Brazil was unanimously chosen as host at the time, being a success in terms of infrastructure to facilities and an example to the world.
Many attribute this situation to President Getúlio Vargas and his administration, which encouraged sport as an extension of education. However, it should be noted that Brazil saw, in 1947, FIFA postpone the competition for a year so that the European teams could restructure – the Second World War devastated the continent and left the world without Cups since 1938. also, because of the effects of the conflict, the entity decided to take the World Cup to South America and Brazil, as the only candidate, was elected.
For some people, the main 'zebra' of the 1950 World Cup was not Brazil's defeat to Uruguay, but the victory of the US team over England. The United States squad was made up of semi-professional players and had no intention of advancing to the next stage. England, in turn, had the legendary Stanley Matthews. The match inspired the book and film The Game of Their Lives.
The American winning goal was scored in the 38th minute, when Walter Bahr, a teacher, threw the ball for Joe Gaetjens to head in. Gaetjens was born in Haiti and was discovered by coach William Jeffrey shortly before the World Cup. At the time, he was working as a dishwasher and studying accounting in New York. The athlete returned to live in Haiti and defended his country's national team later on. Gaetjens died 14 years later, during the dictatorship of François Duvalier, Papa Doc, in his native country.
The last match was nicknamed Maracanaço, as the stadium had 199,854 people. Despite the support of the public, Brazil lost by 2 X 1 to Uruguay, throwing away all the favoritism they had achieved with two rout in the finals. The name of Brazil's tormentor was Ghiggia, who broke the tie for Uruguay in the 79th minute, putting an end to the Brazilian dream.
Brazil finished with the competition's top scorer, Ademir, who scored nine goals. The selection also recorded the two biggest routs of the tournament – 7-1 in Sweden and 6-1 in Spain, both in the final stage of the dispute.
One of the great cup games was BRAZIL 7 X 1 SWEDEN.
The first game of the quadrangular final was played on July 9, 1950 at Maracanã, which had almost 140,000 fans from Brazil. The biggest highlight of the match was Ademir Queixada, who scored no less than four goals in the match. Chico, with two goals, and Maneca, with one, completed the score. Andersson, from a penalty, scored the goal of honor for the Swedes.
