Here are five names to have at your fingertips about the fourth World Cup, hosted by Brazil and won by Uruguay.
Maracana. Brazil was a natural choice to host the World Cup after the tournament’s World War II-forced hiatus. Rebuilding European nations didn’t put soccer stadiums high on their priority list. Brazil, where soccer’s popularity exploded during the first part of the century, built the 200,000-seat Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Construction was still underway as the teams arrived and not quite completed. Yugoslav midfielder Raijko Mitic suffered a forehead wound when he walked into a protruding metal beam on his way out of the locker room before a 2-0 loss to the host. The stadium is named after the nearby river.
Recife. The city near the equator was where France was scheduled to play its second game. That the first game was to be played 2,000 miles away in Porto Alegre prompted the French to withdraw. Frenchmen Henri Delaunay and Jules Rimet, who kept the World Cup trophy under his bed during World War II, had been the key men behind the launch of the World Cup in 1930. Other absentees included Germany (suspended), Argentina (squabbles with Brazilian federation) and all Eastern European countries besides Yugoslavia.
Joe Gaetjens. England, the birthplace of organized soccer, had finally joined FIFA and in its first World Cup fell victim in one of the biggest upsets in soccer history. It was defeated, 1-0, to part-time players from the USA. The hero was Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens, who was on break from studying at Columbia University and working as a restaurant dishwasher in New York when he scored the famous goal. Losses to Spain and Chile kept the USA from advancing out of the first round.
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