The most Scanalous World Cup of all time.

[ztnjv]

I know this is a bit off topic but I was just watching my world cup DVDs last night and had feelings revulsion come back upon me when I watched the 2002 highlights. WHAT-A-SHAM.

While it was great for US Soccer and I was thrilled to see them reach the QF and proud to watch them outplay Germany in what turned out to be a heart breaker, the way in Korea was pushed and cajoled into the semis with some terrible officiating and favorable calls was scandalous.

The two biggest victims of this tragedy, Italy and Spain, had every right to be outraged.

First my beloved Italy. 5 goals disallowed in 4 games. Astounding. I hadn't watched them in years and I was still is disbelief watching it all over again. These calls totally transformed Italy's placement in the group as well as costing the the Korea game. Of course, Italy's terrible luck with its own chances didn't help. Vieri missing a point blank tap in at the end of injury time could have avoided the whole calamity. Then there was Totti's red card for "diving". At most, it was a "play on" moment if not a penalty kick for the golden goal....speaking of which, Tomassi was not offside on a game winner moments later. Yes, teams need to rebound from adversity but jeepers!

Then Spain scored not one but TWO Golden Goals which were both disallowed....both incorrectly as well.

What a travesty that Cup was.

[luciusmagister]

Most scandalous World Cup all-time? Look up 1934 and 1938. Apparently, this Benito Mussolini guy thought the World Cup would be the ideal platform to promote nationalism and his National Fascist Party. It is said he even helped pick the referees. :eek: For example, the win over Spain in the quarter-final got a Swiss referee banned by the Swiss FA on account of his partiality toward Italy. There was also the final itself.

The last WC was a continuation of this dubious tradition if you ask me.

[Gibraldo]

I think Argentina '78 should have been cancelled because of the militia junta that ruled there.

[luciusmagister]

I think Argentina '78 should have been cancelled because of the militia junta that ruled there.
Yeah, '78 was another tainted WC.

[K:theCore]

I know this is a bit off topic but I was just watching my world cup DVDs last night and had feelings revulsion come back upon me when I watched the 2002 highlights. WHAT-A-SHAM.

While it was great for US Soccer and I was thrilled to see them reach the QF and proud to watch them outplay Germany in what turned out to be a heart breaker, the way in Korea was pushed and cajoled into the semis with some terrible officiating and favorable calls was scandalous.

The two biggest victims of this tragedy, Italy and Spain, had every right to be outraged.

First my beloved Italy. 5 goals disallowed in 4 games. Astounding. I hadn't watched them in years and I was still is disbelief watching it all over again. These calls totally transformed Italy's placement in the group as well as costing the the Korea game. Of course, Italy's terrible luck with its own chances didn't help. Vieri missing a point blank tap in at the end of injury time could have avoided the whole calamity. Then there was Totti's red card for "diving". At most, it was a "play on" moment if not a penalty kick for the golden goal....speaking of which, Tomassi was not offside on a game winner moments later. Yes, teams need to rebound from adversity but jeepers!

Then Spain scored not one but TWO Golden Goals which were both disallowed....both incorrectly as well.

What a travesty that Cup was.



One word for ya.....


"Wah!"

[asdf2]

I know this is a bit off topic but I was just watching my world cup DVDs last night and had feelings revulsion come back upon me when I watched the 2002 highlights. WHAT-A-SHAM.

While it was great for US Soccer and I was thrilled to see them reach the QF and proud to watch them outplay Germany in what turned out to be a heart breaker, the way in Korea was pushed and cajoled into the semis with some terrible officiating and favorable calls was scandalous.

The two biggest victims of this tragedy, Italy and Spain, had every right to be outraged.

First my beloved Italy. 5 goals disallowed in 4 games. Astounding. I hadn't watched them in years and I was still is disbelief watching it all over again. These calls totally transformed Italy's placement in the group as well as costing the the Korea game. Of course, Italy's terrible luck with its own chances didn't help. Vieri missing a point blank tap in at the end of injury time could have avoided the whole calamity. Then there was Totti's red card for "diving". At most, it was a "play on" moment if not a penalty kick for the golden goal....speaking of which, Tomassi was not offside on a game winner moments later. Yes, teams need to rebound from adversity but jeepers!

Then Spain scored not one but TWO Golden Goals which were both disallowed....both incorrectly as well.

What a travesty that Cup was.

While I don't disagree with the list of bad calls that you describe, I do disagree with your conclusion. Italy and Spain got screwed, yes. So did the US with the German handball on the line and I'm sure there were others too. There are always bad calls. But I don't see how this WC was in any way "scandalous".

[DaeHaMinGuk]

I know this is a bit off topic but I was just watching my world cup DVDs last night and had feelings revulsion come back upon me when I watched the 2002 highlights. WHAT-A-SHAM.

While it was great for US Soccer and I was thrilled to see them reach the QF and proud to watch them outplay Germany in what turned out to be a heart breaker, the way in Korea was pushed and cajoled into the semis with some terrible officiating and favorable calls was scandalous.

The two biggest victims of this tragedy, Italy and Spain, had every right to be outraged.

First my beloved Italy. 5 goals disallowed in 4 games. Astounding. I hadn't watched them in years and I was still is disbelief watching it all over again. These calls totally transformed Italy's placement in the group as well as costing the the Korea game. Of course, Italy's terrible luck with its own chances didn't help. Vieri missing a point blank tap in at the end of injury time could have avoided the whole calamity. Then there was Totti's red card for "diving". At most, it was a "play on" moment if not a penalty kick for the golden goal....speaking of which, Tomassi was not offside on a game winner moments later. Yes, teams need to rebound from adversity but jeepers!

Then Spain scored not one but TWO Golden Goals which were both disallowed....both incorrectly as well.

What a travesty that Cup was.

Quit your whining. Just be glad that the US managed to hang on for dear life with a draw vs. Korea.

I never saw a more GK-dominated WC team than the US that year.

[dor02]

1. 2002 - the refereeing was pathetic. Italy did get some bad refs but the Azzurri weren't the only ones. Spain copped it even worse than Italy and some other teams didn't get things their way

2. 1934 - if Mussolini wasn't so involved, this World Cup would possibly be rated as one of the best of earlier times and Italy's team would be given more creditability. Italy 34 was an example of why sport shouldn't really mix with politics. Although that the UK didn't send any teams, there were some fine teams in the tornament and Il Duce didn't need to pick refs like he did

3. 1966 - the quarter-finals involving Argentina and England as well as Uruguay and West Germany caused controversy. The South Americans always claimed the refs were picked for those matches as Uruguay was reduced to nine men against the West Germans and Rattin was controversially sent off against the English

4. 1978 - the junta dictatorship took some gloss off this tornament but it was a dramatic tornament. Argentina's 6-0 win against Peru has always been the centre of controversy

5. 1962 - the organization of the event was ridiculous. Chile proved to be a ridiculous venue. It was considered to be a very rough World Cup and there were some tough matches like Italy vs Chile and USSR vs Yugoslavia

[vancity eagle]

yes there were bad calls in 2002 but please stop acting like this does not happen all the time just because one or two favorites got screwed. The underdogs of the world get screwed every world cup yet there is no huge outrage.

[Makandal]

What the OP describe as scandalous happens in just about every single World Cup; That's not enough to call the 2002 World Cup the most scandalous of all time. Like some posters mentioned above if you wanna pick the most scandalous World Cup of all time, there's plenty of choice among the earlier World Cup, from european teams tanking their matches to help other European teams instead of American teams and vice-versa, obvious calls that everyone in FIFA know should or shouldn't be called (sometimes they know in advance), to off-the-field cheating, set-up, etc...
Compare to the old World Cup, the 2002 version was one of the best...

[luciusmagister]

1. 2002 - the refereeing was pathetic. Italy did get some bad refs but the Azzurri weren't the only ones. Spain copped it even worse than Italy and some other teams didn't get things their way

2. 1934 - if Mussolini wasn't so involved, this World Cup would possibly be rated as one of the best of earlier times and Italy's team would be given more creditability. Italy 34 was an example of why sport shouldn't really mix with politics. Although that the UK didn't send any teams, there were some fine teams in the tornament and Il Duce didn't need to pick refs like he did

3. 1966 - the quarter-finals involving Argentina and England as well as Uruguay and West Germany caused controversy. The South Americans always claimed the refs were picked for those matches as Uruguay was reduced to nine men against the West Germans and Rattin was controversially sent off against the English

4. 1978 - the junta dictatorship took some gloss off this tornament but it was a dramatic tornament. Argentina's 6-0 win against Peru has always been the centre of controversy

5. 1962 - the organization of the event was ridiculous. Chile proved to be a ridiculous venue. It was considered to be a very rough World Cup and there were some tough matches like Italy vs Chile and USSR vs Yugoslavia
Outside of 2002 this list is a pretty accurate representation of the most scandalous World Cups of all time. Since you sent me one of those RC rep things because I included 1938; I guess I ought to explain.

First off this World Cup was supposed to be played in S. America because it was agreed that the Cup would alternate between S. America and Europe. The last WC was played in Europe so this one was to go to S. America. It didn’t. As a result two very strong S. American teams of the time (Uruguay and Argentina) boycotted the competition.

In the Semi-final the Brazilians “rested” their best player and top goal scorer Leônidas because they thought they would have an “easy time” with the defending champions Italy. Others say they were threatened by Il Duce who didn’t want to see his team destroyed by a black man.

Then of course there was the infamous final were the Hungarian goalkeeper just let goals go in thus allowing Italy to win.

I hope this helps. -Cheers!

[luciusmagister]

I wonder if there is a Portuguese speaker out there who can translate this bit for me or at least give a quick synopsis.

"A semi final com a Itália entrou para a história do futebol brasileiro pela ausência de Leonidas, pelos equívocos do técnico Ademar Pimenta, pelas discussões que se criaram em torno da arbitragem do suíço Wuthrich e pela decepção sofrida por milhões de brasileiros que acompanhavam a transmissão do jogo através da narração de Gagliano Neto. Os italianos foram melhores no primeiro tempo com Meazza e Ferrari fazendo lançamentos para Piola que enfernizava a defesa brasileira. Domingos da Guia nem parecia o sereno zagueiro chamado de Divino Mestre, perseguia Piola mais com os nervos do que com o cérebro. O ataque brasileiro jogava mal e não perturbava a defesa italiana. Mesmo assim, o primeiro tempo terminou com um zero a zero. Logo aos onze minutos do segundo tempo, quando os brasileiros começaram a jogar melhor, a Itália abriu a contagem através de Colaussi em jogada individual. O Brasil equilibrou o meio campo e começou a forçar a defesa italiana. Foi então que aconteceu o lance mais discutido do jogo. Uma troca de pontapés entre Domingo da Guia e Piola, o juiz marca um penalti contra o Brasil. Tudo se passara muito rapidamente. A bola fora do lance, mas não fora de jogo como se disse na época. Piola provocando Domingos que lhe deu uma rasteira. O juiz estava longe mas viu o zagueiro brasileiro derrubar o atacante italiano e marcou o penalti. De nada adiantou os protestos do capitão Martim e seus companheiros. Aos quinze minutos, Meazza, de penalti, marcava o segundo gol da Italia. Inconformados com a sorte e sem ânimo para buscar a reação, os brasileiros aceitaram o resultado do jogo. No final, já aos quarenta e um minutos, Romeu assinalou nosso único gol. O Brasil estava de fora da decisão da Copa do Mundo de 1938.

Três dias depois, a nossa seleção venceu a Suécia por 4x2 e ficou na terceira colocação. Já recuperado, Leonidas voltou na melhor forma e marcou dois gols, sem tornando o artilheiro do certame. Este reaparecimento, em vez de ser festivamente saudado pela torcida brasileira, por ironia, se transformou numa maldosa suspeita que por muitos anos haveria de manchar a brilhante carreira de Leonidas da Silva. Muitos estranharam que ele ficasse bom em tão pouco tempo. Antes do jogo contra a Itália, ele se contorcia em dores como se tivesse sofrido uma séria contusão. As informações eram de que Leonidas tinha sido “comprado” pelos assessores de Mussollini. Coisa que nunca foi provada."
http://www.museudosesportes.com.br/noticia.php?id=71

Thank you in advance.
BTW I also read Leonidas invented the "bicycle" kick. He must have been a hell of a player in his era and I am so glad this thread forced me to look into such a great player.

[JAIME CHILE]

5. 1962 - the organization of the event was ridiculous. Chile proved to be a ridiculous venue. It was considered to be a very rough World Cup and there were some tough matches like Italy vs Chile and USSR vs Yugoslavia

:eek:
Where did you get that wrong info?

Considering that the 1960's big earthquake in half country, I would say that was a pretty good WC, in terms of organization.
All the big cities in the center and south of Chile were destroyed in 1960, and Chile organizated the WC after all that.

The games, well, I dunno, because I just see some black&white videos.

[Fuera del Area]

A rough translation:

"The semifinal against Italy is best known in Brazilian football history for Ademir Pimenta's erroneous decision to leave Leonidas out (something about a refereeing dispute), much to the dismay of millions of Brazilians. The Italians had a better first half with Meazza and Ferrari making passes for Piola that tested the Brazilian defense. The Brazilian attack didn't play well and rarely tested the Italian defense. Even so, the score was 0-0 at the half. 11 minutes into the second half when the Brazilians started to play better, Italy scored first on an individual play by Colaussi. Brazil then played attacking football and started firing more shots on the Italians. The referee, though, marked a penalty shot against Domingo de Guia after tripping Piola, despite him provoking the Brazilian. The captain Martim's protests were to no avail. 15 minutes into the second half, Meazza scored from the spot to make th score 2-0. This revived the Brazilians, who continued to hammer the Italians, and in the 86th minute, Romeu scored, but it was too late. Brazil was out of the 1938 World Cup.

Three days later, Brazil beat Sweden 4-2 to finish third. Leonidas, now fully recovered, scored two more goals to establish himself as the tournament's top scorer. Instead of being celebrated by the Brazilian fans, it haunted Leonidas for the rest of his brilliant career. It was strange to see him recover in so little time. Before the Italy game, he was racked with pain, as if he had suffered a serious bruise. Rumors spread that he was bought off by Mussolini, but it was never proven."

I don't speak Portuguese, so please don't butcher me if anything is incorrect.

[luciusmagister]

A rough translation:
I don't speak Portuguese, so please don't butcher me if anything is incorrect.
Thank you. Strange to hear of a player in so much pain he can't play against the Italians but the very next game the guy just about hits a hat trick. Must have super powers of recovery down in S. America, eh? At least this spared Mussolini the Jesse Owens treatment that Hitler got a couple of years before at the Olympics, right?

I heard the tale a bit differently, however. He was offered money or death it is said. Tough choice or an offer one does not refuse as they say.

To dor02 who sent me the Neg. Rep with the statement "1934 was enough. nothing happened in 1938". Do you still believe that? If Nazi Germany had won those two World Cups under such conditions would they be allowed to put those two stars on their uniforms and to this day claim them as victories? How does Italy get away with it? 4x champions indeed!

[luciusmagister]

:eek:
Where did you get that wrong info?

Considering that the 1960's big earthquake in half country, I would say that was a pretty good WC, in terms of organization.
All the big cities in the center and south of Chile were destroyed in 1960, and Chile organizated the WC after all that.

The games, well, I dunno, because I just see some black&white videos. I was taking about the rough games or brawls if you will in '62.

[JAIME CHILE]

I was taking about the rough games or brawls if you will in '62.

I was talking about the dor02's statement, because in the 1rst part he wrote:
5. 1962 - the organization of the event was ridiculous. Chile proved to be a ridiculous venue
;)

[FNU]

OP still makes some valid points considering Korea. Not only was the ref from the Italy game fined, but there have been very likely assumptions regarding the Korean Presidents involvement, and Blatter's involvement considering the final game where he wanted it to last longer in his instructions to the refs...

In present times, 2002 may be regarded as the most tainted.

[FNU]

Thank you. Strange to hear of a player in so much pain he can't play against the Italians but the very next game the guy just about hits a hat trick. Must have super powers of recovery down in S. America, eh? At least this spared Mussolini the Jesse Owens treatment that Hitler got a couple of years before at the Olympics, right?

I heard the tale a bit differently, however. He was offered money or death it is said. Tough choice or an offer one does not refuse as they say.

To dor02 who sent me the Neg. Rep with the statement "1934 was enough. nothing happened in 1938". Do you still believe that? If Nazi Germany had won those two World Cups under such conditions would they be allowed to put those two stars on their uniforms and to this day claim them as victories? How does Italy get away with it? 4x champions indeed!

Haha I see that you're still going on about these conspiracy theories from the 30s. Like I've said many times before, email FIFA and tell them about it! They have it in their power to investigate and come to a conclusion, which I assure you, by now they've already done this and come to the conclusion this is all speculation brought on by media. The Italian team of the 30s was one of the best, it can't be denied when you had players from a Torino team dominating any team they played.

[luciusmagister]

Haha I see that you're still going on about these conspiracy theories from the 30s. Like I've said many times before, email FIFA and tell them about it! They have it in their power to investigate and come to a conclusion, which I assure you, by now they've already done this and come to the conclusion this is all speculation brought on by media. The Italian team of the 30s was one of the best, it can't be denied when you had players from a Torino team dominating any team they played.E-mail FIFA? Its a Mussolini love fest over there I tells ya. :D

I thought this thread was about the most scandalous World Cup of all-time. 2002 did have some bad calls like the assistant referee calling a clear goal offside against Italy in round 16, but hey at least he punished Italy for all of the "'simulation ". BTW how does one say diving in Italian?

'02 worst of all time? Worse than '06? :D Really?