MIGHTY MAGYARS AND ARTHUR ELLIS

When the World Cup in Switzerland in 1954, started it was the Mighty Magyars, Hungarian national team who were in their "pomp". They were the pre-tournament favourites. In their Group Stage they beat West Germany 8-3 and so their "odds" of becoming World Champions shortened considerably. On this day, July 4th, they met West Germany again in the Final at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne. 60,000 watched this.

The injured Ferenc Puskas and Zoltan Czibor gave Hungary an early lead, the half time score was 2-2, but a German fightback culminated in an 84th minute winner from Helmut Rahn. West Germany had won their first World Cup, in a match dubbed, "The Miracle of Berne". The weather had been awful but the players maintained a high standard of play and Hungary repeated their Pool Two result, over the Germans, which ended 8-3.

In the final minutes with the score at 3-2, Puskas ran through and put the ball into the German net. Linesman, Welshman, Mervyn Griffiths, raised his flag for an offside decision against the great man. It was close call and one that has been talked about since!

In this tournament, Arthur Ellis, the well known English referee, had sent off these... Bozsik from Hungary v Brazil, Santos from Brazil v Hungary and Tozzi, Brazil v Hungary!! BUT Bill Ling from England reffed the Final. It was the Hungarians first defeat in 30 internationals stretching back to May 1950. West Germany were the first "unseeded" nation, in history, to go through and win the trophy. They used 18 players.

Sandor Kocsis, of Hungary (below), scored 11 goals in the tournament. Country men, Puskas and Hidegkuit scored 4 each, Czibor 3, Palotas and Lantos 2 each, Toth, 1. The Magyars used 15 players.

The 1954 World Cup was only his second international tournament. He was one of a group of four referees appointed from the UK for the 1954 tournament. The others included Charles Faultless from Scotland. In the course of the tournament, Ling had already refereed the Group match between Hungary and West Germany (in which the Hungarians had won 8–3 against the West German team of mainly reserve players) and had assisted Arthur Ellis during the "Battle of Berne" quarter-final. In the final he was assisted by Griffiths and the Italian, Vincino Orlandini.

SHOOTING FOR VARIOUS REASONS

If you need a cup of coffee, then there is a chance that the coffee beans have come from Colombia; if you actually don't need one now, why not go out and buy some, just to help their economy. 

Colombia's team lies 16th in FIFA's list, a national federation founded in 1924, joining FIFA in 1936. They stated that the football team should be a "sign of national pride, nationalism and passion". Well they certainly showed that enthusiasm surrounding the referee at every opportunity and finally failing at the last minute. All credit to them for giving it a go..but it wasn't enough; the ref was poor.

Los Cafeteros, as they are known, fly home to South America and will wait another year or so to qualify for the next World Stage event.
We remember Rene Higuita, El Loco, their crazy goalkeeper, who performed the famous scorpion kick in 1995 at Wembley in a friendly.....see this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-flTPSSvCw

And let's not forget Carlos Valderrama, the county's most capped player; 111 caps-11 goals, not a great return but..... The Colombian national team was a favourite to win the USA based, 1994 World Cup, following a stunning qualification campaign. The Colombians had beaten Argentina for the first time in 30 goes, winning 2-0 at home. On September 5th 1993 they needed to avoid defeat in a return fixture against Argentina in Buenos Aires. They trounced Argentina 5-0! Pele tipped them to be World champions, but the Colombian team was a shadow of the former self, from eight months earlier. In 2006, a 22-foot bronze statue of Valderrama (to the right) was erected outside Estadio Eduardo Santos in Valderrama's birthplace of Santa Marta.

Central defender, Andres Escobar (below) lost his life in an assassination, apparently, causing offence to "compatriots" for "scoring an own goal", in a crucial match in a 1994 World Cup match against the USA, when he deflected a cross from USA's, John Harkes, creating a 1-2 defeat. Escobar slid into cut out USA's, John Harkes' cross, but succeeded in turning the ball into his own net!

After the match, back home, during a night out, Escobar was cornered in a Medellin night club, car park on July 1st. He got involved in an arguement with a man, who was a hit man for a drug cartel that had lost a lot of money gambled on the game. Escobar was shot six times in the chest, by a killer who shouted out "Gol!" after every shot...mimicking the TV commentator who was reporting the match. Humberto Munzo was found guilty of the murder. 120,000 turned out  to line the streets for the funeral.

Needless to say, Escobar's family set up a trust to raise money to help poor young Colombians enjoy football. Below Escobar, 10 days, before his murder.....

Two days later, Alan Hansen commentated in a match, that an Argentina defender in  match against Romania "needed shooting"...the BBC apologised. 

JULY 1st: DAVID'S LEG UP

 "I want every England supporter to know how deeply sorry I am", David Beckham said as he realised that English football supporters needed a scapegoat for any English World Cup failure! The evening before, he had been sent off in the England v Argentina, second round World Cup tie, on this day in 1998. Many of us, of a certain age will remember watching the "coming together" as Beckham, lying on the ground, with opposition player, Diego Simeone, walking past, who fell limply over Beckham's raised leg. Beckham did appear to lift his leg for no particular reason?? 

Beckham wanted the World to know that he hoped to be able to make amends by being part of the England team being successful in a future European Championship or/and World Cup. Hope these links work...they are of the same incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6rzLecQF6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWsEuczNj48

The campaign had been up and down for David who had played in all the qualifying matches but was dropped for the start of the tournament. Manager/coach, Glen Hoddle suggested that he had been distracted by his recent relationship with Spice Girl, Victoria Adams! Beckham denied this and took his chance when finally selected against Colombia, scoring from a 25 yard direct free kick. Having been selected for 17 internationals, this was his first goal for his country.

The next international game ended in a personal disaster for Beckham, with the Simeone incident, though few will remember his brilliant pass to pick out team mate Michael Owen, who scored with a spectacular solo goal. England lost on penalties! It was 3-4 with Batty (1st) and Ince (4th) failing to score in the 5.

Hoddle stood by Beckham saying, "It was a mistake. It was foolish thing to ddo and he has got to realise that he cannot do that sort of thing at this level. It was a mistake but we can't go overboard about it and I am not looking for anyone to blame." Nobody listened much and The Daily Mirror roused anger in the masses by publishing a paper with a dartboard with Beckham's face on it! An effigy of Beckham hung from a noose outside a South London pub, The Pleasant Pheasant! Death threats were sent and sponsorship deals closed!

The referee, in that game, Kim Milton Nielsen, couldn't understand what all the fuss was about! "It is only football, it is a nice thing, but it is not the whole world. There are wars and places where people do not have enough food. These are far more important! I hope he can learn from this and he needs to be more relaxed. People like Maradona and Pele had to put up with some very bad fouls throughout their careers, far worse than what happened to Beckham."

The following season, with crowds baying for his blood In England, he was an influential figure in Manchester United's Treble win!!

BTW...Shearer a penalty (10'), Owen 16' scored for 2-2.