#1994 FIFA World Cup

[dweemeister]

November 14, 2023

By Adam Elder

(BBC Sport) — On a Saturday evening in February 1990, many of the United States' finest footballers stepped on to A&M Studios' historic soundstage in Los Angeles.

A month before John Barnes would implore his England team-mates to "hold and give, but do it at the right time" in a studio in Berkshire, the United States team recorded their own rap - one they hoped would make the sport famous at home.

In a moment, some of Hollywood's biggest celebrities would walk through the door to join them.

The plan was to record a novelty music video for a star-studded jock jam called Victory. The track celebrated the United States' first trip to the World Cup in 40 years, long before any of these players were born.

Never mind fame, though. In 1990, making football a little less hated in the United States would have counted as a runaway success.

Americans mostly considered football a fringe concern - if they even considered it at all. Baseball, American football and basketball were the "real" American sports.

For most of the 20th century, football in the States was for "the others", to put it politely: expats, cab drivers, dishwashers, exchange students, leftists, intellectuals, Euro snobs and the like.

Still the US Soccer Federation was constantly thinking about how to grow the game.

Werner Fricker, the federation's stern but visionary president, had cannily realised Fifa's desire to wring American dollars out of the world's most popular sport. By 1988, he had guided the United States to victory over Brazil and Morocco to win the right to stage the 1994 World Cup.

But Fricker knew a World Cup in the States faced scepticism. He wanted to prove the hosts had a team good enough to qualify on merit.

He put up his own money to fund a push to qualify for the 1990 event. If the United States succeeded it would be the first time they had made the World Cup since Brazil 1950, where they earned their place via a second-place finish in a three-team pool.

"Werner refused to accept that qualification wasn't doable," said Kevin Payne, former director of marketing and national administrator for the Federation. "He knew what needed to be done, and that past attempts were amateurish."

Fricker made Bob Gansler the team's first full-time coach. A tough yet erudite German-Hungarian immigrant, Gansler's knowledge of American youth football ran deep.

The team picked by Gansler, many fresh out of college, had been raised during the North American Soccer League's Pele-led glory days and were a clean slate from past failures to reach the World Cup.

They had chips on their shoulders for all sorts of other reasons though.

Many of them were second-generation immigrants, their parents and family lives different from an 'apple pie' American ideal. They loved a sport that many around them reviled and yet there was no nationwide outdoor league for them to play in.

[ama979302]

[harrison-abbott]

[jyothikrishnanm]

https://jyothikrishnanm.wordpress.com/2023/01/03/the-fallen-angel-football-world-cup-1994-final-roberto-baggio/

[wejustvibing]

Lewis Hamilton in a vintage tracksuit from 1994 FIFA World Cup Winning Brazil Team. Brazil won their 4th world cup and dedicated the victory to Ayrton Senna 💙🇧🇷

[©sipa usa]

[worldcupsongstournament]

Best World Cup Official Song

Relevant context and links to songs under the cut:

"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" is a song by Colombian singer Shakira, featuring the South African band Freshlyground. Co-written by Shakira and John Hill, it was released on 7 May 2010 as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which was held in South Africa. Released in English and Spanish (with the title "Waka Waka (Esto es África)"), the song samples the original Cameroonian makossa song "Zamina mina (Zangaléwa)" by Golden Sounds and the lyrics encourage one to aim for their goals like a soldier on a battlefield.

Gloryland was the official song of the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in the United States. The instrumental version, largely based on the traditional spiritual song "Glory, Glory (Lay My Burden Down)", was performed by a formation named "Glory". With added lyrics for the World Cup occasion, "Gloryland" became a 1994 song by Daryl Hall and Sounds of Blackness. The song also appears on the official FIFA World Cup album Gloryland World Cup USA 94 under the title Soccer Rocks the Globe.

[lboogie1906]

Albert Roger Miller (born May 20, 1952) known as Roger Milla, is a Cameroonian former footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the first African players to be major stars on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.

He achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forwards have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He helped Cameroon become the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. He became the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history by scoring against Russia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

He is remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. He has been recognized as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players. The Confederation of African Football named him the best African player in the previous 50 years. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[jewishpopculture]

On this day in 1993, Eazy-E protégés Blood of Abraham, a Jewish hip hop group, released their debut album ‘Future Profits’.

The album gained publicity from ads centered on large text proclaiming “Jesus was a Black Jew”.

Blood of Abraham was sighed to Ruthless Records, a record label founded by N.W.A. member Eric “Eazy-E” Wright. The group composed of members Benjamin “MC Benyad” Mor and David “MC Mazik” Saevitz.

They gained a minor following that eventually led them to wider exposure through a television appearance on ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ in 1994.

A key characteristic of the group was their unapologetic Jewish identity. Their best-known track, "N*ggaz and Jewz (Some Say K*kes)", was a call for Black and Jewish unity. The song featured a verse from Eazy-E, as well as the first recorded appearance of will.i.am, known at the time as Will 1X.

Will’s association with the group likely lead to him chanting the Hebrew phrases “mozel tov” and “l’chaim” throughout the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling”, the highest selling digital single in the United States. It also likely explains why Mor directed the video for the song.

Although Blood of Abraham has been on hiatus since 2000, the members have continued working in entertainment. Notably, Mor directed music videos for Beyoncé and Coldplay (“Hymn for the Weekend”), will.i.am (“Scream & Shout” with Britney Spears & “That Power” with Justin Bieber), Katy Perry (“Part of Me”), Tinashe (“All Hands On Deck”), Black Eyed Peas (“I Gotta Feeling”), Nas (“Just a Moment” with Quan), and the official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup— “We Are One (Ole Ola)” by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and Claudia Leitte.

[soomovic]

Gheorghe Hagi, Romania - FIFA World Cup 1994.

[english-lessons-bolzano]

SOCCER

(originated, late 19th C, now often US, Australia, Ireland,Philippines,Canada,New Zealand,South Africa)

In the UK the term soccer would be (formal, rarely used)

Since the 1990s, football has become more commonly used in the UK and in some other countries where Association football is the most popular football game, including English-speaking territories in Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia, as well as for some English-as-a-second-language (ESL) speakers worldwide. Countries where another type of football sport (or a different football 'code') is more popular are likely to use soccer. These include US, Canada, South Africa, Ireland and some other countries. Both football and soccer are used in Australia and New Zealand, although football also refers to other codes in these countries.

soccer was widely used in the UK until the 1990s, although sometimes perceived as upper class or snobbish. Since then, the term has come to be seen as an Americanism (possibly due to media coverage of the 1994 FIFA World Cup hosted in the US and the rise of Major League Soccer) and its usage has declined significantly. The word is still encountered in the UK in some legacy contexts, such as the title of the show Soccer Saturday, but otherwise its use is often criticized as inauthentic or incorrect which has reversed the erstwhile snobbery.

Silvio Pasqualini Bolzano inglese ripetizioni English

[dweemeister]

By Andrew Das

January 7, 2024

(The New York Times) – Mário Zagallo, who as both a player and coach helped lead Brazil to four World Cup soccer championships, becoming a national hero and one of only three people to lift the tournament’s trophy in both roles, died on Friday in Rio de Janeiro. He was 92.

His death was confirmed by his family on his social media channels. Barra D’Or Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, where he had been a patient several times in recent months, said the cause was multiple organ failure.

An attack-minded wing as a player and a tactically minded coach known as “the Professor,” Zagallo was part of the Brazil teams that won consecutive World Cup championships in 1958 and 1962 and the head coach of Brazil’s 1970 champions.

His 1970 triumph made Zagallo the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, a feat that has since been matched only by Franz Beckenbauer of Germany and Didier Deschamps of France. But it may have been that team’s style of play as much as its success that cemented a recurring role for Zagallo in Brazilian soccer history.

Led by stars like his former teammate Pelé, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, Brazil’s 1970 squad is widely considered one of the best soccer teams ever assembled. It was forged in crisis after his popular predecessor fell out with the country’s military government: Zagallo was appointed as head coach less than two months before the tournament’s opening game. Zagallo found himself having to act as the coach of many players who had only recently been his teammates.

“It was easy to command, because the players saw and felt that I had the strength of personality to make the changes that I thought were necessary,” Zagallo recalled in a 2011 interview with The Blizzard, a quarterly soccer magazine. “I imposed myself — and this kind of leadership in front of the group is fundamental, even if you’ve participated in this group before as a player.”

The team adjusted to Zagallo’s tactical alterations and then danced and shimmied its way into the hearts and minds of fans not only in Brazil but around the globe.

[stephan-2323]

In the United States and Canada, there is a professional soccer league called Major League Soccer (MLS). With 27 teams, 23 from the United States and 4 from Canada, it is one of the premier soccer leagues in North America.

As part of the United States' successful bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 1994, MLS was created in 1993. The league originally included ten teams, but it has since expanded to include more teams from different North American regions.

To complete reading the article, please click here

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.27 (after 1970)

1974 – 109 people are killed in a plane crash near Pulkovo Airport. 1976 – Thirty-seven people are killed when American Airlines Flight 625 crashes at Cyril E. King Airport in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. 1978 – John Ehrlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, is released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Arizona, after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes. 1978 – The Saur Revolution begins in Afghanistan, ending the following morning with the murder of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. 1978 – Willow Island disaster: In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers are killed when a cooling tower under construction collapses at the Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia. 1986 – The city of Pripyat and surrounding areas are evacuated due to Chernobyl disaster. 1987 – The U.S. Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (and his wife, Elisabeth, who had also been a Nazi) from entering the US, charging that he had aided in the deportations and executions of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II. 1989 – The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. 1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed. 1992 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history. 1992 – The Russian Federation and 12 other former Soviet republics become members of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. 1993 – Most of the Zambia national football team lose their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon en route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal. 1994 – South African general election: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote. The Interim Constitution comes into force. 2005 – Airbus A380 aircraft has its maiden test flight. 2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower (later renamed One World Trade Center) in New York City. 2007 – Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia. 2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem. 2011 – The 2011 Super Outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Two hundred five tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more. 2012 – At least four explosions hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk with at least 27 people injured. 2018 – The Panmunjom Declaration is signed between North and South Korea, officially declaring their intentions to end the Korean conflict.

[thewhitneyhoustonblog]

Whitney at the FIFA World Cup press conference prior to her historic performance there in Pasadena, California, July 15, 1994

[mccleans]

Dear Mr Infantino,

It has come to my attention that the German national team have failed to make it out of the group stages of this World Cup. I cannot help but think of the times that the Irish national team beat (1936, 1951, 1956, 1960, 1994 & 2015) or drew with (1939, 2002, 2007 & 2014) Germany. These results, paired with the egregious affair with Ireland's wrongful lack of qualification to the 2010 World Cup due to a FIFA officiating error, cannot be ignored. I believe the most obvious course of action is to grant the Irish national team entry to the next stage of the World Cup, if not the World Cup trophy itself.

I expect your enthusiastic reply promptly.

Regards,

Lucy

PS. i can offer u €40 to sweeten the pot

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Lula declares three-day national mourning for Brazil football great Zagallo

Mario Zagallo was one of three footballers to win the FIFA World Cup both as a player and manager.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared three days of national mourning for four-time World Cup-winning football legend Mario Zagallo, a day after his death at age 92.

Zagallo, who played alongside Pele in Brazil’s 1958 and 1962 World Cup-winning teams and later won the trophy as a coach, died on Friday of multiple organ failure, said the Barra D’Or Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, where he had been treated for a series of health problems in recent months.

Lula led a flood of tributes to the man known as the “Old Wolf”, who coached Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning side starring Pele – considered by many the greatest team in history – and served as assistant coach when the “Selecao” repeated the feat in 1994.

“He was one of the greatest football players and coaches of all time,” Lula said in a statement.

“Courageous, passionate… [he] leaves a lesson of love, dedication and the will to overcome for our country – and for world football.”

Continue reading.