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World Cups Revisited: The Story of USA 1994
Published: October 4, 2013
The U.S. beat out finalists Brazil and Morocco for the right to host the tournament and FIFA was widely criticized. One journalist even compared the decision to “holding a major skiing competition in an African country.”
America only had a microscopic soccer culture at that point and even though it was one of the most popular sports to participate in among American youths, it still had not grabbed the attention of the populace. Professional soccer in America had died when the North American Soccer League folded in 1984 and few seemed to care.
Nonetheless, the tournament became an important opportunity to spread the game in America and gave the world some great moments to look back on.
The Group Stage
The 1994 World Cup took place in a world that was just coming out of the Cold War. For the first time ever, Russia competed as Russia, not as Soviet Union. And Germany, who had won the tournament in 1990 as West Germany, came into the tournament competing as a unified German team for the first time since 1938.
The opening ceremonies of the tournament were steeped both in the ridiculousness of 1990’s culture and America’s attempt to add its own pageantry to the game. In Chicago, at Soldier Field, talk show host Oprah Winfrey emceed a ceremony which concluded with Diana Ross singing and dancing her way up the field to take a penalty—which she missed.
The 1994 tournament was also the last of the old 24-team format, but the first World Cup in which three points were awarded for a win instead of two points under the old format. This last change, along with th...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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