North Korea, Bulgaria, Costa Rica… The World Cup remembers many sensations
The FIFA World Cup kicks off in a matter of hours and football fans across the planet are raring to see their favorites in action. The favorites for the title are always clear in advance, but you can never predict who exactly will upset their accounts. And one is found almost every time.
The history of the world championships remembers not one or two sensations, and among them there is a deep Bulgarian trace. Here’s a short selection of the most memorable underdog moves in the finals of the FIFA Planet Championship:
World Cup `66: DPRK
The North Koreans are very lucky to be participating in the World Cup in England – FIFA disqualified South Africa because of apartheid, and the rest of the African countries refused to participate in protest because of the very place assigned to the continent. The quota is to be played between Australia and the two Koreas, but the South refuses to play the North due to political conflict.
In the final account, the DPRK defeated the Australians in two games with a total score of 9:2 and fell into the group with the USSR, Chile and Italy. The arrival of the Asians at the tournament in England raises many political issues that have arisen since the Korean War – not everyone is happy with the flag, anthem and like the entire population of North Korea at the World Cup. As a result, the British decided to play the anthems only at the opening match and the final, and the organizers forbade the players to contact the locals.
Despite the pressure and the defeat by the Soviet Union (0:3) in the first match, the North Koreans became the heroes of the tournament. First, in the last minutes, they saved themselves against Chile (1:1), and then they beat Italy (1:0).
In fact, DPRK is becoming a fan favorite. And the tale could get even prettier: in the quarter-finals, the Koreans were 3-0 up in the 25th minute against Portugal at Goodison Park, before Eusebio took charge and sent North Korea home (3:5).
World Cup `86: Morocco
The World Cup in Mexico is the second with two African teams. Algeria is ranked higher, nobody expects anything from Morocco. Moreover, the team of the Brazilian coach Jose Faria falls into a deadly group. England has one of the strongest teams in the tournament, Poland finished third at the previous World Cup, and Portugal was a semi-finalist at Euro`84.
But the Moroccans are fully prepared: they arrive in Mexico 40 days before the start to adapt to the climate, and play controls with local clubs.
Faria relies on defense and discipline – he doesn’t succeed in attack, so he bets on depersonalizing the opponent. In the first round, the Moroccans held off the Poles with Serie A superstar Zbigniew Boniek (0:0), then also stopped England, who played with a man less than the 42nd minute (0:0).
In this decisive round, everyone is in danger of dropping out, and Morocco suddenly creates a sensation – instead of closing in on the deaf defense, the Africans start boldly (2 goals in 30 minutes). Despite everything, a bunch of stars in the team (including the backbone of “Porto”, who a year later won the CASH), the Portuguese only managed to save themselves from a complete rout – 1:3.
The Moroccans become the first representative of the Black Continent in the playoffs of the World Cup, but they dream of a 1/4-final. This time the bus was parked and the Germans didn’t break through until the 90th minute when Lothar Matheus scored from a free kick.
At home, the team was welcomed by 100,000 people, and at the end of the year, the goalkeeper Badu Zaki received an award for the best football player in Africa.
World Cup `90: Cameroon and Costa Rica
Despite Morocco’s recent successes, Africans are still underrated – and it’s annoying. For example, Cameroon striker François Omam-Beek says:
“We hate it when European reporters ask us if we eat monkeys and have a medicine man. We are real footballers and we proved it today.”
He spoke the line after his historic goal in the 61st minute, which brought Cameroon victory over world champions Argentina in the opening match (1:0).
In the second round, 38-year-old Roger Milla became a hero – the veteran was called up just before the start of the World Cup in Italy at the personal insistence of the president of the country of Paul Biya, although he refused the national team three years earlier. First, the “grandfather” scored two for Romania after coming on as a substitute (2:0), and then he scored a double in extra time against Colombia in the round of 16 (2:1).
Cameroon have a chance to go even further – in the 1/4-finals seven minutes from the end, Gary Lineker saved England from defeat with a goal from the penalty spot. In overtime, the Africans miss more, and Lineker scores again from a penalty (2:3).
But the Indomitable Lions don’t seem too upset: Emmanuel Maboang says the team is mentally exhausted and wants to go home anyway. Moreover, the football federation warns that in the case of a semi-final, the money will not even be enough for a hotel.
Among Cameroon’s heroes is coach Valery Nepomnyashti – two years before the 1990 World Cup, President Biya asked the USSR for any mentor who was ready to work in Africa. At the World Cup itself in Italy, the words of the Russian were translated by the man who works as a driver at the embassy.
The other sensation of the tournament is the Costa Rican team, which qualified for the World Cup for the first time. And if the Cameroonians still have some famous players, then Bora Milutinovic has gathered the semi-amateurs in his selection – taxi drivers, sugar cane factory workers and others for whom football is little more than a hobby arrive at Botusha.
However, the legendary specialist from Yugoslavia performed a real miracle: Costa Rica lost to Brazil only 0:1, and also shocked Scotland (1:0) and Sweden (2:1). In the 1/8-finals, the rookies were defeated by the last team of Czechoslovakia (1:4), but this team has the status of icons at home to this day.
World Cup `94: Bulgaria
The attitude of the compatriots towards the Bulgarian team from 1994 is similar. Initially, Dimitar Penev’s team could not even think about participating in the elimination phase of the World Cup in the USA, after it crashed badly at the start against Nigeria (0:3), and there is still a match against Argentina to come.
For confidence, the “lions” beat their neighbors from Greece (4:0), then made the most of Diego Maradona’s doping ban and coped in a remarkable way with the Argentinian squad drawn by Diego Simeone, Gabriel Batistuta and Claudio Cannija (2: 0). Hristo Stoichkov scored three goals in the two matches, and Krasimir Balakov, Yordan Lechkov, Emil Kostadinov, Trifon Ivanov, Borislav Mihailov also stood out in the “Foam Squad”…
After that, the Bulgarian team eliminated Mexico after penalties to serve the biggest sensation in the tournament – a reversal in the 1/4-finals against the world champion Germany (2:1). A quarter of an hour before the end, Bundesstim took the lead after Mateus scored a penalty. But within three minutes, Stoichkov and Lechkov provoked midnight street celebrations in all populated areas of their homeland.
It was followed by an unfortunate defeat in the 1/2-final against Roberto Baggio’s Italy (1:2), and in the match for the bronze medals, Penev’s team no longer had either emotional or physical strength against Sweden (0:4). Nevertheless, the reception in Sofia is like for the world title.
World Cup `98: Croatia
If the Croatians get out of their group at the World Cup, they always surprise: ever since their first appearance in 1998, when they finished third just seven years after gaining independence. The tournament in France focuses on patriotism.
“I took advantage of the strong national spirit in the team – says head coach Miroslav Blažević. – We were a little-known country and this is the big chance to attract the attention of the whole planet. It was very easy to motivate the players.”
The victories over Jamaica (3:1) and Japan (1:0) followed, the match with Argentina (0:1) was a formality. Momentum gradually gathered in the playoffs: first, the Croatians prevailed over Romania (1:0), and then they unexpectedly defeated the Germans (3:0).
The crazy Balkans were stopped by the French right-back Liliane Thuram, who scored two goals in the 1/2-finals (2:1). These are the only goals in the entire career of the defender for the national team, which includes a total of 142 games.
Nevertheless, the Croatians leave the World Cup with a medal – a victory in the minor final over the Netherlands (2:1) thanks to Robert Prosinečki and Davor Šuker. Along with them, Slaven Bilic, Zvonimir Boban, Mario Stanic, Igor Tudor also wrote the story…
“The whole country was happy and very proud, but I was sad. If I had the experience I have now, Croatia would have been world champions,” said Blažević in 2018, the year in which the Flames lost the final in Russia against. .. France.
World Cup `14: Costa Rica
The only team to make a sensational appearance at the World Cup twice. In 2014, the Costa Ricans are no longer considered such outsiders as in 1990. However, the team falls into a group with England, Italy and Uruguay. What chances do you report there are in such a company?
The favorites mentally add three points to their account even before the start of the race. But Keylor Navas (not yet in “Real”, but already quite close), Johnny Acosta, Joel Campbell, Brian Ruiz and Yeltsin Tejeda disappoint all the “experts”.
It all started with a victory over Uruguay (3:1) despite conceding the first goal. Followed by another success against Italy (1:0) to reach a tie with England (0:0) and first place in the group.
In the eliminations, the selection of Colombian Jorge Pinto played a drama with Greece, which ended happily with penalties after 120 minutes. The hero is Navas, who deflects a shot from 11 meters by Teofanis Gekas and a month later poses at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In the 1/4-finals, the exercise is repeated against the Netherlands, but this time even Keillor cannot help and the tie is in the opposite direction. The greatness of that Costa Rican team, however, is irreversible.