England '66In honor of 2010's World Cup South Africa, presently ongoing, I thought it would be fun to post some interesting and bizarre factoids re: World Cup history each day for the rest of the tournament.
In honor of today's England v. American game, I thought we'd start with a few interesting tidbits from the '66 tournament in England.
So here are our inaugural World Cup Factoids:
(A) In the final game, between England and Germany, Briton Geoff Hurst scored the third point of his hat trick with a rocket off the crossbeam of the goal. The ball fell directly downward, coming to a complete stop on, or near, the goal line. Whether or not it actually went into the goal is a matter of great dispute, though Soviet linesman Tofik Bakhramov counted it. Apparently, when asked how he was so sure point was scored, the stoic Soviet replied simply: "Stalingrad," in reference to the German siege of the city that cost over a million Russian lives.
Since the '66 tournament, forensic evidence (and yes, this is true) has been used to prove that goal in fact did not go in.
(B) After England's controversial victory over Argentina in the semi-finals, an Argentinian newspaper reported: "First they steal the malvides from us, now they steal the World Cup." In a hilarious act of defiance, the paper financed an expedition to the Maldives in order to plant an Argentinian flag.
Stay tuned for more tidbits everyday for the rest of the tournament, after which regular posts will resume.
And go England!
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