WHAT IS THE WORLD CUP?
By Addison Bowers
1994 FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious soccer tournament in world. The World Cup is a quadrennial tournament, which means it occurs every 4 years. The 1994 World Cup consisted of 32 national soccer teams. The following teams are just a few of the top teams that competed in 1994 World Cup: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands. The team's are organized by the Federation Internationale de Football Association with a continental qualification pathway leading to an exciting final event. The World Cup brings fans together from around the world, connected by their love and passion for the game!
The teams that made it to the round of 16
| United States |
Bora Milutinovi |
Round of 16 |
| Romania |
Anghel Iordanescu |
top 8 |
| Argentina |
Alfio Basile |
Round of 16 |
| Saudi Arabia |
Jorge Solari |
Round of 16 |
| Netherlands |
Bob Glendenning |
top 8 |
| Republic of Ireland |
John Aldridge |
Round of 16 |
| Brazil |
Carlos Alberto Parreira |
Won it all |
| Mexico |
Herrera |
Round of 16 |
| Bulgaria |
Penev |
Top 4 |
| Germany |
Horst Köppel/ |
Top 8 |
| Belgium |
Paul Van Himst |
Round of 16 |
| Nigeria |
Clemens Westerhof |
Round of 16 |
| Italy |
Sacchi |
2nd place |
| Spain |
Javier Clemente |
Top 8 |
| Switzerland |
Roy Hodgson |
Round of 16 |
| Nigeria |
Clemens Westerhof |
Round of 16 |
Coach Bora Milutinovi
Who is Bora Milutinovi? Bora was the U.S. World Cup head coach in 1994. Also, he comes from a soccer family, he and his two brothers Miloš and Milorad played together for Partizan. Unfortunately, he lost both parents at an early age. His father was killed in World War II and his mother died due to tuberculosis soon after the war was over. He is now 79 years old living his best life with his wife Mari and his daughter Darinka in California. Most importantly, he was a great soccer player before starting his coaching career.He was a midfielder with 24 goals in his career. He played from 1954–1958 at FK BOR and he played for 8 other teams in his soccer career. His favorite was UNAM Pumas. He liked that club so much that after he was done playing with them he applied to become assistant coach of the team. As a result, he got the job. They won the league that season but the following year the club decided to change their manager. That's when they called Bora. "Bora, would you help us while we find a manager?" And he accepted the job. The situation was meant to be temporary but ended up lasting seven years.
Milutinovi in total coached 19 international and regular club teams. He started coaching the U.S. team in 1991 and was really focused on getting good forwards who could play major role in retooling the team traditionally stagnant and clumsy offense.Who who he had in mind were Roy Wegerle a forward from London but born in U.S., Ernie Stewart number one scorer in dutch at the time, and Henry Gutierres a star from North Carolina State. Then, he started preparing them for the world cup. When the time came he led them all the way to Round 16, when they eventually lost 1–0 to Brazil on Independence Day. After many years working with the U.S. soccer team Bora decided he no longer wanted this position. They wanted him to coach and be an administrator, but Miltinovic wanted no part of being an administrator. He led the U.S. team for the last time ever coaching them to the first round of CONCACAF qualifiers before resigning on June 30, 2004. After he resigned other countries tried to hire him as their head coach. For example, Chile wanted him as its national team coach and so did Ecuador and Uruguay. Japan tried to lure him with offers to coach either its national team or a J-League team. Top first-division clubs in Argentina tried to sign him as well. But he said no because he was happy living in the United States with his wife and daughter.
Why the U.S. wanted the world cup
There was a huge push for the World Cup to be located in the United States because professional soccer, at that time, was faltering and fading fast in our country. After the 1984 season, the U.S. professional soccer league was teetering towards extinction so they wanted something to excite the fans and increase the love of the game again. The U.S. already had enough first-class stadiums to support such a large tournament, thanks to baseball and American football. The United States Soccer Federation President, Werner Fricker, tried to support the move to the US by saying: "There is a strong desire by FIFA and most people to have the world come to the United States." However, many Europeans disagreed with this statement and worried the United States would use the World Cup for commercial gain and direct attention away from the actual game of football, thereby changing the face of the game. Even though there was controversy the destination for the World Cup was already decided and it remained in USA and was a huge success! When the United States applied to host the World Cup it was competing against Brazil and Morocco for host country. It only took one round with the United States bid receiving a little over half of the votes by the FIFA Executive Committee members. According to a FIFA article, "At a press gathering in New York City, Fricker said he felt the U.S.'s chances were 'excellent' after the Federation spent $500,000 on the bid."
On July 4, 1988, the United States was chosen as the host of the 15th FIFA World Cup for men's national soccer teams. Six years later, the United States hosted one of the largest World Cups where 3.5 million people (69,174 per match) watched in person. The cup took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country.
Email me for more info
Image as a Link
The image below is a link. Try to click on it.
