Go World Cup: The stolen trophy and other tales of the World Cup

Plenty of trivia has built up around the World Cup, the premier event in one of the world’s most popular sports. Below are a few choice items.
The stolen trophy
The trophy that will be held aloft by the victors of the final game July 11 is not the original.
The new trophy is called, boringly enough, the FIFA World Cup Trophy. The original was called the Jules Rimet Trophy, after a longtime leader of FIFA. The Rimet Trophy was small and, to be honest, not very pretty. But it was stolen, not once but twice, and is now gone for good.
Thieves nabbed the Rimet while it was on display before the 1966 World Cup in England. Despite the locks on the display cabinet and supposedly constant surveillance, a burglar or a team of criminals ripped off the trophy. Police captured the man trying to ransom the trophy, but he would not divulge its whereabouts, and a reward was offered for its safe return. Then Pickles entered the story.
Pickles, a mutt, and his owner were taking a walk when the dog started sniffing at a strange object in the bushes near the sidewalk. It was the trophy, wrapped in newspaper.
The dog and owner became celebrities. Pickles’ fame was short-lived, however, because a few months later, he died when he choked after his leash wrapped around a tree.
The second time the trophy was stolen does not conclude with its safe recovery. After Brazil won the World Cup for the third time, it received the trophy for good. But in 1983, a group of thieves broke into the soccer federation’s office, attacked the night watchmen and stole the trophy. People believe it was melted down for the metals it contained.
‘We’re too good for your little tournament’
If you ask who invented soccer, you will get all sorts of answers: the Chinese, the Aztecs, and others. But it was the English who invented modern soccer. The rules were created by the English Football Association in the 1860s. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the game spread from England to the corners of the world.
But when countries organized a tournament to crown a world champion, the English said, “No, thanks,” as if to say such a tournament was beneath their dignity.
They did not participate in the first three tournaments, and when they finally did, they did not do well. In 1950, they entered for the first time and lost to a team of inexperienced Americans, failing to make it out of the opening round.
(Incidentally, the new U.S. national team jersey design is based on the 1950 jersey, as we again play the Brits in the first round.)
It’s good to be the host
The host country has a huge advantage in the World Cup. Every host nation has advanced past the first round. After not winning a World Cup game in more than 40 years, the host United States advanced to the knockout round of 16 in 1994. In 2002, Japan and South Korea, co-hosts of the World Cup, had their best tournaments. South Korea shocked the world by reaching the semifinals. Sweden reached its only championship match when it hosted the 1958 World Cup.
Not only do hosts do well, they frequently win the tournament. France and England have each won the World Cup only once, but they did it as hosts. Germany, Argentina, Italy and Uruguay all won the World Cup within their political domains. In fact, the only country that seems to do better away from home is Brazil.
The Brazilians have won the World Cup in North America (1970 and 1994), Asia (2002), Europe (1958) and elsewhere in South America (1962), but failed to win the tournament when they hosted in 1950. That makes Brazil the only country to win a World Cup that has not won the tournament when it hosted it. (If that seems confusing, meditate on it for a sec, and then you’ll have a “light bulb moment.”)
• Greg Olson is a soccer enthusiast and the athletic director at Baymonte Christian School in Scotts Valley. This is the third in a series of columns leading up to the mid-June World Cup in South Africa.