Sarah Jacobson 
A LITTLE NOISE
The ‘Mexican wave’, during which people stand up and sit down one after another throughout the stadium with cheers of welcome, got its name because it became very popular at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Hungarian scientist Dr. Tamás Vicsik calculated that the average speed of the Mexican wave is 20 seats, or 12 m/sec.
Brazilian fans intended to give their team a ‘loud welcome’ after its unsuccessful performance at the 1966 World Cup. The team’s head coach, Vicente Feola, was so concerned about this that he stayed in Europe for another month!
The Rapid Fifteen Minutes is a traditional ceremony performed by fans of the Austrian club Rapid (Vienna). During the last 15 minutes of each match, all the team’s fans clap their hands. No one knows when or why it started, but it has been going on for several decades.
Afghan fans, who wanted to greet their national team with cheers and applause after its return to international competition, were shocked. The Taliban government in power at the time announced that ‘spectators are not allowed to applaud.’
THE BEST TEAM MANAGERS AND COACHES
The best team managers and coaches can make a decisive contribution to the success of their teams. But in the event of defeat, they face swift dismissal. In 1998, José Antonio Camacho, a former Spanish football star, was appointed coach of Real Madrid. He left the job after 23 days!
In 1999, during a match between Badajoz and Leganés, Sabino Santos was about to score a goal, but Leganés coach Enrique Martín ran out of the goal and grabbed him! Martín was suspended for 10 matches, but Leganés won 1-0!
In Belgium, Ko Adriaens was so furious that his team, Beerschot, lost 6-1 to Tentum that he drove 13 km away and then ran back to the stadium!
Raymond Goethals was 71 when he led the French team Olympique (Marseille) to victory in 1993 in the most coveted trophy – the European Champions Cup. Unfortunately, club president Bernard Taigi was found guilty of corruption, and Marseille was stripped of its title.
Juan José Tramutola was only 27 years old when he led the Argentine national team as head coach at the 1930 World Cup.
In 2004, at the age of 88, Ivor Verden Powell helped Tim Butt become the first university team to reach the first round of the FA Cup. He was honoured by the English FA for his 53 years of coaching.
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WORLD CUP
The FIFA World Cup is the largest single-sport competition on the planet. Millions of people follow all the twists and turns of the competition on television, radio, in newspapers and on the Internet. More than 1.1 billion people — about one-sixth of the world’s population — watched the 2002 final between Brazil and Germany.
The 2002 tournament was broadcast by 260 television cameras, with a total of 41,000 hours of video footage. It would take more than four and a half years to watch it all.
The 2006 World Cup finals were held in Germany. The games will be played at 12 stadiums, including the newest Allianz Arena in Munich. Electric light bulbs are embedded in its transparent walls, allowing the stadium to glow in different colours.
Thirteen teams participated in the final stage of the 1930 World Cup, but nowadays a much larger number of teams want to get there.
Talking about prizes
The first World Cup was created by French sculptor Abel Lafleur: it is 35 cm high and weighs 3.8 kg. The statuette was made of pure silver covered with gold, and the base was made of the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. In 1950, the prize was renamed the Jules Rimet Cup.
During World War II, Ottorino Barassi, an Italian football official, hid the prize under his bed to prevent it from being stolen.
In 1970, the Jules Rimet Cup became the permanent property of the Brazilian national team because the Brazilians won it for the third time. Unfortunately, in 1983, it was stolen and, according to rumours, melted down. Now there is a replica of it in Brazil.
A huge number of designs – 53 – were considered as models for the new FIFA World Cup. In the end, the design by Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga was chosen. The new cup weighs 4.97 kg and has space on its base for 17 winners’ names, which should be enough until at least 2038.
The new cup is awarded to the winning team for a short period of time and remains the property of FIFA. This is not surprising, as it is made of pure gold, weighs 18 carats and is worth around £8 million.
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