Americans are embracing soccer as never before. According to FIFA, Americans bought more tickets to the World Cup than any nation other than South Africa. Last Saturday, more than 17 million Americans watched the US play England, a larger audience than the first 4 NBA playoff games and twice the size of the audience for the Stanley Cup final. (Apparently, the Stanley Cup is a championship for some weird ice-soccer game.)
While Americans are watching more soccer, by Brazilian standards we’re still novice fans. If we want to call ourselves true fans, than we need to have an appreciation of the history of the Cup. Here are some facts you can use to impress any Brazilian you might run into during the World Cup. Toss a few of these out in conversation and you’re sure to earn his or her respect as a fellow soccer fan.
Very Important World Cup Trivia
1. Brazil has won more World Cups than any other country. They are penta-champions, hence the five stars around the logo on their jerseys.
2. Brazil is the only country to have qualified for every World Cup. That’s 19 Cups if you want to sound extra impressive.
3. Brazil holds the record for most consecutive wins in World Cup play. They won 11 straight games from 2002 – 2006.
4. Brazil also holds the record for most games without a loss, 13 from 1958 – 1966.
5. Pelé has an accent at the end of his name which puts the stress on the second syllable. His name is correctly pronounced pay-LAY, similar to the word touche. And he’s the greatest soccer player to have ever lived. (Maradona is from Argentina and therefore not eligible for consideration.)
6. Maracanã, the world’s largest soccer stadium, was built for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. 173,000 ticket holders came to Maracanã to watch the final between Brazil and Uruguay but officials estimate there were actually more than 200,000 people in the stadium. (Btw, Brazil lost that final, a fact you might want to avoid in conversation.)
7. Brazil will once again host the World Cup in 2014.
8. Brazilians call soccer the jogo bonito, beautiful game, and superior skill on the field is futbol-arte, football art.
9. Brazil has been, is and will be the best soccer team in the world. Forever and ever. Amen.
You probably only need to use that last fact to impress the Brazilian. That plus a joke about Argentina and you’ll be embraced as a fellow soccer lover in no time.
