International Football
IT’S 90 YEARS SINCE THE FIRST WORLD CUP FINAL
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
How time flies! It is 90 years today since the first FIFA World Cup final was played. What looked like a mere laboratory experiment has grown today to be the biggest single sporting event as the FIFA World Cup has become the most coveted and the biggest sports’ prize in the world.
The first final match, which took place on this date, 30 July 1930, was a contest between hosts, Uruguay and Argentina at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. The hosts won 4-2.
The World Cup final match was a replay of the gold medal match of the preceding Olympic Games at Amsterdam 1928. The Olympic Games final match was won, 2-1 by Uruguay after a replay after a 1-1 draw in the initial final match.
It was the last time for many years that a South American team won the Olympic gold as subsequent 13 tournaments spanning 68 years were won by European nations until that of 1996 when Nigeria sensationally broke the trend.
The 1930 World Cup was contested the only one contested without a qualifying tournament. It was by general invitation and only 13 teams from three confederations attended.
In the final match, the two teams had to provide the balls for the game. The first half was played with the ball supplied by Argentina who also led 2-1 at halftime.
The ball supplied by Uruguay was used in the second half and they won the game 4-2, to double as both Olympic and World Cup winners.
Their coach at the time, Alberto Suppici, aged 31, remains the youngest coach ever to win the World Cup.
Seventy years down the line, all the major characters of the World Cup are dead. The last living player was Francisco Varallo of Argentina. He died aged 100 on 30 August 2010.
The last surviving player of the first World Cup winners was Ernestp Mascheroni who died, aged 76 on 3 July 1984. The last surviving journalist of the first World Cup was
Luis Alfredo Sciutto, a Uruguayan journalist who wrote under the pen name – Diego Lucero.
He covered a record 15 editions of the World Cup from 1930 to USA ’94.
He passed away on 3 June 1995, aged 94. The 1930 World Cup final match was played on a Wednesday, which along with that of 1966, the only final not played on a Sunday. The 1966 final was on a Saturday.
Conjointly with the 1930 final match, the 1966 edition is also having its anniversary today, as it is 54 years since it was played. The 1930 remains the only one not played on a weekend.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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