1. Stay up late to watch the ball with caution
Although the Chinese national team has only participated in the World Cup finals once in its history, chinese fans are always indispensable in the story of the World Cup. However, the news that has made headlines for Chinese fans has been negative most of the time. During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Chinese fans became the protagonists in a BBC report. According to incomplete statistics from the BBC, in just one month, there were 9 deaths from heart disease in China caused by staying up late to watch the ball. In the introduction, a fan from Ningbo did not sleep for three consecutive days and three nights to watch the game, and was always accompanied by beer kebabs. In the group stage match between Portugal and Angola, Portuguese striker Paulletta missed a great opportunity to cause the fan to suffer a heart attack and die suddenly in the middle of the night. The investigation shows that during the World Cup in Germany, due to the late night of the game in the local area, fans from China, Japan and South Korea in East Asia have experienced sudden deaths. Sadly, there was also a South Korean fan who, while watching the game on the open-air big screen at Seoul City Hall, scored a goal that left him unconscious, and he also died of ineffective rescue.
Pictured: Chinese fans at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan
2. Other people's competitions, let's not get too deep into the drama
Also at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, two retired workers from Nanjing represented China on the front page again. In the quarter-final between Brazil and France, Brazilian defender Robert Carlos was tying his shoelaces when France fired a set-piece and Henry scored the only goal of the game to help the team advance to the final four. The controversial goal stirred up the two retired comrades who supported Brazil. One of them jumped like a thunderbolt, picking up a branch on the side of the road and smashing it at passers-by. Another fan ran naked holding a sign that read: Brazil must win. In western media reports, the two fans have been called "Chinese elderly football hooligans".
Pictured: Brazilian fans were heartbroken again in 2014
3. Old iron, the great vengeance has been repaid
In the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the fiasco of the Chinese team did not reduce the expectations of fans for subsequent matches. On the highway from Shanghai to Ningbo, a traffic accident also made the World Cup come to the fore. A large truck full of building materials lost control of speeding and crashed into a guardrail on the side of the highway. When the traffic police investigated the cause of the accident, the driver's explanation was that he was in a hurry to go back to see the semi-finals of the South Korean and German teams. After the accident, the driver expressed his willingness to take all responsibility, but he was still in a good mood because the German team avenged his beloved Italian team.
Pictured: Germany advanced to the final with Ballack's goal
4. African Brotherhood Voting
With the exception of South Korea, which reached the final four in 2002, the Best Asian team's record at the World Cup came from the 1966 World Cup in England, where the mysterious North Korean team reached the quarterfinals. North Korea's process of qualifying for the World Cup finals is also quite story-telling. In the continental qualifier stage, FIFA does not fix the number of participants on each continent. Africa, in particular, cannot guarantee even a seat in the competition. To this end, the African teams jointly sent a letter to the Then FIFA President of England Stanley Rouse. For a variety of reasons, the stubborn Old Englander still insists that the top team in the African qualifiers still need to play play-offs against the Asian losing teams to enter the World Cup. As a result, African countries boycotted the qualifiers, and the Asian team north Korea won the World Cup finals without a fight. Of course, Rouse's harshness towards Africa left him with retribution 8 years later. In the FIFA vote, African countries unanimously voted against Rouse, putting Brazilian João Avillange on the fifa presidentship.
Pictured: Rouse with the Queen of England
5. Don't bother if you can't see it
The final of the 2006 World Cup is a legendary story that fans are familiar with. One of the protagonists, Marco Materazzi, has not experienced a serious decline in his state with age since winning the World Cup. Since the 2006/07 season, Materazzi has won four consecutive Serie A titles for Inter Milan as the core of the defence. However, at the national team level, Italy, like every World Cup winner, suffered from post-crown syndrome and its performance deteriorated. By the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Materaziso had not received a call from the national team and had been excluded from the World Cup. Outspoken, he simply chose to take advantage of his summer vacation to go to the United States for recuperation, and did not intend to watch any game at all. When he learned that Spain had won the championship, he was in his motorhome preparing to continue on the road. Throughout the World Cup in South Africa, the world-class star did not look at the live broadcast, which shows the depth of his love and hatred for Italy.
Pictured: The French once erected a sculpture of Zidane's head above Materazzi in Paris
6. The pinnacle of football superstition
Long before Domenech took charge, the french team's superstition had reached its peak. We still remember the 1998 World Cup in France, when defender Blanco kissed Battz's bald head. This is actually just the tip of the iceberg of the French team's superstition, from the situation that broke the news later, the French team led by the old coach Jacques played the superstition to the extreme. During the World Cup in France, the team's bench and bus must be seated, and players cannot sit casually. In the locker room before each game, the whole team gets together to listen to the single I Will Survive by American actress Gloria Gero. Moreover, everyone can only listen to it once, and no one on the team is allowed to listen to the song at other times. Sure enough, in the final final, Brazilian star Ronaldo was in a low state like an evil. France won the first World Cup title in their history with a 3-0 victory.
Pictured: The classic moment of Blanco kissing Battz
7. Gunshots in Colombia
The 1994 World Cup in the United States staged a tragic scene that made all fans sad. In the group stage, Colombian defender Andreas Escobar's oolong ball led to a 1-2 defeat to hosts U.S. This made Colombia, which was very optimistic before the game, out early. Just 10 days after the match, Escobar was shot in a parking lot in the city of Medellín. The crazy gangster fired 12 shots at Escobar, shouting "The ball is in!" for each shot! Escobar has been hailed by fans as a "gentleman on the pitch", but he still hasn't escaped the most vicious murderer. According to the investigation, the criminal lost a lot of money because of this game before he started to think of killing.
Pictured: The mild-mannered Escobar
8. Deep malice from the European Red Devils
Francie Vicotren is a star of the Anderlecht team and a well-known Belgian star in the 1970s. In 2009, Vicotren coached the Belgian national team, which was in the process of renewal, and led the team to the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa. Since Vicotren took over the European Red Devils, various strange events have unfolded in the team. The first is that several members of the national team were injured on the same day of training, which made Vicotren break out in a cold sweat. And that same night, a reporter photographed the wounded in the nightclub looking for fun. Later, some players demanded from the team that they must cross Gucci's men's bag when playing for the national team, otherwise they refused to play for the team. After a 5-0 defeat to Spain in a World Cup qualifier, the two players fought hard in the nightclub for the unpleasantness of the match. After the 2-1 defeat to Montenegro, a large number of players were photographed drinking in bars. Even against Armenia, the players in the team voted privately to collectively boycott to play for the Belgian national team. After the defeat to Armenia, Vicotlen himself suffered a final fatal blow. A gossip website posted the news of the bizarre death of Belgian national team coach Vicotren in the headlines. Vicotren, who was drinking coffee at home, cried and laughed when he saw the news, and at the same time, he knew that his national team coaching career was over. Soon after, Vicotren announced his resignation and Dutch coach Edvokart took over.
Pictured: After another failing sport in Portugal, Vicotren's coaching career has fallen to the bottom