My first World Cup

January 29th, 2006 | by: Afshin Afshar |

My first memories of World Cup finals go back to 1974. That year Iran failed to make it to the finals, so the football crazed Iranian fans were divided in two, one half supported the Dutch team and their captain Johan Cruyff, and the other FR Germany and their captain Franz Beckenbauer.

I did not know much about the Dutch team, but I knew the Germans. I don’t remember why; perhaps the magazines and newspapers that I found in our household covered the German team more extensively. So I found myself supporting the Germans.

I remember having arguments with my friends over whom we thought had the best team, and the best players. Of course these arguments were never settled. To this day, when I talk football with old friends the same exact arguments get repeated all over again. The only difference is that I have more ammunition now. The Germans coached by Franz Beckenbaur, my favorite player from 1974, won again in 1990.

I have watched every single World Cup game (live and taped) since 1974, but memories from my first World Cup are the ones that I cherish most.

What about you? Which one was your first World Cup?

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Comments

By Ade Lamidi | January 29th, 2006 at 11:27 am

My first world cup was in 1978. I was 10 years old living back in Nigeria. We had a white and black TV and I remember watching the final where Holland played Argentina. Argentina won the final 1-0. My favourite player back then was Mario Kempes. In 1982, I followed the World Cup in full force and my favourite team was Brazil. I remember being upset when they were beaten by Italy in a memorable match that ended 3-2 in favour of the Italians.
Brazil had fantastic players such as Zico, Falcao, Junior, Socrates etc. I fancied them to win but Paolo Rossi scored an hat-trick and sent the Brazilians home.

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