Football World Cup 1994

The 1994 World Cup of football (soccer) was the first World Cup that was held in the North American continent. President Bill Clinton quoted "the word of soccer, is now a universal language" in the opening ceremonies, held in Soldier's field.

The opening match saw the defending champions Germany beat the Bolivians by the slightest margin, 1-0.

The World Cup early one saw very few upset, while the Italians were the only ones who were in serious trouble in the first round. They lost their first game to Ireland, 1-0, in New York. In their second game against Norway, their goalkeeper, Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off with a hand ball in the first half. They were forced to substitute their ace striker, Roberto Baggio, for the sent off goalkeeper, and spend the rest of the game with ten men. Early in the second half, their sweeper, France Baresi severely injured his knee, and was carried off. With nothing going good for Italy, the tall midfielder, Dino Baggio headed the ball in with less than 15 minutes left, and preserved their hopes of advancing to the next round.

Another team that was the center of attention in the first round was the host team, the USA. They drew the first game against a tough Switzerland team, and gave the Americans something to cheer for. Their next game was a game to remember. They miraculously beat the over-rated Colombians, 2-1, with a help of a crucial own goal. The USA decided their first appearance in the 2nd round since the 1950 World Cups due to their victory.

In the second round, Brazil battled USA on the 4th of July. With the whole country on their back, the USA team survived the first 70 minutes with a goaless confrontation, yet the undefeated Canaris struck instantly with a counter attack that was finished off by Bebeto. A memorable 4th of July indeed.

In the second round (best of 8 teams), Bulgaria surprised the world. Prior to this World Cup, Bulgaria has not won a World Cup game. They won their first game in the first round, and defeated Mexico in the best of 16 to play the defending champions, Germany, in the best of 8. Nobody expected the Bulagrians to even have the slightest chance against the experienced Germans. This belief became a certainty, when Lothar Matthaus' penalty kick punched the Germans ahead in the 50th minunte. Bulgaria was not successful in making many goal scoring oppurtunities, but a chance came, with 15 minutes left. A free kick, 20 yards out was awarded to Bulgaria, and Hristo Stoichkov, their best player, struck it superbly into the lower corner, evening the game. Five minutes after the free kick, Bulgaria's midfielder Lechkov slipped into the paniced German defence, and headed in the winning goal. This victory sent shock waves to all over the world.

The greatest drama of this tournment, has to be Roberto Baggio. He was goalless in the preliminary round, and he didn' come close to scoring in the best of 16, till the last minute of the game. With Italy 0-1 down, Roberto Baggio slapped in a soft shot into the corner, with only a minute left in the game. They went on to win that game in overtime, and the best of 8 was equally thrilling. Roberto Baggio slapped in the winner with 5 minutes left in a tied game against Spain.

Baggio pulled his hamstring in the semi finals, and was said to be unavailable for the finals, but to everyone's surprise, appeared.

He was the fifth kicker of the penalty shoot out in the finals, and missed, to see the Brazilians capture their 4th World Cup.

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