Inspirational Bursts: Interesting Facts about the FIFA World Cup

The 2014 FIFA World Cup begins today and I felt I should write about the event. So I have decided to present here some interesting fact about the biggest sporting event on earth.

The facts:

· A foreign coach has never managed a World Cup winning team. The nearest is West Germany, whose coach in 1974, Helmut Schön, was born in what became East Germany.
· The best any team has done with a foreign trainer was second place, reached by Sweden in 1958 with EnglishmanGeorge Raynor,[71] and the Netherlands in 1978 with Ernst Happel[71] of Austria, whose co-trainer was Dutchman Jan Zwartkruis.)
· Most championship wins as player and head coach

3, Mário Zagallo, Brazil (1958 & 1962 as player, 1970 as coach)[64]

· Most final appearances as player and head coach

5, Mário Zagallo, Brazil (1958 & 1962 as player, 1970, 1974 & 1998 as coach); Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1966–1974 as player, 1986 & 1990 as coach); Berti Vogts, West Germany (1970–1978 as player, 1994 & 1998 as coach), Henri Michel, France (1978 as player (France), 1986 (France), 1994 (Cameroon), 1998 (Morocco) & 2006 (Ivory Coast) as coach),[65] Jürgen Klinsmann, Germany (1990, 1994, 1998 as player, and as coach 2006 (Germany), 2014 (United states)[66] & Hong Myung-bo, South Korea (1990, 1994, 1998 & 2002 as player and 2014 as coach)[67]

· Won tournaments as both player and head coach

Mário Zagallo, Brazil (1958 & 1962 as player, 1970 as coach); Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1974 as player, 1990 as coach)

· Most final match appearances as player and head coach

4, Mário Zagallo, Brazil (1958 & 1962 as player, 1970 & 1998 as coach); Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1966 & 1974 as player, 1986 & 1990 as coach)

· Won tournaments as both captain and head coach

Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1974 as captain, 1990 as coach)

· Lost tournaments (final match) as both player and head coach

Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany (1966 as player, 1986 as coach)

· First person ever to have had both roles – as player and coach

Milorad Arsenijevic, was the first person ever to have had both roles – as player for Yugoslavia in 1930 and later as coach in 1950.

· Coaches Who have made it to the semi-finals with two different teams

Guus Hiddink and Luiz Felipe Scolari are the only two coaches to have made it to the semi-finals with two different teams. Dutchman Hiddink did so with the Netherlands in 1998 and Korea Republic in 2002. Scolari’s record was with Brazil in 2002 and Portugal in 2006.

· Best finish by a debuting team

Champion, Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934)

· Best finish by a debuting team after 1934

Third place, Portugal (1966), Croatia (1998)

· Most finishes in the top two without ever being champion

3, Netherlands (1974, 1978, 2010)

· Most finishes in the top four without ever being champion

4, Sweden (1938, 1950, 1958, 1994), Netherlands (1974, 1978, 1998, 2010)

· Most finishes in the top eight without ever being champion

7, Yugoslavia (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1990)[15]

· Most finishes in the top sixteen without ever being champion