13 interesting things about the World Cup draws: from the dog who became a hero to the play with which Bilardo started to win Mexico 86

On September 8, 1928, in the city of Zurich, the date was set: June 1930. The first World Cup in history should take place there. Eight months later, on May 18, 1929, it was made official that Uruguay, the current two-time Olympic champion, would be the host country, as it prevailed over the other candidates (all of them European). Work began, the magnificent Centenario stadium was built, but the tournament seemed to be limited to a reduced competition, since from the Old Continent no one wanted to reach America because of the long sea crossing that meant. It was the Frenchman Jules Rimet, FIFA president and the main driver of the World Cup, who convinced his country, Romania, Yugoslavia and Belgium, to leave the match. The curious detail almost 100 years ago, is that the draw did not take place until a couple of days before the stipulated start (July 13), because we had to wait which delegations were arriving at the port of Montevideo, after having set sail on June 21 from France, together with Rimet himself and the three appointed arbitrators of that confederation. Finally, there were 13 participants that that draw determined in three zones of three and one of four.

Only two FIFA presidents were pleased to take office when their country hosted the World Cup. The first was Jules Rimet, a decisive man in the history of the competition, who was in power when France hosted the third edition in 1938. The second, and last to this day, was Stanley Rous, who had done a lot to get England in charge that date. He was thrilled that January 6, 1966 in the salons of the Royal Garden Hotel, in the elegant London neighborhood of Kensington, lifting the trophy and saying that he was facing the best World Cup of all time, in which it was the first live televised draw via satellite. He smiled with the poster in the background, where as soon as the draw was over, it could be seen that his country would face Mexico, France and Uruguay. He was also approached by the trophy, which he raised to the applause of the crowd. No one could imagine that this little statuette would be a huge headache for him a few weeks later, when it was stolen from the exhibition center where it was displayed, despite the extensive security device and having been secured at 30,000 pounds. The police and Scotland Yard mobilized, but they did nothing, until a neighbor said that her dog had found her wrapped in newspaper paper next to a tree. Indeed, Pickles was the star, he saved the honour of the English and made Stanley Rous breathe, who, in gratitude, invited the friendly animal and its owner, to the celebrations for obtaining the title.

The '74 World Cup meant a lot to Argentina, because it was their return to the top competition after the good task in England '66 and the failure that constituted the elimination against Peru on Boca's court and the consequent absence in Mexico '70. There was a lot of expectation for the fate of the draw for the national team, in an event that was not televised live for our country due to satellite costs. The illusion faded as the (few) special media envoys arrived in Frankfurt, as it was said that everything was typed. The event took place on a frozen 5 January, but the local magazine “Der Spiegel”, in its December 31 edition, had announced: “Italy will be in group 4 in Munich and Stuttgart, because it suits it because of its proximity to its borders. Brazil in the 2nd, Uruguay in the 3rd. For its part, Argentina will then have to go to 4 and Chile, the other South American, to group 1”. The information grew day by day, because it was mentioned that Federal Germany, the local cast, had chosen to have the seemingly weakest South American in its area (Chile). In the midst of all possible suspicions, the big day came, where Dentlev Lange, a Berlin boy barely 11 years old, would be in charge of getting the balls out. Coincidence or not, the order was exactly the same as it had been published and Argentina must have been in the most complex group, with Italy and Poland, plus the inexperienced Haiti. The highlight was that the hosts, in addition to Chile, had another short-shot selection such as Australia, but also its neighbors from East Germany, who would end up beating it 1-0.

After much desire, in the early 1970s, Argentina was confirmed as the venue for the '78 World Cup. Political upheavals seemed to jeopardize the organization between the end of '75 and the beginning of '76, but everything was ratified. The Teatro General San Martín, located in Corrientes Avenue, was the venue chosen for the draw, to be held on Saturday, January 14, in the midst of very busy days for national sports, as on Thursday 5th Vilas beat Connors at the Masters in one of the best matches of his career, on Saturday 7th, Miguel Cuello lost the world title of the Medium Heavy category, on Sunday 8 the World Cup arrived, to be exhibited at the time of the draw, while on Saturday 14 the semifinals of the Nacional were played (each 1-1 between Independent with Estudiantes and Workshops against Newell's), and 24 hours later the Formula 1 Grand Prix was held at the racetrack of the Federal Capital.

There were thousands of speculations surrounding the draw, as the European wing, led by the German Neuberger, UEFA strongman, wanted the four seeded heads to be the semifinalists of '74 (Germany — Holland — Poland and Brazil), but on the other hand, the South American sector, argued that Argentina deserved a place there in character of organizer. This eventually happened, but the curious detail was that Italy was placed without a draw in the area of the local country, which was a rarity. The day before, a general rehearsal was held, where Argentina and Italy shared an area with Hungary and France. There were looks of surprise and relief in the organizing committee, as it was only a test. A day later, the balls were removed by little Ricardo Teixeira, just 3 years old and grandson of FIFA president Joao Havelange. And the story was repeated, this being one of the few times when the host was not touched by a single accessible opponent in the opening round.

Colombia had been designated as the venue for the '86 World Cup as soon as Joao Havelange assumed ownership of FIFA in 1974. However, the years went by and there was a mutual flow of mistrust between this entity and the various governments of the South American country, due to the lack of works and the demands, respectively. In October of '82, President Belisario Betancur said that the state would not invest a single peso in the World Cup and it was over. In May of the following year, Mexico overtook the United States election and took over the headquarters. The draw, which was scheduled for Sunday, December 15, '85, had its curiosities. To begin with, it was carried out in Televisa's studios in Mexico City, the most important TV station in the country, because some of the sites that had been proposed were damaged after the earthquake that struck the capital on September 19 of that year. The top seeds chosen were the four semifinalists of Spain '82 (Italy - Germany - France - Poland), plus Mexico as the host country and Brazil... because it was Brazil, as was the explanation given in the previous moments. Many argue that that day Argentina began to win the World Cup, thanks to the cunning and organizing power of Carlos Salvador Bilardo. He had a trusted person in every city where he could play: Jorge Paolino in Monterrey, Enzo Trossero in Toluca, Antonio Battaglia in León and Zurdo López in Mexico City, who he contacted as soon as it was known that the team would play there, minutes after the ceremony, to reserve the headquarters of the America club, where he was the DT. That place, one of the few with football fields and concentration included, was the base of operations for the final success.

Italy's preparation to host the 1990 championship was fabulous. He worked for years to have a first-rate infrastructure and it is not for nothing that some of his slogans were: “The World Cup of the Modern Era” and “The First of the 21st Century”. It was held at the Palazzo dello sport in Rome, in what was considered one of the most impressive ceremonies of all time. Sophia Loren was one of the hosts and tenor Luciano Pavarotti adorned the party with his incomparable voice. The six world champions so far were represented by a figure, in some cases, still in force: Pelé (Brazil), Bobby Moore (England), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Federal Germany), Daniel Passarella (Argentina), Bruno Conti (Italy) and Rubén Sosa (Uruguay). For the Argentines, the draw seemed benevolent (Cameroon - Soviet Union - Romania), without assuming what they would suffer to pass the round. One detail that went almost unnoticed in our land was that at the ceremony, Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini sang the official song. The same one that remains an eternal symbol of celestial and white deeds.

In addition to his extraordinary ability as a footballer, which led him on more than one occasion to be considered the best of all time, Pelé also had a great ability off the court for public relations. Combining both facts, his presence became common in the draws, something that was not beneficial for Argentina, with whom he always had a changing relationship. In 2002 he got the ball that forced the team led by Marcelo Bielsa to cross paths with England in the group stage and something similar happened four years later, when Holland left his hand as a first-round opponent for the men led by José Pekerman.

Other events that occurred in the draws and deserve their place on this tour: In Sweden '58 the person in charge of carrying it out was a hostess, while in Switzerland '54 there was no mystery or balls directly, because the countries were arbitrarily placed in pairs that were not supposed to face each other and that was how the zones were shaped. The one in USA '94 had the peculiarity of taking place in a city that did not host any match: Las Vegas. Four years later, in France '98, it took place at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille before a huge audience for this type of event: 38,000 people. In December 2009 in Cape Town, FIFA President Joseph Blatter forgot where the inaugural match would take place. He rectified the uncomfortable situation thanks to Charlize Theron, South African model and co-host, who told him that it was the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg.

On April 1, the eyes of the world will once again converge on the bolilleros that FIFA has for its traditional draw. There will be speculations, polls and thousands of conjectures. Also the assurance that several will begin to raise or lower their chances of that moment. But what will bring everyone together, is the wonderful feeling of starting the dream of lifting the long-awaited World Cup.

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