ThefirstWorldCup

On26May1928,atameetinginAmsterdam,theFifacongressdecidedthatanewtournamentopentoallitsmembersshouldbeplayed.AyearlaterinBarcelonaitwasagreedthatUruguay,theOlympicchampionsandtheera'sfootballingsuperpower,shouldcelebrate100yearsofindependencebyhostingthefirstWorldCupthefollowingyear.
Only13nationstookpartintheinauguraltournament,withamajorityofninecomingfromSouthAmerica.AllgameswereplayedinthreestadiumsinMontevideoand,asexpected,theSouthAmericancountriesdominated,althoughtheEuropeanteamsdidnotdisgracethemselves.

Some100,000fanspackedintotheCentenarioStadiumforthefinalon30JulytoseeArgentinathrowawaya2-1half-timeleadasUruguayranout4-2winners.

JulesRimet,theFifapresidentandbrainsbehindtheWorldCup,presentedthetrophytowinningcaptainJoseNazassiandfootball'sgreatesttournamentwasborn.

Afterapre-matchrowoverwhichballtouseforthefinal,itisbelievedtheArgentineballwasusedinonehalfandtheUruguayanballintheother.Rumourhasitthatthisishowthephrase"agameoftwohalves"evolved.

WorldCuphistory-vocabulary

Fifacongress
TheinternationalorganisationthatcontrolsfootballisFifa,whichstandsforFédérationInternationaledeFootballAssociation.Acongressisameeting.

era
Thiswordisusedtotalkaboutaperiodoftimeinthepastwhensomethingorsomeoneisimportant.

hosting
IfacountryhoststheWorldCup,thenthecompetitionisbeingplayedinthatcountry.

inaugural
Thisadjectivemeanstheveryfirst.Itismainlyusedwhentalkingaboutspecialeventsandcompetitions.

dominated
Ifateamdominateditmeansthattheyweremuchstrongerandtheydidmuchbetterthantheothers.

didnotdisgracethemselves
Thisexpressionisusedtodescribegoodperformancesbyateamthatisn'tverystrong.Althoughtheyareaweakerteamanddidn'twin,theydidplaywell.

packedinto
Thisexpressionshowsthatthestadiumwascompletelyfull,therewasnoextraspace.

brainsbehind
Whensomeoneisdescribedasthebrainsbehindsomething,thenitisthatperson'sideaorplan.

row
Anotherwordforanargumentordisagreement.

Rumourhasit
Thisexpressionmeansthatwhatisbeingtoldisnotafact,butiswhatpeoplebelievetobetrue

Foreachquestion,choosetheonecorrectanswer.

1:WhenwasthefirstWorldCupplayed?
a1928
b1929
c1930
d1931

2:WherewasthefirstWorldCupplayed?
aHolland
bSpain
cBrazil
dUruguay

3:WhichofthesestatementsaboutthefirstWorldCupisnottrue?
aMostoftheteamscamefromSouthAmerica.
bTheSouthAmericanteamswerethestrongest.
cAllthematcheswereplayedinthesamestadium.
dTheEuropeanteamsdidnotplaybadly.

4:Whatwasthescoreafterthefirst45minutesofthefinal?
aArgentina2-1Uruguay
bArgentina1-2Uruguay
cArgentina4-2Uruguay
dArgentina2-4Uruguay

5:Whatisthebestdefinitionofthephrase"agameoftwohalves"?
aAdifferentballshouldbeusedineachhalfofthematch
bAnythingcanhappeninfootball
cPlayersshouldn'targuewiththereferee
dEachteamshoulduseitsownballforpartofthematch