80 Years of Glory Volume 1 1930-1954 (Paperback)

The World Cup is the pinnacle of world football celebration. Every four years, somewhere on the planet, the world's finest national teams and players fight for the most wanted prize in sport's history. That story began to unravel many years before the organization of the first World Cup on Uruguay in 1930, overcoming political and logistical challenges. It's a tale of how football, and its magic, conquered a multitude of passionate fans worldwide while teams and players battled to be the best. Those spirited pioneers were the ones that sparkled the thought of playing to be the best in the world. From its early days of attacking and defending the "five lines," the game of football took many different shapes and formations. Still, above all, it was the best players the ones that always spearheaded, and took the games under control. On this volume: a boycotted 1930 tournament became the stage where Argentina challenged Uruguay, the first nation to dominate the sport, into a fiery battle in a feverish Montevideo. Later, the World Cup returned to Europe where the continent's best players fought for the game's ultimate trophy overcastted by the tense and politically charged pre-World War II times. On 1950, with most of Europe still deeply wounded after the terrible conflict and not able to make it to Brazil, the Uruguayans were back, and ready to challenge an entire country to win. And finally, the powerful and extremely talented Hungarian Golden Team changed football forever. They would enter the 1954 World Cup favored to win like no other team ever before...