Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Mexico did conspire to kick the ball around center in a previous tournament. Was that in US 1994? I remember the English commentator saying he "hated every minute of it".
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Really? I certainly don't remember that one. The obvious conspiracy that changed the way the final games in a group are played was the 1982 match between West Germany and Austria.
Wiki:
"Group 2 saw one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day with the 2–1 victory of
Algeria over reigning European Champions
West Germany. In
the final match in the group between West Germany and
Austria, Algeria had already played their final group game the day before, and West Germany and Austria knew that a West German win by 1 or 2 goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans. After 10 minutes of all-out attack, West Germany scored through a goal by
Horst Hrubesch. After the goal was scored, the two teams kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of "
Fuera, fuera" ("
Out, out") were screamed by the Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved
banknotes at the players. This performance was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans. One German fan was so upset by his team's display that he burned his German flag in disgust.
[1] Algeria protested to FIFA, who ruled that the result be allowed to stand; FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously."
Had a quick look for a Mexican conspiracy but couldn't immediately locate one. Forgive me if there has been such an issue.