In football, no other rule can be so conflicting like the penalty kick. It can be exciting and boring at the same time, it can be exhilarating, but also it can be crushing. A penalty kick can cause sheer joy, or morbid desperation. It is a point where everything seems to be going your way but suddenly crash and burn with a goalkeeper’s valor or a striker’s clumsiness.

In the World Cup finals, one penalty kick stands out from the rest. Johans Neeskens’ in the 1974 final was the first penalty ever in a World Cup final. It resulted in the earliest goal to be scored in a final. And most importantly, it was a penalty awarded to Holland after 15 dazzling passes by the flying Dutch from kick-off. The Germans did not get a chance to touch the ball before Johan Cruyff was brought down in the German penalty box. The English official Jack Talyor did not hesitate to award Cruyff the penalty, which Johan Neeskens successfully converted.

Sadly, unless your German, one of the most memorable football dynasties failed to win the game. The German machines seem to never give up, and Holland up to this day remain trophy-less.

When I first started the design of World Cup Love I was so worried that the final design would look tacky and stereotypical of the sport. You know kind of like those old unlicensed football video games we used to play when we were young. The absence of logos, pseudo-real names, the black hexagon balls…etc made those games lacking.

So when I first pitched the design idea to the designers, I was very clear that I wanted to steer away from the stereotypical hexagon ball. Despite that, I got a lot of what I was clearly afraid of, a stereotypical logo using a stereotypical ball! But when I saw our current logo (check the header), all my fears were chattered! This ball seemed to embrace the legendary hexagon football, yet not afraid to say the game has evolved through the year with the circular spots. A stroke of genius!

So lets take a walk down memory lane, and see how the ball that brought us so much joy and tears evolved:

Mexico, 1970: Telstar

This is Adidas’s first ball to officialy feature in the World Cup, the design was inspired by the American architect Richard Buckmister Fuller dome-design. The design consists of a series of pentagons, triangles, and hexagons. In action, the black hexagons made it easier for players to perceive a ball’s swerve.

West Germany, 1974: Durlast

Two balls debuted in this World Cup the Telestar Durlast and the Chile Durlast. Both balls were identical to the previous championship’s ball, the Telestar, but differed in coloring and branding. The Telestar Durlast lost the gold branding and was replaced with black. While the Telestar Chile was an all-white ball, named after the Chile 1962 World Cup ball, which was all white.

Argentina, 1978: Tango Durlast

Argentina 1978 featured a new “revolutionized” ball, the Tango Durlast. This ball was the basis of the 5 next World Cup Championships. Twenty panels with ‘triads’ created the impression of 12 identical circles. Tango also featured improved weather resistance qualities.

Spain, 1982: Tango Espana

Tango Espana was the ball used in 1982 hosted by Spain. It was the last genuine leather ball to ever feature in a World Cup championship. It had rubber inlaid over the seams to prevent water from seeping through.  The first ball with water-resistant qualities, however the rubber meant that that it had to replaced during matches due to general wear and tear.

Mexico, 1986: Azteca

Mexico 1986 featured the first polyurethane coated ball which was rain-resistant, this gave it good qualities on hard and wet surfaces. The design was inspired by the hosting nation’s native Aztec culture.

Italy, 1990: Etrvsco Unico

This ball was a high-tech ball and was manufactured entirely from synthetic fibers. It’s innermost layer consisted of textiles impregnated with latex, giving it form and resistance to tear. Next came a neoprene layer making the ball water-tight. While the surface had a polyurethane layers was used for abrasion resistance and good rebound properties. The intricate design is inspired from the Italian history and the fine art of the Etruscans. It featured three Etruscan lion heads decorate each of the 20 Tango triads.

USA, 1994: Questra

This ball was enveloped in a layer of polystyrene foam, this not only made it water-proof but also gave it more acceleration. It had a softer touch and improved ball control and velocity when kicked.

France, 1998: Tricolore

This was the first ball to depart from the black and white tradition, it sported the colors of the host nation’s colors red, white, and blue. It had new foam material giving it better compression and more explosive rebound characteristics, making the ball softer and faster than its predecessor, Questra. The “cockrel” was inspired by the nation’s traditional symbol.

Japan and South Korea, 2002: Fevernova

This ball fully departed from the traditional Tango design of 1978. It had was only 3 millimeters thick and had 11 layers! The actual technology behind this ball is too intricate to get into, however this ball was marred with controversy. A ridiculous kiddy’s bouncing ball ” Gianluigi Buffon Italy’s goalkeeper was quick to note. While Belgium’s goalkeeping coach has complained the ball is “too light.” Brazilian midfielder Rivaldo told reporters the ball soars too far when kicked. And Brazilian forward Edilson was quoted as saying the ball is “too big and too light.”

The golden orbs represents the motive of the Shuriken while the red stars represents the ninja’s star.

Germany, 2006: +Teamgiest

Teamgeist  means “team spirit” in German. Adidas indicates “The fine gold accents along the rounded propellers are inspired by the golden FIFA World Cup Trophy. The revolutionary new panel shape is designed to minimize corners and to create a more homogeneous system in terms of performance and look. The radiant lines of the graphics surrounding the propeller shape symbolize movement and energy.”  Each match featured it’s own custom made ball, indicating the two competing teams, venue, date, and time. The final match also had a special “golden” ball!

South Africa, 2010: Jabulani

Though this is the official match ball for this upcoming World Cup, it has already made an appearance in the Club World Cup last year in the UAE.l. The name of the ball inspired by the city of Johannesburg, which is often nicknamed Jo’burg and will be the site of the 2010 Final.

A golden version will be used in the World Cup final this year. It will be the second World Cup Final ball to be produced, the other for the 2006 World Cup. The only teams able to use it will be the two teams in the final.

All pictures and information was provided by soccerballworld.com. It is a great resource if you are interested into deeper detail about Footballs. Make sure to check it out!

Date: 19th of May 1888

Place: Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Renton FC the Scottish FA Cup champions trounced the English FA cup  champion  West Bromwich Albion 4 to 1. But what does this have to do with the World Cup?

Well Renton FC were the first world champions! Or at least according to the fantasy merchants of Renton FC.

Back then, it was customary for the champions of Scotland and England to play a friendly match at the end of the season. The legend has it on that murky day in Glasgow a thunderstorm ravaged the city and 4 people died. The game almost never took place, but the Rentonions chugged on and insisted on playing in the foulest of conditions. The game ended 4-1 for the Scots, that should have been it. A meaningless game on a dreary Scottish Saturday.

But the Rentonions begged to differ; their logic was pretty simple. British football was king, other nations barely had football associations. They were the chapions of the United Kingdom, so by definition they were champions of the world!

After proclaiming their world domination to the press, they hung a sign over their clubhouse door: CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD. They also needed a trophy. Solution? They made one!

10 years later, and after 5 matches  in the Scottish league, they dropped out, and subsequently vanished in 1922. But they never were deprived from that title!

Next time when someone tells that the first world champions were Uruguay, silence them with “not according to the Rentonions!”

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed in 1904. And true to its nature of incompetence, it took a quarter of a century to organize the first World Cup. That seems fitting for football’s governing body. FIFA arrived to the decision to hold the first tournament in Uruguay because technically Uruguay were world champions winning the gold medal in the 1926 Olympics.

FIFA desperately needed European teams to take part in their first spectacle. However, most didn’t really fancy the high seas of the Atlantic. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales were ineligible because they withdrew from organization over an ‘amateur’ player payment dispute. Luckily, with a heavy heart, France, Belgium, and Yugoslavia agreed to make the trip. But the most enthusiastic European participant by far were Romania!

King Carol II, who’s life was marred with scandalous affairs and 2 broken marriages, wasn’t even King 36 days before the tournament. However on the 8th of June 1930 he forcibly reclaimed the throne from his brother Micheal. His first decree made it clear that he was on a mission, he granted general amnesty to all football players serving suspensions due to football offenses.

The soccerphile King had his eyes set on Uruguay, he was going there by hook or by crook! With only few days to spare he hit a stumbling block. Most of his best players worked for an English oil company that refused to grant the players leaves.

The King responded like any hot-blooded king would, he picked up the phone and threatened to close the operations of the English company. They begrudgedly agreed.

The Romanians, along with the French, Belgians, and Yugoslavs took their 2 week journey over the Atlantic on the Conte Verde. On their opening game, and in front of a paltry 300 spectators, they won Peru 3-1. The ‘Royals’ apparently weren’t exactly box office.

Next up the hosts, and before over 70,000 in the Estadio Centenario, Romania succumbed to both stage fright and superior skill and were swept 4-0. They were knocked out!

Carol’s adventure ended abruptly, but football historians credit him with igniting the nation’s ongoing passion for football. After all, if it werent’ for him, we wouldn’t have witnessed the exquisite talents of Hagi and Mutu!

The qualification for World Cup 1974 was one of the oddest in history. FIFA insisted that only 16 would qualify out of the 95 participating nations, and USSR felt the brunt of this decision. Despite winning European group easily, they were forced to play a play-off against Chile. The Russians were frustrated, this was the first time a European team and a South American team have a WC play-off.

The first round in Moscow at the end of September was uneventful ending 0-0. But events back in Chile had grave consequences for the Russians. Let me explain, on September 11 1973, the democratically elected president Salvadore Allende was overthrown in a military coup and burned to death. The perpetrator was a sinister dictator Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, or just General Pinochet.

General Pinochet had a brutal way to deal with his opponents, they were either brutally murdered or became los desaparecidos (the disappeared). You can probably guess where they “vanished”.

Pinochet was fanatically anti-communist, thousands left-wing sympathizers were rounded up and taken to Estadio Nacional. The same stadium that saw Brazil’s triumph against Czechoslovakia to lift their 2^nd World Cup. Unspeakable atrocities happened in the deep belly of the stadium, fingers were chopped, women were raped in front of their husbands, and children were abused as their helpless mothers looked in horror.

The news had reached Moscow, and the Russians were facing a dilemma. A lot of countries abandoned their morals in pursuit of World Cup glory, but the Russians decided to take the moral high ground on this one. They decided not to attend their scheduled match on the 21^st of November 1973. Their Football Federation Chief, Valentin Granatkin, was adamant: “Soviet sportsmen cannot play on a ground stained with the blood of Chilean patriots”

Normally Chile qualified for the 1974 World Cup by default, but not before holding a bizarre phantom match. 40,000 spectators watched 1 team of 11 players in their full kits finish off a neat nine-man move with a close-range tap-in from their captain.

Chile failed to impress in the World Cup and lost all their matches. While Pinochet retained power until 1990. He was later arrested in London in 1998 for human-rights violation during his tenure. Only to be released by Jack Straw, the then home secretary, on “health grounds.

Here is a documentary about the whole coup and Pinochet’s atrocities.