https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4ESTvxyqsI Englands team in 1950 consisted of some of the finest names in the history of English football Stanley Mathews, Tom Finney and Jackie Milburn, were amongst the players that would be representing the country in the World Cup. The abundance of talent that ran throughout the side did not go unnoticed either and England were considered the firm favourites to win the tournament in Brazil. So how did such a side not get beyond the first group stage? Many have put Englands poor showing down to believing their own hype, and therefore approaching games with a little too much self-belief. The tournament brought arguable Englands most embarrassing result to date, when they lost 1-0 to a USA side made up of amateurs and semi-professionals. On the day, England were so sure of victory that they rested their best player, Stanley Mathews, and seemingly faced the consequences. The result shocked so many people, that a large portion of the country legitimately assumed that it was nothing more than a misprint in the newspaper. A dominant England undeservedly also lost their following game 1-0 against Spain and were therefore on a plane home far sooner than anybody had anticipated.
A wrestling enthusiast, currently educating the youth of Taiwan English; there are now a bunch of Asian kids running around with Yorkshire accents. Read about that trip and others at dragonstravel.com.