as long as nobody crosses the line
between you and I"
Zaire was the first black African nation to qualify for a world cup. This was in 1974 when Zaire still existed and dictator Mobutu ruled it with an iron fist. Mobutu, like many leaders before and after, wished to capitalize on the feat so he gave all the players of the team cars and homes and promised more if they did well in the world cup.
Well, to be honest, the team sucked and if you mix that with Mobutu´s "mood swings" the atmosphere for the once beloved players turned sour.
After losing to Scotland 2-0 in their opening match Zaire went on to take a pounding from another now extinct nation, Yugoslavia, by 9 goals.
The plot thickens, Mobutu lets the squad know that if they lose their next match against Brazil by more than 3 goals there would be retribution back home, if he decided to extend them the courtesy of returning home.
So the match against Brazil began. The brazilians got off to a slow start but by the middle of the second half regained their style, had a 3 goal advantage and were pressuring Zaire.
Towards the end of the match a free kick near Zaire´s goalbox was awarded to the brazilians, since they had excellent players to turn this into the fatal fourth goal the poor guys from Zaire went crazy and stopped at nothing to prevent the ball from once again crossing that thin goal line which now held the destiny of each one of them.
This is what they did
Understandable, specially after reading this.
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