ESPN has been on fire with their 30 For 30 series of films and now the network will air a special set of those shows, built around the 2014 World Cup and on the schedule there will be eight films all together, with two being features and six being half-hour short films.
ESPN has found great success since launching the series and they have continued to make films with acclaimed directors and filmmakers and the network has done a good job of scheduling those around related events. The network has the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding film for the Olympics this year and now the World Cup gets a set of films, as eight different projects will be on the schedule starting up in April and extending into the summer when the World Cup begins in Brazil.
ESPN has picked a number of interesting stories related to soccer, some that fans know and some that many do not. Here is a rundown of the films from ESPN.com:
----ESPN 30 For 30: Soccer Stories:
Hillsborough - The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster in 1989 is perhaps the darkest hour in the history of English soccer. 96 Liverpool fans died after they were crushed in a mass of humanity at an FA Cup semifinal. Although the Liverpool fans were initially blamed by police and the media, investigations later found the lack of police control and crowd safety were to blame. Hillsborough led the country to greater improve safety for fans at grounds all around the country and the tragedy changed the English game forever.
White, Blue, and White - This follows 1978 Argentinian World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles as one of the first international players to star in the English top flight. With England and Argentina going to war over the Falkland Islands, Ardiles was in the middle of the conflict and loaned away from Tottenham Hotspur in 1982.
Garrincha: Crippled Angel - Next to Pele, Garrincha may be the biggest superstar in Brazilian soccer history. In spite of his crooked legs that made doctors think he'd never play professionally, his exciting style of play made soccer a spectacle. However, his life crashed after his playing days as he died of alcoholism in 1983.
Barbosa, The Man Who Made All of Brazil Cry - The decisive match of the 1950 World Cup is one of the great upsets in the history of sports. Unlike other tournaments, the winner was decided by a four team final group playing in a round robin format. The champion of the tournament would be decided by the final match - Brazil vs Uruguay. Brazil only needed a tie at home to claim the trophy, which was perceived as a fait accompli. Uruguay won the game 2-1 in front of 200,000 fans at the Maracana, the site of this year's World Cup Final. Goalkeeper Moacir Balboa was made into the scapegoat and blacklisted from the national team.
Ceasefire Massacre - Soccer is the framing for this film about the Loughin Island Massacre in Northern Ireland during a 1994 World Cup game between Ireland and Italy.
The Opposition - The story of the 1973 World Cup playoff between the Soviet Union and Chile is almost unthinkable today. After Augusto Pinochet seized control in Chile, the national stadium was used to torture and kill his enemies. Weeks later, the Soviet Union refused to play the second leg of their World Cup playoff at the site. FIFA refused to move the game and Chile advanced to the World Cup.
Mysteries of the Jules Rimet Trophy - The original trophy for the FIFA World Cup winner was permanently awarded to Brazil after their third victory in 1970, as stipulated by the former FIFA president after whom the trophy was named. In 1983, it was stolen and has never been recovered. This film tells of the first attempt to steal the trophy when Nazis tried to take it out of Italy during World War II.
Maradona '86 - Perhaps the most straight-forward of the series, this doc looks at Diego Maradona's legendary performance at the 1986 World Cup, where he scored two of the most notable goals in the history of soccer. In Argentina's Quarterfinal against England, Maradona scored the Hand of God goal and the Goal of the Century within 3 minutes of each other. Argentina won the tournament and Maradona won the golden ball as its most outstanding player.
Check here for information on the 30 for 30 schedule and the new movies from ESPN.
