1. Mussolini manipulates the “man in black,” 1934

by Matthew Weiner for CNN

“Il Duce” [apelido de Benito Mussolini] was determined to use this World Cup on home soil [em casa, na Itália] to showcase [(usar) como vitrine, exibir, fazer propaganda] his fascist Italy. Mussolini had his own [próprio] trophy [troféu] created for the event — the Coppa Del Duce — which was six times the size [que era seis vezes maior] of the Jules Rimet, and to this day [até hoje] allegations remain [existem alegações de que] the tournament [torneio] was fixed [foi comprado, foi forjado, foi marmelada (inf.)] so that [para que] only Italy would collect it [ganhasse].

Cf. Falsos Cognatos: FIX

According to [Segundo] the BBC’s “World Cup Stories” book by Chris Hunt, there were [havia] suggestions that the Italian dictator himself [o próprio ditador italiano] picked the referees [escolhia os juízes]. In the semifinal against Austria, Mussolini’s Azzurra [apelido da seleção italiana] won 2-1 [ganhou por 2 a 1], but after the game their opponents [seus adversários] complained [reclamaram que] the game was fixed.

“The referee [O árbitro] even [até] played for them [jogou para eles],” said Austrian striker [atacante austríaco] Josef Bican. “When I passed the ball out to the right wing [para o lado direito], one of our players, Cicek, ran for it [correu para a bola] and the referee headed it back [devolveu de cabeça] to the Italians. It was unbelievable [Foi inacreditável].”