World Cup Football

Uruguay

Not only were they the host of the first World Cup in 1930, they were the subsequent winners.
Uruguayan goalkeeper Antonio Mazzali returned home before kick-off of the 1930 finals as he had sneaked out from the hotel without permission.The Uruguayan team had been isolated in a Montevideo hotel for almost eight weeks before Mazzali sneaked out one night to visit his family. Mazzali was a member of Uruguay's Olympic gold medal teams in 1924 and 1928, but he had never appeared in any World Cup finals.
Hector Castro, who scored Uruguay's winning goal in the 1930 Final, had only one hand. He had lost one hand and part of his arm in a childhood accident.
After winning the World Cup in 1930, the Uruguayan players were treated as national heroes, and each player was presented with a plot of land and a new house by the municipality of Montevideo.
Uraguay had five players sent off during it's failed campaign to reach the 2006 World Cup - which was the most for any nation in the qualifying round.