A 17-year-old Brazilian made his debut in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Having won the trophy in three of the five World Cups, he is now a part of football legend. His name is Edson Arante do Nascimento; Everyone knows him as 'Pele'. Argentine journalist Enrique Macaya Marquez also made his debut in Pele's first World Cup.
Pele left the World Cup field in 1970. However, Marquez continues to 'play' in the press box even after 52 years. This Argentinian journalist has covered 17 consecutive World Cups in a long journey of 64 years from 1958 to 2022, which is the highest of any journalist in the history of the World Cup.
Germany's Hartmut Scherzer had the second highest number of journalists covering the Qatar World Cup at 16 World Cups. Jorge da Silveira of Uruguay has worked in 15 World Cups. In addition to these three, FIFA has honored 82 journalists who have worked for the media in at least 8 World Cups. The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) was the joint organizer of the event organized in Doha, Qatar, last day. Ronaldo Nazario, who won two World Cups for Brazil, handed over a mini replica of the World Cup trophy to journalists in an event called 'Journalists on the Podium'.
The award ceremony held at Qatar's Virtual Stadium-1 turned into a one-time World Cup commemoration stage. Marquez said about his experience of going from Argentina to Sweden to cover the 1958 World Cup, "I left on a DC-7 plane.
After that, the number of places it stopped for fuel, I don't even remember the names. After the plane, the 23-year-old Marquez reached the destination by bus and ferry. At that time, he was working as a commentator in a radio station in Argentina. He used to send news from Sweden to the country with the help of telephone exchange.
Argentina did not play in the 1938, 1950 and 1954 World Cups due to internal politics. Argentinians faced a new reality when they returned to the 1958 World Cup, Marquez said, 'Before going to the World Cup, we thought we were the best in the world.
But after playing, our eyes were opened. Czechoslovakia gave us 6 goals. I could not digest so many goals from a team whose name I had never heard. I started smoking cigarettes. But three years ago I gave up cigarettes.
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