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Soccer 101
#158 What are soccer's biggest conspiracy theories?
Graham and Taylor don their tin foil caps to discuss soccer's greatest conspiracy theories, and attempt to determine which ones are completely fictional (most of them) and which ones have some truth to them (some of them). Topics covered include...
1) Nike forced Ronaldo to play the 1998 World Cup final
2) A swimming pool scandal ended Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands career
3) Colombia’s secret service stung Bobby Moore at the 1970 World Cup
4) The 1958 World Cup was faked by the CIA
5) An Arsenal-supporting chef was behind Tottenham’s Lasagna-gate
6) Steven Gerrard missed a penalty to get Roy Hodgson sacked
7) Argentina gave Brazil tranquilizers during a knockout round game at the 1990 World Cup
8) South Korea got favorable treatment to ensure the host nation advanced far into the 2002 World Cup
9) FIFA was bribed to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively (this one started as a conspiracy theory and is now... a little more than that)
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