Forum Th Hil M by hea wh sta A Hu the Du tea the bei blo Na As ma him rep ern sea tom pra ma ins late 1 the foo Union, as well as Austria, Wales, France, and Sweden, and drawn with England, keeping the victory for 1962. Forme, therewas the sensation that through footballwehadbeen dis Bra cou and iza dif sta 1 bu foo and for for wit bei Sou Th hu glo wil I am O and clu ma ach W ori as tun relevant by national and international journals involved with more sophisticated matters, where important peculiar neurosurgical mat- ters of many countries would not be considered interesting. Abb FIF WF To w [E-m 22 reviations and Acronyms A: Fédération Internationale de Football Association NS: World Federation of Neurological Societies From the Department of Neurological Surgery, Hospital da Restauração, University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil hom correspondence should be addressed: Hildo Azevedo-Filho, MD, PhD, MSc ail:
[email protected]] Citation: World Neurosurg. (2010) 74, 2/3:222-223. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2010.07.022 Journal homepage: www.WORLDNEUROSURGERY.org Available online: www.sciencedirect.com 1878-8750/$ - see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 2 www.SCIENCEDIRECT.com WORLD NEUROSURGERY, DOI:10.1016/j.wneu.2010.07.022 e Football World Cup and WORLD NEUROSU do Azevedo-Filho y first recollection of a football World Cup dates from 1954. I still remember listening to a very poor radio transmission from Berne, where Brazil was defeated Hungary, 4 to 2. Deep sadness enveloped my family, and I rd my uncles talking about the renewal of the tragedy of 1950, en we lost in the final to Uruguay in the sanctuary of our own dium, the Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro. t that time, the world was enchanted by the performance of the ngarians beating Germany, 8 to 3, in the final eight, but losing title to them in the final, 3 to 2. We saw the same in 1974, with the tch playing a wonderful game but losing the final to the same m, Germany. The journals and magazines at the time mentioned great deed of the Germans being on top only nine years after ng completely devastated by the war. When seeing photos of nd, good-looking, happy lads, I could not relate them to the ziswhohad committed somany atrocities only a fewyears earlier. a boy, it was also difficult to comprehend that we had two Ger- nys, East and West, and I went to my beloved father and asked which was the one that was raising the Jules Rimet Cup. He lied that it was the Germany where there was a democratic gov- ment. Of course, in those times, there was no Google for a quick rch, and I opened the British encyclopedia that he had presented e a year before. Tomy surprise, theGermany thatwas said not to ctice democracy was named the Democratic Republic of Ger- ny. Also, I could not understand why the Hungarian players, tead of being greeted at home as heroes, had to flee the country r on. Too much for an eight-year-old brain! 958 was our year of redemption. The 29th of June was one of happiest days of my life; Brazil for the first time was the tball world champion. We had defeated the powerful Soviet Hildo Azevedo-Filho, MD, PhD, MSc Professor and Chairman of Neurological Surgery Hospital da Restauração, University of Pernambuco ERY: What Can They Have in Common? covered for the second time. The world was starting to notice zil, and at that moment we were representing all underdeveloped ntries of the globe. I did not realize then that through football with that victory we were helping to speed up so-called global- tion. The needs, particular aspects, and social and economical ficulties of people living outside of Europe and North America rted to be heard by the developed world. 962, 1970, 1994, and 2002 provided more pride to our country t also brought more responsibility to our people, because through tball we foresaw that we needed to educate our population better, particularly to protect our youngsters from drugs. Regrettably me as a Brazilian, our captain did not raise the Cup in 2010, but me as a citizen and certainly for the world this event is invested h more relevant aspects than being champion. The tournament ng carried out for the first time in Africa demonstrates that the th Africans were able to organize it as well as any other country. is is a situation of great pride not only for the hosts but also for mankind as a whole. This is the new time of democracy and real balization that we face universally; doubtless from now the world l see Africa and other developing countries in a different way, and sure that also they shall behave differently. n July 11, 2010, the world saw Spain as the World Cup champion, for thefirst time a formerwinnerwasnot in thefinals. The select b of members has been forced to accept another partner. This y not be good for Brazil and other former winners, but it is a great ievement for all. ORLD NEUROSURGERY, in a similar way, has as one of its pri- ties to allow teams from all over the world to be heard, to include many neurosurgeons as possible. It tries to give them the oppor- ity to publish their research, which might not be found to be RG Here are some reasons why I think that the football World Cup and WORLD NEUROSURGERY share so many common aspects. W thi (W WO peo a p int tha RO ple tha Foo W the and chi tin too and W ism nal rel discuss these on the highest level. FIFA and this World Cup have demonstrated that this is feasible. FORUM HILDO AZEVEDO-FILHO WORLD CUP AND WORLD NEUROSURGERY WO RLD NEUROSURGERY 74 [2/3]: 222-223, AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2 ORLD NEUROSURGERY was founded to represent the new nking of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies FNS) leadership that voices around the world need to be heard. RLD NEUROSURGERY, like football, was established to bring ple together (in this case neurosurgeons), to make possible that aper written by a colleague from Ghana could be shown to the ernational community, just as we have seen the national team of t beautiful country playing so well in South Africa. WORLD NEU- SURGERY and the WFNS are fully committed to integrating peo- and to accepting differences; likewise, we have been reminded t these are major concerns of the Fédération Internationale de tball Association (FIFA). ORLD NEUROSURGERY and the WFNS are deeply devoted to education of young neurosurgeons living outside of Europe the United States. One of FIFA’s main concerns is to educate ldren via football training schools in areas of the several con- ents where it is much needed; this is an extremely important l for keeping children away from all drugs, including alcohol tobacco. ORLD NEUROSURGERY, like FIFA, condemns all forms of rac- and discrimination, including the scientific ones. Our new jour- is fully open to living together with all political, social, and igious differences and considers itself an appropriate forum to The WFNS andWORLDNEUROSURGERY firmly believe, and fight for the belief, that it is possible to reach peace in the world, and this issue is going to play a major role among the goals of our new title. The footballWorldCup is amomentof peace throughout ourplanet, when even an exchanging of spies between the United States and Russia was carried out quietly, smoothly, and peacefully. I hope that the beautiful mood and the praised behavior of those related to the 2010 World Cup will be spread throughout the people of all nations and maintained for the next four years, when we will gather again in my country, land of peace. Similarly, I am convinced that in 2010, the mission of WORLD NEUROSURGERY will be to focus on abetter integrationof themore than35,000neurosurgeons scattered in all quarters of Earth, allowing them to democratically publish their work, ideas, and difficulties. This will be a major ad- vance not only for our specialty, but also for contributing to the achievement of a better quality of life in the world. Citation: World Neurosurg. (2010) 74, 2/3:222-223. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2010.07.022 Journal homepage: www.WORLDNEUROSURGERY.org Available online: www.sciencedirect.com 1878-8750/$ - see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 010 www.WORLDNEUROSURGERY.org 223 The Football World Cup and WORLD NEUROSURGERY: What Can They Have in Common?