German Players Have Damaged The World Cup Trophy
It was not Suarez.
By Darian Goh — 22 Jul 2014, 03:09 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Germany waited for 24 years to win the World Cup and it took just a week for the trophy to get damaged
Someone had an accident with the trophy during Germany's World Cup celebration tour back in Berlin
During the German national team’s raucous celebration in Berlin after returning home from Brazil, someone had an accident with one of the most coveted prizes in sports.
usatoday.com
The 2014 tournament winners have chipped off a piece of their golden prize admist wild celebrations after their 1-0 extra-time win against Argentina in the final earlier this month. On Sunday, the German FA revealed the damage as captain Philip Lahm led the team in jubilant scenes after the Germans won football's most famous competition for the first time since 1990 in Brazil's Maracana stadium.
dailymail.co.ukThe Mannschaft were welcomed home from Brazil to jubilant scenes and toured Berlin with the trophy during midweek, however, they may have celebrated a little bit too hard as their World Cup trophy has been damaged by an unknown member of the Germany team
Part of the trophy was chipped off and after investigations, it was difficult to determine the culprit
But the president of the country's football association, Wolfgang Niersbach, said a piece of the famous gold trophy was later 'chipped off' as the players showed it to fans back home. He told Die Welt: 'At one point, a small piece of our World Cup trophy was chipped off. But do not worry, we have specialists on the case who can fix it.
dailymail.co.uk"We have investigated persistently who it was that damaged the trophy, but the investigation was concluded without a result."
The good news is that the World Cup trophy given to Germany is a replica, and the original is kept for safekeeping after a history of thefts
Luckily for Germany however, the trophy they were given to parade around Berlin was a replica given to them by football's governing body, Fifa.
dailymail.co.ukThe trophy is a replica of the real World Cup trophy that was lifted in Brazil, which contains more than six kilograms of 18-karat gold, is valued at more than $10 million.
usatoday.com
The trophy, designed by Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga, was introduced in 1974 and the 5kg original, made from 75 per cent 18 carat gold, is said to be worth around £8million.
dailymail.co.ukFifa - it would seem wisely - tends not to trust football associations with the trophy after the original World Cup award, the Jules Rimet trophy, had a history of being a target for thieves before being stolen for good in 1983 from Brazil