The Stolen Gold

 

The original World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Cup, was a masterpiece of gold and sterling silver. But it seemed to carry a bizarre, chaotic curse that made it the target of the world’s most daring thieves.
During World War II, the vice-president of FIFA secretly hid the trophy in a shoebox underneath his bed for years to keep it from being stolen by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. It survived the war, but its luck ran out in 1966.
Just a few months before the 1966 World Cup in England, the trophy was put on display at an exhibition in London. Despite 24-hour guard security, a thief managed to slip past the officers, break the display case, and steal the solid gold trophy without leaving a single trace.
Scotland Yard launched a massive, desperate manhunt. The country was deeply embarrassed.
A week later, a man named David Corbett was walking his dog, a mixed-breed collie named Pickles, through a suburban park in South London. Suddenly, Pickles sprinted toward a bush and began sniffing frantically at a package wrapped tightly in old newspaper and tied with string.
Corbett walked over, ripped the paper open, and stared in shock at the golden wings of the goddess of victory. Pickles had single-handedly saved the World Cup. The dog became an overnight international celebrity, receiving a lifetime supply of dog food and an invitation to the champion's gala dinner.
But the story doesn't end happily.
In 1970, Brazil won the World Cup for the third time, allowing them to keep the original Jules Rimet trophy forever. It was placed inside a bulletproof glass display case at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1983, a group of thieves realized the back of the display case was made of simple wood. They broke into the building, used a crowbar to pop the wood open, and stole the trophy once again.
The thieves were eventually caught, but the original Jules Rimet Cup was never found. Rumors spread that the criminals immediately took the legendary trophy to a hidden workshop, melted it down into gold bars, and sold it on the black market. The ultimate symbol of football glory had been turned into liquid gold, vanishing from the world forever.

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