Fiorentina's original kits were red, the color of florence, but after a few washings in a nearby river they turned purple and that is why they now wear the famous Viola kits
Franco Baresi was rejected by Inter but was accepted by rivals AC Milan and spent all his career there, likewise Giuseppe Bergomi was rejected by AC Milan but was accepted by Inter and also spent all his career there
speaking of other notable rejections Platini was rejected by Metz David Platt by Manchester United David Ginola by OGC Nice Robert Prosinecki by Dinamo Zagreb (by none other than Miroslav Blazevic, his future NT manager)
Lothar Matthaus did not score a goal for Germany until 1985. Five years into his national team career.
Aldo Serena and Christian Vieri are the only players to have played for both Turin (Torino and Juevntus) and Milan (AC and Inter) clubs. If someone knows of other players can you please let me know
Russian midfielder Alex Mostovoi, when he joined Benifca in 1992, almost immediately married a portuguese woman to avoid being registered as a foreign player
Miguel Soler might be the only player to have played for both Barcelona (FC Barcelona and Espanyol) and Madrid (Real and Atletico) clubs. i might be wrong, hopefully someone can verify
When Daniel Passarella became Argentina' national team manager in 1994, he instructed that all players must stop eating red meat and all must have a haircut
When Igor Belanov won the Ballon D'Or in 1986, he finished only 2nd behind teammate Oleksandr Zavarov in Soviet Player of the Year voting.
Tony Cascarino was actually not qualified for Ireland. His father was Italian and his mother English, but he qualified for Ireland through his grandfather. However, in 1996, his mother told him that he was adopted so he was not connected to his grandfather by blood.
Wow, didn't know that. Does he know who is natural parents were, or at least their nationality/blood lines?
Italian defender Pietro Vierchowod's father was a soviet prisoner held in Italy during WWII, after the war ended he chose not to return and stayed in Italy
when Matthias Sammer won the Ballon d'or in 1996, Ronaldo actually had more first place votes. However, Sammer had more overall votes
Ronaldo lost his 1st ever ballon Dor to Sammer by ONLY ONE VOTE (overall like you said) Otherwise he would be the only player to have won 3 WPOY FIFA, 3 ballon dors, and 3x WorldSoccer player at just 26yrs old (with 2.5yrs in hospital)
Passarella was phenomenal that year. Ronald Koeman supposedly netted 21 goals in 32 matches in 1987-88 at PSV, and he's the one I think would get closest.
How many of those were through FK or PK? I wonder how Passarella scored that many goals, he wasn't known for his FK.
Can't find that. Passarella was a constant aerial threat, I wouldn't doubt he scored many of his via headers off set pieces. In contrast, I don't remember Koeman scoring much from headers. He truly was a PK and FK expert.
Fernando Hierro scored 102 goals in 439 games for Real Madrid. he had 21 goals in one season. He was at one point the all-time leading scorer for Spain until Raul broke it.
Yes, however, that year he played most matches (if not all) as a DM. IIRC Sanchis and Rocha were the CBs.