Rossi was initially given a three-year ban from the betting scandle that rocked Serie A in 1980. It was ultimatley reduced to two after appeal. (Perhaps the World Cup was taken into account ) Also from the 1980 Italian betting scandle: -- AC Milan were condemmed to relegation into Serie B, the only time they've been relegated from Serie A, I believe. They had finished third (?) in Serie A that season. -- 1970 World Cup goalkeeper Ricardo Albertosi was banned for life for his part in the scandle. -- Matches at the 1980 European Championships in Italy suffered dramatically. Only Italy -v- England in Turin was played in front of a capacity crowd. There were also no balls boys at the matches and players had to go chase balls that went out of play (Most of the stadiums used had running tracks around them )
OK. Thanks for that. AC Milan did finish third in 1980 but they have been relegated twice. In 1982, Milan finished 14th and third last. His first name was Enrico.
I stand corrected. The one publication I got the story from had him listed as "Ricardo" but all others as well as all websites give his name as "Enrico". You're certainly the Serie A guru, Mr. Dor.
- Even though Liverpool fans sing about the Munich air crash, Sir Matt Busby actually was on the books of Livepool as a player. - The fastest Hat-trick in Premiership history is Robbie Fowler v Arsenal, in 4 mins 32 secs. The fastest ever is held by a Bournemouth player in about 3 mins. (sorry for the lack of accuracy) - Liverpool fans have the record for the loudest noise during a sporting event, it was recorded during last years Carling Cup final and reached 130.7 decibels. - Tennis player Rafael Nadal's uncle, Miguel, is a former Spanish international and Barcelona legend. - Clarence Seedorf is the only player to win the champions league with 3 different clubs (Milan, Real Madrid and Ajax). - Blackburn Rovers are the only club in England to be allowed to have their crest on corner flags. After they won the FA Cup for 3 straight times, they were enitled to keep the trophy. The FA could not afford this so gave them this privilige instead.
What a match! This took place at White Hart Lane, of all places in 1945. Arsenal were playing Dynamo Moscow when a dense fog descended on the pitch. The referee refused to abandon the match because the visiting team had come all the way from Moscow. The game swiftly reduced to farce! One Arsenal player was sent off for fighting, but sneaked back on again in the fog. The Russians substituted a player, but never sent their player off. Indeed, there were strong suspicions, that throughout the game, the Russian side secretly increased from 11 players to 15! The problem was that no-one could actually see enough to count them. The final confusion happened when the Arsenal goalie became disorientated in the fog, ran into the goal post and knocked himself out. He was replaced by a member of the crowd.[/QUOTE] Sorry, Cassano. I'm not so sure about your story. As a metter of fact there´s a careful account of those games in David Downing's "Passovotchka: Moscow Dynamo in Britain, 1945". An interesting book about Dynamo's trip to post war England. Nothing of the sort is mentioned un the book, nor in any other account I've read .
That is what was said after the match by the English since Arsenal was strengthened that day by 3 England players (Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen and Joe Bacuzi) and still lost 3-4. The fog was so thick that visibility was down to 10 yards. Accounts vary as to who refused to call off the match, and both sides blamed the other. The game was played with, at the Russian referee’s request, the two English linesmen on one touchline and him on the other. The Russians took an early lead, fell behind and, after a host of dubious decisions, won 4 - 3. They simply could not believe it was possible that other countries were that good at football as well and the reason people altered the story is probably because the Russian boasted they left England unbeaten (they also drew with Chelsea and Rangers and beat Cardiff 10-1) and considered it a victory for communism, lateron when the cold war hit people were telling the story you mention.
Re: The Did you know thread. Useless, but fascinating historical facts and stories) Estudiantes was captained by Bilardo, who went on to coach Argentina in '86 and '90. It's said of Bilardo that he would take pins into the game and stab players with them.
During the controversial 1966 World Cup quarterfinal matchup between England and Argentina, both Bobbie Charlton and his brother Jackie were booked by German referee Kreitlein, presumably for arguing. Of course, most people will remember Argentina's captain Rattin was thrown out of that match, also for arguing. I think this was the only booking either of the Charlton brothers received in their whole career. (I'm sure about Bobby, and I believe it is also true of Jackie).
I would be absolutely stunned if Jackie Charlton was only booked once in his career. Bobby, on the other hand, I can believe entirely.
On a similar note, Alan Smith (ex Arsenal) was only ever booked once in his career - in his last game, the FA Cup Final.
Jack was a fcukin big cry baby, who loved to dish it out, but couldn't take it back - I'm sure he was sent off, I won't Google it to find out, but I seem to remember him losing the plot..........................
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that it was both brothers. But I wasn't sure, maybe I'm wrong. I'll try to look it up in my collection of magazines. I know it is true about Bobby, though. Some of his fans were campaigning for FIFA to remove the booking, which they felt was unfair, so it could be said that he'd never been booked. But Charlton distanced himself from that effort.
For me, that just speaks volumes about the sort of man Bobby is. Incredibly dignified and humble given how good a player he was.
I believed it was Divison III too. Anyway, it was very low level NCAA soccer. It might have been NAIA. So I could be wrong.
If this has been discussed elsewhere before, my apoogies. Speaking of the connection between tennis and soccer, I know that Elena Baltacha on the women's side is the daughter of former USSR international Sergei Baltacha (WC 1982). Is Kim Clijsters the daughter of Leo Clijsters, who played for Belgium in the 1986 and 1990 WCs? Can anyone verify?
Paul McGrath, the former Irish international, in his days at Aston Villa, wasn't required to go to training because of his infamous knee problems.
when pele went to play an exihibition match in lagos, there was a ceasefire called between nigeria and biafra to watch him play.