Lavrenty Beria, the KGB head and one of Stalin’s most feared henchmen, was a keen supporter of football in the Soviet Union. During the 1930's, the KGB-run Dynamo was the best team in the Soviet Union. Their rival was Spartak Moscow, led by Nikolai Starostin. Beria and Starostin hated each other. According to legend, they fought during a match when both were amatuer players. In 1939, Spartak Moscow won the Double. In the Cup semi final, Spartak beat Dynamo Moscow,but .Beria voided the result and ordered the game to be replayed. Spartak beat Dynamo Moscow in the replay which enraged Beria. Beria waited three years before taking revenge. In March 1942, the KGB arrested Starostin along with his brothers and other Spartak players for “lauding bourgeois sport” and sentenced to ten years in the Gulag work camps. In 1948, Stalin's son Vasily, a political enemy of Beria, took Starostin out of prison to coach the Air Force team. When Starostin arrived in Moscow, Beria tried to arrest him. Vasily was furious. So he moved Starostin into his dacha for protection. The pair became inseparable. They even slept on the same bed. However, Starostin missed his family so much while living as a prisoner of Vasily. One night, he escaped from Vasily to see his family. He was arrested by Beria the next morning and he was sent to a gulag Luckily, he was intercepted by Vasily's head of counter espionage and returned to Moscow. In Moscow, he told Vasily that he could not bear of being a a piece in a political struggle between Beria and him anymore. So Vasily allowed him to move to Southern Russia. However, once again, Beria caught him before he made it to Southern Russia. Instead, Beria sent him to Kazakhstan. In 1953, Beria was executed after his downfall. Starostin was allowed to return and became the head coach of the Soviet Union team.
This was Real Madrid's 10 European titles. 2014: Real Madrid beat the defending champion, Bayern Munich in the semi-final. 2002: Real Madrid beat the defending champion, Bayern Munich in the quarterfinal. 2000:Real Madrid beat the defending champion, Man Utd in the quarterfinal. 1998: Real Madrid beat the defending champion, Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinal. 1966: Real Madrid beat the defending champion, Inter Milan in the semi-final. 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960: Real Madrid were the defending champion. 1956: This was the first ever European Cup. There were no defending champion. However, the Latin Cup was sometimes considered to be the precursor of the European Cup. Real Madrid were the 1955 Latin Cup champion. When we won the Latin Cup in 1955, we also beat the defending champion, Stade de Reims(1953 Latin Cup) in the Final. From 2002 to this season, Real Madrid never played the defending champion.
On 13-03-1904, The Umpire, a Manchester based sport paper, published his public poll about the best player of the season 1903/04. The top-5 were: 1) Billy Meredith - 17,526 votes 2) Steve Bloomer - 15,006 3) Bob Crompton - 13,518 4) Ernest Needham - 12,630 5) Tom Baddeley - 10,551 http://gottfriedfuchs.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-umpire-football-competition-1904.html
In the called Concurso Monroe the other places were: 4) Friedenreich 319,050 and 5) Nono 129,890. The poll was made one month before the WC 1930 In the process, each club chosed its representative player. the sponsors were "Diario da Noite" from Rio and Veado Cigarretes company promotioning his new Monroe cigarretes. A month before the close of the voting, Fortes was 1st and Russinho 2nd. Then the enterprises from the portuguese colony made a big campaign in favor of Russinho who finally won. http://historiadoesporte.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/russinho-1930-leader-dos-footballers-do-brasil/
alright here's a freaky one... has anyone here heard of the "curse of Maeda"? Japanese striker Ryoichi Maeda had a really bizarre streak going... from 2007-2012, every team that the Jubilo Iwata striker scored his first goal of the season against got relegated that season... incredibly they were six different teams: Ventforet Kofu, Tokyo Verdy, JEF Utd, Kyoto Sanga, and Montedio Yamagata were all victims of Maeda's "goal of death"... however, the biggest shock were his last victims Gamba Osaka, a Japanese powerhouse who had finished in the top 3 of the J league the previous seasons and even won the Asian Champions League several seasons before.. but sure enough, they went straight from 3rd to 17th in a season after being a victim of Maeda's curse... The curse of Maeda finally came to an end last season when he scored his first goal again Urawa.... better hope your team never plays this guy early in the season..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamba_Osaka
Taken from the Goldman Sachs WC Report Did you know? After losing 9-0 to Yugoslavia in the 1974 finals, players from the Zaire national team were allegedly told by presidential guards that they would not be able to return home if they lost to Brazil by a score of 4-0 or worse. Luckily, the final score was 3-0. In 2006, Ecuadorean shaman Tzamarenda Naychapi was allowed to ‘purify’ all of the German stadiums by letting out a loud scream to chase away evil spirits. Ecuador made it through the group stage but went on to lose to England in the Round of 16. The New York Times refused to report that the USA had beaten England 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup because editors believed the scoreline was a hoax. The ‘Kaiser’ Beckenbauer, who led Germany to a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in 1974, went on to coach Germany, and in 1990 became the first person to win the World Cup as Captain and then Coach. 19 World Cups: 10 European winners, 9 South American winners. No other continent has produced a world champion. All World Cups that have taken place in Latin America have been won by South American countries. Of the 19 World Cups so far, 6 tournaments have been won by the host country. Perhaps surprisingly, Brazil is not (yet?) one of those 6. Romania's 1930 squad was personally selected by King Carol II himself. With France trailing Argentina 1-0 in their second game of the 1930 World Cup finals, referee Almeida Rego blew for full time with six minutes remaining on the clock. India pulled out of the 1950 finals partly because of financial problems but also because they were not allowed to play in bare feet… …speaking of which, during the 1938 finals, Brazil's Leonidas attempted to remove his boots and play in bare feet during a game against Poland held on a muddy pitch in Strasbourg. The referee told him to put them back on and the striker subsequently scored four goals, and Brazil won 6-5. England’s opening match against Uruguay in the 1966 tournament (held in England) was delayed because seven England players had left their FIFA registration cards at the team hotel. A police motorcyclist was sent to get them... Further delays… the 1974 final was delayed by 10 minutes because officials had forgotten to put in place the corner and centre-line flags. Players for the national team of the United Arab Emirates received a Rolls Royce for every goal their team scored at the 1990 World Cup. The UAE managed to win one of its three matches. Sir Viv Richards is the only person to have played both World Cup Football and World Cup Cricket. He played for Antigua, appearing in the qualifying rounds in the 1974 World Cup. The first FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay back in 1930 and 13 countries participated in the tournament. The first World Cup was the only one without qualifying rounds, as every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to compete. Two World Cup finals have been decided on penalties. Brazil beat Italy in 1994, and Italy beat France in 2006. Some World Cup records Most World Cup appearances (including 2014): 20 for Brazil (every tournament), 18 for Italy and Germany. Most World Cups won by a player: Pelé, Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970. Most tournaments in which a team was eliminated without losing a single match: 3 (England in 1982, 1990 and 2006). Most goals scored by a team in one tournament: 27 (Hungary in 1954). Hungary ended up runners-up to Germany that year. Just Fontaine of France is by far the highest-scoring ‘golden boot’ winner of all time. He somehow managed to net 13 goals in the 1958 instalment of the tournament. Sadly, he was forced to retire due to injury a few years later and could not improve on his record. The record number of World Cup career goals is 15 by Brazilian forward Ronaldo. Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick for England against the German team in the 1966 final remains the highest number of goals scored by a single player in one final. Youngest player: 17 years and 41 days – Norman Whiteside (Northern Ireland vs. Yugoslavia in 1982); youngest player in a final: 17 years and 249 days, Pelé (Brazil vs. Sweden in 1958) (also youngest goal scorer, hat-trick scorer and final scorer). Oldest player: 42 years and 39 days – Roger Milla (Cameroon vs. Russia in 1994); oldest player in a final: 40 years and 133 days – Dino Zoff (Italy vs. Germany in 1982). Fastest goal from kick-off: 10.89 seconds, scored by Hakan Şükür (Turkey vs. Korea Republic in 2002); fastest goal in a final: 90 seconds, scored by Johan Neeskens (The Netherlands vs. West Germany in 1974). Most cards: 6 Zidane (France, 1998-2006) and Cafu (Brazil, 1994-2006). Highest attendance for a match. There were around 200,000 spectators for the final between Brazil and Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro on July 16, 1950 at the Maracanã Stadium. Despite this strong support, Brazil lost 2-1. The official capacity of the Maracanã stadium today is around 78,000 spectators (seats only). The Cup’s final game is the single most viewed sporting event on earth. The 2010 match between Spain and The Netherlands was watched by an estimated 700 million people. That’s a decent chunk of the world’s entire population.
Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin was sold from Cerro de Montevideo to Local Defensor Sporting for a transfer fees of 24 pounds https://cricket.yahoo.com/news/champions-league-scorer-diego-godin-064019057.html
Clive Allen was transferred from QPR to Arsenal in 1980 for £1.25 million pounds, this was less than 2 years after the 1st million pound transfer of Trevor Francis and a world record for a teenager. But he never played a competitive game for Arsenal. Before the season started he was traded with Crystal Palace for Kenny Sampson with a goalkeeper thrown in to make up the difference. Allen ended up being transferred 10 times in his career and played for 7 London clubs. QPR (twice) Arsenal(not really), Crystal Palace, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham and Millwall. Paul Allen, his cousin was the youngest player to appear in an FA cup final in 100 years and was denied the chance to be the youngest ever goalscorer, when he was pulled to the ground by Arsenal defender Willie Young as he prepared to shoot on goal. This led to the English football League instructing referees to issue a straight red card for a professional foul.
Lol - I hope the Qataris don't find that out, that's a big no no in their culture... they don't, erm 'like' dogs or naming things after or personifications. I tried teaching my students once idioms and they freaked out at the "works like a dog" one... apparently that was haram....
Three Premiership goalkeepers suffered similar injuries. Carlo Cudicini, David Seaman and David James were all sidelined after over exerting themselves as coach potatoes. Cudicini injured his knee, James pulled a muscle in his back operating their remote controls and Seaman embarrassingly pulled a muscle trying to record Coronation Street. Robbie Keane also feel victim to the same technology. Brentford Goalkeeper Chick Brodie was body checked by a dog that had run onto the pitch during a game in 1970. The resulting injury to his knee ended his career. Spain's keeper Canizares missed the 2002 World Cup after accidentally smashing a bottle of aftershave and a shard of glass severed a tendon in his big toe. Dave Beasant was the keeper who was crocked after dropping a jar of salad cream on his foot. Danish keeper Micheal Stensgaard was forced to retire after an attempt to fold up his ironing board. Man Utd Goalkeeper Alex Stepney dislocated his jaw shouting at his defence (he also let in 7 goals in his only game for Chelsea) The curse of the goalkeepers even hit Emerson in 2002. The midfielder took a spell in goal during training and dislocated his shoulder saving a shot from Rivaldo Paulo Diogo of Servette jumped into the crowd to celebrate a goal and caught his wedding ring on the fence ripping off the top of his finger. After the match was stopped to find his wayward digit, he was booked for "celebrating too wildly" before being rushed to hospital where surgeons advised the amputation of the rest of his finger. Everton's Richard Wright twisted his ankle during the warm up in an FA Cup game at Stamford Bridge when he fell over a sign left on the pitch requesting that players don't practice in the goalmouth.
The rumour was that Palace wanted Clive Allen and QPR wouldn't sell to them and that Arsenal played the dealbroker in order to get Kenny Sansom from Palace. Not sure if there's any substance in that. The Allens are interesting though. An extensive football family from Dagenham, based almost exclusively at football clubs in the South and in particular London. There were two Allen brothers called Les and Dennis (!) in the 60's. Les played for Chelsea, Bill Nicholson's double winning Spurs side and then played and managed QPR. Dennis was at Charlton but then ventured out to Reading and Bournemouth. In the 80's and 90's Les' sons Clive (7 London clubs as above plus a few more and also England) and Bradley (QPR, Charlton, Grimsby and a few others) were joined by Dennis' son Martin (QPR, West Ham, Portsmouth, Southend, later managing among others Barnet, Brentford, Notts Co and Gillingham) and their cousin Paul Allen (West Ham, Spurs, Southampton, Swindon, Millwall , Bristol City), the son of a third non-football playing brother. Clive's son Oliver trained at West Ham and Spurs before Stevenage Borough and early retirement. Martin's son Charlie was a youth at Brentford during his spell as manager, later following him to Notts Co and Gillingham. That makes eight players from one family who, apart from a small gap in the mid 70's, represented London clubs in some capacity for over half a century. London clubs by members of Allen family to play for them: QPR: 4 Tottenham: 3 West Ham: 3 Charlton: 2 Chelsea: 2 Millwall: 2 Crystal Palace: 1 Three have them have also been with non-league Billericay Town.
Whatever the Shenanigans, it was worth it to see the music hall strike force of Flanagan and Allen appearing at the Palace.
I posted this on the German NT board earlier this week, with a new update for today: There have been 8 total instances in which a WC semifinalist has advanced to the final after extra time or penalties. Here are the results: 1954, Hungary beats Uruguay 4-2 aet. Lost in final 3-2 v. W. Germany 1970, Italy beats Germany 4-3 aet. Lost in final 4-1 v. Brazil 1982, Germany beats France 3-3 aet. & PKs. Lost in final 3-1 to Italy 1990, Argentina beats Italy 1-1 aet. & PKs. Lost in final 1-0 to W. Germany 1990, W. Germany beats England 1-1 aet. & PKs. Won final 1-0 v. Argentina 1998, Brazil beats Netherlands 1-1 aet. & PKs. Lost in final 1-1 aet. & PKs to France 2006, Italy beats Germany 2-0 aet. Won final 1-1 aet. & PKs over France 2013, Argentina beats Netherlands 0-0 aet. & PKs. Lost in final 1-0 aet. to Germany Teams advancing aet & PKs are 1-4. Teams advancing only aet are 1-2. Total that is 2-6. Interesting note is the only team to win the World Cup after PKs in the semifinals was facing an opponent who also got there via penalty shootout (1990 W. Germany v. Argentina).
Much of this has probably been hinted at in other threads but some all time World Cup stats for you... (This is all assuming the stats I'm seeing on Wikipedia are up to date and accurate, but Bosnia are listed so I'm going with it) During their demolition of Brazil, Germany broke another record. Sami Khedira's goal for 5-0 meant they overtook Brazil as the all time highest World Cup scorers. They now stand on 224 (vs 221). Marcos Rojo's goal vs Nigeria meant Argentina overtook Italy as the third highest scorers (way behind on 131 and 128). France broke their World Cup century with Olivier Giroud's opener against Switzerland, becoming only the 5th team to do so. Germany have now been in a record 8 finals - one more than Brazil. Argentina maintained their 100% record in semi finals, winning their 5th out of 5. However they are now the only former champions to have a negative overall record in finals. This was Colombia's and Costa Rica's most successful word cup campaign ever, and Belgium's second best after their 1986 run to the semi final, where they were also beaten by Argentina. Since their ban from the 1990 World Cup for goalkeeper Roberto Rojas feigning injury from a firework in the qualifier vs Brazil at the Maracana, Chile have qualified for 3 world cups and have been eliminated by Brazil in the 2nd round of all 3. They did however beat the then world champions in that stadium.
How often was a team eliminated 3 times in a row by the same team? It happened to Argentina and you might count Chile too.
Brazil won its 3rd WC in 1970. Twenty-four years later, it won its 5th title. Italy won its 3rd WC in 1982. Twenty-four years later, it won its 5th title. Germany won its 3rd WC in 1990. Twenty-four years later, it won its 5th title.
Ángel Landoni, an uruguayan intl. halfback, played for Nacional between 1910 and 1917. Played in oficial matches in all 11 positions: Three times as goalie, once as Right Fullback and another one as Left Fullback, 46 games as Right Halfback, 5 times was Centrehalf and 13 games in the Left Halfback role. Outside Right he played 5 times, 9 as Inside Right, 16 as Centreforward, 8 as Inside Left and once as Outside Left. He also was part of the Technical Commitee.
Before the Olympic Games in 1928, the magazine "Mundo Uruguayo" made a public poll to elected the starting CF. The winner was Rene Borjas with 52137 votes, then Cea with 47037 and third was Petrone with 46931 votes. Another one: The uruguayan staff test physically the players. The conclusion was that Nasazzi, Mazali, Juan Piriz and Petrone were the fastest players, running the 100 meters in 12,2 seconds. (In another paragraph said that Petrone circa 1924 could run it in 11 seconds) "Historia de Nacional" by Andrés Reyes
Actually Chile have been eliminated by Brazil everytime they have ever qualified out of the group stage of a world cup.
Gunter Netzer playing for Real Madrid in 1974 was the first player who won the WC not playing for a domestic club at the time of the WC Finals. Jose Altafini had signed with AC Milan before the WC Finals in 1958, but he had not make his AC Milan debut.
This is an absolutely useless story. So it belongs here. Aryton Senna and Pele dated the same girl. Xuxa was Pele's grilfriend when she was 19 years old. Then, in 1988, she became Senna's girlfriend. So this girl dated two of Brazil's biggest sporting icon. It was liked someone dating Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan.