In 2002 there was a final played between the two worst countries in soccer to see who really was the worst. It was held between Montserrat and Bhutan, Bhutan won the game 4-0. In 1956 Bert Trautman a goalie for Manchester city played a game against Birmingham , he noticed he had a stiff neck, yet he made save after save. It was a 3-1 win for his team and it was not untill the end of the game that it was discovered that he had a broken neck. Two English Man U fans wanted to go see their team play in Spain so they booked two flights to Santiago, However after an 11 hour plane trip it became obvious that they were headed to Santiago Chile not Spain. They watched the game on the tele. The Anglican church in 2002 in England decided that instead of loosing its parishoners they would try a new approach. A number of parishes held services earlier, then put TV screens on altars and the lawns. One put a sign out front that read " make jesus the center forward of your life" and urged fans to come to church in their jerseys. All true stories folks enjoy.
It was actually a few days after the game that he had x-ray's taken which revealed the break. I'm not certain, but the first picture may be the incident where he broke his neck.
Not quite as good, but still very remarkable is Didi Hamanns performance in this years Champions League final. He broke his leg but kept on playing, as Liverpool already had three substitues on the field. When it came to the shoot out, he was the first to take the penalty and scored with his broken leg.
Not exactly trivia, but still... Sometime during the 1960s in Liverpool, religous folks had put up a poster asking it's citizens "What would you do if Jesus came to Liverpool?" Written underneath: "Move St. John to right-back." He's a Liverpool lengend, y'know.
Glad you are all enjoying the trivia here is another, A newspaper in Kinshasa the Congo reported the bizarre icindent were lightning struck at a soccer game in the east of the country. The lightning killed only the visiting team, the home team recieved only minor burns. The fans were convinced someone had cursed the visitors.
In 1994, Alessandro Costacurta missed both the European Cup final (won by Milan) and the World Cup final (lost by Italy) through suspension because of yellow card accumilation.
In the 1971-72 European Cup Winners Cup, Sporting Lisbon were paired with Glasgow Rangers in the 2nd round. With the aggregate score level at 6-6, Rangers would go and miss all four of their spot kicks during the penalty shootout which allowed Sporting to advance to the quarter-finals. But UEFA observer Andres Ramirez interrupted the Portuguese celebrations with heartbreaking news. With both sides having won their home fixture 3-2, the aggregate result required extra-time. During the extra 30 minute session both sides scored. With the 2nd leg taking place in Lisbon, referee Laurens van Raavens should never have ordered a shootout: Rangers had advanced on the away goals rule that was introduced three seasons earlier. Rangers would go on to lift the Cup Winners Cup.
A bit of trivia, everybodies favourite tall man Peter Crouch is still growing, it's a medical condition and doctors think he'll top 7 feet.
Zoltan Czibor was a member of the Hungary team that reached the 1954 World Cup final: -- He scored his team's second goal in that match, -- His side lost by a score of 3-2, -- The match was played in the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern. Zoltan Czibor was also a member of the Barcelona team that reached the 1961 European Cup final: -- He scored his team's second goal in that match, -- His side lost by a score of 3-2, -- The match was played in the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.
As a slight addition, Czibor played in two other major finals (1952 Olympics and 1960 Fairs Cup 2nd Leg). He also scored the second goal in both of those games, but finished on the winning side - must be something about Switzerland. He didn't play in any other major finals.