251. Did You Know?: 
Selected scores from the various qualifying competitions for the 2010 World Cup finals. Confederation of Africa: Madagascar 10, Comoros 2. Malawi 8, Djibouti 1. Asian Football Confederation: Uzbekistan 9, Chinese Taipei 0. Pakistan 0, Iraq 7. Hong Kong 8, Timor-Leste 1. UEFA: Israel 7, Luxembourg 0. Slovakia 7, San Marino 0. CONCACAF: El Salvador 12, Anguilla 0. US Virgin Islands 0, Grenada 10. United States 8, Barbados 0. Oceania: Fiji 16, Tuvalu 0. American Samoa 0, Vanuatu 15. American Samoa 1, Solomon Islands 12. South American Confederation: Bolivia 6, Argentina 1. Because of his exploits against Tuvalu (where he scored six times), Fiji's Ozzy Vakatalesau was the top goalscorer of the entire World Cup qualifying process with twelve goals.
252. Did You Know?:
Josef Masopust of Dukla Prague is a probably the former Czechoslovakia's most famous player. He was capped sixty three times, scoring ten goals for his country. In 1962, Masopust led the Czech team that reached the 1962 FIFA World Cup final, losing to Brazil. He scored their goal in the final and Czechoslovakia took the lead, Brazil however came back to win 3-1. Because of his performance at the World Cup Finals, Masopust was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962.
253. Did You Know?: If dear blog readers will briefly indulge yer actual Keith Telly Topping for a moment as he has one of those 'when I were't lad it were all fields round here' things that he needs to get off his chest. World Cup collectables just aren't as cool these days as they were in the 1970s. There, I've said it. Sure, you've still got your Panini stickers, a format that, effectively, hasn't changed in forty years and still brings joy to kids ... of all ages. I dunno, though, the 1970 and 1974 ones just seemed ... better, somehow.
Possibly because in those days we don't see as much overseas football as we do now and therefore seeing pictures of these exotic foreign stars with their odd-sounding names was a major thing. Also from 1970, of course, we had the memorable ESSO World Cup coin collection, thirty coins about the size of a ten pence piece all with members of the England squad's head on a coin. The only problem, of course, was that you could only get them from ESSO garages. And, it also for the most part entailed your dad actually, you know, having a car. The coins were odd things – depicting each player's head three-quarters on, they gave them all the sort of heroically stern countenance normally favoured by Soviet propagandist statuary, along with rather terrifying sightless eyes. Full sets have been known to go for a much as two hundred quid on eBay. 
Or, as little as a fiver, depending on who's selling them and how much they need the cash. Of course, the ultimate collectable from 1970, was 'Back Home', the first pop record made by an England side. Written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter (the authors of 'Puppet on a String' and 'Congratulations') it was issued on the Pye label (Pye 7N 17920). It saw the entire squad appearing on Top of the Pops in their tuxedos to bellow it, rather tunelessly, and it went all the way to number one. And, heretical as it may be for somebody who's seen The Clash and The Jam live to say it, I still rather like it!
254. Did You Know?: In the 1934 qualifying rounds, the first Scottish league players to appear in the World Cup were Joe O'Reilly and Paddy Moore of Aberdeen, who took part in what was then called The Irish Free State's team which drew 4-4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park in February.
255. Did You Know?:
The first substitute to score a goal in a World Cup final was the Netherlands' Dick Nanninga who grabbed an eighty second minute equaliser against Argentina after replacing Johnny Rep. Earlier in the tournament the big Roda JC striker had also become the first substitute player to be sent off in a World Cup, seven minutes after coming on against West Germany. Nanninga and Bernd Hölzenbein clashed as the Dutch took a free kick. Nanninga was shown the yellow card by the referee, Senor Comesana of Argentina. Nanninga was reported to have received his second yellow card for 'laughing at the referee's decision.'
256. Did You Know?: The day football changed forever. You could call Hungary's devastating 6-3 demolition of England at Wembley in November 1953 that. It probably was. It was certainly the death, in a sense, of Britain's denial that the game they gave the world had become a genuine world game. Albeit, the corpse itself continued to cough up blood for some time afterwards before finally accepting the inevitable. Never before had England lost an international match at home to a team from outside the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland team which won 2-0 at Everton in 1949 may, technically, have been the first, but it consisted almost entirely of players who plied their trade in the English league.
The outcome of the Hungarians' astonishing performance was revelatory, one that directly met the insular complacency of the English method head-on and instigated a root-and-branch tactical revision of the game. This dragged the England - kicking and screaming - from pre-war war static models into a post-war versatility-based era that allowed players maximum freedom of movement. The Hungarians had clearly been a force since they emerged from behind the Iron Curtain to win, thrillingly, the Helsinki Olympic tournament in 1952. The blinkered insularity which prevailed in England - and the rest of Great Britain, to be fair - at that time may be gauged from the fact that Frank Coles, the Daily Telegraph correspondent, asked himself how the gold medal-winning Hungarians would fare if they played against an English club side. His answer was that he believed the English team would run rings around them! In May, 1953, however, Hungary took a very good Italian side apart, 3-0 in Rome. The Hungarians played superb technical, tactical football, full of movement and rapid interchanging of positions. T
hey had Ferenc Puskas, a dominating captain with a formidable left foot and amazing close control, and Sándor Kocsis as their double spearhead. Before the game even kicked off the crowd witnessed Puskas doing keepy-ups. 'Millions of kids now do the same in their back yards but nobody at that time had seen it done in the centre circle at Wembley,' said future England manager Ron Greenwood, at the time playing for Chelsea. 'We all sat up and took notice.' Nándor Hidegkuti (see right) played behind Puskas and Kocsis as a 'deep' centre-forward (effectively the 'just behind the front two' link-man of modern parlance). Jozsef Bozsik, the right-half, would surge into attack. Jozsef Zakarias, the left-half, played beside the centre-half, Mihály Lantos who, himself, played more like a modern day creative midfielder. László Budai and Zoltán Czibor were effervescent, tricky wingers. A fortnight before the England match, Sweden, under an English coach - the Yorkshireman George Raynor - held Hungary to a draw in Budapest. Raynor had shrewdly appreciated what England's Walter Winterbottom would disastrously fail to; that it was Hidegkuti, who made the Hungarians tick. So, Raynor had him man-marked and Sweden got a 2-2 draw. Before the game at Wembley, Winterbottom merely asked his designated centre-half, Blackpool's Harry Johnston, whether he wanted to man-mark Hidegkuti or stand off him, to which Johnston answered that he would stand off. As a result, Hidegkuti ran riot and scored three time. The first came after just ninety seconds, when, taking a free kick from the edge of the penalty box, his feint drew Johnston out of the wall, whereupon Hidegkuti shot through the gap, to beat Gil Merrick. After thirteen minutes, Johnston won a tackle and found his Blackpool colleague, Stan Mortensen, who sent Jackie Sewell, the inside-right, dashing through to equalise. It was a false dawn. The Hungarians' ball control and movement utterly surpassed England's. 
A fierce drive by Hidegkuti made it 2-1. Puskas, a pseudo Major with the Hungarian army side, Honvéd, as were most of the team, scored a memorable third, drawing the ball back with the sole of his left foot so that England's captain Billy Wright (see left), in the words of The Times correspondent Geoffrey Green, 'rushed past him like a fire engine going to the wrong fire.' Wright ended up sprawled on the seat of his baggy shorts on the turf as, behind him, Puskas scored. England were not actually playing badly; the attack could look direct and dangerous. Grosics, the Hungary keeper, made a couple of gymnastic saves. But Puskas got a fourth Hungarian goal from Bozsik's free kick, before a fine solo by Mortensen made it 2-4. In the second half, Bozsik scored a fifth, then Hidegkuti completed his hat-trick. England then got a late penalty, which Alf Ramsey converted, after Grosics had brought down George Robb. Panic immediately engulfed the English game. The debate about whether English football could adapt to the new realities swiftly put everyone into two camps. Those who thought that we could - with a bit of effort and thinking - play football like that so long as we produced the right sort of players to fit the system, and those who still felt that English teams' traditional areas of strength (stamina, aggression, pace) could put the wind up Johnny Foreigner. Bobby Robson, then of Fulham who was at the game, said of the Hungarians: 'We saw a system of play that we had never seen before. We didn't know about Puskás. All these fantastic players, they were men from Mars as far as we were concerned. 
They called Puskás the 'Galloping Major' because he was in the army - how could this guy serving for the Hungarian army come to Wembley and rifle us to defeat? But the way they played, their technical brilliance and expertise - our WM formation was kyboshed in ninety minutes of football. The game had a profound effect, not just on myself but on all of us.' He added: 'We thought we would demolish this team - England at Wembley, we are the masters, they are the pupils. It was absolutely the other way.' Soon club sides like Manchester City (with Don Revie in the Hidegkuti role), West Ham United (with a clutch of young, eager football theorists like Malcolm Allison, John Bond and Noel Cantwell suggesting their tactics), Matt Busby's fast-merging Manchester United and, a couple of years later, Tottenham under the visionary Bill Nicholson began to experiment with the significance of formations. 
Allison (left), had also been in the stunned crowd at Wembley. He remembered vividly the impact of the Hungarians, of Hidegkuti creating space and, especially, of Puskas. Before the game, Allison and his West Ham team-mate Jimmy Andrews, who would later manage Cardiff City, watched Puskas warming up on a patch of grass where the greyhounds were normally exercised. Allison said the technique was startlingly good, but Andrews pointed to Puskas' pot-belly, saying, 'They can't win with a guy like that.' Allison disagreed. 'I told Jimmy, you know this could be interesting.' The change of tactics was of enormous significance in the development of football, moving permanently from the old two-three-five and WM formations to more fluid three-three-four, then four-two-four and four-three-three set ups. Six months after Wembley, on 23 May 1954, the Hungarians gave England and even more humbling masterclass in Budapest in a 7-1 win. It still ranks as England's worst ever defeat. Hungary's goals came from Lantos, Puskás (two), Kocsis (two), Hidegkuti and József Tóth. The England goal was scored by Ivor Broadis when the Hungarians were already six-nil ahead.
257. Did You Know?: Football has a long and rich tradition in Palestine. The game was originally introduced during the time of the British Mandate in the 1920s.
The Palestine FA was formed in 1928 and they joined FIFA in 1929. At the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs and clubs representing British policemen or soldiers serving in the region. An Arab club side represented the Palestinian FA in an attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1930 while the qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Palestine team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players.
258. Did You Know?: Kenneth Wolstenholme re-recorded his legendary climactic piece of commentary from the 1966 World Cup final for England/New Order's 1990 song 'World In Motion.'
The other voice-sample used on the record - '"We want goals." Against Mexico, they got one. A beauty scored by Bobby Charlton' - comes from the official FIFA film of the 1966 World Cup, Goal! The narrator is the actor Nigel Patrick. Originally the song - written by New Order and Keith Allen - was going to be called 'E for England' but the FA was, reportedly, worried that this could be taken as a reference to the drug ecstasy and vetoed that title. They, seemingly, missed the song's allusion to one-on-one (not to mention the wholly obvious euphemism for anal sex, 'there's only one way to beat them, get round the back').
259. Did You Know?: Hungary (1950), Sweden (1962), Czechoslovakia (1966) and the Netherlands (1982) share the distinction of being the only losing finalists in the previous competition not to qualify for the World Cup finals.
260. Did You Know?: In 1986, TV viewers watching games from the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City could have been excused for feeling terrified, particularly if they suffered from arachnophobia.
There appeared to be the shadow of a massive spider shadow suspended over the halfway line. As it happens, the truth of things was far more mundane - it was actually the shadow of the stadium's public address sound system ... which was suspended over the halfway line. There is a story that when England turned up at the Azteca for their quarter-final against Argentina, Howard Wilkinson who was with the England party, looked at the giant speaker and mused that something like that would go down well at Hillsborough. 'You can't do that,' one wag in the press corps is alleged to have replied. 'It would interfere with Sheffield Wednesday's passing.'
261. Did You Know?:
It was originally intended that the World Cup would be held alternately between the continents of South America and Europe. However Jules Rimet, the creator of the World Cup, is said to have convinced FIFA to hold the competition in France, his home country, in 1938. Because of this controversy, many American countries, including Argentina (the most likely hosts if the event had been held in South America), Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Dutch Guiana, Uruguay and the United States all withdrew or refused to enter. Brazil, bless 'em, turned up regardless.
262. Did You Know?: FIFA was formed in Paris on 22 May 1904 - comprising the football associations from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with Germany pledging to join soon afterwards. As football began to increase in popularity, it was contested as an IOC-recognised Olympic sport at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, before becoming an official FIFA-supervised Olympic competition at the 1908 games in London. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912. There was an attempt made by FIFA to organize an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in 1906 and this took place in Switzerland. These were very early days for international football and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, competitions involving professional teams also started to appear.
The Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, held in Turin, Italy in 1908, was one of the first and the following year the eccentric Scottish industrialist and tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, also held in Turin. Both tournaments were contested between individual clubs and not national teams. Italy, Germany and Switzerland sent their most prestigious professional sides of time to the competition - Torina, Stuttgarter Sportfreunde and FC Winterthur respectively. The Football Association, however, refused to have anything to do with Lipton's 'tea cup,' and declined the offer to send a team. (Both Everton and Newcastle United were reportedly approached individually by Lipton but also sent him packing.) Not wishing to have England unrepresented in the competition, Lipton invited West Auckland FC, an amateur side from County Durham and mostly made up of coal miners, to take part. West Auckland promptly won the tournament and returned to Italy in 1911 to defend their title. In this second competition, they beat Juventus 6-1 in the final and were awarded the trophy outright. As it was a club rather than national competition this wasn't really a direct forerunner of the World Cup, although the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy is sometimes described, erroneously, as 'The First World Cup.' The story of West Auckland's success was turned into a television movie in 1981 – A Captain's Tale, produced by Tyne Tees Television and starring Dennis Waterman (who didn't sing the theme song). But, don't let that put you off, it was actually pretty good.
263. Did You Know?: Dinko Dermendzhiev participated in three World Cups for Bulgaria - in 1962, 1966 and 1970. In the latter he scored his only goal, against Peru. He is, almost certainly the only player called Dinko ever to have scored in the World Cup. Unless, of course, you know differently.
264. Did You Know?: The Football Association of Ireland selected the Saipan training base for Ireland's 2002 World Cup campaign. During the course of the first session, the Irish captain, Roy Keane, expressed serious misgivings about the adequacy of the facilities and the standard of preparation. He was angered by the late arrival of the squad's equipment, which had disrupted the first training session on a pitch that he described as 'like a car park.' After a row with goalkeeping coach Pat Bonner and Alan Kelly on the second day of training, Keane announced he wished to return home to Manchester. The FAI were unable to get Keane an immediate flight home at such short notice, meaning that he remained in Saipan for another night, but they called up Colin Healy as a replacement for him. The following day, however, manager Mick McCarthy seemed to have persuaded Keane to stay. Things soon took a turn for the worse.
Keane gave an interview to Tom Humphries, of the Irish Times, in which he expressed his general unhappiness. McCarthy took offence at Keane's interview and confronted the player in front of the entire squad. Keane said he had told the newspaper what he considered to be the truth and that the Irish fans deserved to know what was going on inside the camp. He then unleashed a verbal tirade against McCarthy which, reportedly included the infamous comment 'You're a fucking wanker. I didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You can stick your World Cup up your bollocks!' Niall Quinn subsequently claimed in his autobiography that 'Roy Keane's ten-minute oration was clinical, fierce, earth-shattering to the person on the end of it and it ultimately caused a huge controversy in Irish society.' None of Keane's team-mates voiced support for him during the meeting, although some are said to have done so in private afterwards. Senior professionals Quinn and Steve Staunton backed McCarthy in a press conference after the event. It was here that McCarthy announced he had dismissed Keane from the squad and sent him home. By this time, the FIFA deadline for naming the World Cup squads had passed.
265. Did You Know?: The Jules Rimet trophy was stolen during a public stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, on the afternoon of Sunday 20 March 1966 just four months before the tournament in England was scheduled to kick-off.
The thief ignored rare stamps with a reported value of three million pounds to steal the trophy which, despite being solid gold, was reckoned to be worth a mere three grand. Police received a fifteen thousand pound ransom demand, but when they arrested the culprit it turned out to be a hoax. The trophy was found seven days later wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Beulah Hill, South Norwood, by a plucky little dog called Pickles while taking a walk with his owner David Corbett. When England won the trophy, as a reward, Pickles was invited to the celebration banquet and was allowed to lick the plates clean. Because you normally have to pay good money to do that. His owner collected a six thousand pound reward. The thief was never caught. Sadly, Pickles died, choking on his own lead while chasing a cat the following year.
266. Did You Know?: Everyone has probably seen the confrontation after the Argentina-Germany World Cup quarter-final in 2006 between the two sets of players. Everybody was kung-fu fighting. And it was, very definitely, a little bit frightening. Unused Argentina substitute Leandro Cufre had an argument with German defender Per Mertesacker after Germany had won the penalty competition and - he subsequent alleged - in response to 'verbal provocation,' kicked Mertesacker. Really hard. That sparked a melee.
Torsten Frings had this to say on the subject of Argentines in general: 'They are bad losers. They lost their minds. It just shows they are bad sports and are badly behaved. I hope their players get suspended.' Thing is, loathed as I am to agree with a German on pretty much anything, he's more than a bit right. Argentina has been, and still is, the producer of some wonderful footballers - dozens of them - and they are a sight to see when they turn it on. But they've always had a bit of a reputation for being churlish and swaggering winners and sour, nasty, aggressive losers. Their 1990 World Cup campaign, when they reached the final with a disciplinary record that would have shamed Charles Manson, lost to Germany and ended the final with nine men and Maradonna blubbing like a girl about the manifest injustices of life is very much a case in point. He would later accused Italy and FIFA - and, the CIA and The Saucer People, probably - of helping West Germany to win the title. I don't know whether there's any truth in that - most World Cups usually end with a huge and bewildering number of teams leaving the competition accusing FIFA of bias against them and them alone - but, it is fair to say that, basically, nobody like a cry-baby.
267. Did You Know?:
The 1966 World Cup was the subject of bitter disagreement before a ball was ever kicked. Sixteen African nations boycotted the tournament in protest at a 1964 FIFA ruling which required the winners of the African zone to enter a play-off round against the winners of either the Asian or the Oceanic zone in order to win a place at the finals. The Africans felt that winning their group should have been enough in itself to merit qualification for the finals. Despite the Africans' absence, there was a then record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with seventy nations taking part.
268. Did You Know?: Canada clinched its first ever World Cup finals spot in 1986 after winning the final qualifying match against Honduras 2–1 in St John's, Newfoundland, with the Hondurans wearing tuques and gloves on the field due to the cold weather.
269. Did You Know?: The history of The Beautiful Game has not always been so spotless. Behind the lust-for-glory image of football lies another history - of coercion, corruption and manipulation.
For a country which has shouldered a weight of footballing shame in its time, it ranks as one of England's darkest moments in the sport. The venue: Berlin's Olympic Stadium; the date: 14 May 1938. As the English players lined up alongside their German counterparts for pre-match ceremonies captain Eddie Hapgood and his men issued an admittedly rather half-hearted Nazi salute to the crowd. The gesture provoked outrage in the British press and was seen as all the more galling since Herr Hitler himself was not even present at the game. But England's presence in Germany on that day was less about sport than politics. The policy of appeasement towards the Nazis pursued by Neville Chamberlain's government at the time had been intentionally transposed to the football pitch. 
It was a Foreign Office order that the England team - which included Stanley Matthews, Cliff Bastin and Frank Broome - perform the salute. The underlying message was calculated to be that Germany, which two months earlier had annexed Austria, was not a pariah state. This friendly international effectively helped clear the way for Chamberlain's 'Peace in our Time' deal with Hitler, which, in turn, led to Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia. That England won the game, 6-3, was something of a historical footnote.
270. Did You Know?:
Although Mark Bosnich's international appearances with Australia were quite rare once his career started in Europe - he won seventeen caps in seven years - one in particular was a memorable occasion. He became one of the few international goalkeepers to have scored a goal, when he took a late penalty for his national team in a 13-0 win over the Solomon Islands in the qualifying rounds for the 1994 World Cup.
271. Did You Know?: In 1956, the crack Hungarian army side Honvéd qualified for the second European Cup competition and in the first round they were drawn against Atlético Bilbao. Honvéd lost the away leg 2–3, but before the home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution had collapsed back in Budapest and the Soviet Union invaded. The Honved players - who formed the majority of the Hungarian national side including Puskas, Kocsis et al - decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return game with Atlético to be played at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. However early in the game the Honvéd goalkeeper was injured and, with no substitutes permitted, Zoltán Czibor had to go into goal.
Despite drawing 3–3 Honved went out 6–5 on aggregate. Elimination left Honvéd in limbo. The players, declining to return to Hungary, summoned their families from Budapest and, despite opposition from FIFA and the now Soviet-controlled Hungarian Football Federation, Béla Guttmann organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Among the most notable matches were a 5–5 draw with a Madrid XI and a 4–3 win over Barcelona. Honvéd declined a Mexican offer of political asylum and an invitation to join their national league and instead accepted an offer to play in a tournament in Brazil with CR Flamengo and Botafogo. By now FIFA had declared the team illegal and banned them from using the Honvéd name. After returning to Europe, the players parted ways. Some, including László Budai and Gyula Lóránt returned to Hungary while others, including Czibor, Kocsis and Puskás, found new clubs in Western Europe. Czibor and Kocsis eventually signed for Barcelona while Puskás joined Real Madrid. Because of this, the 1958 Hungary World Cup squad was a shadow of its former self with only goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, Jozsef Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti remaining from the Magnificant Magyars era.
272. Did You Know?:
The fourth World Cup finals tournament was originally planned to take place again in 1942. Germany - having just made such a wonderful job of tarnishing the Olympic movement for the foreseeable future - applied to host the tournament at the Twenty Third FIFA Congress on 13 August 1936, held - coincidentally - in Berlin. In June 1939 Brazil also applied to host the tournament. However, after the beginning of World War II three months later, further plans for the 1942 tournament were cancelled before a host country was selected. The aftermath of World War II also caused the cancellation of the 1946 World Cup.
273. Did You Know?: The 1978 World Cup final is mired in all sorts of controversy - quite apart from the circumstances of Argentina even being there. The Dutch team accused the Argentines of using dirty tactics to delay the beginning of the match.
The host team came out late and then their captain, Daniel Passarella (right), questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof's wrist, something which had already been passed by FIFA. The Dutch claim this allowed tension to build in front of a hostile Buenos Aires crowd already glazed-eyed and fanatical with their hot Latin temperament. Ready to slaughter some alleged Communists insurgents in the name of El Presidente Videla - Viva El Presidente! - and his military Junta. So, beating their chests and with their collective chimney well and truly on, it was finally time for kick off. The Netherlands subsequently refused to attend the post-match ceremonies. Back in Amsterdam, an eight-year-old Dennis Bergkamp remembers watching the match and crying after the defeat. He also longed to be part of such an occasion one day. Twenty years later, almost to the day, he scored a last minute goal that would knock Argentina out of the World Cup in France. He who laughs last, laughs longest.
274. Did You Know?:
In the 1934 World Cup quarter-finals, the first replayed match in World Cup history took place, when Italy and Spain drew 1-1 after extra time. The match was played in a highly charged atmosphere, especially after the Spanish goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora was injured, leaving him unable to participate in the replay. Italy won the second fixture 1-0 and, their play was reportedly so physical that at least three Spaniards had to depart the field with injuries. Italy then went on to beat Austria in the semi finals by the same score.
275. Did You Know?: Otilino Tenorio was one of the greatest players Ecuador has ever produced.
His nickname was 'Spiderman', because when he scored a goal he would often cover his head with a superhero mask as he celebrated. He was first selected for the Ecuadorian national team in 2004 and was a key figure in their early qualification matches for the 2006 World Cup. Tragically, Tenorio died in May 2005 in an automobile accident when he was travelling to Quevedo, to visit his family. He was twenty-five. Equador subsequently did qualify for their second successive World Cup finals. As a homage to Tenorio, his team-mate Iván Kaviedes, pulled on a yellow 'Spiderman' mask after scoring the third goal of Ecuador's 3-0 win over Costa Rica. 'Otilino is accompanying us from heaven,' Kaviedes later said. That goal helped Ecuador qualify for the second round.
276. Did You Know?: How many members of the Charlton family have played in the World Cup finals?
If you said two, you're wrong! Born in the Northumberland mining town of Ashington, Bobby and Jackie's mother, Cissie, was a member of the Milburn family and her cousin, Jackie Milburn, was Newcastle United's record breaking centre forward during the 1950s. He played one match for England (against Spain) in the 1950 tournament in Brazil and also scored a hat-trick against Wales during qualification. Four of Jackie's other cousins - Cissie's brothers - also played league football: Jack Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford City), George Milburn (Leeds United and Chesterfield), Jimmy Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford City) and Stan Milburn (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale).
277. Did You Know?: In May 1960, as the preparations for the 1962 tournament were well under way, Chile suffered the largest earthquake ever recorded (9.5 magnitude), which caused enormous damage to the national infrastructure. In face of this, Carlos Dittborn, the president of the Organization Committee, coined the phrase 'Because we don't have anything, we will do everything in our power to rebuild,' which became the unofficial slogan of the tournament. Stadia and other infrastructure were rebuilt at record speed and the tournament occurred on schedule with no major organizational flaw. Sadly, Dittborn would not live to see the success of his tireless efforts, as he died one month before the start of the tournament. The World Cup venue at Arica was named Estadio Carlos Dittborn in his honour and bears his name.
278. Did You Know?:
Manuel Negrete's goal for Mexico in the second round match against Bulgaria in 1986 has often been described as one of the most spectacular in World Cup history. Negrete received a high ball outside the penalty area, controlled it, let the ball bounce once on the ground and combined with Javier Aguirre; the latter returned the ball on the first touch, while keeping it on the air and Negrete volleyed a spectacular scissor kick into the bottom left corner past goalkeeper Borislav Mikhailov.
279. Did You Know?: In 2006, for the first time ever, the first and last goals of the finals tournament were scored by defenders.
Philipp Lahm (see left), the German wing back, scored the opener against Costa Rica after only five minutes of the opening match. In the final, Marco Materazzi, the Italian centre back, out-jumped Patrick Vieira and headed in the last goal of tournament. Meanwhile, in Euro 2008 when Germany played Portugal there was a quite remarkable moment when, after the game, the Portuguese number ten swapped his shirt with the German number three. The only case on record, as far as this blogger is aware, of Moutinho dressed as Lahm. I'm here all week. Try the veal.
280. Did You Know?: On 11 April 2001, Australia and American Samoa played in a qualifying match at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. Australia set a world record for the largest ever victory in an international football match, winning 31–0. Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals scored by a player in an international match with thirteen. David Zdrilic scored another eight.
The scoreline led to debates within the world of football about the format of qualification tournaments, with the Australian coach and Thompson himself both feeling that preliminary rounds should be introduced to avoid such unbalanced matches, views which were, subsequently, shared by FIFA. It eventually led to an introduction of a preliminary round in the Oceanic zone qualification for the 2006 World Cup. Two days before the match, Australia had recorded a 22–0 win over Tonga, breaking the previous record for largest win in an international matches, held by Kuwait who won 20–0 against Bhutan in 2000. As a consequence, against American Samoa, Australia rested many of their first choice players and fielded a team with several players who had only a handful of international caps. Strikers John Aloisi and Damian Mori, for instance, who combined for ten goals in the win over Tonga, were both rested for this game. The American Samoa however had greater problems. 
Many of the team were troubled by passport issues, with only one member of their original twenty-man senior team, goalkeeper Nicky Salapu, eligible to play. They were also unable to call any of their under-twenty players because most of them were involved in high school exams at the time. Therefore, they were forced to draft in their youth players, including three fifteen-year-old players and put together a makeshift team with an average age of eighteen. By winning the Oceanic zone, Australia advanced to the intercontinental play-off round against Uruguay, the fifth best team in the South American zone. Where, despite their record-breaking exploits earlier, Australia were defeated with an aggregate score of 3-1.
281. Did You Know?: Bulgaria had never been closer to winning a World Cup finals match than when they found themselves 1-0 up with just three minutes left in their group match against Uruguay at Hanover in 1974. It had been a desperately long wait for the Bulgarians;
in three previous tournaments all they had to show for a lot of effort were a couple of draws, some cracking goals in Mexico in 1970, and the knowledge that most football fans held their defender, Aleksandar Shalamanov, responsible for dishing out some rough treatment to Pele at Goodison Park in 1966. Now, thanks to a seventy fifth minute goal by their captain, Hristo Bonev (right), they were close to the win they had craved for so long. Then, disaster, a shot by Ricardo Pavoni squirmed under the body of the Bulgarian keeper, Lokomotiv Sofia's Rumen Goranov. In the days after the 1-1 draw, it was suggested that the rest of the Bulgarian squad had, effectively, sent Goranov to Coventry. (Well, not literally, cos they had Bill Glazier at the time. And David Icke in the reserves, too.) Certainly, he was dropped for their final group game, a 4-1 hiding by the Netherlands when Levski's Stefan Staikov kept goal.
282. Did You Know?: Bert Trautmann was German goalkeeper who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper. He fought on the Eastern Front for three years, earning five medals including an Iron Cross. Later in the war he was transferred to the Western Front, where he was captured by the British as the war drew to a close. One of only ninety of his original one thousand-man regiment to survive the war, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Ashton-in-Makerfield. Trautmann refused an offer of repatriation and, following his release in 1948, he settled in Lancashire, combining farm work with playing as goalkeeper for local amateur football team St Helens Town.
He signed for Manchester City the following year. Some City fans were not happy about having a former member of the Luftwaffe on the team, Manchester having been heavily bombed during the war. Season ticket holders threatened a boycott and various groups in Manchester and around the country bombarded the club with protest letters. Besides the difficulties with his nationality, Trautmann was also replacing the recently retired Frank Swift, one of the greatest keepers in the club's history. Nevertheless, Trautmann's displays in City's goal and gentlemanly behaviour on and off the field soon won over many of the doubters over - although he still suffered the occasional taunt of 'Kraut!' in away matches. Indeed, it is not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that Trautmann personally was a major help in the rehabilitation of the German people in the eyes of many Britons during the 1950s, particularly after his exploits in the 1956 FA Cup final where played the final fifteen minutes at Wembley with a broken vertebrate in his neck, helping City to beat Birmingham. Though recognised as one of the leading goalkeepers of his era, however, he never played for his native country. Trautmann met with German national coach Sepp Herberger in 1953, who explained that travel and political implications prevented him from selecting a player who was not readily available, and that he could only consider including Trautmann if he was playing in a German league. Consequently, Trautmann's international isolation prevented him from playing in the 1954 World Cup, in which his countrymen were victorious. Trautmann's only experience of international football came in 1960, when the Football League decided to include non-English players in representative matches for the first time. Trautmann captained the League against the Irish League and also played against the Italian League.
283. Did You Know?: The top scoring teams at the 1974 World Cup were the Netherlands, West Germany and Poland, all with fifteen goals from seven matches.
284. Did You Know?: Wilfred Van Moer was one of Belgium's stars at the 1970 World Cup Finals, scoring twice in the only game his country won in Mexico, 3-0 against El Salvador. A broken leg suffered in a European Nations Cup tie with Italy threatened his career and, although he recovered, other injuries restricted his international appearances. By October 1979, aged thirty four, and without an appearance for The Red Devils for four years, his international career appeared to be over. Belgian coach Guy Thys had other ideas.
Van Moer was an inspired choice for a side who had forgotten how to win, as they prepared to take on Portugal in a vital European Championship qualifier. Van Moer scored the first goal in a 2-0 win and also performed key roles in home and away victories over Scotland, which propelled Belgium to the finals in Italy. He was brilliant in the finals themselves, too, as Belgium ended as runner-up to West Germany. Van Moer's international career went on for two more years, long enough to appear in another World Cup. Named captain in the absence of Eric Gerets, for the second round game against Poland his international career finally ended when replaced by François Van der Elst at half-time.
285. Did You Know?: A team represented The Saarland from 1950 to 1956 during the French occupation following World War II. France opposed the inclusion of The Saarland in the Federal Republic of Germany until 1956 and administered it separately from Germany as The Saar Protectorate. The local population did not want to join France, so in 1950 a National Olympic Committee was formed which led to an appearance of The Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
The Saar football team played only nineteen matches over a six year period, ten of these against what were, effectively, interational 'B' sides, but they did participate in the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. They finishing ahead of Norway in their group, defeating them at home, but behind West Germany. Prior to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, on 5 June, they hosted a game against defending World Champions Uruguay, losing 7-1. Other 'A' team opponents in friendlies were Yugoslavia (1-5), the Netherlands (1-2, 2-3) and Switzerland (1-1). Following a plebiscite in 1955, The Saarland became part of the Federal Republic of Germany with effect on 1 January 1957. Coach Helmut Schön, who had managed The Saarland team since 1952, went on to coach the successful German national team in the 1960s and 1970s.
286. Did You Know?: Given their success at Euro 1996 (when they were runners up), the Czech Republic were widely expected to qualify for the 1998 World Cup.
However, they finished third in their group, behind Spain, and Yugoslavia and subsequently failed to qualify. This, despite the presence of Pavel Nedved, Pavel Novotný, Karel Poborský, Patrik Berger, Vladimír Šmicer and Pavel Srnícek in their squad. They also failed to qualify in 2002 but did, finally, make it in 2006. Having hammered the USA, 3-0, in their opening game (big Jan Koller scoring the first and Tomáš Rosický adding two more) they were hugely disappointing in losing to Ghana and Italy in their next two games and were eliminated.
287. Did You Know?: The 2006 World Cup semi final between Germany and Italy produced a vastly entertaining - albeit, goalless - game and a thrilling extra time period. Italy won with two late goals by Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero, putting an end to Germany's undefeated record in Dortmund's WM Stadion.
288. Did You Know?: Aren't third place play-off matches just the single most pointless invention since the electric car? Who cares which of the two losing semi finalists is the best?! Sometimes they're dead dull (West Germany v Uruguay in 1970, Poland v Brazil in 1974).
Sometimes, they've got a bit more to them (France v Belgium in 1986, Italy v England in 1990, Germany v Portugal in 2006). One or two have been downright nasty (Netherlands v Croatia in 1998). One (Brazil v Italy in 1978) even managed to produce one of the greatest goals in World Cup history, from Nelinho. But they're still utterly bloody pointless and are usually just an excuse for teams to give a match to a few of their squad players who haven't featured so far in the tournament. Neil Webb (left) played in a World Cup third place play-off game. I mean, that says it all, really.
289. Did You Know?:
William Naughty Mokoena - beyond-brilliant nickname, and all - played for South Africa and was in their squad for the 1998 World Cup in France. However, he was sent home, along with another player, Brendan Augustine, for 'breaches of discipline' after breaking curfew set by coach Philippe Troussier just before the tournament began. You can see why they call him Naughty.
290. Did You Know?: At the start of 1950 there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both, the Belfast-based IFA and the Dublin-based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and routinely selected players from the whole island for their teams.
As a consequence several notable Irish players from this era actually played for both teams. Four - Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh and Con Martin - competed for both the FAI XI and the IFA XI in qualifying rounds for the 1950 World Cup. FIFA eventually intervened, after complaints from the FAI, and subsequently restricted players' eligibility based on the political border. In 1953 FIFA ruled that neither team could be referred to purely as Ireland, decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the Republic of Ireland, while the IFA team was to become Northern Ireland. Now, if only FIFA could have got the Loyalists and the Republicans round the table we could have had the Good Friday Agreement forty years earlier.
291. Did You Know?:
Thirty years after the most famous day in English football history, they scored another victory when they finally persuaded Helmut Haller to give them their bloody ball back! The German midfielder had collected the ball after the 1966 final - since nobody else seemed too bothered about it - hung onto it whilst collecting his medal and doing a lap of honour, stuck it in his suitcase and taken it home with him as a memento of the day. He subsequently gave the ball to his son, Juregen, as a birthday present. It remained in Haller's home in Augsburg until 1996 when the British tabloids the Sun and the Daily Mirror started pestering him about giving it back. Haller did and the ball is now an exhibit at the National Football Museum in Preston.
292. Did You Know?: You think that the media complaining about referees from emerging football nations taking charge of big games at the World Cup is a new thing? Not really. When England played Brazil in 1970, the appointment of Israeli official Abraham Klein was widely criticised in the Western media before the match. One infamous comment was that it was 'like putting a boy scout into Viet 'Nam.' In the event, Klein had a terrific game and was commended afterwards by both managers for letting the play flow.
In fact, his only error, if we can call it that, was that he was enjoying the thing so much he let it over-run. 'Not many people know, but when I blew for time the players didn't hear the whistle,' he told the press some years later. 'As it was such a great game I let it continue for a few minutes!' Klein refereed in two future tournaments, 1978 and 1982. He was originally earmarked by FIFA as a potential referee for the 1978 final, but Argentina reportedly objected to his selection on the grounds of Israel's close political ties with the Netherlands. Most independent observers believe it had more to do with his not awarding Argentina a penalty in their earlier 1-0 loss to Italy. Klein was also the linesman in the 1982 final between Italy and West Germany having earlier refereed the classic Italy v Brazil second round match.
293. Did You Know?: Internal disputes meant that Argentina's squad for the 1934 tournament did not contain a single survivor from the team which reached the final in 1930.
294. Did You Know?: In qualification for the 1994 World Cup, France needed only a draw at home to Bulgaria in their final game, with the match poised at 1–1 David Ginola overhit a cross and lost possession.
This allowed the Bulgarians to counter-attack and eventually resulted in Emil Kostadinov scoring a surprise winner to knock France out with, literally, the last kick of the game. The French manager Gérard Houllier blamed the entire defeat on Ginola, and the press and fans followed suit. He was subsequently branded 'the assassin of French football.' After being barracked by French fans, including his own at Paris St Germain, Ginola moved to England with Newcastle United in 1995. Where he had a wonderful first half-season and then played whenever he fancied it. Which was usually about once every three games. (Though, to be fair, when he was good he was very good!) He subsequently became something of a cult figure at Tottenham. France's next manager, Aimé Jacquet, mostly ignored Ginola who played his last match for the French national team in 1995.
295. Did You Know?: Atletico Bilbao's Andoni Goikoetxea was nicknamed 'The Butcher of Bilbao' after a particularly vicious tackle on Diego Maradonna, then playing for Barcelona, resulted in a serious ankle injury for the Argentine.
Goikoetxea reportedly kept the boot he wore when he broke Maradonna's metataril in a glass case at home. Nice touch. Goikoetxea caused a severe knee injuring to Bernd Schuster when the latter was also playing for Barca. Schuster never fully recovered the level of earlier seasons. So, to sum up then, clearly a chap with an almost psychotic hatred for Germans and Argentines. Sounds like quite a reasonable, decent sort of bloke, actually. Goikoetxea played thirty nine times for Spain including at the 1986 World Cup when he scored one of his four international goals in Spain's famous 5-1 win over Denmark (the four remaining goals were all scored by Emilio Butragueño).
296. Did You Know?:
The German team who played at the 1938 World Cup did so under the flag of the National Socialist dictatorship that was about to subject Europe to six years of bloodshed, horror and genocide. Satisfyingly, then, the team - including several members of the Austrian side which had achieved third place four years earlier following Hitler's Anschluss - were held to a 1-1 draw in their first round match by little neutral Switzerland and were then beaten, 4-2, in the replay. That early exit still stands as Germany's worst ever World Cup result. So, explain that one, Dr Goebbels!
297. Did You Know?:
Everything was exotic about the 1970 World Cup, the players, the match ball, the TV coverage. Well, maybe not everything. Next time you're watching any highlights check out some of the advertising hoardings surrounding the pitches in the heat of Mexico '70. Although the 1966 World Cup was the first tournament with a genuine worldwide TV audience, British reserve - and, indeed, naïvity - about commercialism meant that 1970 was the truth birth of marketing globalisation through sports advertising. 
These ranged from European booze companies (ubiquitously Martini whose logo was prominently positioned behind the goals at just about every game, Cinzanio, Smirnoff and Union Bier), to a couple of multinational petroleum conglomerates (ESSO and Shell), Citizen Watches, Zeiss of Jena the German manufacturer of optical systems, Dutch electronic giants Phillips' 'cassette tape recorders', Sinalco soft drinks, home appliances firm Rowenta, British staples like Mothercare, Findus and the Daily Mirror and - one for the dandies, this - the stylish clobber of John Stephens of Carnaby Street.
298. Did You Know?:
Terry Neill's Northern Ireland failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, despite having George Best available for some of their games, but this was no surprise given that they were unable to play any of their home matches in their own country. The Troubles dictated that their three 'home' games - against Portugal, Cyprus and Bulgaria - had to be staged in England; at Coventry, Fulham and Hillsborough, respectively. Only Cyprus were beaten, 3-0 and this victory could not appease the costly defeat in Nicosia in which Cyprus scored their only goal of the entire campaign. Best was sent-off for retaliation in a 3-0 defeat in Sofia. The highlight of the group was a terrific 1-1 draw with Portugal in which Martin O'Neill gave the Irish the lead only for Eusebio to equalise.
299. Did You Know?: Prior to their opening game in the 1974 World Cup finals (a 3-2 defeat to Poland in Stuttgart), Argentina's Roberto Telch had been accused of raping a seventeen year old hotel chambermaid.
When police interviewed Telch, he was quoted as saying: 'I did not take the girl's resistance seriously.' Stuttgart's chief prosecutor decided not to press charges against the footballer because, he noted, 'there was no evidence to contradict what Telch said.' Telch went on to appear in five of Argentina's six games in the tournament. The team, which also included the likes of Ruban Ayala, Rene Houseman, Francisco Sa and a young Mario Kempes qualified for the second round but finished bottom of their group and were given a 4-0 scudding by the Netherlands.
300. Did You Know?:
The BBC's World Cup theme tune for the 1978 finals was 'Argentine Melody (Cancion De Argentina)', performed by San Jose featuring Rodriguez Argentina. It reached number fourteen in the singles charts, although it was in fact written and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performed by former Zombies guitarist Rod Argent and some session musicians.
Selected scores from the various qualifying competitions for the 2010 World Cup finals. Confederation of Africa: Madagascar 10, Comoros 2. Malawi 8, Djibouti 1. Asian Football Confederation: Uzbekistan 9, Chinese Taipei 0. Pakistan 0, Iraq 7. Hong Kong 8, Timor-Leste 1. UEFA: Israel 7, Luxembourg 0. Slovakia 7, San Marino 0. CONCACAF: El Salvador 12, Anguilla 0. US Virgin Islands 0, Grenada 10. United States 8, Barbados 0. Oceania: Fiji 16, Tuvalu 0. American Samoa 0, Vanuatu 15. American Samoa 1, Solomon Islands 12. South American Confederation: Bolivia 6, Argentina 1. Because of his exploits against Tuvalu (where he scored six times), Fiji's Ozzy Vakatalesau was the top goalscorer of the entire World Cup qualifying process with twelve goals.252. Did You Know?:
Josef Masopust of Dukla Prague is a probably the former Czechoslovakia's most famous player. He was capped sixty three times, scoring ten goals for his country. In 1962, Masopust led the Czech team that reached the 1962 FIFA World Cup final, losing to Brazil. He scored their goal in the final and Czechoslovakia took the lead, Brazil however came back to win 3-1. Because of his performance at the World Cup Finals, Masopust was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962.253. Did You Know?: If dear blog readers will briefly indulge yer actual Keith Telly Topping for a moment as he has one of those 'when I were't lad it were all fields round here' things that he needs to get off his chest. World Cup collectables just aren't as cool these days as they were in the 1970s. There, I've said it. Sure, you've still got your Panini stickers, a format that, effectively, hasn't changed in forty years and still brings joy to kids ... of all ages. I dunno, though, the 1970 and 1974 ones just seemed ... better, somehow.
Possibly because in those days we don't see as much overseas football as we do now and therefore seeing pictures of these exotic foreign stars with their odd-sounding names was a major thing. Also from 1970, of course, we had the memorable ESSO World Cup coin collection, thirty coins about the size of a ten pence piece all with members of the England squad's head on a coin. The only problem, of course, was that you could only get them from ESSO garages. And, it also for the most part entailed your dad actually, you know, having a car. The coins were odd things – depicting each player's head three-quarters on, they gave them all the sort of heroically stern countenance normally favoured by Soviet propagandist statuary, along with rather terrifying sightless eyes. Full sets have been known to go for a much as two hundred quid on eBay. 
Or, as little as a fiver, depending on who's selling them and how much they need the cash. Of course, the ultimate collectable from 1970, was 'Back Home', the first pop record made by an England side. Written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter (the authors of 'Puppet on a String' and 'Congratulations') it was issued on the Pye label (Pye 7N 17920). It saw the entire squad appearing on Top of the Pops in their tuxedos to bellow it, rather tunelessly, and it went all the way to number one. And, heretical as it may be for somebody who's seen The Clash and The Jam live to say it, I still rather like it!254. Did You Know?: In the 1934 qualifying rounds, the first Scottish league players to appear in the World Cup were Joe O'Reilly and Paddy Moore of Aberdeen, who took part in what was then called The Irish Free State's team which drew 4-4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park in February.
255. Did You Know?:
The first substitute to score a goal in a World Cup final was the Netherlands' Dick Nanninga who grabbed an eighty second minute equaliser against Argentina after replacing Johnny Rep. Earlier in the tournament the big Roda JC striker had also become the first substitute player to be sent off in a World Cup, seven minutes after coming on against West Germany. Nanninga and Bernd Hölzenbein clashed as the Dutch took a free kick. Nanninga was shown the yellow card by the referee, Senor Comesana of Argentina. Nanninga was reported to have received his second yellow card for 'laughing at the referee's decision.'256. Did You Know?: The day football changed forever. You could call Hungary's devastating 6-3 demolition of England at Wembley in November 1953 that. It probably was. It was certainly the death, in a sense, of Britain's denial that the game they gave the world had become a genuine world game. Albeit, the corpse itself continued to cough up blood for some time afterwards before finally accepting the inevitable. Never before had England lost an international match at home to a team from outside the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland team which won 2-0 at Everton in 1949 may, technically, have been the first, but it consisted almost entirely of players who plied their trade in the English league.
The outcome of the Hungarians' astonishing performance was revelatory, one that directly met the insular complacency of the English method head-on and instigated a root-and-branch tactical revision of the game. This dragged the England - kicking and screaming - from pre-war war static models into a post-war versatility-based era that allowed players maximum freedom of movement. The Hungarians had clearly been a force since they emerged from behind the Iron Curtain to win, thrillingly, the Helsinki Olympic tournament in 1952. The blinkered insularity which prevailed in England - and the rest of Great Britain, to be fair - at that time may be gauged from the fact that Frank Coles, the Daily Telegraph correspondent, asked himself how the gold medal-winning Hungarians would fare if they played against an English club side. His answer was that he believed the English team would run rings around them! In May, 1953, however, Hungary took a very good Italian side apart, 3-0 in Rome. The Hungarians played superb technical, tactical football, full of movement and rapid interchanging of positions. T
hey had Ferenc Puskas, a dominating captain with a formidable left foot and amazing close control, and Sándor Kocsis as their double spearhead. Before the game even kicked off the crowd witnessed Puskas doing keepy-ups. 'Millions of kids now do the same in their back yards but nobody at that time had seen it done in the centre circle at Wembley,' said future England manager Ron Greenwood, at the time playing for Chelsea. 'We all sat up and took notice.' Nándor Hidegkuti (see right) played behind Puskas and Kocsis as a 'deep' centre-forward (effectively the 'just behind the front two' link-man of modern parlance). Jozsef Bozsik, the right-half, would surge into attack. Jozsef Zakarias, the left-half, played beside the centre-half, Mihály Lantos who, himself, played more like a modern day creative midfielder. László Budai and Zoltán Czibor were effervescent, tricky wingers. A fortnight before the England match, Sweden, under an English coach - the Yorkshireman George Raynor - held Hungary to a draw in Budapest. Raynor had shrewdly appreciated what England's Walter Winterbottom would disastrously fail to; that it was Hidegkuti, who made the Hungarians tick. So, Raynor had him man-marked and Sweden got a 2-2 draw. Before the game at Wembley, Winterbottom merely asked his designated centre-half, Blackpool's Harry Johnston, whether he wanted to man-mark Hidegkuti or stand off him, to which Johnston answered that he would stand off. As a result, Hidegkuti ran riot and scored three time. The first came after just ninety seconds, when, taking a free kick from the edge of the penalty box, his feint drew Johnston out of the wall, whereupon Hidegkuti shot through the gap, to beat Gil Merrick. After thirteen minutes, Johnston won a tackle and found his Blackpool colleague, Stan Mortensen, who sent Jackie Sewell, the inside-right, dashing through to equalise. It was a false dawn. The Hungarians' ball control and movement utterly surpassed England's. 
A fierce drive by Hidegkuti made it 2-1. Puskas, a pseudo Major with the Hungarian army side, Honvéd, as were most of the team, scored a memorable third, drawing the ball back with the sole of his left foot so that England's captain Billy Wright (see left), in the words of The Times correspondent Geoffrey Green, 'rushed past him like a fire engine going to the wrong fire.' Wright ended up sprawled on the seat of his baggy shorts on the turf as, behind him, Puskas scored. England were not actually playing badly; the attack could look direct and dangerous. Grosics, the Hungary keeper, made a couple of gymnastic saves. But Puskas got a fourth Hungarian goal from Bozsik's free kick, before a fine solo by Mortensen made it 2-4. In the second half, Bozsik scored a fifth, then Hidegkuti completed his hat-trick. England then got a late penalty, which Alf Ramsey converted, after Grosics had brought down George Robb. Panic immediately engulfed the English game. The debate about whether English football could adapt to the new realities swiftly put everyone into two camps. Those who thought that we could - with a bit of effort and thinking - play football like that so long as we produced the right sort of players to fit the system, and those who still felt that English teams' traditional areas of strength (stamina, aggression, pace) could put the wind up Johnny Foreigner. Bobby Robson, then of Fulham who was at the game, said of the Hungarians: 'We saw a system of play that we had never seen before. We didn't know about Puskás. All these fantastic players, they were men from Mars as far as we were concerned. 
They called Puskás the 'Galloping Major' because he was in the army - how could this guy serving for the Hungarian army come to Wembley and rifle us to defeat? But the way they played, their technical brilliance and expertise - our WM formation was kyboshed in ninety minutes of football. The game had a profound effect, not just on myself but on all of us.' He added: 'We thought we would demolish this team - England at Wembley, we are the masters, they are the pupils. It was absolutely the other way.' Soon club sides like Manchester City (with Don Revie in the Hidegkuti role), West Ham United (with a clutch of young, eager football theorists like Malcolm Allison, John Bond and Noel Cantwell suggesting their tactics), Matt Busby's fast-merging Manchester United and, a couple of years later, Tottenham under the visionary Bill Nicholson began to experiment with the significance of formations. 
Allison (left), had also been in the stunned crowd at Wembley. He remembered vividly the impact of the Hungarians, of Hidegkuti creating space and, especially, of Puskas. Before the game, Allison and his West Ham team-mate Jimmy Andrews, who would later manage Cardiff City, watched Puskas warming up on a patch of grass where the greyhounds were normally exercised. Allison said the technique was startlingly good, but Andrews pointed to Puskas' pot-belly, saying, 'They can't win with a guy like that.' Allison disagreed. 'I told Jimmy, you know this could be interesting.' The change of tactics was of enormous significance in the development of football, moving permanently from the old two-three-five and WM formations to more fluid three-three-four, then four-two-four and four-three-three set ups. Six months after Wembley, on 23 May 1954, the Hungarians gave England and even more humbling masterclass in Budapest in a 7-1 win. It still ranks as England's worst ever defeat. Hungary's goals came from Lantos, Puskás (two), Kocsis (two), Hidegkuti and József Tóth. The England goal was scored by Ivor Broadis when the Hungarians were already six-nil ahead.257. Did You Know?: Football has a long and rich tradition in Palestine. The game was originally introduced during the time of the British Mandate in the 1920s.
The Palestine FA was formed in 1928 and they joined FIFA in 1929. At the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs and clubs representing British policemen or soldiers serving in the region. An Arab club side represented the Palestinian FA in an attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1930 while the qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Palestine team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players.258. Did You Know?: Kenneth Wolstenholme re-recorded his legendary climactic piece of commentary from the 1966 World Cup final for England/New Order's 1990 song 'World In Motion.'
The other voice-sample used on the record - '"We want goals." Against Mexico, they got one. A beauty scored by Bobby Charlton' - comes from the official FIFA film of the 1966 World Cup, Goal! The narrator is the actor Nigel Patrick. Originally the song - written by New Order and Keith Allen - was going to be called 'E for England' but the FA was, reportedly, worried that this could be taken as a reference to the drug ecstasy and vetoed that title. They, seemingly, missed the song's allusion to one-on-one (not to mention the wholly obvious euphemism for anal sex, 'there's only one way to beat them, get round the back').259. Did You Know?: Hungary (1950), Sweden (1962), Czechoslovakia (1966) and the Netherlands (1982) share the distinction of being the only losing finalists in the previous competition not to qualify for the World Cup finals.
260. Did You Know?: In 1986, TV viewers watching games from the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City could have been excused for feeling terrified, particularly if they suffered from arachnophobia.
There appeared to be the shadow of a massive spider shadow suspended over the halfway line. As it happens, the truth of things was far more mundane - it was actually the shadow of the stadium's public address sound system ... which was suspended over the halfway line. There is a story that when England turned up at the Azteca for their quarter-final against Argentina, Howard Wilkinson who was with the England party, looked at the giant speaker and mused that something like that would go down well at Hillsborough. 'You can't do that,' one wag in the press corps is alleged to have replied. 'It would interfere with Sheffield Wednesday's passing.'261. Did You Know?:
It was originally intended that the World Cup would be held alternately between the continents of South America and Europe. However Jules Rimet, the creator of the World Cup, is said to have convinced FIFA to hold the competition in France, his home country, in 1938. Because of this controversy, many American countries, including Argentina (the most likely hosts if the event had been held in South America), Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Dutch Guiana, Uruguay and the United States all withdrew or refused to enter. Brazil, bless 'em, turned up regardless.262. Did You Know?: FIFA was formed in Paris on 22 May 1904 - comprising the football associations from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with Germany pledging to join soon afterwards. As football began to increase in popularity, it was contested as an IOC-recognised Olympic sport at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, before becoming an official FIFA-supervised Olympic competition at the 1908 games in London. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912. There was an attempt made by FIFA to organize an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in 1906 and this took place in Switzerland. These were very early days for international football and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, competitions involving professional teams also started to appear.
The Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, held in Turin, Italy in 1908, was one of the first and the following year the eccentric Scottish industrialist and tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, also held in Turin. Both tournaments were contested between individual clubs and not national teams. Italy, Germany and Switzerland sent their most prestigious professional sides of time to the competition - Torina, Stuttgarter Sportfreunde and FC Winterthur respectively. The Football Association, however, refused to have anything to do with Lipton's 'tea cup,' and declined the offer to send a team. (Both Everton and Newcastle United were reportedly approached individually by Lipton but also sent him packing.) Not wishing to have England unrepresented in the competition, Lipton invited West Auckland FC, an amateur side from County Durham and mostly made up of coal miners, to take part. West Auckland promptly won the tournament and returned to Italy in 1911 to defend their title. In this second competition, they beat Juventus 6-1 in the final and were awarded the trophy outright. As it was a club rather than national competition this wasn't really a direct forerunner of the World Cup, although the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy is sometimes described, erroneously, as 'The First World Cup.' The story of West Auckland's success was turned into a television movie in 1981 – A Captain's Tale, produced by Tyne Tees Television and starring Dennis Waterman (who didn't sing the theme song). But, don't let that put you off, it was actually pretty good.263. Did You Know?: Dinko Dermendzhiev participated in three World Cups for Bulgaria - in 1962, 1966 and 1970. In the latter he scored his only goal, against Peru. He is, almost certainly the only player called Dinko ever to have scored in the World Cup. Unless, of course, you know differently.
264. Did You Know?: The Football Association of Ireland selected the Saipan training base for Ireland's 2002 World Cup campaign. During the course of the first session, the Irish captain, Roy Keane, expressed serious misgivings about the adequacy of the facilities and the standard of preparation. He was angered by the late arrival of the squad's equipment, which had disrupted the first training session on a pitch that he described as 'like a car park.' After a row with goalkeeping coach Pat Bonner and Alan Kelly on the second day of training, Keane announced he wished to return home to Manchester. The FAI were unable to get Keane an immediate flight home at such short notice, meaning that he remained in Saipan for another night, but they called up Colin Healy as a replacement for him. The following day, however, manager Mick McCarthy seemed to have persuaded Keane to stay. Things soon took a turn for the worse.
Keane gave an interview to Tom Humphries, of the Irish Times, in which he expressed his general unhappiness. McCarthy took offence at Keane's interview and confronted the player in front of the entire squad. Keane said he had told the newspaper what he considered to be the truth and that the Irish fans deserved to know what was going on inside the camp. He then unleashed a verbal tirade against McCarthy which, reportedly included the infamous comment 'You're a fucking wanker. I didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You can stick your World Cup up your bollocks!' Niall Quinn subsequently claimed in his autobiography that 'Roy Keane's ten-minute oration was clinical, fierce, earth-shattering to the person on the end of it and it ultimately caused a huge controversy in Irish society.' None of Keane's team-mates voiced support for him during the meeting, although some are said to have done so in private afterwards. Senior professionals Quinn and Steve Staunton backed McCarthy in a press conference after the event. It was here that McCarthy announced he had dismissed Keane from the squad and sent him home. By this time, the FIFA deadline for naming the World Cup squads had passed.265. Did You Know?: The Jules Rimet trophy was stolen during a public stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, on the afternoon of Sunday 20 March 1966 just four months before the tournament in England was scheduled to kick-off.
The thief ignored rare stamps with a reported value of three million pounds to steal the trophy which, despite being solid gold, was reckoned to be worth a mere three grand. Police received a fifteen thousand pound ransom demand, but when they arrested the culprit it turned out to be a hoax. The trophy was found seven days later wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Beulah Hill, South Norwood, by a plucky little dog called Pickles while taking a walk with his owner David Corbett. When England won the trophy, as a reward, Pickles was invited to the celebration banquet and was allowed to lick the plates clean. Because you normally have to pay good money to do that. His owner collected a six thousand pound reward. The thief was never caught. Sadly, Pickles died, choking on his own lead while chasing a cat the following year.266. Did You Know?: Everyone has probably seen the confrontation after the Argentina-Germany World Cup quarter-final in 2006 between the two sets of players. Everybody was kung-fu fighting. And it was, very definitely, a little bit frightening. Unused Argentina substitute Leandro Cufre had an argument with German defender Per Mertesacker after Germany had won the penalty competition and - he subsequent alleged - in response to 'verbal provocation,' kicked Mertesacker. Really hard. That sparked a melee.
Torsten Frings had this to say on the subject of Argentines in general: 'They are bad losers. They lost their minds. It just shows they are bad sports and are badly behaved. I hope their players get suspended.' Thing is, loathed as I am to agree with a German on pretty much anything, he's more than a bit right. Argentina has been, and still is, the producer of some wonderful footballers - dozens of them - and they are a sight to see when they turn it on. But they've always had a bit of a reputation for being churlish and swaggering winners and sour, nasty, aggressive losers. Their 1990 World Cup campaign, when they reached the final with a disciplinary record that would have shamed Charles Manson, lost to Germany and ended the final with nine men and Maradonna blubbing like a girl about the manifest injustices of life is very much a case in point. He would later accused Italy and FIFA - and, the CIA and The Saucer People, probably - of helping West Germany to win the title. I don't know whether there's any truth in that - most World Cups usually end with a huge and bewildering number of teams leaving the competition accusing FIFA of bias against them and them alone - but, it is fair to say that, basically, nobody like a cry-baby.267. Did You Know?:
The 1966 World Cup was the subject of bitter disagreement before a ball was ever kicked. Sixteen African nations boycotted the tournament in protest at a 1964 FIFA ruling which required the winners of the African zone to enter a play-off round against the winners of either the Asian or the Oceanic zone in order to win a place at the finals. The Africans felt that winning their group should have been enough in itself to merit qualification for the finals. Despite the Africans' absence, there was a then record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with seventy nations taking part.268. Did You Know?: Canada clinched its first ever World Cup finals spot in 1986 after winning the final qualifying match against Honduras 2–1 in St John's, Newfoundland, with the Hondurans wearing tuques and gloves on the field due to the cold weather.
269. Did You Know?: The history of The Beautiful Game has not always been so spotless. Behind the lust-for-glory image of football lies another history - of coercion, corruption and manipulation.
For a country which has shouldered a weight of footballing shame in its time, it ranks as one of England's darkest moments in the sport. The venue: Berlin's Olympic Stadium; the date: 14 May 1938. As the English players lined up alongside their German counterparts for pre-match ceremonies captain Eddie Hapgood and his men issued an admittedly rather half-hearted Nazi salute to the crowd. The gesture provoked outrage in the British press and was seen as all the more galling since Herr Hitler himself was not even present at the game. But England's presence in Germany on that day was less about sport than politics. The policy of appeasement towards the Nazis pursued by Neville Chamberlain's government at the time had been intentionally transposed to the football pitch. 
It was a Foreign Office order that the England team - which included Stanley Matthews, Cliff Bastin and Frank Broome - perform the salute. The underlying message was calculated to be that Germany, which two months earlier had annexed Austria, was not a pariah state. This friendly international effectively helped clear the way for Chamberlain's 'Peace in our Time' deal with Hitler, which, in turn, led to Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia. That England won the game, 6-3, was something of a historical footnote.270. Did You Know?:
Although Mark Bosnich's international appearances with Australia were quite rare once his career started in Europe - he won seventeen caps in seven years - one in particular was a memorable occasion. He became one of the few international goalkeepers to have scored a goal, when he took a late penalty for his national team in a 13-0 win over the Solomon Islands in the qualifying rounds for the 1994 World Cup.271. Did You Know?: In 1956, the crack Hungarian army side Honvéd qualified for the second European Cup competition and in the first round they were drawn against Atlético Bilbao. Honvéd lost the away leg 2–3, but before the home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution had collapsed back in Budapest and the Soviet Union invaded. The Honved players - who formed the majority of the Hungarian national side including Puskas, Kocsis et al - decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return game with Atlético to be played at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. However early in the game the Honvéd goalkeeper was injured and, with no substitutes permitted, Zoltán Czibor had to go into goal.
Despite drawing 3–3 Honved went out 6–5 on aggregate. Elimination left Honvéd in limbo. The players, declining to return to Hungary, summoned their families from Budapest and, despite opposition from FIFA and the now Soviet-controlled Hungarian Football Federation, Béla Guttmann organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Among the most notable matches were a 5–5 draw with a Madrid XI and a 4–3 win over Barcelona. Honvéd declined a Mexican offer of political asylum and an invitation to join their national league and instead accepted an offer to play in a tournament in Brazil with CR Flamengo and Botafogo. By now FIFA had declared the team illegal and banned them from using the Honvéd name. After returning to Europe, the players parted ways. Some, including László Budai and Gyula Lóránt returned to Hungary while others, including Czibor, Kocsis and Puskás, found new clubs in Western Europe. Czibor and Kocsis eventually signed for Barcelona while Puskás joined Real Madrid. Because of this, the 1958 Hungary World Cup squad was a shadow of its former self with only goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, Jozsef Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti remaining from the Magnificant Magyars era.272. Did You Know?:
The fourth World Cup finals tournament was originally planned to take place again in 1942. Germany - having just made such a wonderful job of tarnishing the Olympic movement for the foreseeable future - applied to host the tournament at the Twenty Third FIFA Congress on 13 August 1936, held - coincidentally - in Berlin. In June 1939 Brazil also applied to host the tournament. However, after the beginning of World War II three months later, further plans for the 1942 tournament were cancelled before a host country was selected. The aftermath of World War II also caused the cancellation of the 1946 World Cup.273. Did You Know?: The 1978 World Cup final is mired in all sorts of controversy - quite apart from the circumstances of Argentina even being there. The Dutch team accused the Argentines of using dirty tactics to delay the beginning of the match.
The host team came out late and then their captain, Daniel Passarella (right), questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof's wrist, something which had already been passed by FIFA. The Dutch claim this allowed tension to build in front of a hostile Buenos Aires crowd already glazed-eyed and fanatical with their hot Latin temperament. Ready to slaughter some alleged Communists insurgents in the name of El Presidente Videla - Viva El Presidente! - and his military Junta. So, beating their chests and with their collective chimney well and truly on, it was finally time for kick off. The Netherlands subsequently refused to attend the post-match ceremonies. Back in Amsterdam, an eight-year-old Dennis Bergkamp remembers watching the match and crying after the defeat. He also longed to be part of such an occasion one day. Twenty years later, almost to the day, he scored a last minute goal that would knock Argentina out of the World Cup in France. He who laughs last, laughs longest.274. Did You Know?:
In the 1934 World Cup quarter-finals, the first replayed match in World Cup history took place, when Italy and Spain drew 1-1 after extra time. The match was played in a highly charged atmosphere, especially after the Spanish goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora was injured, leaving him unable to participate in the replay. Italy won the second fixture 1-0 and, their play was reportedly so physical that at least three Spaniards had to depart the field with injuries. Italy then went on to beat Austria in the semi finals by the same score.275. Did You Know?: Otilino Tenorio was one of the greatest players Ecuador has ever produced.
His nickname was 'Spiderman', because when he scored a goal he would often cover his head with a superhero mask as he celebrated. He was first selected for the Ecuadorian national team in 2004 and was a key figure in their early qualification matches for the 2006 World Cup. Tragically, Tenorio died in May 2005 in an automobile accident when he was travelling to Quevedo, to visit his family. He was twenty-five. Equador subsequently did qualify for their second successive World Cup finals. As a homage to Tenorio, his team-mate Iván Kaviedes, pulled on a yellow 'Spiderman' mask after scoring the third goal of Ecuador's 3-0 win over Costa Rica. 'Otilino is accompanying us from heaven,' Kaviedes later said. That goal helped Ecuador qualify for the second round.276. Did You Know?: How many members of the Charlton family have played in the World Cup finals?
If you said two, you're wrong! Born in the Northumberland mining town of Ashington, Bobby and Jackie's mother, Cissie, was a member of the Milburn family and her cousin, Jackie Milburn, was Newcastle United's record breaking centre forward during the 1950s. He played one match for England (against Spain) in the 1950 tournament in Brazil and also scored a hat-trick against Wales during qualification. Four of Jackie's other cousins - Cissie's brothers - also played league football: Jack Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford City), George Milburn (Leeds United and Chesterfield), Jimmy Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford City) and Stan Milburn (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale).277. Did You Know?: In May 1960, as the preparations for the 1962 tournament were well under way, Chile suffered the largest earthquake ever recorded (9.5 magnitude), which caused enormous damage to the national infrastructure. In face of this, Carlos Dittborn, the president of the Organization Committee, coined the phrase 'Because we don't have anything, we will do everything in our power to rebuild,' which became the unofficial slogan of the tournament. Stadia and other infrastructure were rebuilt at record speed and the tournament occurred on schedule with no major organizational flaw. Sadly, Dittborn would not live to see the success of his tireless efforts, as he died one month before the start of the tournament. The World Cup venue at Arica was named Estadio Carlos Dittborn in his honour and bears his name.
278. Did You Know?:
Manuel Negrete's goal for Mexico in the second round match against Bulgaria in 1986 has often been described as one of the most spectacular in World Cup history. Negrete received a high ball outside the penalty area, controlled it, let the ball bounce once on the ground and combined with Javier Aguirre; the latter returned the ball on the first touch, while keeping it on the air and Negrete volleyed a spectacular scissor kick into the bottom left corner past goalkeeper Borislav Mikhailov.279. Did You Know?: In 2006, for the first time ever, the first and last goals of the finals tournament were scored by defenders.
Philipp Lahm (see left), the German wing back, scored the opener against Costa Rica after only five minutes of the opening match. In the final, Marco Materazzi, the Italian centre back, out-jumped Patrick Vieira and headed in the last goal of tournament. Meanwhile, in Euro 2008 when Germany played Portugal there was a quite remarkable moment when, after the game, the Portuguese number ten swapped his shirt with the German number three. The only case on record, as far as this blogger is aware, of Moutinho dressed as Lahm. I'm here all week. Try the veal.280. Did You Know?: On 11 April 2001, Australia and American Samoa played in a qualifying match at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. Australia set a world record for the largest ever victory in an international football match, winning 31–0. Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals scored by a player in an international match with thirteen. David Zdrilic scored another eight.
The scoreline led to debates within the world of football about the format of qualification tournaments, with the Australian coach and Thompson himself both feeling that preliminary rounds should be introduced to avoid such unbalanced matches, views which were, subsequently, shared by FIFA. It eventually led to an introduction of a preliminary round in the Oceanic zone qualification for the 2006 World Cup. Two days before the match, Australia had recorded a 22–0 win over Tonga, breaking the previous record for largest win in an international matches, held by Kuwait who won 20–0 against Bhutan in 2000. As a consequence, against American Samoa, Australia rested many of their first choice players and fielded a team with several players who had only a handful of international caps. Strikers John Aloisi and Damian Mori, for instance, who combined for ten goals in the win over Tonga, were both rested for this game. The American Samoa however had greater problems. 
Many of the team were troubled by passport issues, with only one member of their original twenty-man senior team, goalkeeper Nicky Salapu, eligible to play. They were also unable to call any of their under-twenty players because most of them were involved in high school exams at the time. Therefore, they were forced to draft in their youth players, including three fifteen-year-old players and put together a makeshift team with an average age of eighteen. By winning the Oceanic zone, Australia advanced to the intercontinental play-off round against Uruguay, the fifth best team in the South American zone. Where, despite their record-breaking exploits earlier, Australia were defeated with an aggregate score of 3-1.281. Did You Know?: Bulgaria had never been closer to winning a World Cup finals match than when they found themselves 1-0 up with just three minutes left in their group match against Uruguay at Hanover in 1974. It had been a desperately long wait for the Bulgarians;
in three previous tournaments all they had to show for a lot of effort were a couple of draws, some cracking goals in Mexico in 1970, and the knowledge that most football fans held their defender, Aleksandar Shalamanov, responsible for dishing out some rough treatment to Pele at Goodison Park in 1966. Now, thanks to a seventy fifth minute goal by their captain, Hristo Bonev (right), they were close to the win they had craved for so long. Then, disaster, a shot by Ricardo Pavoni squirmed under the body of the Bulgarian keeper, Lokomotiv Sofia's Rumen Goranov. In the days after the 1-1 draw, it was suggested that the rest of the Bulgarian squad had, effectively, sent Goranov to Coventry. (Well, not literally, cos they had Bill Glazier at the time. And David Icke in the reserves, too.) Certainly, he was dropped for their final group game, a 4-1 hiding by the Netherlands when Levski's Stefan Staikov kept goal.282. Did You Know?: Bert Trautmann was German goalkeeper who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper. He fought on the Eastern Front for three years, earning five medals including an Iron Cross. Later in the war he was transferred to the Western Front, where he was captured by the British as the war drew to a close. One of only ninety of his original one thousand-man regiment to survive the war, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Ashton-in-Makerfield. Trautmann refused an offer of repatriation and, following his release in 1948, he settled in Lancashire, combining farm work with playing as goalkeeper for local amateur football team St Helens Town.
He signed for Manchester City the following year. Some City fans were not happy about having a former member of the Luftwaffe on the team, Manchester having been heavily bombed during the war. Season ticket holders threatened a boycott and various groups in Manchester and around the country bombarded the club with protest letters. Besides the difficulties with his nationality, Trautmann was also replacing the recently retired Frank Swift, one of the greatest keepers in the club's history. Nevertheless, Trautmann's displays in City's goal and gentlemanly behaviour on and off the field soon won over many of the doubters over - although he still suffered the occasional taunt of 'Kraut!' in away matches. Indeed, it is not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that Trautmann personally was a major help in the rehabilitation of the German people in the eyes of many Britons during the 1950s, particularly after his exploits in the 1956 FA Cup final where played the final fifteen minutes at Wembley with a broken vertebrate in his neck, helping City to beat Birmingham. Though recognised as one of the leading goalkeepers of his era, however, he never played for his native country. Trautmann met with German national coach Sepp Herberger in 1953, who explained that travel and political implications prevented him from selecting a player who was not readily available, and that he could only consider including Trautmann if he was playing in a German league. Consequently, Trautmann's international isolation prevented him from playing in the 1954 World Cup, in which his countrymen were victorious. Trautmann's only experience of international football came in 1960, when the Football League decided to include non-English players in representative matches for the first time. Trautmann captained the League against the Irish League and also played against the Italian League.283. Did You Know?: The top scoring teams at the 1974 World Cup were the Netherlands, West Germany and Poland, all with fifteen goals from seven matches.
284. Did You Know?: Wilfred Van Moer was one of Belgium's stars at the 1970 World Cup Finals, scoring twice in the only game his country won in Mexico, 3-0 against El Salvador. A broken leg suffered in a European Nations Cup tie with Italy threatened his career and, although he recovered, other injuries restricted his international appearances. By October 1979, aged thirty four, and without an appearance for The Red Devils for four years, his international career appeared to be over. Belgian coach Guy Thys had other ideas.
Van Moer was an inspired choice for a side who had forgotten how to win, as they prepared to take on Portugal in a vital European Championship qualifier. Van Moer scored the first goal in a 2-0 win and also performed key roles in home and away victories over Scotland, which propelled Belgium to the finals in Italy. He was brilliant in the finals themselves, too, as Belgium ended as runner-up to West Germany. Van Moer's international career went on for two more years, long enough to appear in another World Cup. Named captain in the absence of Eric Gerets, for the second round game against Poland his international career finally ended when replaced by François Van der Elst at half-time.285. Did You Know?: A team represented The Saarland from 1950 to 1956 during the French occupation following World War II. France opposed the inclusion of The Saarland in the Federal Republic of Germany until 1956 and administered it separately from Germany as The Saar Protectorate. The local population did not want to join France, so in 1950 a National Olympic Committee was formed which led to an appearance of The Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
The Saar football team played only nineteen matches over a six year period, ten of these against what were, effectively, interational 'B' sides, but they did participate in the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. They finishing ahead of Norway in their group, defeating them at home, but behind West Germany. Prior to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, on 5 June, they hosted a game against defending World Champions Uruguay, losing 7-1. Other 'A' team opponents in friendlies were Yugoslavia (1-5), the Netherlands (1-2, 2-3) and Switzerland (1-1). Following a plebiscite in 1955, The Saarland became part of the Federal Republic of Germany with effect on 1 January 1957. Coach Helmut Schön, who had managed The Saarland team since 1952, went on to coach the successful German national team in the 1960s and 1970s.286. Did You Know?: Given their success at Euro 1996 (when they were runners up), the Czech Republic were widely expected to qualify for the 1998 World Cup.
However, they finished third in their group, behind Spain, and Yugoslavia and subsequently failed to qualify. This, despite the presence of Pavel Nedved, Pavel Novotný, Karel Poborský, Patrik Berger, Vladimír Šmicer and Pavel Srnícek in their squad. They also failed to qualify in 2002 but did, finally, make it in 2006. Having hammered the USA, 3-0, in their opening game (big Jan Koller scoring the first and Tomáš Rosický adding two more) they were hugely disappointing in losing to Ghana and Italy in their next two games and were eliminated.287. Did You Know?: The 2006 World Cup semi final between Germany and Italy produced a vastly entertaining - albeit, goalless - game and a thrilling extra time period. Italy won with two late goals by Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero, putting an end to Germany's undefeated record in Dortmund's WM Stadion.
288. Did You Know?: Aren't third place play-off matches just the single most pointless invention since the electric car? Who cares which of the two losing semi finalists is the best?! Sometimes they're dead dull (West Germany v Uruguay in 1970, Poland v Brazil in 1974).
Sometimes, they've got a bit more to them (France v Belgium in 1986, Italy v England in 1990, Germany v Portugal in 2006). One or two have been downright nasty (Netherlands v Croatia in 1998). One (Brazil v Italy in 1978) even managed to produce one of the greatest goals in World Cup history, from Nelinho. But they're still utterly bloody pointless and are usually just an excuse for teams to give a match to a few of their squad players who haven't featured so far in the tournament. Neil Webb (left) played in a World Cup third place play-off game. I mean, that says it all, really.289. Did You Know?:
William Naughty Mokoena - beyond-brilliant nickname, and all - played for South Africa and was in their squad for the 1998 World Cup in France. However, he was sent home, along with another player, Brendan Augustine, for 'breaches of discipline' after breaking curfew set by coach Philippe Troussier just before the tournament began. You can see why they call him Naughty.290. Did You Know?: At the start of 1950 there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both, the Belfast-based IFA and the Dublin-based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and routinely selected players from the whole island for their teams.
As a consequence several notable Irish players from this era actually played for both teams. Four - Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh and Con Martin - competed for both the FAI XI and the IFA XI in qualifying rounds for the 1950 World Cup. FIFA eventually intervened, after complaints from the FAI, and subsequently restricted players' eligibility based on the political border. In 1953 FIFA ruled that neither team could be referred to purely as Ireland, decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the Republic of Ireland, while the IFA team was to become Northern Ireland. Now, if only FIFA could have got the Loyalists and the Republicans round the table we could have had the Good Friday Agreement forty years earlier.291. Did You Know?:
Thirty years after the most famous day in English football history, they scored another victory when they finally persuaded Helmut Haller to give them their bloody ball back! The German midfielder had collected the ball after the 1966 final - since nobody else seemed too bothered about it - hung onto it whilst collecting his medal and doing a lap of honour, stuck it in his suitcase and taken it home with him as a memento of the day. He subsequently gave the ball to his son, Juregen, as a birthday present. It remained in Haller's home in Augsburg until 1996 when the British tabloids the Sun and the Daily Mirror started pestering him about giving it back. Haller did and the ball is now an exhibit at the National Football Museum in Preston.292. Did You Know?: You think that the media complaining about referees from emerging football nations taking charge of big games at the World Cup is a new thing? Not really. When England played Brazil in 1970, the appointment of Israeli official Abraham Klein was widely criticised in the Western media before the match. One infamous comment was that it was 'like putting a boy scout into Viet 'Nam.' In the event, Klein had a terrific game and was commended afterwards by both managers for letting the play flow.
In fact, his only error, if we can call it that, was that he was enjoying the thing so much he let it over-run. 'Not many people know, but when I blew for time the players didn't hear the whistle,' he told the press some years later. 'As it was such a great game I let it continue for a few minutes!' Klein refereed in two future tournaments, 1978 and 1982. He was originally earmarked by FIFA as a potential referee for the 1978 final, but Argentina reportedly objected to his selection on the grounds of Israel's close political ties with the Netherlands. Most independent observers believe it had more to do with his not awarding Argentina a penalty in their earlier 1-0 loss to Italy. Klein was also the linesman in the 1982 final between Italy and West Germany having earlier refereed the classic Italy v Brazil second round match.293. Did You Know?: Internal disputes meant that Argentina's squad for the 1934 tournament did not contain a single survivor from the team which reached the final in 1930.
294. Did You Know?: In qualification for the 1994 World Cup, France needed only a draw at home to Bulgaria in their final game, with the match poised at 1–1 David Ginola overhit a cross and lost possession.
This allowed the Bulgarians to counter-attack and eventually resulted in Emil Kostadinov scoring a surprise winner to knock France out with, literally, the last kick of the game. The French manager Gérard Houllier blamed the entire defeat on Ginola, and the press and fans followed suit. He was subsequently branded 'the assassin of French football.' After being barracked by French fans, including his own at Paris St Germain, Ginola moved to England with Newcastle United in 1995. Where he had a wonderful first half-season and then played whenever he fancied it. Which was usually about once every three games. (Though, to be fair, when he was good he was very good!) He subsequently became something of a cult figure at Tottenham. France's next manager, Aimé Jacquet, mostly ignored Ginola who played his last match for the French national team in 1995.295. Did You Know?: Atletico Bilbao's Andoni Goikoetxea was nicknamed 'The Butcher of Bilbao' after a particularly vicious tackle on Diego Maradonna, then playing for Barcelona, resulted in a serious ankle injury for the Argentine.
Goikoetxea reportedly kept the boot he wore when he broke Maradonna's metataril in a glass case at home. Nice touch. Goikoetxea caused a severe knee injuring to Bernd Schuster when the latter was also playing for Barca. Schuster never fully recovered the level of earlier seasons. So, to sum up then, clearly a chap with an almost psychotic hatred for Germans and Argentines. Sounds like quite a reasonable, decent sort of bloke, actually. Goikoetxea played thirty nine times for Spain including at the 1986 World Cup when he scored one of his four international goals in Spain's famous 5-1 win over Denmark (the four remaining goals were all scored by Emilio Butragueño).296. Did You Know?:
The German team who played at the 1938 World Cup did so under the flag of the National Socialist dictatorship that was about to subject Europe to six years of bloodshed, horror and genocide. Satisfyingly, then, the team - including several members of the Austrian side which had achieved third place four years earlier following Hitler's Anschluss - were held to a 1-1 draw in their first round match by little neutral Switzerland and were then beaten, 4-2, in the replay. That early exit still stands as Germany's worst ever World Cup result. So, explain that one, Dr Goebbels!297. Did You Know?:
Everything was exotic about the 1970 World Cup, the players, the match ball, the TV coverage. Well, maybe not everything. Next time you're watching any highlights check out some of the advertising hoardings surrounding the pitches in the heat of Mexico '70. Although the 1966 World Cup was the first tournament with a genuine worldwide TV audience, British reserve - and, indeed, naïvity - about commercialism meant that 1970 was the truth birth of marketing globalisation through sports advertising. 
These ranged from European booze companies (ubiquitously Martini whose logo was prominently positioned behind the goals at just about every game, Cinzanio, Smirnoff and Union Bier), to a couple of multinational petroleum conglomerates (ESSO and Shell), Citizen Watches, Zeiss of Jena the German manufacturer of optical systems, Dutch electronic giants Phillips' 'cassette tape recorders', Sinalco soft drinks, home appliances firm Rowenta, British staples like Mothercare, Findus and the Daily Mirror and - one for the dandies, this - the stylish clobber of John Stephens of Carnaby Street.298. Did You Know?:
Terry Neill's Northern Ireland failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, despite having George Best available for some of their games, but this was no surprise given that they were unable to play any of their home matches in their own country. The Troubles dictated that their three 'home' games - against Portugal, Cyprus and Bulgaria - had to be staged in England; at Coventry, Fulham and Hillsborough, respectively. Only Cyprus were beaten, 3-0 and this victory could not appease the costly defeat in Nicosia in which Cyprus scored their only goal of the entire campaign. Best was sent-off for retaliation in a 3-0 defeat in Sofia. The highlight of the group was a terrific 1-1 draw with Portugal in which Martin O'Neill gave the Irish the lead only for Eusebio to equalise.299. Did You Know?: Prior to their opening game in the 1974 World Cup finals (a 3-2 defeat to Poland in Stuttgart), Argentina's Roberto Telch had been accused of raping a seventeen year old hotel chambermaid.
When police interviewed Telch, he was quoted as saying: 'I did not take the girl's resistance seriously.' Stuttgart's chief prosecutor decided not to press charges against the footballer because, he noted, 'there was no evidence to contradict what Telch said.' Telch went on to appear in five of Argentina's six games in the tournament. The team, which also included the likes of Ruban Ayala, Rene Houseman, Francisco Sa and a young Mario Kempes qualified for the second round but finished bottom of their group and were given a 4-0 scudding by the Netherlands.300. Did You Know?:
The BBC's World Cup theme tune for the 1978 finals was 'Argentine Melody (Cancion De Argentina)', performed by San Jose featuring Rodriguez Argentina. It reached number fourteen in the singles charts, although it was in fact written and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performed by former Zombies guitarist Rod Argent and some session musicians. 
