451. Did You Know?: 
One of the most genuinely startling sights for TV viewers of the 1974 World Cup - particularly for a young chap, relatively unschooled in the ways of the wider world - occurred whenever Poland scored a goal. They kissed each other. Not hugged each other - even big hard, hairy Englishmen did that every Saturday - but actually kissed. On the cheek. No tongues, though. Because, that would be weird. And, bearing in mind that they finished third in that tournament, they scored a lot and, therefore, kissed a lot. Check out, for instance, Grzegorz Lato planting a right smacker on Andrzej Szarmach's hairy mush at one minute forty seconds into this footage. 'Dad, are them Polish players all girlymen, or what?' a ten-year-old actual Keith Telly Topping asked, all wide-eyed, snotty and innocent. 'No, son' replied Daddy Telly Topping from his armchair. 'They're Poles. They have funny ways over there.' Wasn't the world a much simpler place back in the 1974?
452. Did You Know?: Noel Gallagher was something of a lucky mascot for Italy during their successful World Cup campaign in 2006. Discussing his memories of the tournament on the BBC's Football Focus, the Oasis guitarist and songwriter revealed that Azzurri playmaker Alessandro Del Piero - a friend of Gallagher - believed he was a lucky charm for the side.
The superstition started when Del Piero scored the second goal for Italy in their 2-0 win in the semi-final against Germany in Dortmund - and ran towards Gallagher to celebrate. 'I was sat beside his wife. His wife reckons he was coming over to blow kisses at her, but what actually happened is he's seen me and his wife just happened to be there,' Noel told the NME. 'He then gets it in his head that I'm his lucky mascot, so he said: "You'll have to come to the final." He made me wear the same clothes,' Noel added. Italy went on to win the tournament, beating France on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Berlin in the final. Oasis went on to record Dig Out Your Soul.
453. Did You Know?: 'We'd still prefer to be bombing Germany, but after sixty years there's a dawning suspicion that those days aren't coming back any time soon, and in the mean time we must rely on sarong-wearing multi-millionaire pretty boys to kick the Argies for us. We're not happy about it, but what can we do?' wrote Nick Hornby, on the subject of England fans, in The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup in 2006. But, it must be said, Hornby writes about football the way that Johan Cruyff used to play it - with flair, with artistry and with not a little genius. In a 2006 article for National Geographic magazine called Soccer, According to England Nick summed up, beautifully, our love affair with this often infuriating game. 'Some fans started to feel a little conflicted about the national team. In 1990, when England played Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, it wasn't hard to find people in England — middle-class, liberal people, admittedly, but people nonetheless — who wanted Cameroon to win. I watched that game with some of them, and when England went 2-1 down, these people cheered. I understood why, but I couldn't cheer with them, much to my surprise. Those drunk, racist thugs draped in the national colours ... they were, it turned out, my people, not the nice liberal friends I was watching the game with.
I mean, you can't choose stuff like that, right? The 1990 World Cup turned out to be a turning point. The team wasn't embarrassing. The fans weren't embarrassing either. After a horrendous couple of decades, the national team once again basked in the warmth of the nation's affections.' Of course the rebirth, as Nick goes on to note, 'lasted about five minutes. There was a disastrous managerial appointment, which resulted in yet another failure to qualify. And by 1998 football was a different game. Many of the players in our top division came from outside the British Isles. The globalisation of the transfer market was beginning to rob international football of much of its point. In the old days, you'd look at the best players in the club teams and think, What would they be like if they played together? And the answer was they looked like the national team. Now, Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, and Barcelona have replaced the national teams as fantasy soccer teams.' See what I mean I artistry?
454. Did You Know?: Remember that 'players kissing-their-ring-to-celebrate-a-goal' nonsense from a few years ago?
What was all that about, then? Well, as demonstrated, here, by the lovely and fragrant Raul, players who had just scored often kissed the ring-finger of either hand, apparently in recognition of their wife. Nobody knows exactly who started it but it became something of a feature at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups where lots of the Brazilians started doing it (Rivaldo, in particular). You still see it, occasionally, although it's nowhere near as prominent as it was a few years ago. The subtextual psychological implication, of course, appear to be essentially 'look at me, I've just scored a goal, that makes me a man. And almost God-like in my sexual dynamism. And, to prove it, I've got a wife. Bow down before me, you impotent plebs, abase yourself in front of my massive maleness.' Or, you know, something like that.
455. Did You Know?: For El Salvador, the 1982 World Cup was twenty hundred and seventy minutes to forget, and quickly. Although Luis Ramírez Zapata scored their first goal in a World Cup finals competition, it was a consolation effort three minutes from the end of a 10-1 hiding by Hungary.
They followed that up with further defeats 1-0 to Belgium and 2-0 to Argentina and quickly caught the plane back to San Salvador. For the neutral, the highlight of their three games was the goal scored by Ludo Coeck for Belgium. Not so much the goal itself - although that was a quality strike from distance after a short free-kick, but more for Coeck's enormous blond afro. And, you've got to admit, he had a pretty funny name as well. Capped forty six times for his country, Ludo was a big, strong, mobile centre back who played for Anderlecht and Internazionale. On 9 October 1985, he was tragically killed when his BMW ploughed into crash barriers near the Belgian town of Rumst, while he was on his way to sign for Lierse.
456. Did You Know?:
Marcelo Salas, then playing with River Plate in Argentina, first came to international prominence when he scored both of Chile's goals in their shock 2-0 win at Wembley against England in 1998. He'd already scored two hat-tricks in Chile's qualification matches for that year's World Cup (against Peru and Colombia) but it was his performance at Wembley that really made the rest of the world sit up and take notice. Known at El Matador to his adoring fans, he subsequently scored four goals in four games at the 1998 World Cup, forming a deadly partnership with Iván Zamorano. Salas then moved to Italy, playing for Lazio and, later, Juventus to great acclaim and winning three Serie A titles.
457. Did You Know?: It may surprise some of our English readership to know this but Germany, as a whole - and certainly as a team - never held a particular grudge about the 1966 World Cup final. I realise that might be a disappointment to some of the bonehead numskulls who gormlessly bellow 'two World Wars and one World Cup, doo-dah, doo-dah,' every time we play them, but there it is.
Unlike, for instance, England themselves, who still have a chip on its collective shoulder over Maradona's Hand of God malarkey. And, quite rightly so an'all, the nasty little greasy fat cheat. Anyway ... As Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger notes in his highly recommended book on the history of German football, Tor!: 'Only one of the Germans - goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski - felt "robbed" on account of that third goal. And, all of them were proud to have made the final at all, were glad to have given England such a good game and admit that the trophy went to the better side.' In 1996, Ulrich spoke to most of the members of the 1966 West German squad whilst researching his book. 'Too much has been said about the third goal,' noted Wolfgang Weber. 'England have entered the annuls of football history as worthy world champions.' 'The English team was exceptional and worthy of the title,' added Uwe Seller whilst Wolfgang Overath concluded 'England had a great side. We accepted this defeat and, I hope, our conduct brought credit to the German team.' They certainly did, and indeed, to their country as a whole. Tor! reminds us, just in case we'd forgotten, that the 1966 tournament took place just slightly over twenty years after the conclusion of a war in which their nation had waged total war on the rest of Europe and in a city that he almost been bombed flat by the Luftwaffe. The West German players had been instructed by their coach that far more important than how they played was how they behaved - like gentlemen and sportsmen. 'So impressive were Schön's lectures that even thirty years later, Tilkowski would say: "The main thing was that we left a good impression. Back in 1966, the appearance and the behaviour of the team were essential."'
458. Did You Know?: A 1991 episode of the BBC Scotland sitcom Rab C Nesbitt called Fitba concerns Rab, Burney and Jamesie going to see Scotland play in the World Cup and taking a frail, elderly ex-footballer, Matt Fernie (played by Stanley Baxter), with them.
When Rab despairs about how he will be able to get a knackered old carthorse like Matt all the way to Italy, Burney is incredulous: 'How no? Andy Roxburgh's takin' Roy Aitken!' It had to be said, the entire 1990 World Cup adventure for the Scots was something of a comedy in and of itself. Particularly the moment in their first match when Costa Rica's Juan Cayasso scored past Jim Leighton to cause the single biggest upset of that competition. (Cameroon beating Argentina in the opening match notwithstanding.) A 2-1 win against Sweden briefly raised Scottish hopes but, in their final group match against Brazil, they lost to a Müller goal - after another Leighton calamity - and, as usual, failed to make the second round.
459. Did You Know?: There's something about Brazil vs Peru games at the World Cup that just seems to bring out the very best that football has to offer.
The two countries match-up in the quarter finals in 1970 was, possibly, the finest game that's ever been seen in a World Cup in terms of two teams who were totally committed to pure, unadulterated attack, attack, attack and nothing but attack. A rematch in the second round in 1978 didn't, quite, live up to that although it did produce a goal of rare beauty, a glorious free-kick by Dirceu José Guimarães. Dirceu had been a bit-part player during the early stages of the 1974 finals but was the undoubted star of the Brazil side in 1978 - drawing more attention even than Zico. A gifted midfielder with a thunderous left-foot shot, Dirceu would return, for the third World Cup campaign in 1982. In all he played eleven times for Brazil over the course of three tournaments and scored three wonderful goals, of which the one against Peru was the highlight. He was one of only two European-based players in the 1982 squad (Falcao was the other), having played for three years with Atlético Madrid where he became a legend. Tragically, like Ludo Coeck (see above), he was also killed in road traffic accident, in 1995 at the age of just forty three.
460. Did You Know?: England recorded a famous win over their old foes Argentina in their group game at Sapporo in 2002. David Beckham, the 'villain' to many four years earlier was, there, the hero blasting home a penalty after Michael Owen had rather made a meal of a tackle by Mauricio Pochettino seconds before half-time.
In the second half England's defence, superbly marshalled by Sol Campbell, stood firm to claim a memorable win as Argentina mounted wave after wave of attacks. The 1-0 scoreline lifted England to second place in their group and went a long way towards avenging previous painful defeats to Argentina at Mexico in 1986 and France in 1998. Still recovering from a broken metatarsal which had threatened his place at the tournament, Beckham bravely stepped up to score the decisive spot-kick. In truth, the penalty - hit hard and straight down the middle - wasn't the greatest strike in the world but the sheer relief on Beckham's face as Pablo Cavallero managed to dive out of the way of it was something of a defining moment in English football. Argentina's inability to beat Sweden in their next match meant that they failed to reach at least the second round of a World Cup for the first time since 1970, when they failed to qualify for the finals. Which was, of course, very sad.
461. Did You Know?:
The Netherlands conceded just one goal en route to the 1974 World Cup final. Bulgaria breached their defences in a 4-1 group victory in Dortmund. And, even that was an own goal scored for the Bulgarians by Ruud Krol. At the other end, two penalties from Johan Neeskens, a quality Johnny Rep volley and a diving header by substitute Theo de Jong from Johan Cruyff's pinpoint cross capped yet another stunning performance by the Dutch.
462. Did You Know?: The nine years that Big Jack Charlton was in charge of the Republic of Ireland were the greatest in the country's entire footballing history. A World Cup winner with England in 1966 and with a patchy, but occasionally very successful managerial career - with Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United - behind him, Jack got the job in 1986 after Eoin Hand's resignation. Ireland had, potentially, one of the most impressive squads in Europe at the time, with players of the calibre of Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan, Mark Lawrenson, Paul McGrath and David O'Leary, but they had never qualified for a major tournament in their history. The Irish public instantly took Big Jack to their heart, foibles and all. They seemed to like the fact that he didn't give a stuff about convention, that he often forgot his own players' names, that his idea of a good time was doing a bit of fishing in the country and that he gave good crack and enjoyed a beer. But, most of all, they liked the fact that he searched the English and Scottish leagues looking for players with any Irish ancestry - however tenuous - and then persuaded them to come and play for the boys in green. Not everybody was a fan of the style of play he advocated, admittedly, but the Irish were, by and large, happy to overlook that. Because, for the first time in their history they actually had some representation at the major football events.
The former Irish international Eamon Dunphy, by then a respected - if highly opinionated - journalist accused Charlton of being 'a bully,' of playing ugly football and of not making the best use of the players at his disposal. Charlton, in turn, labelled Dunphy 'a bitter little man' and an enmity developed between the two that reached its height during the 1990 World Cup. Dunphy caused a massive controversy in Ireland by attacking the performance of the national team on television. After a 0-0 draw with Egypt - which saw Ireland progress to the second round - Dunphy called the team 'a disgrace.' This temporarily turned Dunphy into a figure of public hatred in Ireland. He would subsequently be as immortalised in Roddy Doyle's novel The Van as a nickname given to a large sausage which resembled a man's penis. You do not take on Big Jack Charlton and get away with it lightly! Having got Ireland to two World Cup final tournaments - including a quarter final in 1990 - and the 1988 European Championships (when, famously, they beat England), and having been given the freedom of the city of Dublin, Jack retired in 1995. It is often said that once upon a time, if you went into any house in the Republic, they would have two pictures on the wall - the Pope and John Kennedy. These days, it's more likely to be three.
463. Did You Know?:
In 1978 West Germany met Mexico - or 'The Lenny Kravitz Tribute XI' as the comedian Sean Lock once memorably described them - in a group match at Cordoba. Dieter Müller, Hansi Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Heinz Flohe, Klaus Fischer and Rainer Bonhof went on to rip the Mexicans apart, the Germans eventually winning 6-0 (and missing half-a-dozen gilt-edged chances to score even more). The game is probably best remembered for one of three - very different - reasons. The Germans being told to wear green socks along with their usual white tops and black shorts; an outrageous eighty yard charge by Rummenigge when, after Mexico lost the ball on the edge of the German area, he simply ran past every Mexican that tried to stop him before scoring; and the astonishing barnet sported Mexico's Leonardo Cuéllar. Mad hair!
464. Did You Know?:
Greece's squad for the 2010 World Cup includes Genoa's midfielder Socrates Papastathopoulos the man with, undoubtedly, the most Greek name in the history of Greece. The only thing that could possibly make him more Greek would be if he were to open a kebab shop in Stoke Newington. Of the rest of the 2010 Greek squad of twenty three, eight players come from Panathinaikos and a further three from Olympiakos.
465. Did You Know?: The only footballer to win an international cap whilst playing for Hartlepool United remains Ambrose Fogarty, who made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1964 whilst on the staff at Victoria Park. He made a further ten appearances for his country after a move to Sunderland in 1965.
466. Did You Know?: Among the players picked for the Turks and Caicos Islands for their World Cup qualifying matches in 2006 was central defender Lawrence Harvey.
Lawrence was a thirty year old quantity surveyor who had played most of his football for a Sunday team, Aicia Athletic, in the Halls of Cambridge Senior League. Lawrence qualified for selection because he'd worked on the islands for a couple of years. He made his debut in a 5-0 defeat to Haiti. In the return match, four days later, Lawrence was unfortunate enough to score an own goal in a 2-0 defeat.
467. Did You Know?: One of the most enduring images of the 2002 World Cup in first time qualifiers Senegal, who had beaten the holders France in their first match, making it through to the quarter-final with an extra-time victory over Sweden. Henri Camara scored the golden goal - the first in World Cup history - after a dazzling mazy run.
468. Did You Know?:
Members of the 2010 World Cup Silly Names Squad include Siyabonga Sangweni (South Africa), Surprise Moriri (South Africa), Jonny Magallón (Mexico), Danny Shittu (Nigeria), Oh Beom-Seok (South Korea), Avraam Papadopoulos (Greece), Edson Buddle (USA), Nejc Pečnik (Slovenia), Dennis Aogo (Germany), Tommy Oar (Australia), John Paintsil (Ghana), Stijn Schaars (the Netherlands), Daisuke Matsui (Japan), Keisuke Honda (Japan), Gaëtan Bong (Cameroon), Shane Smeltz (New Zealand), Juraj Kucka (Slovakia), Grafite (Brazil), Mun In-Guk (North Korea), Sol Bamba (see left, Côte d'Ivoire), Mario Eggimann (Switzerland), Georgie Welcome (Honduras) and Waldo Ponce (Chile).
469. Did You Know?: Leonardo made his international debut for Brazil in 1990. A brilliantly athletic defender with São Paulo, he was selected as a left-back for the 1994 World Cup, keeping the young Roberto Carlos out of the team, much to his chagrin. Leonardo played well in the early groups games but was then given a four-match suspension for brutally elbowing the American midfielder Tab Ramos in the face during a second round match. This resulted in a broken jaw for the stricken Ramos who had to stay in hospital for three and a half months afterwards drinking his meals through a straw.
Leonardo's suspension prevented him from participating in the remainder of the competition. It was the second longest ban imposed in World Cup history, after Mauro Tassotti's eight-game suspension for breaking the nose of Luis Enrique at the same tournament. Having returned to the national team as a defensive midfielder, Leonardo was an important member of the team that won the Copa America in 1997. He played in all seven games in his second World Cup, in 1998, helping Brazil to the final. In the second opening round match against Morocco, he appeared to have scored a brilliant goal only for it to be ruled out for offside. He was last selected to play for Brazil in the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign and ended his career with sixty caps and eight goals for Brazil. During the 2006 World Cup he was employed by the BBC as one of their - second-string - half-time panel. He didn't look especially comfortable in the role, however. There was a particular moment as he was sitting next to Gordon Strachan when he appeared to be thinking 'I was led to believe this was an English-language channel.'
470. Did You Know?: In the summer of 2006, Peter Crouch adopted a robotic dancing goal celebration. A parody of a dance that he had seen being performing on a television programme covering a party held at England team-mate David Beckham's house, the Liverpool centre forward first performed it after his goal for England against Hungary on 30 May in a friendly.
He again performed the dance after his first two goals against Jamaica a few days later. The Daily Mirror newspaper, with no supporting evidence whatsoever, claimed that the dance was inspired by the lyrics to the Arctic Monkeys' hit single 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.' On 12 June, Peter - who seems from interviews to be a smart, witty and tuned-in young man, even if he does play like a big lanky plank at times - announced he would only perform his robotic dance again if England were to win the World Cup, saying 'It's not about robotic dancing. It is about scoring goals and winning matches. It's an important time for everyone now.' Although Peter scored in England's 2-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago in the first round, sadly he didn't get to perform the robot again as England bombed out in the quarter-finals. A year after the tournament, the retired English referee, Graham Poll, claimed that FIFA had specifically warned referees at the event to pay close attention to Crouch, claiming that 'he's a real pain and he's getting away with too much.' In September 2006, Crouch was quoted in the Observer as saying that: '[The robot] was funny at the time, but I didn't want to carry on doing it until it became unfunny. I've stopped doing it for the time being, but if I ever score a really big goal you never know.' On 1 April 2009, Crouch partially reprised the celebration after scoring during England's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
471. Did You Know?: Door Wilskracht Sterk's Jan Jongbloed made his debut for the Dutch national team in 1962 - as a twenty one year old - as a late substitute for Piet Lagarde in a 4-1 defeat by Denmark in Kopenhagen.
That was his last appearance for the Oranj until the eve of the 1974 World Cup final when, now a veteran of thirty three, he was brought into the squad by Rinus Michels, as much for his outfield dribbling skills as for any outstanding goalkeeper abilities. Michels used Jongbloed as, in effect, international football's first 'rush-keeper', Jongbloed often playing as a virtual sweeper behind centre-backs Wim Rijsbergen and Arie Haan. Having played in a pre-tournament friendly against Argentina, Jongbloed kept his place throughout the 1974 World Cup. Dropped in favour of Ajax's more orthodox keeper Piet Schrijvers following a 3-0 defeat to Yugoslavia in 1975, Jan's international career seemed to be over until he was recalled in late 1977. He played in five of the Netherland's seven games at the 1978 World Cup, the final against Argentina being his twenty fourth and last appearance for the national side.
472. Did You Know?:
The 1966 West Germany against Uruguay quarter final in 1966 ended in a 4-0 win for the Germans but that only tells part of the story. The Uruguyans were the better team for much of the game until they had two players sent-off. Firstly Hector Silva hacked down Willi Schultz and then made a ludicrous attempt to kick the ball out of Tilkowski's hands. Instead, he connected with the German keeper's face. Though, to be fair, Tilkowski (see left) did eventually recover. Silva was finally ordered off after he took a savage swing at Helmut Haller. Some might argue he should have been given a medal for that but, anyway ... Horacio Troche was also dismissed for kicking Lothar Emmerich into Hillsborough's Row Z. On his way off, Troche slapped the perfectly innocent Uwe Seller's face briefly sparking a fifteen man brawl.
473. Did You Know?: Yordan Letchkov, the former Bulgarian international footballer is now the mayor of the town of Sliven where he began his career.
Yordan is generally regarded as one of the best players ever to come out of Bulgaria and was a key member of the team which reached the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup. Known to fans as The Magician Letchkov was a gifted player who could play as a either striker or on the left side of midfield and was easily recognisable on accounts of his considerable baldness. His finest moment came in the quarter finals in 1994 when his flying header past Bodo Illgner from Krassimir Balakov's delicate cross helped the Bulgars to beat the Germans. Which was funny. And, what made it even funnier was that, at the time, Letchkov was playing his club football at Hamburg!
474. Did You Know?:
France eliminated Brazil at the 2006 World Cup, winning 1–0. A hugely disappointing Brazil only managed one shot on goal in the entire match. Zinedine Zidane ran the game with a brilliant display in midfield whilst Brazil's day was possibly best summed up by the fact that when Thierry Henry volleyed the winning goal past Dida, Roberto Carlos (see left) who was supposed to be marking him, had stopped to tie his boot laces.
475. Did You Know?:
In 2006 when England announced their World Cup squad, it included a shock - and, with hindsight rather ridiculous - inclusion of seventeen-year-old Theo Walcott. Especially considering that their coach, Sven-Göran Eriksson, admitted he hadn't even seen Walcott play in an actual match. How ironic, therefore, that four years later, under a manager who had seen plenty of him playing, Walcott didn't make the England twenty three for South Africa.
476. Did You Know?: When Ireland played Italy at the 1994 World Cup in Giants Stadium, New York, it seemed that every third-generation O'Paddy, begorrah, bejesus, where's me shilelagh, on the East Coast had turned out ... to cheer on all the third-generation O'Paddies on the pitch! A running joke at the time was that the definition of a Republic of Ireland international had changed to 'someone born and bred anywhere other than the Republic of Ireland.' It was, actually, a second-generation Irishman, Ray Houghton (born in Glasgow to an Irish father) who scored the winner in the eleventh minute. His delighted forward-roll celebration (see left) has gone down in Irish folklore.
As has the fact that sitting on the bench that day was Tony Cascarino, born in Orpington, who would go on to play eighty eight times for the country of his mother. However, Cascarino later revealed in his biography that his mother told him in 1996 that she was actually adopted and therefore wasn't a blood-relative of his - definitely Irish - grandfather. Cascarino said: 'I didn't qualify for Ireland. I was a fraud. A fake Irishman.' In actual fact, through the adoption his mother had gained the right to Irish citizenship and therefore Tony was, indeed, eligible. But it was great story and another example of the bouys having, seemingly, put one over on FIFA!
477. Did You Know?: If you're ever watching one of those Bestest Ever World Cup Goals-type compilation shows that seem to crop up on British TV every four years and they show Teófilo Cubillas' brilliant outside-of-the-right-foot free-kick for Peru against Scotland in 1978, keep your attention on the Soctland wall.
As goalkeeper Allan Rough has noted in recent years whose daft idea was it, exactly, to have the three smallest players on the pitch - Lou Macari, Archie Gemmill and Stewart Kennedy - at the side of the wall over which Cubillas was most likely to try and bend one? It doesn't, of course, detract in the slightest for one of the most aesthetically perfect moments in World Cup history. But it is, perhaps, another example of an age-old truism. That when Scotland try, really hard, there's no one better in they world than they at shooting themselves in the foot.
478. Did You Know?: The 1990s was a decade in which a bottle of bleach was many a footballer's best friend.
Premier League talent like David Beckham, Robbie Fowler and David James all employed one to varying degrees of success. The apogee of the style, however, was when Romania's 1998 World Cup squad took the whole thing to the limit by dying their hair en masse to take the field for their final group match against Tunisa whilst resembling an entire team of real Slim Shadys. Dan Petrescu subsequently explained that the players had done it to express their solidarity as a squad. It had washed out four days later when Romania lost to Croatia in the second round.
479. Did You Know?:
The ticker-tape welcome which greeted Cesar Luis Menotti's Argentina every time they emerged from the tunnel at the River Plate Stadium during the 1978 World Cup remains one of the most induring images of sport in the 1970s. As was the sight of austere General Videla watching stony-faced from the stands as his country became world champions for the first time. Still, FIFA, what's a few thousand disparus and a bit of gratuitous genital torture and murder compared to the joy you must have felt in appeasing a bunch of oppressive sick right-wing thugs and helping to keep them in power, eh?
480. Did You Know?:
A rematch of the 1974 World Cup final took place just ten months later when the Netherlands played West Germany in a friendly in Frankfurt. Uwe Kliemann, Erich Beer (see left) and Wolfgang Seel played in an experimental German side and it was the latter's cross, in the seventh minute which found Herbert Wimmer to open the scoring. The Dutch equalised in the second half through a memorable solo effort by Wim van Hanegem.
481. Did You Know?: During a quarter-final match between England and Portgual in 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho's knackers. Not entirely undeservedly either, it should be noted, although the English media inevitably speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in TV replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal.
The former England striker and TV pundit Alan Shearer suggested that Rooney might well like to consider 'sticking one on Ronaldo' when the two next meet in Manchester for pre-season training. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was his friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off. On 4 July, the referee clarified that the red card had been given purely Rooney's attempted castration-without-anaesthetic of Carvalho and not for the handbags-at-ten-paces fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo which followed. Nevertheless, the angry reaction from the English press - and, indeed, the English public - caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United and he allegedly told the Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid. Ronaldo was subsequently booed - by French, German and English fans - during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France. Which, to be fair, proved that pretty much nobody liked the cocky little bastard. He also missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarding the prize to Germany's Lukas Podolski and specifically citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in their decision.
482. Did You Know?:
In his ground-breaking book about football-as-an-obsession Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby devoted a chapter to the 1970 World Cup and gives a refreshing antidote to the sometimes misty-eyed reflections of us boring old farts. 'In a way Brazil ruined it for all of us. They had revealed a kind of Platonic ideal that nobody, not even the Brazilians, would ever be able to find again. Pele retired and in five subsequent tournaments they only showed little flahses of their ejector-seat football, as if 1970 was a half-remembered dream they once had of themselves. At school we were left with our ESSO World Cup coin collections and a couple of fancy moves to try out; but we couldn't even get close and gave up.'
483. Did You Know?:
In 2002, The Times attempted to put England's quarter-finals defeat by Brazil - you know, the one when Ronaldinho lobbed Seaman from thirty five yards - into a modicum of perspective. Ooo, very unwise. 'There have, of course, been worse moments in English history,' they noted. 'The Roman Conquest, the Black Death, the Civil War, the fall of France in 1940 and virtually the whole of the 1970s, for example.' I say, steady on now. There's 'important' and there's properly important.
484. Did You Know?: Middlesbrough's Jim Platt won twenty three caps for Northern Ireland in a ten year international career.
It would have been many more but for most of that period he was understudy to the great Pat Jennings. Platt did, however, manage to play a game at the World Cup - a second round match against Austria in 1982 - when Jennings was nursing a knee injury. The game was a cracker, a 2-2 draw in which Billy Hamilton scored both of the Irish goals. Platt had no chance with either of the Austrian strikes, particularly the second, a beautifully taken free-kick by Reinhold Hintermaier.
485. Did You Know?: The linesman who saw Maradona score his infamous 'Hand of God' goal against England in 1986 said afterwards that the referee was an 'idiot' to allow it, at least according to the Sun anyway. Bulgarian Bogdan Dotchev added that he believed the Tunisian official, Ali Bin Nasser, was 'more fit to herd camels in the desert than take charge of a World Cup game.'
486. Did You Know?:
I feel I might have been a little harsh on Eamon Dunphy earlier on - see No. 462 - so, in the interests of fairness and balance, here is the former Millwall player's finest rant, from the Irish TV show Apres Match during 1998: 'No football team will win this tournament. This tournament will be won by the faceless empires of corporate greed. The Jules Rimet trophy has become hijacked by the world of big business bastards, sold to the TV networks of Satan. There will be a final on 12 July. It will have no soul. It will be between Nike and Snickers.' Tell 'em all about it, Eamon, baby.
487. Did You Know?:
Germany opened their 1998 World Cup campaign with a desperately poor perfrmance against the USA. Although they won, 2-0, with goals from Andi Möller and Jürgen Klinsmann, after the match their former captain and coach, Franz Beckenbauer, was force to concede 'If you put all of the German players, except Kahn, in a sack and hit it, you would get someone who deserved it!'
488. Did You Know?: On 30 June, the day of the final of the 2002 World Cup, the Caribbean island of Montserrat, then the lowest ranked team in the world, played against the second lowest ranked team, Bhutan, in a friendly match known as The Other Final.
The game was played in the Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu and was refereed by English Premier League official Steve Bennett. It attracted quite a bit of media attention at the time and subsequently as Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer made a - very well-received - documentary about the game and the reasons why it was being played. Bhutan won the match 4-0. Montserrat remain at the foot of FIFA's world ranking (occassionally swapping places with the equally atrocious American Samoa) but, bless 'em, they still try their best. In 2008 for a World Cup qualifying match with Suriname, their squad included five ex-pats playing (extremely) minor league football in England - Vladimir Farrell of South Normanton Athletic, Ellary White of Rothwell Aztec, Rowan Taylor of Cockfosters, Clapton's Synclair Adamson and Andrew Julius of Brimsdown Rovers. They lost 7-1.
489. Did You Know?: One of the early games in the 1998 World Cup tournament, between Cameroon and Austria, brought a genuinely curious clash of contrasting styles.
Cameroon played like eleven - extremely technically gifted - players on eleven completely different planets, let alone eleven different teams, whilst a dreadfully poor Austria positioned Toni Polster just in front of their back nine and played for - and got - a draw. It really was a dreadful effing excuse for a game, enlivened only by two moments of individual skill: Pierre Njanka evading about eight tackles to score the opener for the Africans and Polster's close-range equaliser in stoppage time.
490. Did You Know?:
Rumour has it that the BBC once decided to give their own captive 'intelligent footballer', Garth Crooks, his own chat show and came up with the title Garth Crook Asks. Unfortunately, it was pointed out to those in charge of such matters that for a programme with this title to satisfy the necessary letter of the Trades Descriptions Act then it would need to be four hours long and that Garth would, in that time, get to ask only one question. And, that would be a rhetorical one.
491. Did You Know?:
The BBC's build up to the England versus Paraguay game in 2006 was, without question, the longest in football history. Some viewers weren't even born when it started. There were some highlights, however. Like Ray Stubbs attempting to interview a completely bladdered Andrew Flintoff - barely capable of standing, much less speaking - whilst Freddie's England cricket colleague, Steve Harmison, attempted to keep him upright long enough to get through a question unaided. It was, if you missed it, a sight to see.
492. Did You Know?:
One of the oldest players at the 2010 World Cup will be England's David James, aged thirty nine. Good old Calamity is two months younger than the Netherlands' third choice keeper, Sander Boschker (though far more likely to actually get a game). Five thirty seven year olds will also be appearing, Óscar Pérez Rojas and Cuauhtémoc Blanco of Mexico, the USA's Marcus Hahnemann, Lee Woo-Jae of South Korea and Mark Schwartz of Australia. Perhaps significantly, apart from Blanco, all are goalkeepers.
493. Did You Know?: During the 2006 World Cup the former French international striker Youri Djorkaeff was rumbled after telling his employers, the New York Red Bulls, that he was away attending to 'a family emergency.' Djorkaeff was then spotted in the crowd during television coverage of the France against Brazil quarter-final!
494. Did You Know?: The biggest mistake that any British TV channel had made over recent years was the pure-dead bright idea to let Mick McCarthy anywhere near a mircophone.
Whoever's brainwave this was, seemingly, didn't realise that the former Repulic of Ireland manager's voice is the single most painful, gut-wrenching and hideous sound ever to grace this earth. And, yes if you're wondering, that does include Sting singing. They also, seemingly, forgot that most of the watching millions have a very low tolerance threshold for inanities. Mind you, having McCarthy on hand - along with the equally ludicrous Steve Wilson - to attempt to describe the carnage going on at the end of the Argentina vs Germany quarter final in 2006 was, genuinely, a once in a lifetime experience. It was just a shade away from 'oh, the humanity!'
495. Did You Know?:
After Italy had beaten Norway 1-0 during the 1994 World Cup, Paolo Maldini was scornful of his opponents. 'What makes me laugh is that they were losing 1-0, they had ten men behind the ball and they expected us to come forward. We're not as stupid as the other teams they played!'
496. Did You Know?:
In response to Taribo West's extravagant braids at the 1998 World Cup, Nigeria culture minister Otumba Runshewe described the hairstyle as 'homosexual.' 'Our youths copy our footballers, but the players seem to forget that braids embrace a sense of homosexuality in the developing world. We certainly don't want that,' noted Runshewe. You know, of course, what really aggressive heterosexuality is usually a sign of, don't you, Otumba?
497. Did You Know?: Of the thirty two coaches taking their teams to the 2010 World Cup thirteen - Carlos Alberto Parreira, Javier Aguirre, Raymond Domenech, Lars Lagerbäck, Huh Jung-Moo, Joachim Löw, Pim Verbeek, Morten Olsen, Takeshi Okada, Marcello Lippi, Sven-Göran Eriksson, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Marcelo Bielsa - have previously coached teams at the finals.
Additionally, Diego Maradona, Fabio Capello, Vladimír Weiss and Dunga have, at least, played in a World Cup. At the other extreme, Bert van Marwijk's sole Dutch cap, in 1975, came whilst he was playing for Go Ahead Eagles, whilst the highlight of Raddy Antić's career was scoring the goal that kept Luton Town in the first division and, probably, saving David Pleat's job. I hope your mother was proud of you, Raddy.
498. Did You Know?:
'German football teams traumatised their neighbours,' wrote Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. 'The worst memory in French football history is the defeat to Germany in the semi-final of the World Cup of 1982. The worst Dutch football memory is the lost World Cup final of 1974. The worst English memories are probably the defeats to Germany in 1970, 1990 and 1996, summed up by the phrase 'Thirty years of hurt.' They entered the last World Cup as perhaps the first team in history built around a goalkeeper — Oliver Kahn.'
499. Did You Know?:
Just as the 2006 World Cup was beginning and near enough every football journalist on the planet was descending on Berlin, one of the very best of their number was actually catching a fight out of Germany. For the next month David Winner, the author of two of the greatest books on football ever written - Brilliant Orange and Those Feet - travelled to various cities around the world, usually staying with friends, and experiencing the World Cup in much the same way that the vast majority of people do, on TV. His journey formed the basis for another wonderful, funny, evocative and warm book Around The World In Ninety Minutes (Plus Extra Time And Penalties).
500. Did You Know?:
One of the most famous celebrations in sports history is the shirt-stripping moment by American Brandi Chastain after she converted the winning penalty in the 1999 Women's World Cup final against China. The image of Chastain with her shirt off and revealing her bare stomach and her sports bra was immortalised on the covers of Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated. Brandi's own take on the incident was 'Momentary insanity, nothing more, nothing less.'
One of the most genuinely startling sights for TV viewers of the 1974 World Cup - particularly for a young chap, relatively unschooled in the ways of the wider world - occurred whenever Poland scored a goal. They kissed each other. Not hugged each other - even big hard, hairy Englishmen did that every Saturday - but actually kissed. On the cheek. No tongues, though. Because, that would be weird. And, bearing in mind that they finished third in that tournament, they scored a lot and, therefore, kissed a lot. Check out, for instance, Grzegorz Lato planting a right smacker on Andrzej Szarmach's hairy mush at one minute forty seconds into this footage. 'Dad, are them Polish players all girlymen, or what?' a ten-year-old actual Keith Telly Topping asked, all wide-eyed, snotty and innocent. 'No, son' replied Daddy Telly Topping from his armchair. 'They're Poles. They have funny ways over there.' Wasn't the world a much simpler place back in the 1974?452. Did You Know?: Noel Gallagher was something of a lucky mascot for Italy during their successful World Cup campaign in 2006. Discussing his memories of the tournament on the BBC's Football Focus, the Oasis guitarist and songwriter revealed that Azzurri playmaker Alessandro Del Piero - a friend of Gallagher - believed he was a lucky charm for the side.
The superstition started when Del Piero scored the second goal for Italy in their 2-0 win in the semi-final against Germany in Dortmund - and ran towards Gallagher to celebrate. 'I was sat beside his wife. His wife reckons he was coming over to blow kisses at her, but what actually happened is he's seen me and his wife just happened to be there,' Noel told the NME. 'He then gets it in his head that I'm his lucky mascot, so he said: "You'll have to come to the final." He made me wear the same clothes,' Noel added. Italy went on to win the tournament, beating France on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Berlin in the final. Oasis went on to record Dig Out Your Soul.453. Did You Know?: 'We'd still prefer to be bombing Germany, but after sixty years there's a dawning suspicion that those days aren't coming back any time soon, and in the mean time we must rely on sarong-wearing multi-millionaire pretty boys to kick the Argies for us. We're not happy about it, but what can we do?' wrote Nick Hornby, on the subject of England fans, in The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup in 2006. But, it must be said, Hornby writes about football the way that Johan Cruyff used to play it - with flair, with artistry and with not a little genius. In a 2006 article for National Geographic magazine called Soccer, According to England Nick summed up, beautifully, our love affair with this often infuriating game. 'Some fans started to feel a little conflicted about the national team. In 1990, when England played Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, it wasn't hard to find people in England — middle-class, liberal people, admittedly, but people nonetheless — who wanted Cameroon to win. I watched that game with some of them, and when England went 2-1 down, these people cheered. I understood why, but I couldn't cheer with them, much to my surprise. Those drunk, racist thugs draped in the national colours ... they were, it turned out, my people, not the nice liberal friends I was watching the game with.
I mean, you can't choose stuff like that, right? The 1990 World Cup turned out to be a turning point. The team wasn't embarrassing. The fans weren't embarrassing either. After a horrendous couple of decades, the national team once again basked in the warmth of the nation's affections.' Of course the rebirth, as Nick goes on to note, 'lasted about five minutes. There was a disastrous managerial appointment, which resulted in yet another failure to qualify. And by 1998 football was a different game. Many of the players in our top division came from outside the British Isles. The globalisation of the transfer market was beginning to rob international football of much of its point. In the old days, you'd look at the best players in the club teams and think, What would they be like if they played together? And the answer was they looked like the national team. Now, Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, and Barcelona have replaced the national teams as fantasy soccer teams.' See what I mean I artistry?454. Did You Know?: Remember that 'players kissing-their-ring-to-celebrate-a-goal' nonsense from a few years ago?
What was all that about, then? Well, as demonstrated, here, by the lovely and fragrant Raul, players who had just scored often kissed the ring-finger of either hand, apparently in recognition of their wife. Nobody knows exactly who started it but it became something of a feature at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups where lots of the Brazilians started doing it (Rivaldo, in particular). You still see it, occasionally, although it's nowhere near as prominent as it was a few years ago. The subtextual psychological implication, of course, appear to be essentially 'look at me, I've just scored a goal, that makes me a man. And almost God-like in my sexual dynamism. And, to prove it, I've got a wife. Bow down before me, you impotent plebs, abase yourself in front of my massive maleness.' Or, you know, something like that.455. Did You Know?: For El Salvador, the 1982 World Cup was twenty hundred and seventy minutes to forget, and quickly. Although Luis Ramírez Zapata scored their first goal in a World Cup finals competition, it was a consolation effort three minutes from the end of a 10-1 hiding by Hungary.
They followed that up with further defeats 1-0 to Belgium and 2-0 to Argentina and quickly caught the plane back to San Salvador. For the neutral, the highlight of their three games was the goal scored by Ludo Coeck for Belgium. Not so much the goal itself - although that was a quality strike from distance after a short free-kick, but more for Coeck's enormous blond afro. And, you've got to admit, he had a pretty funny name as well. Capped forty six times for his country, Ludo was a big, strong, mobile centre back who played for Anderlecht and Internazionale. On 9 October 1985, he was tragically killed when his BMW ploughed into crash barriers near the Belgian town of Rumst, while he was on his way to sign for Lierse.456. Did You Know?:
Marcelo Salas, then playing with River Plate in Argentina, first came to international prominence when he scored both of Chile's goals in their shock 2-0 win at Wembley against England in 1998. He'd already scored two hat-tricks in Chile's qualification matches for that year's World Cup (against Peru and Colombia) but it was his performance at Wembley that really made the rest of the world sit up and take notice. Known at El Matador to his adoring fans, he subsequently scored four goals in four games at the 1998 World Cup, forming a deadly partnership with Iván Zamorano. Salas then moved to Italy, playing for Lazio and, later, Juventus to great acclaim and winning three Serie A titles.457. Did You Know?: It may surprise some of our English readership to know this but Germany, as a whole - and certainly as a team - never held a particular grudge about the 1966 World Cup final. I realise that might be a disappointment to some of the bonehead numskulls who gormlessly bellow 'two World Wars and one World Cup, doo-dah, doo-dah,' every time we play them, but there it is.
Unlike, for instance, England themselves, who still have a chip on its collective shoulder over Maradona's Hand of God malarkey. And, quite rightly so an'all, the nasty little greasy fat cheat. Anyway ... As Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger notes in his highly recommended book on the history of German football, Tor!: 'Only one of the Germans - goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski - felt "robbed" on account of that third goal. And, all of them were proud to have made the final at all, were glad to have given England such a good game and admit that the trophy went to the better side.' In 1996, Ulrich spoke to most of the members of the 1966 West German squad whilst researching his book. 'Too much has been said about the third goal,' noted Wolfgang Weber. 'England have entered the annuls of football history as worthy world champions.' 'The English team was exceptional and worthy of the title,' added Uwe Seller whilst Wolfgang Overath concluded 'England had a great side. We accepted this defeat and, I hope, our conduct brought credit to the German team.' They certainly did, and indeed, to their country as a whole. Tor! reminds us, just in case we'd forgotten, that the 1966 tournament took place just slightly over twenty years after the conclusion of a war in which their nation had waged total war on the rest of Europe and in a city that he almost been bombed flat by the Luftwaffe. The West German players had been instructed by their coach that far more important than how they played was how they behaved - like gentlemen and sportsmen. 'So impressive were Schön's lectures that even thirty years later, Tilkowski would say: "The main thing was that we left a good impression. Back in 1966, the appearance and the behaviour of the team were essential."'458. Did You Know?: A 1991 episode of the BBC Scotland sitcom Rab C Nesbitt called Fitba concerns Rab, Burney and Jamesie going to see Scotland play in the World Cup and taking a frail, elderly ex-footballer, Matt Fernie (played by Stanley Baxter), with them.
When Rab despairs about how he will be able to get a knackered old carthorse like Matt all the way to Italy, Burney is incredulous: 'How no? Andy Roxburgh's takin' Roy Aitken!' It had to be said, the entire 1990 World Cup adventure for the Scots was something of a comedy in and of itself. Particularly the moment in their first match when Costa Rica's Juan Cayasso scored past Jim Leighton to cause the single biggest upset of that competition. (Cameroon beating Argentina in the opening match notwithstanding.) A 2-1 win against Sweden briefly raised Scottish hopes but, in their final group match against Brazil, they lost to a Müller goal - after another Leighton calamity - and, as usual, failed to make the second round.459. Did You Know?: There's something about Brazil vs Peru games at the World Cup that just seems to bring out the very best that football has to offer.
The two countries match-up in the quarter finals in 1970 was, possibly, the finest game that's ever been seen in a World Cup in terms of two teams who were totally committed to pure, unadulterated attack, attack, attack and nothing but attack. A rematch in the second round in 1978 didn't, quite, live up to that although it did produce a goal of rare beauty, a glorious free-kick by Dirceu José Guimarães. Dirceu had been a bit-part player during the early stages of the 1974 finals but was the undoubted star of the Brazil side in 1978 - drawing more attention even than Zico. A gifted midfielder with a thunderous left-foot shot, Dirceu would return, for the third World Cup campaign in 1982. In all he played eleven times for Brazil over the course of three tournaments and scored three wonderful goals, of which the one against Peru was the highlight. He was one of only two European-based players in the 1982 squad (Falcao was the other), having played for three years with Atlético Madrid where he became a legend. Tragically, like Ludo Coeck (see above), he was also killed in road traffic accident, in 1995 at the age of just forty three.460. Did You Know?: England recorded a famous win over their old foes Argentina in their group game at Sapporo in 2002. David Beckham, the 'villain' to many four years earlier was, there, the hero blasting home a penalty after Michael Owen had rather made a meal of a tackle by Mauricio Pochettino seconds before half-time.
In the second half England's defence, superbly marshalled by Sol Campbell, stood firm to claim a memorable win as Argentina mounted wave after wave of attacks. The 1-0 scoreline lifted England to second place in their group and went a long way towards avenging previous painful defeats to Argentina at Mexico in 1986 and France in 1998. Still recovering from a broken metatarsal which had threatened his place at the tournament, Beckham bravely stepped up to score the decisive spot-kick. In truth, the penalty - hit hard and straight down the middle - wasn't the greatest strike in the world but the sheer relief on Beckham's face as Pablo Cavallero managed to dive out of the way of it was something of a defining moment in English football. Argentina's inability to beat Sweden in their next match meant that they failed to reach at least the second round of a World Cup for the first time since 1970, when they failed to qualify for the finals. Which was, of course, very sad.461. Did You Know?:
The Netherlands conceded just one goal en route to the 1974 World Cup final. Bulgaria breached their defences in a 4-1 group victory in Dortmund. And, even that was an own goal scored for the Bulgarians by Ruud Krol. At the other end, two penalties from Johan Neeskens, a quality Johnny Rep volley and a diving header by substitute Theo de Jong from Johan Cruyff's pinpoint cross capped yet another stunning performance by the Dutch.462. Did You Know?: The nine years that Big Jack Charlton was in charge of the Republic of Ireland were the greatest in the country's entire footballing history. A World Cup winner with England in 1966 and with a patchy, but occasionally very successful managerial career - with Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United - behind him, Jack got the job in 1986 after Eoin Hand's resignation. Ireland had, potentially, one of the most impressive squads in Europe at the time, with players of the calibre of Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan, Mark Lawrenson, Paul McGrath and David O'Leary, but they had never qualified for a major tournament in their history. The Irish public instantly took Big Jack to their heart, foibles and all. They seemed to like the fact that he didn't give a stuff about convention, that he often forgot his own players' names, that his idea of a good time was doing a bit of fishing in the country and that he gave good crack and enjoyed a beer. But, most of all, they liked the fact that he searched the English and Scottish leagues looking for players with any Irish ancestry - however tenuous - and then persuaded them to come and play for the boys in green. Not everybody was a fan of the style of play he advocated, admittedly, but the Irish were, by and large, happy to overlook that. Because, for the first time in their history they actually had some representation at the major football events.
The former Irish international Eamon Dunphy, by then a respected - if highly opinionated - journalist accused Charlton of being 'a bully,' of playing ugly football and of not making the best use of the players at his disposal. Charlton, in turn, labelled Dunphy 'a bitter little man' and an enmity developed between the two that reached its height during the 1990 World Cup. Dunphy caused a massive controversy in Ireland by attacking the performance of the national team on television. After a 0-0 draw with Egypt - which saw Ireland progress to the second round - Dunphy called the team 'a disgrace.' This temporarily turned Dunphy into a figure of public hatred in Ireland. He would subsequently be as immortalised in Roddy Doyle's novel The Van as a nickname given to a large sausage which resembled a man's penis. You do not take on Big Jack Charlton and get away with it lightly! Having got Ireland to two World Cup final tournaments - including a quarter final in 1990 - and the 1988 European Championships (when, famously, they beat England), and having been given the freedom of the city of Dublin, Jack retired in 1995. It is often said that once upon a time, if you went into any house in the Republic, they would have two pictures on the wall - the Pope and John Kennedy. These days, it's more likely to be three.463. Did You Know?:
In 1978 West Germany met Mexico - or 'The Lenny Kravitz Tribute XI' as the comedian Sean Lock once memorably described them - in a group match at Cordoba. Dieter Müller, Hansi Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Heinz Flohe, Klaus Fischer and Rainer Bonhof went on to rip the Mexicans apart, the Germans eventually winning 6-0 (and missing half-a-dozen gilt-edged chances to score even more). The game is probably best remembered for one of three - very different - reasons. The Germans being told to wear green socks along with their usual white tops and black shorts; an outrageous eighty yard charge by Rummenigge when, after Mexico lost the ball on the edge of the German area, he simply ran past every Mexican that tried to stop him before scoring; and the astonishing barnet sported Mexico's Leonardo Cuéllar. Mad hair!464. Did You Know?:
Greece's squad for the 2010 World Cup includes Genoa's midfielder Socrates Papastathopoulos the man with, undoubtedly, the most Greek name in the history of Greece. The only thing that could possibly make him more Greek would be if he were to open a kebab shop in Stoke Newington. Of the rest of the 2010 Greek squad of twenty three, eight players come from Panathinaikos and a further three from Olympiakos.465. Did You Know?: The only footballer to win an international cap whilst playing for Hartlepool United remains Ambrose Fogarty, who made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1964 whilst on the staff at Victoria Park. He made a further ten appearances for his country after a move to Sunderland in 1965.
466. Did You Know?: Among the players picked for the Turks and Caicos Islands for their World Cup qualifying matches in 2006 was central defender Lawrence Harvey.
Lawrence was a thirty year old quantity surveyor who had played most of his football for a Sunday team, Aicia Athletic, in the Halls of Cambridge Senior League. Lawrence qualified for selection because he'd worked on the islands for a couple of years. He made his debut in a 5-0 defeat to Haiti. In the return match, four days later, Lawrence was unfortunate enough to score an own goal in a 2-0 defeat.467. Did You Know?: One of the most enduring images of the 2002 World Cup in first time qualifiers Senegal, who had beaten the holders France in their first match, making it through to the quarter-final with an extra-time victory over Sweden. Henri Camara scored the golden goal - the first in World Cup history - after a dazzling mazy run.
468. Did You Know?:
Members of the 2010 World Cup Silly Names Squad include Siyabonga Sangweni (South Africa), Surprise Moriri (South Africa), Jonny Magallón (Mexico), Danny Shittu (Nigeria), Oh Beom-Seok (South Korea), Avraam Papadopoulos (Greece), Edson Buddle (USA), Nejc Pečnik (Slovenia), Dennis Aogo (Germany), Tommy Oar (Australia), John Paintsil (Ghana), Stijn Schaars (the Netherlands), Daisuke Matsui (Japan), Keisuke Honda (Japan), Gaëtan Bong (Cameroon), Shane Smeltz (New Zealand), Juraj Kucka (Slovakia), Grafite (Brazil), Mun In-Guk (North Korea), Sol Bamba (see left, Côte d'Ivoire), Mario Eggimann (Switzerland), Georgie Welcome (Honduras) and Waldo Ponce (Chile).469. Did You Know?: Leonardo made his international debut for Brazil in 1990. A brilliantly athletic defender with São Paulo, he was selected as a left-back for the 1994 World Cup, keeping the young Roberto Carlos out of the team, much to his chagrin. Leonardo played well in the early groups games but was then given a four-match suspension for brutally elbowing the American midfielder Tab Ramos in the face during a second round match. This resulted in a broken jaw for the stricken Ramos who had to stay in hospital for three and a half months afterwards drinking his meals through a straw.
Leonardo's suspension prevented him from participating in the remainder of the competition. It was the second longest ban imposed in World Cup history, after Mauro Tassotti's eight-game suspension for breaking the nose of Luis Enrique at the same tournament. Having returned to the national team as a defensive midfielder, Leonardo was an important member of the team that won the Copa America in 1997. He played in all seven games in his second World Cup, in 1998, helping Brazil to the final. In the second opening round match against Morocco, he appeared to have scored a brilliant goal only for it to be ruled out for offside. He was last selected to play for Brazil in the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign and ended his career with sixty caps and eight goals for Brazil. During the 2006 World Cup he was employed by the BBC as one of their - second-string - half-time panel. He didn't look especially comfortable in the role, however. There was a particular moment as he was sitting next to Gordon Strachan when he appeared to be thinking 'I was led to believe this was an English-language channel.'470. Did You Know?: In the summer of 2006, Peter Crouch adopted a robotic dancing goal celebration. A parody of a dance that he had seen being performing on a television programme covering a party held at England team-mate David Beckham's house, the Liverpool centre forward first performed it after his goal for England against Hungary on 30 May in a friendly.
He again performed the dance after his first two goals against Jamaica a few days later. The Daily Mirror newspaper, with no supporting evidence whatsoever, claimed that the dance was inspired by the lyrics to the Arctic Monkeys' hit single 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.' On 12 June, Peter - who seems from interviews to be a smart, witty and tuned-in young man, even if he does play like a big lanky plank at times - announced he would only perform his robotic dance again if England were to win the World Cup, saying 'It's not about robotic dancing. It is about scoring goals and winning matches. It's an important time for everyone now.' Although Peter scored in England's 2-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago in the first round, sadly he didn't get to perform the robot again as England bombed out in the quarter-finals. A year after the tournament, the retired English referee, Graham Poll, claimed that FIFA had specifically warned referees at the event to pay close attention to Crouch, claiming that 'he's a real pain and he's getting away with too much.' In September 2006, Crouch was quoted in the Observer as saying that: '[The robot] was funny at the time, but I didn't want to carry on doing it until it became unfunny. I've stopped doing it for the time being, but if I ever score a really big goal you never know.' On 1 April 2009, Crouch partially reprised the celebration after scoring during England's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.471. Did You Know?: Door Wilskracht Sterk's Jan Jongbloed made his debut for the Dutch national team in 1962 - as a twenty one year old - as a late substitute for Piet Lagarde in a 4-1 defeat by Denmark in Kopenhagen.
That was his last appearance for the Oranj until the eve of the 1974 World Cup final when, now a veteran of thirty three, he was brought into the squad by Rinus Michels, as much for his outfield dribbling skills as for any outstanding goalkeeper abilities. Michels used Jongbloed as, in effect, international football's first 'rush-keeper', Jongbloed often playing as a virtual sweeper behind centre-backs Wim Rijsbergen and Arie Haan. Having played in a pre-tournament friendly against Argentina, Jongbloed kept his place throughout the 1974 World Cup. Dropped in favour of Ajax's more orthodox keeper Piet Schrijvers following a 3-0 defeat to Yugoslavia in 1975, Jan's international career seemed to be over until he was recalled in late 1977. He played in five of the Netherland's seven games at the 1978 World Cup, the final against Argentina being his twenty fourth and last appearance for the national side.472. Did You Know?:
The 1966 West Germany against Uruguay quarter final in 1966 ended in a 4-0 win for the Germans but that only tells part of the story. The Uruguyans were the better team for much of the game until they had two players sent-off. Firstly Hector Silva hacked down Willi Schultz and then made a ludicrous attempt to kick the ball out of Tilkowski's hands. Instead, he connected with the German keeper's face. Though, to be fair, Tilkowski (see left) did eventually recover. Silva was finally ordered off after he took a savage swing at Helmut Haller. Some might argue he should have been given a medal for that but, anyway ... Horacio Troche was also dismissed for kicking Lothar Emmerich into Hillsborough's Row Z. On his way off, Troche slapped the perfectly innocent Uwe Seller's face briefly sparking a fifteen man brawl.473. Did You Know?: Yordan Letchkov, the former Bulgarian international footballer is now the mayor of the town of Sliven where he began his career.
Yordan is generally regarded as one of the best players ever to come out of Bulgaria and was a key member of the team which reached the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup. Known to fans as The Magician Letchkov was a gifted player who could play as a either striker or on the left side of midfield and was easily recognisable on accounts of his considerable baldness. His finest moment came in the quarter finals in 1994 when his flying header past Bodo Illgner from Krassimir Balakov's delicate cross helped the Bulgars to beat the Germans. Which was funny. And, what made it even funnier was that, at the time, Letchkov was playing his club football at Hamburg!474. Did You Know?:
France eliminated Brazil at the 2006 World Cup, winning 1–0. A hugely disappointing Brazil only managed one shot on goal in the entire match. Zinedine Zidane ran the game with a brilliant display in midfield whilst Brazil's day was possibly best summed up by the fact that when Thierry Henry volleyed the winning goal past Dida, Roberto Carlos (see left) who was supposed to be marking him, had stopped to tie his boot laces.475. Did You Know?:
In 2006 when England announced their World Cup squad, it included a shock - and, with hindsight rather ridiculous - inclusion of seventeen-year-old Theo Walcott. Especially considering that their coach, Sven-Göran Eriksson, admitted he hadn't even seen Walcott play in an actual match. How ironic, therefore, that four years later, under a manager who had seen plenty of him playing, Walcott didn't make the England twenty three for South Africa.476. Did You Know?: When Ireland played Italy at the 1994 World Cup in Giants Stadium, New York, it seemed that every third-generation O'Paddy, begorrah, bejesus, where's me shilelagh, on the East Coast had turned out ... to cheer on all the third-generation O'Paddies on the pitch! A running joke at the time was that the definition of a Republic of Ireland international had changed to 'someone born and bred anywhere other than the Republic of Ireland.' It was, actually, a second-generation Irishman, Ray Houghton (born in Glasgow to an Irish father) who scored the winner in the eleventh minute. His delighted forward-roll celebration (see left) has gone down in Irish folklore.
As has the fact that sitting on the bench that day was Tony Cascarino, born in Orpington, who would go on to play eighty eight times for the country of his mother. However, Cascarino later revealed in his biography that his mother told him in 1996 that she was actually adopted and therefore wasn't a blood-relative of his - definitely Irish - grandfather. Cascarino said: 'I didn't qualify for Ireland. I was a fraud. A fake Irishman.' In actual fact, through the adoption his mother had gained the right to Irish citizenship and therefore Tony was, indeed, eligible. But it was great story and another example of the bouys having, seemingly, put one over on FIFA!477. Did You Know?: If you're ever watching one of those Bestest Ever World Cup Goals-type compilation shows that seem to crop up on British TV every four years and they show Teófilo Cubillas' brilliant outside-of-the-right-foot free-kick for Peru against Scotland in 1978, keep your attention on the Soctland wall.
As goalkeeper Allan Rough has noted in recent years whose daft idea was it, exactly, to have the three smallest players on the pitch - Lou Macari, Archie Gemmill and Stewart Kennedy - at the side of the wall over which Cubillas was most likely to try and bend one? It doesn't, of course, detract in the slightest for one of the most aesthetically perfect moments in World Cup history. But it is, perhaps, another example of an age-old truism. That when Scotland try, really hard, there's no one better in they world than they at shooting themselves in the foot.478. Did You Know?: The 1990s was a decade in which a bottle of bleach was many a footballer's best friend.
Premier League talent like David Beckham, Robbie Fowler and David James all employed one to varying degrees of success. The apogee of the style, however, was when Romania's 1998 World Cup squad took the whole thing to the limit by dying their hair en masse to take the field for their final group match against Tunisa whilst resembling an entire team of real Slim Shadys. Dan Petrescu subsequently explained that the players had done it to express their solidarity as a squad. It had washed out four days later when Romania lost to Croatia in the second round.479. Did You Know?:
The ticker-tape welcome which greeted Cesar Luis Menotti's Argentina every time they emerged from the tunnel at the River Plate Stadium during the 1978 World Cup remains one of the most induring images of sport in the 1970s. As was the sight of austere General Videla watching stony-faced from the stands as his country became world champions for the first time. Still, FIFA, what's a few thousand disparus and a bit of gratuitous genital torture and murder compared to the joy you must have felt in appeasing a bunch of oppressive sick right-wing thugs and helping to keep them in power, eh?480. Did You Know?:
A rematch of the 1974 World Cup final took place just ten months later when the Netherlands played West Germany in a friendly in Frankfurt. Uwe Kliemann, Erich Beer (see left) and Wolfgang Seel played in an experimental German side and it was the latter's cross, in the seventh minute which found Herbert Wimmer to open the scoring. The Dutch equalised in the second half through a memorable solo effort by Wim van Hanegem.481. Did You Know?: During a quarter-final match between England and Portgual in 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho's knackers. Not entirely undeservedly either, it should be noted, although the English media inevitably speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in TV replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal.
The former England striker and TV pundit Alan Shearer suggested that Rooney might well like to consider 'sticking one on Ronaldo' when the two next meet in Manchester for pre-season training. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was his friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off. On 4 July, the referee clarified that the red card had been given purely Rooney's attempted castration-without-anaesthetic of Carvalho and not for the handbags-at-ten-paces fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo which followed. Nevertheless, the angry reaction from the English press - and, indeed, the English public - caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United and he allegedly told the Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid. Ronaldo was subsequently booed - by French, German and English fans - during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France. Which, to be fair, proved that pretty much nobody liked the cocky little bastard. He also missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarding the prize to Germany's Lukas Podolski and specifically citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in their decision.482. Did You Know?:
In his ground-breaking book about football-as-an-obsession Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby devoted a chapter to the 1970 World Cup and gives a refreshing antidote to the sometimes misty-eyed reflections of us boring old farts. 'In a way Brazil ruined it for all of us. They had revealed a kind of Platonic ideal that nobody, not even the Brazilians, would ever be able to find again. Pele retired and in five subsequent tournaments they only showed little flahses of their ejector-seat football, as if 1970 was a half-remembered dream they once had of themselves. At school we were left with our ESSO World Cup coin collections and a couple of fancy moves to try out; but we couldn't even get close and gave up.'483. Did You Know?:
In 2002, The Times attempted to put England's quarter-finals defeat by Brazil - you know, the one when Ronaldinho lobbed Seaman from thirty five yards - into a modicum of perspective. Ooo, very unwise. 'There have, of course, been worse moments in English history,' they noted. 'The Roman Conquest, the Black Death, the Civil War, the fall of France in 1940 and virtually the whole of the 1970s, for example.' I say, steady on now. There's 'important' and there's properly important.484. Did You Know?: Middlesbrough's Jim Platt won twenty three caps for Northern Ireland in a ten year international career.
It would have been many more but for most of that period he was understudy to the great Pat Jennings. Platt did, however, manage to play a game at the World Cup - a second round match against Austria in 1982 - when Jennings was nursing a knee injury. The game was a cracker, a 2-2 draw in which Billy Hamilton scored both of the Irish goals. Platt had no chance with either of the Austrian strikes, particularly the second, a beautifully taken free-kick by Reinhold Hintermaier.485. Did You Know?: The linesman who saw Maradona score his infamous 'Hand of God' goal against England in 1986 said afterwards that the referee was an 'idiot' to allow it, at least according to the Sun anyway. Bulgarian Bogdan Dotchev added that he believed the Tunisian official, Ali Bin Nasser, was 'more fit to herd camels in the desert than take charge of a World Cup game.'
486. Did You Know?:
I feel I might have been a little harsh on Eamon Dunphy earlier on - see No. 462 - so, in the interests of fairness and balance, here is the former Millwall player's finest rant, from the Irish TV show Apres Match during 1998: 'No football team will win this tournament. This tournament will be won by the faceless empires of corporate greed. The Jules Rimet trophy has become hijacked by the world of big business bastards, sold to the TV networks of Satan. There will be a final on 12 July. It will have no soul. It will be between Nike and Snickers.' Tell 'em all about it, Eamon, baby.487. Did You Know?:
Germany opened their 1998 World Cup campaign with a desperately poor perfrmance against the USA. Although they won, 2-0, with goals from Andi Möller and Jürgen Klinsmann, after the match their former captain and coach, Franz Beckenbauer, was force to concede 'If you put all of the German players, except Kahn, in a sack and hit it, you would get someone who deserved it!'488. Did You Know?: On 30 June, the day of the final of the 2002 World Cup, the Caribbean island of Montserrat, then the lowest ranked team in the world, played against the second lowest ranked team, Bhutan, in a friendly match known as The Other Final.
The game was played in the Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu and was refereed by English Premier League official Steve Bennett. It attracted quite a bit of media attention at the time and subsequently as Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer made a - very well-received - documentary about the game and the reasons why it was being played. Bhutan won the match 4-0. Montserrat remain at the foot of FIFA's world ranking (occassionally swapping places with the equally atrocious American Samoa) but, bless 'em, they still try their best. In 2008 for a World Cup qualifying match with Suriname, their squad included five ex-pats playing (extremely) minor league football in England - Vladimir Farrell of South Normanton Athletic, Ellary White of Rothwell Aztec, Rowan Taylor of Cockfosters, Clapton's Synclair Adamson and Andrew Julius of Brimsdown Rovers. They lost 7-1.489. Did You Know?: One of the early games in the 1998 World Cup tournament, between Cameroon and Austria, brought a genuinely curious clash of contrasting styles.
Cameroon played like eleven - extremely technically gifted - players on eleven completely different planets, let alone eleven different teams, whilst a dreadfully poor Austria positioned Toni Polster just in front of their back nine and played for - and got - a draw. It really was a dreadful effing excuse for a game, enlivened only by two moments of individual skill: Pierre Njanka evading about eight tackles to score the opener for the Africans and Polster's close-range equaliser in stoppage time.490. Did You Know?:
Rumour has it that the BBC once decided to give their own captive 'intelligent footballer', Garth Crooks, his own chat show and came up with the title Garth Crook Asks. Unfortunately, it was pointed out to those in charge of such matters that for a programme with this title to satisfy the necessary letter of the Trades Descriptions Act then it would need to be four hours long and that Garth would, in that time, get to ask only one question. And, that would be a rhetorical one.491. Did You Know?:
The BBC's build up to the England versus Paraguay game in 2006 was, without question, the longest in football history. Some viewers weren't even born when it started. There were some highlights, however. Like Ray Stubbs attempting to interview a completely bladdered Andrew Flintoff - barely capable of standing, much less speaking - whilst Freddie's England cricket colleague, Steve Harmison, attempted to keep him upright long enough to get through a question unaided. It was, if you missed it, a sight to see.492. Did You Know?:
One of the oldest players at the 2010 World Cup will be England's David James, aged thirty nine. Good old Calamity is two months younger than the Netherlands' third choice keeper, Sander Boschker (though far more likely to actually get a game). Five thirty seven year olds will also be appearing, Óscar Pérez Rojas and Cuauhtémoc Blanco of Mexico, the USA's Marcus Hahnemann, Lee Woo-Jae of South Korea and Mark Schwartz of Australia. Perhaps significantly, apart from Blanco, all are goalkeepers.493. Did You Know?: During the 2006 World Cup the former French international striker Youri Djorkaeff was rumbled after telling his employers, the New York Red Bulls, that he was away attending to 'a family emergency.' Djorkaeff was then spotted in the crowd during television coverage of the France against Brazil quarter-final!
494. Did You Know?: The biggest mistake that any British TV channel had made over recent years was the pure-dead bright idea to let Mick McCarthy anywhere near a mircophone.
Whoever's brainwave this was, seemingly, didn't realise that the former Repulic of Ireland manager's voice is the single most painful, gut-wrenching and hideous sound ever to grace this earth. And, yes if you're wondering, that does include Sting singing. They also, seemingly, forgot that most of the watching millions have a very low tolerance threshold for inanities. Mind you, having McCarthy on hand - along with the equally ludicrous Steve Wilson - to attempt to describe the carnage going on at the end of the Argentina vs Germany quarter final in 2006 was, genuinely, a once in a lifetime experience. It was just a shade away from 'oh, the humanity!'495. Did You Know?:
After Italy had beaten Norway 1-0 during the 1994 World Cup, Paolo Maldini was scornful of his opponents. 'What makes me laugh is that they were losing 1-0, they had ten men behind the ball and they expected us to come forward. We're not as stupid as the other teams they played!'496. Did You Know?:
In response to Taribo West's extravagant braids at the 1998 World Cup, Nigeria culture minister Otumba Runshewe described the hairstyle as 'homosexual.' 'Our youths copy our footballers, but the players seem to forget that braids embrace a sense of homosexuality in the developing world. We certainly don't want that,' noted Runshewe. You know, of course, what really aggressive heterosexuality is usually a sign of, don't you, Otumba?497. Did You Know?: Of the thirty two coaches taking their teams to the 2010 World Cup thirteen - Carlos Alberto Parreira, Javier Aguirre, Raymond Domenech, Lars Lagerbäck, Huh Jung-Moo, Joachim Löw, Pim Verbeek, Morten Olsen, Takeshi Okada, Marcello Lippi, Sven-Göran Eriksson, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Marcelo Bielsa - have previously coached teams at the finals.
Additionally, Diego Maradona, Fabio Capello, Vladimír Weiss and Dunga have, at least, played in a World Cup. At the other extreme, Bert van Marwijk's sole Dutch cap, in 1975, came whilst he was playing for Go Ahead Eagles, whilst the highlight of Raddy Antić's career was scoring the goal that kept Luton Town in the first division and, probably, saving David Pleat's job. I hope your mother was proud of you, Raddy.498. Did You Know?:
'German football teams traumatised their neighbours,' wrote Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. 'The worst memory in French football history is the defeat to Germany in the semi-final of the World Cup of 1982. The worst Dutch football memory is the lost World Cup final of 1974. The worst English memories are probably the defeats to Germany in 1970, 1990 and 1996, summed up by the phrase 'Thirty years of hurt.' They entered the last World Cup as perhaps the first team in history built around a goalkeeper — Oliver Kahn.'499. Did You Know?:
Just as the 2006 World Cup was beginning and near enough every football journalist on the planet was descending on Berlin, one of the very best of their number was actually catching a fight out of Germany. For the next month David Winner, the author of two of the greatest books on football ever written - Brilliant Orange and Those Feet - travelled to various cities around the world, usually staying with friends, and experiencing the World Cup in much the same way that the vast majority of people do, on TV. His journey formed the basis for another wonderful, funny, evocative and warm book Around The World In Ninety Minutes (Plus Extra Time And Penalties).500. Did You Know?:
One of the most famous celebrations in sports history is the shirt-stripping moment by American Brandi Chastain after she converted the winning penalty in the 1999 Women's World Cup final against China. The image of Chastain with her shirt off and revealing her bare stomach and her sports bra was immortalised on the covers of Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated. Brandi's own take on the incident was 'Momentary insanity, nothing more, nothing less.'
