401. Did You Know?: 
In 2006 the noted journalist Andrew Jennings investigated several allegations of bribery within FIFA for the BBC current affairs programme Panorama, including suggestions that million of dollars worth of bribes had been given to secure marketing rights for the company ISL along with vote-buying (to secure the position of FIFA president Sepp Blatter) which had been attributed to the CONCACAF president Jack Warner. Jennings' superbly thorough and professional exposé of corruption and power-broking at FIFA would subsequently to form the basis of his book, Foul! The Secret World of FIFA (HarperSport 2006).
402. Did You Know?: Pakistan travelled to Iran and played their first international football match 6 January 1950.
Iran won by five goals to one. It would be another two years before the Pakistanis played their next fixture, against India. Their star player during their early international years was Abdul Wahid Khan Durrani, nicknamed Wahido, who scored fifteen goals in his thirteen internationals before retiring in 1955.
403. Did You Know?: The first World Cup substitute was Anatoliy Puzach of the Soviet Union against Mexico in the opening match of the 1970 tournament. He replaced his Dynamo Kiev team mate Viktor Serebryanikov at half time.
404. Did You Know?: Eleven Germans have made over ninety appearances for their country:
Lothar Matthäus (one hundred and fifty, 1980–2000), Jürgen Klinsmann (one hundred and eight, 1987–1998), Jürgen Kohler (one hundred and five, 1986–1998), Franz Beckenbauer (one hundred and three, 1965–1977), Thomas Häßler (one hundred and one, 1988–2000), Michael Ballack (ninety eight, 1999–date), Berti Vogts (ninety six, 1967–1978), Sepp Maier (ninety five, 1966–1979), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (see right, ninety five, 1976–1986), Miroslav Klose (ninety five, 2001–date) and Rudi Völler (ninety, 1982–1994). Although Ballack is injured, and will miss the 2010 finals, Klose should add to his tally in South Africa.
405. Did You Know?: The Wembley Wizards was the name given to the brilliant Scottish national team - and specifically their five forwards - who defeated England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928 in a comprehensive display of teamwork that has since become mythologised north of the border.
Regulars Davie Meiklejohn, Bob McPhail and Jimmy McGrory had been omitted from the line-up and the Scotland forward-line - Huddersfield's Alex Jackson, Jimmy Dunn of Hibernian, Newcastle's Hughie Gallacher, Alex James of Preston and Alan Morton of Rangers - was the smallest ever fielded by Scotland. None of them were taller than five foot seven leading to some negative press comment before the game. Particularly as Gallacher had been injured and had only played once for his club since January. What followed was one of the most memorable ninety minutes in Scottish football history. 
The diminutive forwards tormented the England defence and England - Dixie Dean, Joe Hulme, Billy Smith and all - were reduced to rare attacking forays. Jackson scored a hat-trick and James the other two. England's sole reply came in the final minute from Bob Kelly. At the end of the game the rain-soaked crowd warmly applauded the Scottish team for their performance. Gallacher and James had grown up together as boyhood friends in Bellshill. The six games that they were both selected to play for their country together in resulted in six wins.
406. Did You Know?: Years before Cheryl Cole found out, most football fans could have told her, if she'd asked, that her husband was a nasty little cheat. Not the sexy-texty stuff, of course, what goes on in the privacy of his own lavatory is between him and his mobile operator. I'm talking about his penchant for getting fellow professionals sent off by feigning injury, a much greater crime in this blogger's opinion.
In 2002, after a particularly controversial Premier League game between Arsenal and Leeds when both Lee Bowyer and Danny Mills had been sent off, FIFA's referee assessor Keith Copper was moved to comment concerning Cole's role in these events: 'He was involved in both and spent so much time on the ground, I was wondering when his funeral would be held.' Later in the same season, when Arsenal faced Newcastle at Highbury, Cole again fell the ground clutching his face as Craig Bellamy ran past him. Bellamy was also dismissed. When he and his club subsequently appealed the dismissal, it was overturned by the FA who concluded that there had been no contact whatsoever between the players. Or, in other words, that Cole had faked the whole thing. Personally, good player that he is, I wouldn't have Cole within a hundred miles of the team in the unlikely event that yer actual keith Telly Topping was to become England's manager. Albeit, the fact that Cole's inclusion gets up the noses of some bonehead numbskulls in the BNP does, rather, balance the issue.
407. Did You Know?:
Eric Cantona - maverick, genius, rebel and comedian all rolled into one - was given his full international début for France against West Germany in August 1987 by the then national team manager Henri Michel. In September 1988, angered after being dropped from the French national squad, Cantona referred to Michel as 'a bag of shit' in a post-match interview of French TV and was immediately banned from all international matches for a year by the French Football Association.
408. Did You Know?:
1970 World Cup Silly Names Squad includes Leonid Shmuts (USSR), Jean Dockx (Belgium), Mario Monge (El Salvador), Pierino Prati (Italy), Ronnie Hellström (see left, Sweden), Roland Grip (Sweden), Shraga Bar (Israel), Edu (Brazil), Brain Labone (England), Karol Jokl (Czechoslovakia), Dan Coe (Romania), Manfred Manglitz (West Germany), Ramón Mifflin (Peru), Georgi Popov (Bulgaria) and Driss Bamous (Morocco).
409. Did You Know?: The Maldives first ever international football match took place in 1979 when they were beaten 9-0 in a friendly by the Seychelles on the island of Réunion. Their most significant success was winning the 2008 SAFF Championship when they beat India in the final 1-0.
410. Did You Know?: The eleven members of the England squad who didn't feature in the 1966 World Cup final were:
Ron Springett, Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Armfield, Gerry Byrne, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, George Eastham (see right), Ian Callaghan, Jimmy Greaves, John Connelly and Terry Paine. The last four named had all featured in earlier games in the competition and Greavsie probably would have played in the final but for an injury. On 10 June 2009 after a ceremony at Downing Street in London all eleven were, belatedly, given World Cup winners medals. Initially, only the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the match received medals, but FIFA is now awarding medals to every non-playing squad and staff member from every World Cup-winning country from 1930 to 1974.
411. Did You Know?:
Players who have appeared for two countries in World Cup history include Luis Monti (Argentina 1930 and Italy 1934), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary 1954 and Spain 1962), José Santamaria (see left, Uruguay 1954 and Spain 1962), Mazola (Brazil 1958, Italy 1962 - then known as José Altafini) and Robert Prosinecki and Robert Jarni both of whom played for Yugoslavia in 1990 and Croatia in 1998.
412. Did You Know?: When asked by the press before a 1989 World Cup qualifier against Sweden what his team was likely to be the next day, England's manager Bobby Robson famously replied 'Hilter didn't tell us when he was going to send over those Doodlebugs, did he?'
413. Did You Know?: Throughout his career Ryan Giggs has occasionally been criticised by the ill-informed for having 'chosen' to play internationally for Wales instead of England. The rationale behind this appears to be that Ryan played schoolboy football for England and, therefore, should have continued to wear the white shirt thereafter. This ignores one basic problem. Ryan Giggs couldn't have played for England at full international level even if he'd wanted to. As he himself noted 'I am Welsh, one hundred per cent.
Both my parents and all of my grandparents are Welsh, it's as simple as that. It's impossible for me to play for England.' Although born in Cardiff, Ryan, then using his father's name, Wilson, played for England schoolboys as a fifteen year old because he went to school in England, the criteria for national selection at that level. Reportedly, Lawrie McMenemy, then coach of the England under-21 team, did check to see whether Giggs was eligible to play for England but discovered that Ryan had no English grandparents. In actual fact, Ryan could have played for another country if he'd chosen to. His parental grandfather was originally from Sierra Leone so, technically, Ryan was qualified to play for them. But, not England. He made his international debut in 1991 against Germany as a seventeen year old being, at the time, the youngest debutant for Wales, a record he held for seven years. He went on to win sixty four caps and scored twelve goals for the Welsh national team between 1991 and 2007.
414. Did You Know?: Cafu had made the most appearances for Brazil's national team have been (one hundred and forty two), followed by Roberto Carlos (one hundred and twenty five) and Cláudio Taffarel (one hundred and one).
415. Did You Know?: England's 1966 World Cup squad was the product of a protracted pruning process. FIFA required that each national side provide a list of forty players before the end of May, 1966 and a final squad of twenty two by July 3, eight days before the tournament began.
Alf Ramsey named his provisional forty on 7 April, These included the twenty two who would eventually be named in the final squad plus Gordon West, Tony Waiters, Keith Newton, Chris Lawler, Paul Reaney, Gordon Milne, Marvin Hinton, John Hollins, Tommy Smith, Terry Venables, Barry Bridges, Peter Thompson, Peter Osgood, Derek Temple, John Kaye, Fred Pickering, Joe Baker, and Gordon Harris. Ramsey made another squad announcement on 6 May, naming the twenty eight players who would report for pre-tournament training at Lilleshall in June. In addition to the twenty two who did survive the final cut, the list included Thompson, Milne and Newton plus three new names, Bobby Tambling, John Byrne and Brian Labone. Labone withdrew from the squad because of injury, and so twenty seven players reported to Lilleshall on 6 June. The final twenty two-man squad embarked on a four-match pre-tournament tour of Europe. On 3 July, the day of the third match of the tour, in Copenhagen, Ramsey formally announced the England squad to FIFA and the press.
416. Did You Know?:
Hans-Peter Briegel who played for West Germany in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals subsequently became the coach of Albania's national side after he retired from international football. Briegal - a sturdy, mobile, tough-tackling right-back, built not unlike a very, very big brick-shithouse indeed - was originally a decathlete and didn't even take up playing football seriously until he was seventeen.
417. Did You Know?:
France coach Raymond Domenech equalled Euro 1984 boss Michel Hidalgo's record of being in charge of Les Bleus when they faced Tunisia in a pre-World Cup friendly in 2010. The fifty eight-year-old, who guided France to a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final, was in the dugout for the seventy fifth time since replacing Jacques Santini after Euro 2004. Domenech, who is standing down after France's campaign in South Africa, has been in charge since 12 July 2004 and is the first French coach to take the team to three successive major championships.
418. Did You Know?: The Shortest World Cup career - in terms of minutes on the field - is currently shared by two players. Tunisia's Khemais Labidi played two minutes against Mexico in 1978 and Argentina's Marcelo Trobbiani played the last two minutes of his country's 3-2 final win over West Germany in 1986.
419. Did You Know?:
Alexi Lalas played mostly as a defender for the United States, appearing in all four of their matches at the 1994 World Cup. He became the first modern-era American footballer to play in the Italian Serie A when he signed for Padova (two American-born players - Alfonso Negro and Armando Frigo - had appeared for Serie A teams in the late 1930s). He also had a trial with Arsenal and appeared for their reserve team. Despite all that, however, he remains best known for being 'that American footballer who looks like Shaggy out of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?' Zoinks. And, he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for them meddling kids.
420. Did You Know?:
In a 2009 Confederations Cup match against Brazil, Fabio Cannavaro equalled Paolo Maldini's record of being Italy's most capped player. Three months later, in August, in a friendly match against Switzerland, Cannavaro became Italy's most capped player of all time when he appeared for his country for the one hundred and twenty seventh time.
421. Did You Know?: The strongest of the five former Soviet Republics to have joined the Asian Football Confederation, Uzbekistan was keen to live up to the promise they showed in winning the 1994 Asian Games when they opened their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup.
Having beaten Chinese Taipai 11-0 on aggregate in the first round they then won a group which included Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the Lebanon. The highlights were a 3-0 home win against the Saudis and a 7-3 victory in Singapore. However, they would go no further. Facing Australia, Japan, Bahrain and Qatar in the fourth round, they finished bottom of their group with just four points from eight games. Farhod Tojiyev did get a hat-trick for them in a 4-0 victory over Qatar in Tashkent.
422. Did You Know?:
Wolfgang Kleff of Borussia Mönchengladbach had the misfortune to be Sepp Maier's understudy for the West German national team for four years during the early 1970s. In that time, Kleff won just six caps for his country between 1971 and 1974, although he was a member of the squads that won the European Nations Cup in 1972 and the World Cup in 1974. His first appearance took place in Oslo on 22 June 1971, a 7-1 thrashing of Norway in a post-season friendly.
423. Did You Know?: Edinburgh-born Sean Connery was a keen footballer as a teenager, having played for Bonnyrigg Rose.
He was reportedly offered a trial with East Fife. Subsequently, while acting in a touring production of South Pacific in 1953, in Manchester Connery played in a charity match against a local team which Matt Busby happened to be scouting. According to reports, Busby offered Connery a contract worth twenty five pounds a week immediately after the game. Connery admits that he was tempted to accept, but he recalls, 'I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of thirty, and I was already twenty three. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves.' In his days as James Bond, Sean was a frequent visitor to Parkhead to watch Jock Stein's Lisbon Lions. But, by the 1990s, he was more often to be seen at Ibrox as a guest of the Rangers chairman, David Murray. As to whom he really supports, you don't exchpect him to taaak, do you?
424. Did You Know?:
The World Cup's fastest substitution came in 1998, when Italy's Alessandro Nesta was replaced by Giuseppe Bergomi in the match against Austria after only four minutes. That record was equalled when England's Michael Owen tripped over a blade of grass like a total plank and was replaced by Peter Crouch against Sweden in 2006.
425. Did You Know?: The Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini has described the 2010 World Cup ball as 'a disaster, both for goalkeepers and attackers.' Brazil's goalkeeper Julio Cesar has also called the Adidas ball 'horrible' and 'terrible.' Pazzini added:
'It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it. It is especially bad for the goalkeepers if it means they concede a goal because they can't judge the trajectory. It is like one of those balls you buy at the supermarket.' He was later, reportedly, twatted in the face, really hard, by several large men from FIFA until he changed his mind and said that it was 'mucha primo-good.'
426. Did You Know?: Paul Breitner was rather an interesting chap. A student radical in West Germany in the late 1960s, he signed for Bayern Munich as an eighteen year old in 1970 and brought to their dressing room a combination of Maoist politics and numerous rants that could have given Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof a run for their money.
Always a controversial figure, he played for Real Madrid during a period when Spain was still a fascist dictatorship (and was seldom silent about it) and he refused an offer to play for his country at the 1978 World Cup in protest at the thuggish military regime which ran Argentina at that time. Before the 1982 World Cup Breitner caused a major uproar among his former leftist pals in Germany when he accepted an offer by a major cosmetics company to pay him – what many West Germans regarded as a 'scandalously high' – one hundred and fifty thousand deutschemarks if he shaved off his trademark fluffy beard, used their fragrance and advertise the company's brands. Ah, capitalism, eh. It gets all the idealists in the end with its insidious ways.
427. Did You Know?: Prior to the 2010 World Cup, Bhutan were the only full FIFA member not to have attempted to qualify for the World Cup. They withdrew from the 2010 World Cup qualifiers because their stadium in Changlimithang would not have been ready in time for their matches against Kuwait.
428. Did You Know?:
Derby County coach Johnny Metgod will be part of the Netherlands backroom staff during this summer's World Cup. Metgod will be in South Africa with the Dutch as a scout for the build-up and full duration of their World Cup campaign, which kicks off on June 14 against Denmark. A classy balding defensive midfielder with a thunderous shot, Metgod won twenty one Dutch caps between 1978 and 1983 during a long career with AZ '67, Real Madrid, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur and Feyenoord.
429. Did You Know?: The Scottish national team's worst two successive defeats in peacetime internationals came during the 2003-04 season, with Berti Vogts as manager;
a 6-0 spanking in Amsterdam to the Netherlands in the second leg of a European Championship play-off followed by a 4-0 hammering by Wales in a friendly in Cardiff. There was a Scottish connection among the scorers in both matches, Frank De Boer, who scored the fifth goal in the Dutch game would join Glasgow Rangers from Galatasaray two months later in January 2004. Robbie Earnshaw, who scored a hat-trick for Wales, had played, briefly, for Morton on loan from Cardiff City in 2000. Well done, Berti. Really jolly well done. I'm sure many Englishmen would like to buy you a pint.
430. Did You Know?:
Chile's Eladio Rojas followed scoring the winner of the 1962 World Cup quarter-final encounter with the USSR by partaking in the rather unusual celebration; he embraced the Soviet goalkeeper, Lev Yashin. Such was the respect for Yashin that Rojas claimed that had celebrated instinctively after beating the Soviet with a low, driven strike. Yashin, of course, was far too much of a gentleman to do the decent thing and give Rojas a thoroughly well-deserved kick in the knackers for such rank and arrant glakery.
431. Did You Know?: Pascal Zuberbuhler of Switzerland is the only goalkeeper to leave a World Cup tournament in which his team had qualified from their group without ever conceding a goal in the whole competition. He kept four clean sheets in four matches, but fortunately, for lovers of football everywhere, Switzerland went out to Ukraine on penalties in that effing disgraceful non-event of a match in 2006.
432. Did You Know?:
Argentina's forward line in the late 1950s, Antonio Angelillo, Omar Sivori (see left) and Humberto Maschio, acquired the nickname The Angels with Dirty Faces when they moved, en masse, to Italian clubs during 1957. The name was given to them on account of their typically South American colour and flair. They were also known as The Trio of Death because of their clinical ability in scoring goals. Maschio joined Bologna, Sivori signed of Juventus and Angelillo played for Internazionale. All three subsequently acquired Italian citizenship and played for the Azzurri, Maschio and Sivori making the squad for the 1962 World Cup.
433. Did You Know?: Six of the West German team that beat the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup - Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbaur, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Gerd Müller, Paul Breitner and Uli Hoesness - were from the Bayern Munich club.
Another two - Berti Vogts and Rainer Bonhof - played for Borussia Mönchengladbach and two other - Bernd Hölzenbein and Jürgen Grabowski - came from Eintract Frankfurt. Completing the line-up was 1. FC Köln's Wolfgang Overath. The rest of the West German twenty two man squad included another Munich player (Jupp Kapellmann), an additional three men from Mönchengladbach (Jupp Heynckes, Herbert Wimmer, Wolfgang Kleff) and Günter Netzer who had recently transferred from Borussia to Real Madrid. Köln also provided Heinz Flohe and Bernhard Cullmann. Also included were the Schalke pair Norbert Nigbur and Helmut Kremmers, Werder Bremen's Horst-Dieter Höttges and Fortuna Düsseldorf's Dieter Herzog.
434. Did You Know?: Morocco reportedly threatened to pull out of the 1970 World Cup finals, to which they had qualfied for the first time, if they were to be placed in the same group as Israel.
435. Did You Know?:
The oldest starting line-up in a World Cup game was fielded by Germany against Iran in 1998. The average age was thirty one years and three hundred and forty five days. That German squad wasn't nicknamed Dad's Army for nothing. And, they didn't like it up 'em, apaprently. Their record is closely followed by Belgium whose average age against Mexico the same year was thirty one years and three hundred and four days.
436. Did You Know?:
The 1974 World Cup Silly Name Squad included Peter Ducke (East Germany), Attila Abonyi (Australia), Adolfo Nef (Chile), Marinho Chagas (Brazil), Branko Oblak (Yugoslavia), Mafu Kibonge (Zaire), Ruud Geels (Netherlands), Voyn Voynov (Buglaria), Zbigniew Gut (Poland), Jerzy Gorgon (see right, Poland), Aldo Poy (Argentina) and Wilner Piquant (Haiti).
437. Did You Know?: Mexico hold several records in World Cup qualifying matches: most games played (one hundred and forty one, followed by Costa Rica's one hundred and forty). They have also won the most games (ninety two, followed by Costa Rica, with sixty eight), scored the most goals (three hundred and seventy six, followed by Australia's two hundred and eighty sixty) and have the best goal difference plus two hundred and seventy two, again followed by Australia with plus two hundred and three).
438. Did You Know?: The world's first international football match was a challenge game played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, with the first international tournament, the inaugural British Home Championship, taking place in 1884.
At this stage the sport was rarely played, internationally, outside the United Kingdom. After England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the first countries to play competative international football matches were the USA and Canada (in 1885) and then Argentina and Uruguay (in 1901). Other early cross-border footballing rivalries include Austria and Hungary (dating from 1902), Belgium and France (1904), Belgium and the Netherlands (1905), Switzerland and Germany (1908) and Norway and Sweden (also 1908). Italy didn't play their first international match until 1910 (a 6-2 win against France) and Brazil in 1914 (a 3-0 defeat to Argentina). Spain's international debut occurred in 1920 at the Olympics when they defeated Denmark 1-0.
439. Did You Know?: The Togo national team bus was involved in a terrorist attack on 8 January 2010 as the team travelled through the Angolan province of Cabinda on the way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. A little-known offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda claimed responsibility for the attack. The bus driver, the team's assistant manager Abalo Amelete, and media officer Stanislas Ocloo were killed, with several of the players suffering minor injuries.
Secretary General of the FLEC, Rodrigues Mingas, currently exiled in France, claimed that the attack was not aimed at the Togolese players but at the Angolan security forces at the head of the convoy. Authorities reported two suspects were detained in connection with the attacks. Togo was due to play its first game of the tournament against Ghana, three days after the attack. Not unnaturally after the tragedy, the Togolese government ordered their players to return home for their own safety although it was reported that at least some of the players were keen to stay on and play. With a spectacular lack of tact and decency, the Confédération Africaine de Football promptly announced that Togo had been 'disqualified' from the tournament for failing to fulfill their fixtures and were further banned from the next two tournaments. Togo's government immediately said that they would sue suggesting that the CAF 'have no consideration for the lives of other human beings' and this is further 'insulting to the family of those who lost their lives and those traumatised because of the attack.' FIFA has yet to make any comment on the issue - a typically cowardly reaction from an organisation who seem to enjoy having their buttocks clamped on the fence of indecision. On 12 April 2010, Togo's captain, Emmanuel Adebayor, announced his retirement from international football, stating that he was 'still haunted by the events I witnessed on that horrible afternoon.'
440. Did You Know?: Since first joining FIFA and entering the World Cup in 2002, American Samoa's record is as follows: Played - Twelve. Won - None. Drawn - None. Lost - Twelve. Goals Scored - Two. Goals Conceded - One Hundred and Twenty Nine. It is hoped that with some of their players now gaining experience for club sides internationally (goalkeeper Nicky Salapu with Airbus UK in Wales, Ramin Ott in Australia with Bay Olympic and Rawlston Masaniai with the German team, VfL Osnabrück) scores such as their recent 15-0 defeat - at home - by Vanatau will, hopefully, be a thing of the past.
441. Did You Know?:
The official song of the 2010 World Cup 'Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)' is performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the South African band Freshlyground. The song is based upon a traditional African soldiers' tune named 'Zangalewa.' It is, quite possibly, the single worst record ever made by anyone, ever. Well, certainly since Matt Bianco's 'Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed.' Although to be fair, Shakira is very unlikely to have to go through the indignity of an appearance on Saturday Superstore in which she is described as 'a bunch of wankers' by a caller from Leicester. Some may see this as progress, dear blog reader. I couldn't possibly comment.
442. Did You Know?: The finals tournament was expanded from sixteen to twenty four teams in 1982, and then to thirty two in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part in the showcase event. In recent years, teams from all of these regions have enjoyed considerable success - those who have reached the last eight include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986, Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990, Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002, and Senegal and the USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002. However, the traditional power-bases of Europe and South America remain the dominant forces in world football. For example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.
443. Did You Know?: No country has ever remained entirely undefeated in all preliminary qualifying competitions for the the World Cup. South Yemen was only ever defeated once. But, since they played only two World Cup qualifying matches that's not really much of a record.
As the South Yemeni football team no longer exists, this record is likely to stand pretty much forever. Germany (including West Germany) have only ever lost two games in seventy four qualifying matches since 1930, a much more impressive statistic. Saarland and Eritrea lost two out of their four qualifying matches, whilst Central African Republic, Comoros, Timor-Leste, Myanmar and Guam lost two games out of only two played. Germany's first ever defeat in a World Cup qualifying game came in 1985 (against Portugal in Stuttgart) and their second in 2001 - famously - 5-1 to England in Munich, which means that their only two losses were both at home. Brazil lost their first World Cup qualifying match ever in 1993 (against Bolivia in La Paz).
444. Did You Know?:
As a manager, the former West German international midfielder Felix Magath gained much respect and became notorious for his hard, grinding training methods, laying heavy emphasis on discipline, fitness and conditioning. His players gave him nicknames like Saddam and 'Quälix,' a mash of his first name Felix and the German verb 'quälen' (meaning to torture).
445. Did You Know?:
Only three players have ever scored in both Olympic and World Cup Finals: Uruguay's Pedro Cea, who did it in the 1924 Olympics and 1930 World Cup and Hungary's Ferenc Puskas and his team mate Zoltan Czibor who accomplished the feat at the 1952 Olympics and the 1954 World Cup. Romario, who scored for Brazil in its gold-medal match defeat to the Soviet Union in 1988, could not duplicate the achievement at the 1994 World Cup Final.
446. Did You Know?: Mauro Tassotti of Italy received the longest suspension in terms of matches ever handed out at a World Cup. The Italian hard man was banned for eight matches for elbowing Luis Enrique of Spain in the mush in 1994, a punishment which effectively ended his international career.
447. Did You Know?:
Luxembourg holds the record for most unsuccessful attempts (eighteen) to qualify for the World Cup final competition, having actually been eliminated of each preliminary competition campaign. Finland were eliminated seventeen times: they also never qualified, but they did not enter the preliminary competition in 1934.
448. Did You Know?: With a population of around twenty four thousand people the Cook Islands remains one of the smallest countries represented in FIFA.
449. Did You Know?:
The 1978 World Cup Silly Names Squad included Daniel Killer (Argentina), Dominique Dropsy (see right, France), Ferenc Fülöp (Hungary), Antonello Cuccureddu (Italy), Wojciech Rudy (Poland), Ronald Worm (West Germany), Roland Hattenberger (Austria), Urruti (Spain), Bo Larsson (Sweden), Dick Schoenaker (Netherlands) and Ottorino Sartor (Peru).
450. Did You Know?: Ten great books that get to the soul of football: - David Winner - Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football (Bloomsbury), Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger - Tor!:
The Story of German Football (WSC Books), John Foot - Calcio: A History of Italian Football (Harper), Phil Ball - Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (WSC Books), Jonathan Wilson - Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football (Orion), Simon Kuper - Football Against the Enemy (Orion), Alex Bellos - Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life (Bloomsbury), David Goldblatt - The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football (Penguin), Paddy Agnew - Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football (Ebury) and Eamon Dunphy - A Strange Kind of Glory: Sir Matt Busby and Manchester United (Aurum).
In 2006 the noted journalist Andrew Jennings investigated several allegations of bribery within FIFA for the BBC current affairs programme Panorama, including suggestions that million of dollars worth of bribes had been given to secure marketing rights for the company ISL along with vote-buying (to secure the position of FIFA president Sepp Blatter) which had been attributed to the CONCACAF president Jack Warner. Jennings' superbly thorough and professional exposé of corruption and power-broking at FIFA would subsequently to form the basis of his book, Foul! The Secret World of FIFA (HarperSport 2006).402. Did You Know?: Pakistan travelled to Iran and played their first international football match 6 January 1950.
Iran won by five goals to one. It would be another two years before the Pakistanis played their next fixture, against India. Their star player during their early international years was Abdul Wahid Khan Durrani, nicknamed Wahido, who scored fifteen goals in his thirteen internationals before retiring in 1955.403. Did You Know?: The first World Cup substitute was Anatoliy Puzach of the Soviet Union against Mexico in the opening match of the 1970 tournament. He replaced his Dynamo Kiev team mate Viktor Serebryanikov at half time.
404. Did You Know?: Eleven Germans have made over ninety appearances for their country:
Lothar Matthäus (one hundred and fifty, 1980–2000), Jürgen Klinsmann (one hundred and eight, 1987–1998), Jürgen Kohler (one hundred and five, 1986–1998), Franz Beckenbauer (one hundred and three, 1965–1977), Thomas Häßler (one hundred and one, 1988–2000), Michael Ballack (ninety eight, 1999–date), Berti Vogts (ninety six, 1967–1978), Sepp Maier (ninety five, 1966–1979), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (see right, ninety five, 1976–1986), Miroslav Klose (ninety five, 2001–date) and Rudi Völler (ninety, 1982–1994). Although Ballack is injured, and will miss the 2010 finals, Klose should add to his tally in South Africa.405. Did You Know?: The Wembley Wizards was the name given to the brilliant Scottish national team - and specifically their five forwards - who defeated England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928 in a comprehensive display of teamwork that has since become mythologised north of the border.
Regulars Davie Meiklejohn, Bob McPhail and Jimmy McGrory had been omitted from the line-up and the Scotland forward-line - Huddersfield's Alex Jackson, Jimmy Dunn of Hibernian, Newcastle's Hughie Gallacher, Alex James of Preston and Alan Morton of Rangers - was the smallest ever fielded by Scotland. None of them were taller than five foot seven leading to some negative press comment before the game. Particularly as Gallacher had been injured and had only played once for his club since January. What followed was one of the most memorable ninety minutes in Scottish football history. 
The diminutive forwards tormented the England defence and England - Dixie Dean, Joe Hulme, Billy Smith and all - were reduced to rare attacking forays. Jackson scored a hat-trick and James the other two. England's sole reply came in the final minute from Bob Kelly. At the end of the game the rain-soaked crowd warmly applauded the Scottish team for their performance. Gallacher and James had grown up together as boyhood friends in Bellshill. The six games that they were both selected to play for their country together in resulted in six wins.406. Did You Know?: Years before Cheryl Cole found out, most football fans could have told her, if she'd asked, that her husband was a nasty little cheat. Not the sexy-texty stuff, of course, what goes on in the privacy of his own lavatory is between him and his mobile operator. I'm talking about his penchant for getting fellow professionals sent off by feigning injury, a much greater crime in this blogger's opinion.
In 2002, after a particularly controversial Premier League game between Arsenal and Leeds when both Lee Bowyer and Danny Mills had been sent off, FIFA's referee assessor Keith Copper was moved to comment concerning Cole's role in these events: 'He was involved in both and spent so much time on the ground, I was wondering when his funeral would be held.' Later in the same season, when Arsenal faced Newcastle at Highbury, Cole again fell the ground clutching his face as Craig Bellamy ran past him. Bellamy was also dismissed. When he and his club subsequently appealed the dismissal, it was overturned by the FA who concluded that there had been no contact whatsoever between the players. Or, in other words, that Cole had faked the whole thing. Personally, good player that he is, I wouldn't have Cole within a hundred miles of the team in the unlikely event that yer actual keith Telly Topping was to become England's manager. Albeit, the fact that Cole's inclusion gets up the noses of some bonehead numbskulls in the BNP does, rather, balance the issue.407. Did You Know?:
Eric Cantona - maverick, genius, rebel and comedian all rolled into one - was given his full international début for France against West Germany in August 1987 by the then national team manager Henri Michel. In September 1988, angered after being dropped from the French national squad, Cantona referred to Michel as 'a bag of shit' in a post-match interview of French TV and was immediately banned from all international matches for a year by the French Football Association.408. Did You Know?:
1970 World Cup Silly Names Squad includes Leonid Shmuts (USSR), Jean Dockx (Belgium), Mario Monge (El Salvador), Pierino Prati (Italy), Ronnie Hellström (see left, Sweden), Roland Grip (Sweden), Shraga Bar (Israel), Edu (Brazil), Brain Labone (England), Karol Jokl (Czechoslovakia), Dan Coe (Romania), Manfred Manglitz (West Germany), Ramón Mifflin (Peru), Georgi Popov (Bulgaria) and Driss Bamous (Morocco).409. Did You Know?: The Maldives first ever international football match took place in 1979 when they were beaten 9-0 in a friendly by the Seychelles on the island of Réunion. Their most significant success was winning the 2008 SAFF Championship when they beat India in the final 1-0.
410. Did You Know?: The eleven members of the England squad who didn't feature in the 1966 World Cup final were:
Ron Springett, Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Armfield, Gerry Byrne, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, George Eastham (see right), Ian Callaghan, Jimmy Greaves, John Connelly and Terry Paine. The last four named had all featured in earlier games in the competition and Greavsie probably would have played in the final but for an injury. On 10 June 2009 after a ceremony at Downing Street in London all eleven were, belatedly, given World Cup winners medals. Initially, only the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the match received medals, but FIFA is now awarding medals to every non-playing squad and staff member from every World Cup-winning country from 1930 to 1974.411. Did You Know?:
Players who have appeared for two countries in World Cup history include Luis Monti (Argentina 1930 and Italy 1934), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary 1954 and Spain 1962), José Santamaria (see left, Uruguay 1954 and Spain 1962), Mazola (Brazil 1958, Italy 1962 - then known as José Altafini) and Robert Prosinecki and Robert Jarni both of whom played for Yugoslavia in 1990 and Croatia in 1998.412. Did You Know?: When asked by the press before a 1989 World Cup qualifier against Sweden what his team was likely to be the next day, England's manager Bobby Robson famously replied 'Hilter didn't tell us when he was going to send over those Doodlebugs, did he?'
413. Did You Know?: Throughout his career Ryan Giggs has occasionally been criticised by the ill-informed for having 'chosen' to play internationally for Wales instead of England. The rationale behind this appears to be that Ryan played schoolboy football for England and, therefore, should have continued to wear the white shirt thereafter. This ignores one basic problem. Ryan Giggs couldn't have played for England at full international level even if he'd wanted to. As he himself noted 'I am Welsh, one hundred per cent.
Both my parents and all of my grandparents are Welsh, it's as simple as that. It's impossible for me to play for England.' Although born in Cardiff, Ryan, then using his father's name, Wilson, played for England schoolboys as a fifteen year old because he went to school in England, the criteria for national selection at that level. Reportedly, Lawrie McMenemy, then coach of the England under-21 team, did check to see whether Giggs was eligible to play for England but discovered that Ryan had no English grandparents. In actual fact, Ryan could have played for another country if he'd chosen to. His parental grandfather was originally from Sierra Leone so, technically, Ryan was qualified to play for them. But, not England. He made his international debut in 1991 against Germany as a seventeen year old being, at the time, the youngest debutant for Wales, a record he held for seven years. He went on to win sixty four caps and scored twelve goals for the Welsh national team between 1991 and 2007.414. Did You Know?: Cafu had made the most appearances for Brazil's national team have been (one hundred and forty two), followed by Roberto Carlos (one hundred and twenty five) and Cláudio Taffarel (one hundred and one).
415. Did You Know?: England's 1966 World Cup squad was the product of a protracted pruning process. FIFA required that each national side provide a list of forty players before the end of May, 1966 and a final squad of twenty two by July 3, eight days before the tournament began.
Alf Ramsey named his provisional forty on 7 April, These included the twenty two who would eventually be named in the final squad plus Gordon West, Tony Waiters, Keith Newton, Chris Lawler, Paul Reaney, Gordon Milne, Marvin Hinton, John Hollins, Tommy Smith, Terry Venables, Barry Bridges, Peter Thompson, Peter Osgood, Derek Temple, John Kaye, Fred Pickering, Joe Baker, and Gordon Harris. Ramsey made another squad announcement on 6 May, naming the twenty eight players who would report for pre-tournament training at Lilleshall in June. In addition to the twenty two who did survive the final cut, the list included Thompson, Milne and Newton plus three new names, Bobby Tambling, John Byrne and Brian Labone. Labone withdrew from the squad because of injury, and so twenty seven players reported to Lilleshall on 6 June. The final twenty two-man squad embarked on a four-match pre-tournament tour of Europe. On 3 July, the day of the third match of the tour, in Copenhagen, Ramsey formally announced the England squad to FIFA and the press.416. Did You Know?:
Hans-Peter Briegel who played for West Germany in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals subsequently became the coach of Albania's national side after he retired from international football. Briegal - a sturdy, mobile, tough-tackling right-back, built not unlike a very, very big brick-shithouse indeed - was originally a decathlete and didn't even take up playing football seriously until he was seventeen.417. Did You Know?:
France coach Raymond Domenech equalled Euro 1984 boss Michel Hidalgo's record of being in charge of Les Bleus when they faced Tunisia in a pre-World Cup friendly in 2010. The fifty eight-year-old, who guided France to a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final, was in the dugout for the seventy fifth time since replacing Jacques Santini after Euro 2004. Domenech, who is standing down after France's campaign in South Africa, has been in charge since 12 July 2004 and is the first French coach to take the team to three successive major championships.418. Did You Know?: The Shortest World Cup career - in terms of minutes on the field - is currently shared by two players. Tunisia's Khemais Labidi played two minutes against Mexico in 1978 and Argentina's Marcelo Trobbiani played the last two minutes of his country's 3-2 final win over West Germany in 1986.
419. Did You Know?:
Alexi Lalas played mostly as a defender for the United States, appearing in all four of their matches at the 1994 World Cup. He became the first modern-era American footballer to play in the Italian Serie A when he signed for Padova (two American-born players - Alfonso Negro and Armando Frigo - had appeared for Serie A teams in the late 1930s). He also had a trial with Arsenal and appeared for their reserve team. Despite all that, however, he remains best known for being 'that American footballer who looks like Shaggy out of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?' Zoinks. And, he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for them meddling kids.420. Did You Know?:
In a 2009 Confederations Cup match against Brazil, Fabio Cannavaro equalled Paolo Maldini's record of being Italy's most capped player. Three months later, in August, in a friendly match against Switzerland, Cannavaro became Italy's most capped player of all time when he appeared for his country for the one hundred and twenty seventh time.421. Did You Know?: The strongest of the five former Soviet Republics to have joined the Asian Football Confederation, Uzbekistan was keen to live up to the promise they showed in winning the 1994 Asian Games when they opened their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup.
Having beaten Chinese Taipai 11-0 on aggregate in the first round they then won a group which included Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the Lebanon. The highlights were a 3-0 home win against the Saudis and a 7-3 victory in Singapore. However, they would go no further. Facing Australia, Japan, Bahrain and Qatar in the fourth round, they finished bottom of their group with just four points from eight games. Farhod Tojiyev did get a hat-trick for them in a 4-0 victory over Qatar in Tashkent.422. Did You Know?:
Wolfgang Kleff of Borussia Mönchengladbach had the misfortune to be Sepp Maier's understudy for the West German national team for four years during the early 1970s. In that time, Kleff won just six caps for his country between 1971 and 1974, although he was a member of the squads that won the European Nations Cup in 1972 and the World Cup in 1974. His first appearance took place in Oslo on 22 June 1971, a 7-1 thrashing of Norway in a post-season friendly.423. Did You Know?: Edinburgh-born Sean Connery was a keen footballer as a teenager, having played for Bonnyrigg Rose.
He was reportedly offered a trial with East Fife. Subsequently, while acting in a touring production of South Pacific in 1953, in Manchester Connery played in a charity match against a local team which Matt Busby happened to be scouting. According to reports, Busby offered Connery a contract worth twenty five pounds a week immediately after the game. Connery admits that he was tempted to accept, but he recalls, 'I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of thirty, and I was already twenty three. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves.' In his days as James Bond, Sean was a frequent visitor to Parkhead to watch Jock Stein's Lisbon Lions. But, by the 1990s, he was more often to be seen at Ibrox as a guest of the Rangers chairman, David Murray. As to whom he really supports, you don't exchpect him to taaak, do you?424. Did You Know?:
The World Cup's fastest substitution came in 1998, when Italy's Alessandro Nesta was replaced by Giuseppe Bergomi in the match against Austria after only four minutes. That record was equalled when England's Michael Owen tripped over a blade of grass like a total plank and was replaced by Peter Crouch against Sweden in 2006.425. Did You Know?: The Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini has described the 2010 World Cup ball as 'a disaster, both for goalkeepers and attackers.' Brazil's goalkeeper Julio Cesar has also called the Adidas ball 'horrible' and 'terrible.' Pazzini added:
'It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it. It is especially bad for the goalkeepers if it means they concede a goal because they can't judge the trajectory. It is like one of those balls you buy at the supermarket.' He was later, reportedly, twatted in the face, really hard, by several large men from FIFA until he changed his mind and said that it was 'mucha primo-good.'426. Did You Know?: Paul Breitner was rather an interesting chap. A student radical in West Germany in the late 1960s, he signed for Bayern Munich as an eighteen year old in 1970 and brought to their dressing room a combination of Maoist politics and numerous rants that could have given Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof a run for their money.
Always a controversial figure, he played for Real Madrid during a period when Spain was still a fascist dictatorship (and was seldom silent about it) and he refused an offer to play for his country at the 1978 World Cup in protest at the thuggish military regime which ran Argentina at that time. Before the 1982 World Cup Breitner caused a major uproar among his former leftist pals in Germany when he accepted an offer by a major cosmetics company to pay him – what many West Germans regarded as a 'scandalously high' – one hundred and fifty thousand deutschemarks if he shaved off his trademark fluffy beard, used their fragrance and advertise the company's brands. Ah, capitalism, eh. It gets all the idealists in the end with its insidious ways.427. Did You Know?: Prior to the 2010 World Cup, Bhutan were the only full FIFA member not to have attempted to qualify for the World Cup. They withdrew from the 2010 World Cup qualifiers because their stadium in Changlimithang would not have been ready in time for their matches against Kuwait.
428. Did You Know?:
Derby County coach Johnny Metgod will be part of the Netherlands backroom staff during this summer's World Cup. Metgod will be in South Africa with the Dutch as a scout for the build-up and full duration of their World Cup campaign, which kicks off on June 14 against Denmark. A classy balding defensive midfielder with a thunderous shot, Metgod won twenty one Dutch caps between 1978 and 1983 during a long career with AZ '67, Real Madrid, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur and Feyenoord.429. Did You Know?: The Scottish national team's worst two successive defeats in peacetime internationals came during the 2003-04 season, with Berti Vogts as manager;
a 6-0 spanking in Amsterdam to the Netherlands in the second leg of a European Championship play-off followed by a 4-0 hammering by Wales in a friendly in Cardiff. There was a Scottish connection among the scorers in both matches, Frank De Boer, who scored the fifth goal in the Dutch game would join Glasgow Rangers from Galatasaray two months later in January 2004. Robbie Earnshaw, who scored a hat-trick for Wales, had played, briefly, for Morton on loan from Cardiff City in 2000. Well done, Berti. Really jolly well done. I'm sure many Englishmen would like to buy you a pint.430. Did You Know?:
Chile's Eladio Rojas followed scoring the winner of the 1962 World Cup quarter-final encounter with the USSR by partaking in the rather unusual celebration; he embraced the Soviet goalkeeper, Lev Yashin. Such was the respect for Yashin that Rojas claimed that had celebrated instinctively after beating the Soviet with a low, driven strike. Yashin, of course, was far too much of a gentleman to do the decent thing and give Rojas a thoroughly well-deserved kick in the knackers for such rank and arrant glakery.431. Did You Know?: Pascal Zuberbuhler of Switzerland is the only goalkeeper to leave a World Cup tournament in which his team had qualified from their group without ever conceding a goal in the whole competition. He kept four clean sheets in four matches, but fortunately, for lovers of football everywhere, Switzerland went out to Ukraine on penalties in that effing disgraceful non-event of a match in 2006.
432. Did You Know?:
Argentina's forward line in the late 1950s, Antonio Angelillo, Omar Sivori (see left) and Humberto Maschio, acquired the nickname The Angels with Dirty Faces when they moved, en masse, to Italian clubs during 1957. The name was given to them on account of their typically South American colour and flair. They were also known as The Trio of Death because of their clinical ability in scoring goals. Maschio joined Bologna, Sivori signed of Juventus and Angelillo played for Internazionale. All three subsequently acquired Italian citizenship and played for the Azzurri, Maschio and Sivori making the squad for the 1962 World Cup.433. Did You Know?: Six of the West German team that beat the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup - Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbaur, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Gerd Müller, Paul Breitner and Uli Hoesness - were from the Bayern Munich club.
Another two - Berti Vogts and Rainer Bonhof - played for Borussia Mönchengladbach and two other - Bernd Hölzenbein and Jürgen Grabowski - came from Eintract Frankfurt. Completing the line-up was 1. FC Köln's Wolfgang Overath. The rest of the West German twenty two man squad included another Munich player (Jupp Kapellmann), an additional three men from Mönchengladbach (Jupp Heynckes, Herbert Wimmer, Wolfgang Kleff) and Günter Netzer who had recently transferred from Borussia to Real Madrid. Köln also provided Heinz Flohe and Bernhard Cullmann. Also included were the Schalke pair Norbert Nigbur and Helmut Kremmers, Werder Bremen's Horst-Dieter Höttges and Fortuna Düsseldorf's Dieter Herzog.434. Did You Know?: Morocco reportedly threatened to pull out of the 1970 World Cup finals, to which they had qualfied for the first time, if they were to be placed in the same group as Israel.
435. Did You Know?:
The oldest starting line-up in a World Cup game was fielded by Germany against Iran in 1998. The average age was thirty one years and three hundred and forty five days. That German squad wasn't nicknamed Dad's Army for nothing. And, they didn't like it up 'em, apaprently. Their record is closely followed by Belgium whose average age against Mexico the same year was thirty one years and three hundred and four days.436. Did You Know?:
The 1974 World Cup Silly Name Squad included Peter Ducke (East Germany), Attila Abonyi (Australia), Adolfo Nef (Chile), Marinho Chagas (Brazil), Branko Oblak (Yugoslavia), Mafu Kibonge (Zaire), Ruud Geels (Netherlands), Voyn Voynov (Buglaria), Zbigniew Gut (Poland), Jerzy Gorgon (see right, Poland), Aldo Poy (Argentina) and Wilner Piquant (Haiti).437. Did You Know?: Mexico hold several records in World Cup qualifying matches: most games played (one hundred and forty one, followed by Costa Rica's one hundred and forty). They have also won the most games (ninety two, followed by Costa Rica, with sixty eight), scored the most goals (three hundred and seventy six, followed by Australia's two hundred and eighty sixty) and have the best goal difference plus two hundred and seventy two, again followed by Australia with plus two hundred and three).
438. Did You Know?: The world's first international football match was a challenge game played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, with the first international tournament, the inaugural British Home Championship, taking place in 1884.
At this stage the sport was rarely played, internationally, outside the United Kingdom. After England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the first countries to play competative international football matches were the USA and Canada (in 1885) and then Argentina and Uruguay (in 1901). Other early cross-border footballing rivalries include Austria and Hungary (dating from 1902), Belgium and France (1904), Belgium and the Netherlands (1905), Switzerland and Germany (1908) and Norway and Sweden (also 1908). Italy didn't play their first international match until 1910 (a 6-2 win against France) and Brazil in 1914 (a 3-0 defeat to Argentina). Spain's international debut occurred in 1920 at the Olympics when they defeated Denmark 1-0.439. Did You Know?: The Togo national team bus was involved in a terrorist attack on 8 January 2010 as the team travelled through the Angolan province of Cabinda on the way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. A little-known offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda claimed responsibility for the attack. The bus driver, the team's assistant manager Abalo Amelete, and media officer Stanislas Ocloo were killed, with several of the players suffering minor injuries.
Secretary General of the FLEC, Rodrigues Mingas, currently exiled in France, claimed that the attack was not aimed at the Togolese players but at the Angolan security forces at the head of the convoy. Authorities reported two suspects were detained in connection with the attacks. Togo was due to play its first game of the tournament against Ghana, three days after the attack. Not unnaturally after the tragedy, the Togolese government ordered their players to return home for their own safety although it was reported that at least some of the players were keen to stay on and play. With a spectacular lack of tact and decency, the Confédération Africaine de Football promptly announced that Togo had been 'disqualified' from the tournament for failing to fulfill their fixtures and were further banned from the next two tournaments. Togo's government immediately said that they would sue suggesting that the CAF 'have no consideration for the lives of other human beings' and this is further 'insulting to the family of those who lost their lives and those traumatised because of the attack.' FIFA has yet to make any comment on the issue - a typically cowardly reaction from an organisation who seem to enjoy having their buttocks clamped on the fence of indecision. On 12 April 2010, Togo's captain, Emmanuel Adebayor, announced his retirement from international football, stating that he was 'still haunted by the events I witnessed on that horrible afternoon.'440. Did You Know?: Since first joining FIFA and entering the World Cup in 2002, American Samoa's record is as follows: Played - Twelve. Won - None. Drawn - None. Lost - Twelve. Goals Scored - Two. Goals Conceded - One Hundred and Twenty Nine. It is hoped that with some of their players now gaining experience for club sides internationally (goalkeeper Nicky Salapu with Airbus UK in Wales, Ramin Ott in Australia with Bay Olympic and Rawlston Masaniai with the German team, VfL Osnabrück) scores such as their recent 15-0 defeat - at home - by Vanatau will, hopefully, be a thing of the past.
441. Did You Know?:
The official song of the 2010 World Cup 'Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)' is performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the South African band Freshlyground. The song is based upon a traditional African soldiers' tune named 'Zangalewa.' It is, quite possibly, the single worst record ever made by anyone, ever. Well, certainly since Matt Bianco's 'Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed.' Although to be fair, Shakira is very unlikely to have to go through the indignity of an appearance on Saturday Superstore in which she is described as 'a bunch of wankers' by a caller from Leicester. Some may see this as progress, dear blog reader. I couldn't possibly comment.442. Did You Know?: The finals tournament was expanded from sixteen to twenty four teams in 1982, and then to thirty two in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part in the showcase event. In recent years, teams from all of these regions have enjoyed considerable success - those who have reached the last eight include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986, Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990, Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002, and Senegal and the USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002. However, the traditional power-bases of Europe and South America remain the dominant forces in world football. For example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.
443. Did You Know?: No country has ever remained entirely undefeated in all preliminary qualifying competitions for the the World Cup. South Yemen was only ever defeated once. But, since they played only two World Cup qualifying matches that's not really much of a record.
As the South Yemeni football team no longer exists, this record is likely to stand pretty much forever. Germany (including West Germany) have only ever lost two games in seventy four qualifying matches since 1930, a much more impressive statistic. Saarland and Eritrea lost two out of their four qualifying matches, whilst Central African Republic, Comoros, Timor-Leste, Myanmar and Guam lost two games out of only two played. Germany's first ever defeat in a World Cup qualifying game came in 1985 (against Portugal in Stuttgart) and their second in 2001 - famously - 5-1 to England in Munich, which means that their only two losses were both at home. Brazil lost their first World Cup qualifying match ever in 1993 (against Bolivia in La Paz).444. Did You Know?:
As a manager, the former West German international midfielder Felix Magath gained much respect and became notorious for his hard, grinding training methods, laying heavy emphasis on discipline, fitness and conditioning. His players gave him nicknames like Saddam and 'Quälix,' a mash of his first name Felix and the German verb 'quälen' (meaning to torture).445. Did You Know?:
Only three players have ever scored in both Olympic and World Cup Finals: Uruguay's Pedro Cea, who did it in the 1924 Olympics and 1930 World Cup and Hungary's Ferenc Puskas and his team mate Zoltan Czibor who accomplished the feat at the 1952 Olympics and the 1954 World Cup. Romario, who scored for Brazil in its gold-medal match defeat to the Soviet Union in 1988, could not duplicate the achievement at the 1994 World Cup Final.446. Did You Know?: Mauro Tassotti of Italy received the longest suspension in terms of matches ever handed out at a World Cup. The Italian hard man was banned for eight matches for elbowing Luis Enrique of Spain in the mush in 1994, a punishment which effectively ended his international career.
447. Did You Know?:
Luxembourg holds the record for most unsuccessful attempts (eighteen) to qualify for the World Cup final competition, having actually been eliminated of each preliminary competition campaign. Finland were eliminated seventeen times: they also never qualified, but they did not enter the preliminary competition in 1934.448. Did You Know?: With a population of around twenty four thousand people the Cook Islands remains one of the smallest countries represented in FIFA.
449. Did You Know?:
The 1978 World Cup Silly Names Squad included Daniel Killer (Argentina), Dominique Dropsy (see right, France), Ferenc Fülöp (Hungary), Antonello Cuccureddu (Italy), Wojciech Rudy (Poland), Ronald Worm (West Germany), Roland Hattenberger (Austria), Urruti (Spain), Bo Larsson (Sweden), Dick Schoenaker (Netherlands) and Ottorino Sartor (Peru).450. Did You Know?: Ten great books that get to the soul of football: - David Winner - Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football (Bloomsbury), Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger - Tor!:
The Story of German Football (WSC Books), John Foot - Calcio: A History of Italian Football (Harper), Phil Ball - Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (WSC Books), Jonathan Wilson - Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football (Orion), Simon Kuper - Football Against the Enemy (Orion), Alex Bellos - Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life (Bloomsbury), David Goldblatt - The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football (Penguin), Paddy Agnew - Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football (Ebury) and Eamon Dunphy - A Strange Kind of Glory: Sir Matt Busby and Manchester United (Aurum).
