DO YOU KNOW THE ALL-TIME LEADING FOREIGN-BORN GOALSCORER IN THE GERMAN BUNDESLIGA?

Claudio Pizarro having scored the equalising goal for Werder Bremen against Mainz on Saturday October 29th, 2011, notched up his 150th goals in the German Bundesliga. This make him the all-time leading foreign-born goalscorer having played for Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich from 1999 to date (except his spell with Chelsea FC from 2007-2009).

DID YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME OF THE FIRST MATCH SIR ALEX FERGUSON TOOK CHARGE OF AT MANCHESTER UNITED IN 1986?

Sir Alex Ferguson was appointed manager at Old Trafford on November 6th, 1986. His first game in charge of Manchester United FC was a 2–0 defeat at underdogs Oxford United on November 8th, 1986, followed 7 days later by a goalless draw at newly promoted Norwich City.





DO YOU KNOW WHO SCORED CHELSEA'S 6000TH GOAL IN ENGLISH LEAGUE FOOTBALL?

Frank Lampard scored Chelsea FC's landmark 6000th goal in English football league when he scored the first goal in Chelsea's 3-5 defeat to Arsenal FC on Saturday October 29th, 2011 at Stamford Bridge and ïs now the 31st club to achieve that feat - and only the third from London following Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs.

DO YOU KNOW WHO COINED THE NAME "DERBY D' ITALIA" FOR THE BIANNUAL INTER MILAN VS JUVENTUS MATCHES?



Matri scores for the Old Lady against Inter

The Derby d'Italia (Italian for "Derby of Italy") was coined back in 1967 by the famous Italian sports journalist Gianni Brera as the biannual football fixture in Italian football between Inter Milan and Juventus FC of Turin. The name was also given to this fixture as Inter Milan and Juventus were the two teams with the highest number of international (the former) and national (the latter) honours.

DO YOU KNOW WHO WAS THE EIGHTH YOUNGEST PLAYER TO REPRESENT THE ORANJE OF HOLLAND?

Wesley Sneijder made his debut for the Dutch Under-21 side against the Czech Republic on March 28, 2003 before being elevated to the full national team for an international friendly match against Portugal on April 30, 2003 to become at the age of 18 years and 325 days, the eighth youngest player to represent the Oranje of Holland.

DO YOU KNOW THE FIRST CLUBSIDE THAT WON THE CARLING LEAGUE CUP IN ENGLAND?



Aston Villa vs Rotherham United

The Carling Cup is a competition established in 1960 and is considered to be the second most important domestic cup competition for English football clubs, after the FA Cup. The first Football League Cup was won by Aston Villa, who beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate, after losing the first leg 2–0.

WHO MISSED THE FIRST PENALTY KICK IN A FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL MATCH

Antonio Cabrini

1. The first penalty kick to be missed in a FIFA World Cup final match was taken by Antonio Cabrini of the Azzuri of Italy against Germany in Espana 1982 FIFA World Cup. He earned 73 caps for his country and scored 9 goals (a record then for a defender), ending his career with the Azzurri in October 1987. He captained the national side 10 times.

DO YOU KNOW THE FIRST BLACKMAN TO PLAY FOR THE GERMAN NATIONAL TEAM?



Gerard Asamoah

Ghanaian born Gerard Asamoah is the first black man to play for the German National Team. Asamoah made his debut against Slovakia in 2001. However, Erwin Kostedde and Jimmy Hartwig, two previous internationals, had one black and one white parent.

DO YOU KNOW WHO SCORED THE FASTEST HAT-TRICK IN THE SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA?

David Villa

Long before David Villa usurped Raul Gonzalez and became the all-time leading goalscorer for the La Furia Roja (Spanish national team), he had the honour of scoring the quickest hat-trick in the Spanish Primera Liga for Valencia CF. 

With the match at Estadio San Mames against Athletic Bilboa tied at 0-0 and with only 10 minutes left on the clock, Villa broke Bilbao hearts when he scored three goals in the space of five minutes.

 

DO YOU KNOW WHICH COACH THAT HAS THE DISTINCTION OF WINNING DOMESTIC LEAGUE TI



Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello have managed clubsides like AC Milan of Italy, Real Madrid of Spain, Juventus of Italy and AS Roma also of Italy and he has the distinction of winning the domestic league titles with every of this clubs he has coached throughout his career.

DO YOU HOW MANY PENALTY KICKS LIONEL MESSI HAVE MISSED FOR FC BARCELONA?



Since he made his debut for FC Barcelona's first team in 2004, Lionel Messi has taken 22 penalties for the Blaguaranas and missed 6 (a conversion rate of just over 72 per cent), although he was lucky enough to be able to pounce on the rebound for one of those, in the 1-0 win over lowly Benidorm in late 2008.

DO YOU KNOW THE TOP SCORER IN THE 1988/1989 DUTCH EREDIVISIE SEASON AND THE SEOUL 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES FOOTBALL EVENT?



Romario Farias

In 1988 Romario de Souza Farias joined PSV Eindhoven of Holland from Vasco Da Gama in Brazil by scoring 19 goals in 24games in his debut season which made him the Dutch Eredivisie top scorer. He also emerged topscorer in the football event of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games with 7 goals. Romario Farias made his international debut for the Selacao of Brazil in a friendly game away to Republic of Ireland on the 23rd of May 1987. He scored in his second game, which again was an away fixture against Finland in Helsinki.

DO YOU KNOW THE FIRST PLAYER TO WIN THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IN TWO CONSECUTIVE SEASONS WITH DIFFERENT CLUBS?

Desailly with Milan

Desailly celebrating with Marseille

Ghanaian born French defender, Marcel Desailly is the first player to win the UEFA Champions League in two consecutive seasons with different clubs. His first triumph was with Olympique Marseille of France in the 1992/1993 season against AC Milan at the Olympiastadion in Munich while in the following season (1993/1994), he won it with AC Milan when they defeated FC Barcelona in Athens Karaiskakis Stadium where he scored the last goal in a 4-0 thrashing.

DO YOU KNOW THE CLUB THAT HAVE THE WORST WINLESS RECORD IN THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?

Partizan against Arsenal in 2010

The team with the worst winless record in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League is Partizan Belgrade, who have played in the group stage twice and lost all 12 of their matches. They lost home and away clashes to FC Porto, Olympique Marseille and Real Madrid in 2003/04 and then to Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal and SC Braga in the 2010/2011 season.

DO YOU KNOW THE FIRST TOP-SCORER IN THE REPACKAGED ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (EPL) IN THE 1992/1993 SEASON?

Teddy Sheringham emerged top goalscorer in the maiden season of the English Premier League (EPL) in 1992/1993 with 22 goals for Tottenham Hotspur after signing from Nottingham Forest for a fee of £2.1 million after one game and one goal.

WHICH ENGLISH FOOTBALLER GOT A TORRID DEBUT FOR REAL MADRID BY SCORING AN OWN-GOAL AND RECEIVING A RED CARD?

Injury prone Jonathan Woodgate's debut for Spanish giants, Real Madrid C.F. on September 22, 2005 was torrid, 516 days after his unveiling as a £13.4 million signing from English side Newcastle United. He scored an own goal and was then sent off in just over an hour of play against Athletic Bilboa in a Spanish Primera Liga match at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

DO YOU KNOW THE FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED STRIKER THAT SCORED FOR MANCHESTER CITY THAT ENSURED THE RELEGATION OF THE RED DEVILS IN 1974?



Denis Law with Man Utd

Denis Law, christened the 'King of Old Trafford' after scoring 236 goals in 11 years after joining Manchester United in 1962, also played his part in sending his former club down to the 2nd Division when he backheeled the winner for rivals Manchester City in the penultimate game of the season in 1974.

DO YOU KNOW THE FIRST JAPANESE PLAYER TO PLAY IN ITALY?

Kazu Miura

Kazuyoshi Miura became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoa F.C. in the 1994–1995 Italian Serie A season. In his Italian stint, he played 21 times and scored just 1 goal, during the Genoa derby against USC Sampdoria. was the first Japanese recipient of the Asian Player of the Year award in 1993, an award presented annually by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

DO YOU KNOW THE AFRICAN CLUBSIDE THAT RETIRED THE CAF CUP IN 2003?

Raja Casablanca

Raja Casablanca of Morocco retired the defunct CAF Cup (donated by late Chief MKO Abiola of Nigeria) which started in 1992 with a 2-0 aggregate win over Cotonsport Garouia of Cameroon in the 2003 edition.

DO YOU KNOW THE STRIKER THAT EMERGED TOP-SCORER IN BACK TO BACK SEASONS IN THE DUTCH EREDIVISIE?

Ruud van Nistelrooy was the topscorer in the Dutch Eredivisie for two consecutive seasons (1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons) in the colours of PSV Eindhoven. He banged in 31 goals in 34 matches in the 1998/1999, the highest season total in the Eredivisie and second-highest in Europe overall. He also capped off the year by winning the Dutch Player of the Year award. Van Nistelrooy also scored 29 goals in the 1999/2000 season to finish a wonderful period with his Dutch Eredivisie side.

D YOU KNOW WHO SCORED THE WINNING GOAL IN THE LAST EUROPEAN CUP FINAL IN 1992?



Ronald Koeman

 
Ronald Koeman scored the winning goal for FC Barcelona of Spain against USC Sampdoria of Italy in the last European Cup final in 1992 at the old Wembley Stadium in London off a blistering freekick.

DID JOHAN CRUYFF LOSE ANY SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA MATCH IN HIS FIRST SEASON WITH FC BARCELONA?



Johan Cruyff

 When Johan Cruyff of The Netherlands landed in F.C. Barcelona, his new team were one place from bottom of the Spanish Primera Liga and from the day of his debut against Granada on October 28, 1973 (4-0 with two goals from the Dutchman), FC Barcelona did not lose another match in the entire season and were proclaimed La Liga champions.

DO YOU KNOW THE OLDEST MAN TO COACH A UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNING TEAM?



Raymond Goethals hoisting the UEFA trophy

By May 1993, Raymond Goethals had become the oldest man at 72 years to coach an European Champions Cup winning team when he coached Olympique Marseille to winning the UEFA Champions League title in 1993 against AC Milan at the Olympic Stadion in Munich which was the first in the new format.

DO YOU KNOW WHO HAS SCORED THE MOST GOALS IN ONE SEASON SINCE THE ADVENT OF THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE?



Cole means Goal while at Newcastle

 The joint record holders are Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, who both managed 34 in a season - Cole for Newcastle United in 1993-94 and Shearer in the colours of Blackburn Rovers the following year. Cole had marginally the better strike rate, as his goals came in 40 games to Shearer's 42. Since the English Premier League was reduced to 38 games, the best total is the 31 Cristiano Ronaldo mustered for Manchester United in 2007-08.



Alan Shearer the bomber for Blackburn Rovers



AT WHAT AGE DID GUY ROUX GOT APPOINTED AS MANAGER OF A.J. AUXERRE?

In 1961, A.J. Auxerre appointed the legendary Guy Roux as their coach at the tender age of 22 because he had the smallest wage demands of all the applicants while still a player with then Championnat National (third division) club. After 44 years in charge of the club, Roux retired from managing A.J. Auxerre in June 2005 to be replaced by Jacques Santini.

DID YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK VINCENT KOMPANY TO SCORE HIS FIRST GOAL FOR BELGIUM AFTER MAKING HIS INTERNATIONAL DEBUT?



Vincent Kompany in red sees RED!

 Vincent Kompany made his international debut aged just 17 for Belgium in February 2004 against France, as one of the youngest players ever. It took him 6 years to score his first goal on May 19, 2010, against Bulgaria in a friendly at the 90th minute to give Belgium a 2-1 win at the Stade Roi Baudoin in Brussels.

DID YOU KINOW HOW MANY EUROPEAN CUP THAT FERENC PUSKAS WON WITH REAL MADRID?

Ferenc Puskas at Real Madrid

Despite Ferenc Puskas's legendary status and the European Cup (now UEFA Champions League) winning spree of Real Madrid CF in the late 1950's to the early 1960's, he only won one trophy out of the 5 they garnered which is the 7-3 1960 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany at Scotland's Hampden Park. He had the bad fortune of always been injured when Real Madrid CF got to the final.

DID YOU KNOW THE FIRST MANAGER OF AFC AJAX AMSTERDAM?

John Kirwan (m) pose for pictures with his team in 1910

The first professional manager of AFC Ajax Amsterdam is Irish man John Kirwan who coached them from 1910 - 1915. In 1911, he led Ajax to the Dutch Second Class title and victory in a promotion play-off, thus guiding the club into the Dutch top flight for the first time he was succeeded by Jack Reynolds.

DID YOU KNOW THE CLUB THAT WON THE UEFA CUP FINAL AT THEIR HOME GROUND?



 The 2002 UEFA Cup final between Dutch side, Feyenoord and Borussia Dortmund of Germany at the Feijnoord Stadion in Rotterdam was the first time since the introduction of single–match finals in 1998, that the final had been played at a finalists home ground. It paid off for Feyenoord as they capitalise on the sending off of Jurgen Kohler (which was his last match as a professional footballer) in the 31st minute with a 3-2 victory with two goals from Pierre van Hooijdonk and Jon Dahl Tomasson while Marco Amoroso and Jan Koller scored for the Germans.

AT WHAT AGE DID DENNIS BERGKAMP MADE HIS EUROPEAN DEBUT FOR AFC AJAX AMSTERDAM?

The teenage Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp made his European debut for AFC Ajax Amsterdam under Johan Cruyff aged 17 against FF Malmo of Sweden on 3rd of March, 1987 in the quarter final 1st. leg in Malmo of the defunct UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Regardless of his phobia for traveling by air, he had to fly out to Sweden on the day of the match, after sitting for school examinations the previous afternoon which his team lost by a goal to nil, but still won the cup. He played 239 matches and scored 122 goals for his home town club till 1993.

DO YOU KINOW THE FOOTBALLER NICKNAMED BELLO DI NOTTE?

Boniek at Juventus

Zbigniew Boniek, arguably Poland's best footballer ever was nicknamed Bello di notte ("Beauty at night") by former Juventus FC President Angelo Agnelli because of his performance at evening matches for the Old Lady of Turin where he spent three seasons appearing 133 times and scoring 32 goals. He formed a very successful duo with Michel Platini, and with the help of the group of Italian World Champions Dino Zoff, Claudio Gentile, Antonio Cabrini, Gaetano Scirea, Marco Tardelli and Paolo Rossi.

DO YOU KNOW THE ONLY EUROPEAN COUNTRY THAT HELD ALL THREE EUROPEAN CLUB TROPHIES IN ONE SEASON?



Marco van Basten

 Italy is the only country to have won all three European club diadems in the 1989/1990 season. AC Milan won the UEFA Champions Cup (now UEFA Champions League), the UEFA Cup Winners Cup was clinched by Sampdoria and the UEFA Cup was captured by Juventus FC. Interestingly, all three teams were beaten by AS Roma in the 1990/1991 Coppa Italia campaign.

DO YOU KNOW THE STRIKER THAT WON TOP SCORER AWARDS IN THE SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA AND THE ITALIAN SERIE A?

Christian Vieri while at Atletico Madrid

The Italian goal bomber, Christian Vieri achieved a rare feat while he was playing active football. He is arguably the only footballer to have won the Pichichi and the Capocannoniere (top scorer) titles in Spain and Italy. He scored 24 goals in 24 Spanish Primera Liga matches for Atletico Madrid to win the Pichichi award in the 1997/1998 season while he won the Capocannoniere award at Inter Milan in the 2002/2003 season with 24 goals from 23 Italian Serie A matches.

WHICH CITY HAS WON THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WITH TWO DIFFERENT CLUBSIDES?

The city of Milan in Italy is the only one that have won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams: Inter Milan and AC Milan. The two clubs have won ten trophies and therefore being the most succesful in the history of the tournament. They once met in the Semi Final of the 2002/2003 season and AC Milan triumph 1-1 on away goals rule even though they both play at Stadio Giusseppe Meazza, San Siro. 

 

DID ZINEDINE ZIDANE SCORE WHEN HE MADE HIS DEBUT FOR FRANCE IN 1994?




Zidane the Maestro

  Zinedine Zidane widely regarded as one the greatest players of all time, earned his first cap with the Les Bleus of France as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 17 August 1994, which ended in a 2–2 draw after Zidane scored twice to help his team erase a 2–0 deficit. He had 108 caps and scored 31 goals.