DO YOU KNOW WHICH THREE OF THE TEN CONMEBOL COUNTRIES HAVE NEVER WON THE COPA AMERICA?

                                                           

Since the Copa América competition started in 1916 in Argentina till date, only Chile, Ecuador & Venezuela are the only CONMEBOL countries out of 10 that have not won the oldest international continental football competition. Uruguay who are the current holders of the competition have won the highest titles with 15 in total. 

DO YOU KNOW WHICH DECADE SAW THE MOST DIFFERENT CLUBS WIN THE ENGLISH TOP FLIGHT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP?

 

It was in the 1960s when eight different football clubs were English First Division Champions: Burnley, Everton FC, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool (twice), Manchester City, Manchester United (twice) and Tottenham Hotspur. Seven different clubs won the First Division Championship in the 1920s.

DO YOU KNOW THE FIRST CAPTAIN TO HOIST THE FIFA WORLD CUP TROPHY IN FRONT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS?

Hilderaldo Bellini is Brazil's first FIFA World Cup winning captain in Sweden 1958. Bellini was the man who inadvertently introduced the hoisting of the winning trophy aloft, having done so to allow photographers to see the Jules Rimet Trophy which became a symbol of triumph. He has been honoured with a statue for this feat at the entrance of the Estadio do Maracanã  in Rio de Janeiro.

During his playing career, he was a central defender and he played at club level for Vasco da Gama, São Paulo FC and Atlético Paranaense. Bellini is of Italian origin, he won another FIFA World Cup in Chile 1962 and participated also at England 1966 FIFA World Cup.

DO YOU KNOW THE ENGLISH CLUB STEPHANE HENCHOZ STARTED AND ENDED HIS CAREER WITH?

 Stéphane Henchoz who is from Switzerland started and finished his football club playing career in England at Blackburn Rovers. In June 1997, he turned down an opportunity to join Manchester United, instead signing for Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3 million which he stayed until the end of the 1998/1999 season when Rovers were relegated.  

Henchoz remained a EPL player after being purchased for £3.5 million by Liverpool where he had his best spell in England. He rejoined Blackburn Rovers in 2006 after spells with Celtic FC and Wigan Athletic where he was released by Mark Hughes in May 19 2008 and he retired from active football in October 13, 2008. 

DO YOU KNOW THE TWO REAL MADRID MANAGERS SINCE 1989 THAT HAVE SURVIVED TWO CALENDAR YEARS?

                           

Jose Mourinho & Vicente del Bosqu

Since the year 1989, only Vicente del Bosque and Jose Mourinho have survived 2 calendar years as Real Madrid manager.


In 1999/2000, Del Bosque took over from John Toshack in November 1999 and he lasted till June 2003 when his contract was not renewed. 

Mourinho took over the Real Madrid managerial reigns from Manuel Pellegrini in July 2010 after he led Inter Milan to a treble of the Italian Serie A, Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League in the highly successful 2009/2010 season. He threw in the towel at the Santiago Bernabeu in May 2013.

DO YOU KNOW THE ONLY ENGLAND PLAYER TO FEATURE IN A UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL WITHOUT HAVING A SINGLE CAP FOR ENGLAND?

                                                             

Jermaine Pennant is the only English player to have played in a UEFA Champions League final, not to be capped for the England Three Lions.

He featured for Liverpool F.C. in the final of the 2006/2007 edition of the UEFA Champions League at the Olympic Stadium, Athens against AC Milan which they lost to the Rossonerri 1-2.

Despite being of Jamaican and Irish descent, Pennant has so far opted to represent England internationally; although he has played at under-21 level, he has not played for the senior team.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT PROFESSION MAROUANE CHAMAKH STUDIED FOR WHILE PLAYING FOR BORDEAUX?

 

Under performing Arsenal FC striker Marouane Chamakh is a trained accountant.While pursuing his career as a professional footballer, Chamakh was equally adept off the field earning good grades in school. 

During his early years at Girondins de Bordeaux, the Moroccan international began attending high school. He hoped to earn a Baccalauréat in accounting, which he later accomplished.

DO YOU KNOW WHO WERE THE LAST THREE ENGLISH BORN MANAGERS TO WIN THE ENGLISH FA CUP FINAL MATCH AT WEMBLEY STADIUM?

Harry Redknapp in 2008 for Portsmouth, Joe Royle in 1995 for Everton and Terry Venables in 1991 for Tottenham Hotspur were the last three English born managers to win English FA Cup final game at the Wembley Stadium.

WHICH THREE MANCHESTER CITY PLAYERS FINISHED THE SEASON AS ENGLISH TOP FLIGHT HIGHEST GOALSCORER?

 

The three Manchester City players to have finished the season as Top Flight highest goalscorers in English football are Frank Roberts in the 1924/1925 old English Division One season with 31 goals, Francis Lee also in the 1971/1972 old English Division One season with 33 goals and Carlos Tevez in the 2010/2011 English Premier League (EPL) season with 20 goals.

DO YOU KNOW WHICH TWO SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL CLUBS TO HAVE REACHED THE FINAL OF THE CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?

Orlando Pirates FC and Mamelodi Sundowns FC are the two South African football clubs to have reached the final of the CAF Champions League. 

Orlando Pirates also known as the Buccaneers beat ASEC Mimosas of Cote d'Ivoire in the 1995 final while Mamelodi Sundowns lost to Al-Ahly of Egypt in the 2001 final.

DO YOU KNOW WHICH FOOTBALL CLUB EVERTON FC HAVE TAKEN THE MOST POINTS OFF DURING THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE ERA?

 

Everton have won 64 points against West Ham United with 18 wins and 10 draws in the 34 English Premier League (EPL) matches played from 1993/1994 to 2012/2013 seasons. 

The Toffees are one of seven teams to have played all 21 seasons of the EPL since its inception in August 1992 - the others being Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.

DO YOU KNOW WHICH CURRENT ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (EPL) PLAYER THAT HAS THE BEST GOALSCORING RECORD IN THE ONGOING BRAZIL 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS?

                  

Edin Dzeko

Edin Dzeko of Manchester City in the English Premier League (EPL) has scored 8 goals from 540 minutes played for Bosnia & Herzegovina while Luis Suarez of Liverpool FC and Uruguay has 8 goals from 886 minutes played. Clint Dempsey of Tottenham Hotspur and the United States Men National Team (USMNT) has 7 goals.

DO YOU KNOW THE SACKED BAYERN MUNICH MANAGER THAT JUPP HEYNCKES REPLACED IN APRIL 2009?

 

Jupp Heynckes

When Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked as manager of Bayern Munich in April 2009, the Bavarians were in danger of missing out on qualification for the UEFA Champions League and they appointed Jupp Heynckes as caretaker manager. Upon Heynckes' appointment, the team won four and drew one of its remaining matches, finishing second in the 2008/2009 German Bundesliga season, two points behind champions VfL Wolfsburg led by Felix Magath.

DO YOU KNOW THE MANAGER THAT FIRST DEVISED THE FALSE 9 TACTICS IN FOOTBALL?

 

Luciano Spalletti while at AS Roma

Italian gaffer, Luciano Spalletti who currently manages Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia, famously devised the false 9 formula from which a Francesco Totti-inspired AS Roma to entertain the world and that system ensured the Giallorossi experienced significant back to back Coppa Italia success in 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons.

DO YOU KNOW THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NAMING OF ARSENAL FC FROM THE OLD THE ARSENAL?

Herbert Chapman

 Under Herbert Chapman who was  appointed as manager in 1925, The Arsenal changed their name to simply Arsenal FC in order to appear at the top of the alphabetical list of old English Division One clubs. In addition, Chapman was behind the 1932 renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club. 

Under his guidance Arsenal FC won their first major trophies – victory in the 1930 English FA Cup Final preceded two English Division One League Championships in 1930/1931 and 1932/1933 seasons. 

DID YOU KNOW THE ONLY PLAYER TO HAVE EVER WON THE SPANISH LA LIGA TITLES FIVE TIMES IN A ROW PLAYING FOR TWO DIFFERENT CLUBS?

Danish football legend Michael Laudrup is one of the few illustrious players to have played for the El-Clásico rivals of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid intermitently from 1989/1990 season to the 1995/1996 season. Laudrup is the only player ever to win the Spanish La Liga five times in a row playing for two different clubs in the 1990/1991, 1991/1992, 1992/1993, 1993/1994 for FC Barcelona and in 1994/1995 season for Real Madrid.

He appeared for Real Madrid in a 5-0 win over FC Barcelona and also played for FC Barcelona when they beat Real Madrid 5-0 while he was playing at Camp Nou. He is now the manager of Swansea City in the English Premier League (EPL) replacing Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers who left for Liverpool FC.

DID YOU KNOW THE GOALKEEPER THAT EMERGED TOPSCORER FOR HIS CLUB IN THE GERMAN BUDESLIGA IN THE 1999/2000 SEASON?

Hans-Jorg Butt saving a penalty with Hamburger SV

Goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt while he was with Hamburger SV in the 1999/2000 German BundesLiga season, emerged Top Scorer of the German club with nine goals with all of them penalty kicks.  It was in the same season that Butt scored and saved a penalty in Hamburger SV's 3-1 victory over Schalke 04.

DO YOU THE PLAYER THAT SCORED THE FIRST PENALTY KICK IN A FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL MATCH?

Johan Neeskens of the Netherlands while playing club football for AFC Ajax Amsterdam, scored the first ever penalty kick in a FIFA World Cup final match against West Germany in Munich during the West Germany 1974 FIFA World Cup only after two minutes which his team eventually lost 1-2 to two Gerd Muller's goals.

Neeskens was capped 49 times for his country, scoring 17 goals. He made his debut against East Germany in 1970, and played a crucial role in the West Germany 1974 and Argentina 1978 FIFA World Cups, playing in central midfield. 

 

 

DO YOU KNOW WHEN ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN SCORED HIS FIRST GOAL FOR ARSENAL FC?

The Ox

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was signed from Southampton for £12 million initial payment which could rise to £15 million with "add-ons" made his Arsenal FC debut on August 28, 2011, in the 8–2 defeat at Manchester United, as a 62nd minute substitute for Francis Coquelin, thus becoming the 150th player to represent Arsenal FC in the English Premier League (EPL). 

On September 20, 2011, Oxlade-Chamberlain scored his first goal for Arsenal FC in the 58th minute of a Carling Cup match against Shrewsbury Town, with a drive from 25 yards. Arsenal FC won 3–1.

When he was younger, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain now of Arsenal FC and the Three Lions of England was offered a trial at rugby club London Irish, but didn't attend as football was his main aim.

DID YOU KNOW WHERE THE SPANISH NAME "REAL" CAME FROM?

As the Spanish Primera Liga continues to be dominated by FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the number of professional clubs with the prefix "Real" in Spanish football is seven (Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Real Betis Balompie, Real Murcia, Real Zaragoza, Real Racing Club de Santander and Real Mallorca). It actually mean Royal and stemmed from the support that football gained from King Alfonso XIII in the early years of the last century.