10. Luis
Figo, a world famous football star, who played for FC Barcelona from 1995 till
2000. He was arguably the fans’ most favorite player in FC Barcelona, until
2000. That’s when “it? happened, Barcelona’s biggest rivals, Real Madrid,
decided to splash the cash and break the transfer list fees record by getting
Luis to Real Madrid.
The move
caused outrage among Barcelona fans, Madrid got him for a world record fee of
38 Million Pounds. And that’s when the fun begins, during the match between FC
Barcelona and Real Madrid, when Luis Figo stepped up to take the corner kick, a
pig’s head was thrown at him from Barcelona’s side. Another incident took place
during the 2004 EURO Cup Final between Greece and Portugal. A Portuguese fan
ran out on the field, managed to outrun the police, and heading towards Luis threw
a Barcelona jersey at him, as the whole world was watching.
9. 1996 - African
Challenge.
1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta, The most surprising gold medals went to the hands of
Nigerian football stars after they overcame Brazil in thrilling semi-finals,
with a 4-3 score. The finals was between Argentina and Nigeria, well over 2
billion people were watching it, of course most of them thought that Argentina
will have no problems getting the gold medal, but most of them were wrong. Argentina
was in the driver’s seat after leading 1-0. The goal came on a 3rd
minute, scored by Claudio Lopez, on the 28th minute Nigeria managed
to equalize, as Babayaro scored a perfect finisher. So it was 1-1 on half-time.
In the early second half Hernan Crespo gave Argentina the lead again and
Argentina was on the way to get the gold medals, but “not so fast? said
Amokachi as he scored the equalizing goal and again gave Nigeria hope. Match
was almost over and everybody thought it was going to be decided by the penalty
shoot out. 90th minute and Amunike gave the lead to Nigeria, it was
a shock for Argentina, time was almost over, Argentina had no chance, so it
ended with a final score 3-2. Nigeria won the gold medal, for the first time in
Olympic Games history.
8. 1960, First ever UEFA European Football
Championship (EURO) held in France. It was won by the USSR, beating Yugoslavia
2-1 in a tense final in Paris. It is however quite interesting to note that
earlier in the competition Spain had withdrawn from its quarterfinal match
against the USSR due to political reasons. As an interesting fact, USSR also
scored the first goal in the EURO history, during the qualification games.
7. 1998/1999
English Premier League season, Manchester United got all trophies possible that
season. They became the first ever team in football history to do so in one
season. First they got the Premier League title, finishing first in the league
table, then they took the F.A. Cup title by beating Newcastle United 2-0, and
of course the most famous UEFA Champions League final, when United managed to
come back from a 1-0 defeat, and score not one but two goals in an injury time
beating Bayern Munich 2-1; it was considered to be one of the greatest
comebacks ever witnessed.
6. 2002 World
Cup, Korea/Japan. Korean fans will never forget that historic moment, when Guus
Hiddink took them all the way to the Semi-Finals of 2002 World Cup. Korean
national football team became the first ever Asian national football team to
reach semi-finals of World Cup. Nobody expected the underdogs to go that far, as
they beat Portugal 1-0 in a group stages, then a famous 2-1 win over Italy,
drawing with Spain in a quarter-finals and then beating them 5-3 on penalties.
In the end however they couldn’t take on Germany in semi-finals, and they lost 1-0.
In the game for the third place Korean team met Turkey, but again they lost. Eventually
the Republic of Korea finished 4th in the 2002 World Cup, which was
still a great success for the country’s football team.
5. June 2003, Chelsea FC was bought by the Russian
Billionaire Roman Abramovich for a record fee of 140 million pounds. Back then
it was the biggest sale of an English Football club. Straight away Roman wanted
to make Chelsea the best and strongest club in the world. He began buying
players for a record braking transfer fees. First season with a new owner
Chelsea FC finished as a runner-up. But next year, the 2004/2005 English
premier league season, Chelsea became champions of England, for the first time since
1954/1955 season. 2005/2006 Season they took the premier league trophy again as
they were crowned the champions of England for the second time in a row. These
2 seasons were the most successful 2 years in the club’s history.
4. January
11th 2007. It was confirmed that David Beckham will be leaving Real
Madrid to play for the United States “soccer? club, Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham’s
decision was a shock to many, as one of the world’s best football players moves
to United States of America, where “soccer? is not that popular. He was the
first big player to enter Major League Soccer.
3. 6th
February 1958, the Munich air disaster. It was the darkest day in Manchester
United Football Club history. On the board of the plane was Manchester United
football team along with the club supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44
passengers on board died. Captain James Thain, the pilot tried to take off
twice, but both attempts were aborted due to engine surging. When a third take off was attempted, the
plane failed to gain adequate height and crashed into the fence surrounding the
airport and then into a house. Now every year on this day Manchester United
holds a memorial to the people who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.
2. 2006
World Cup Final produced one of the most famous moments in football history,
when Zidane’s head-butted on Italian defender Marco Materazzi. It was Zidane’s
last international appearance for the French national team and 3 billion people
around the world were watching it. The next day newspapers all over the world
were not writing about how Italy won their 4th World Cup title, but
they were writing about how Zidane pulled the “stunt? on Marco. Definitely that
was one of the biggest moments in the history of football.
1. Edison
Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele, the world’s most famous name in football. Football is probably the most famous sport in
the world, and Pele is the man who made it what it is today. Pele made 669
appearances in club football, scoring 626 goals. He also made 92 appearances
for Brazilian National football side and scored 77 goals. He made his first
club appearance when he was just 15 years of age. He made his first
international appearance for Brazil when he was 16, and won his first World Cup
when he was just 17. Pele is hailed in Brazil as a national hero. The number
one moment in football history is when Pele managed to score his first
international goal for Brazil , just three month before his 17th
birthday.
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Tags: 1996 olympic games, barcelona fans, barcelona jersey, claudio lopez, corner kick, drivers seat, euro cup final, fc barcelona, football star, football stars, gold medal, gold medals, luis figo, olympic games, outrage, pigs head, real madrid, rivals, semi finals, world record
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