Saturday, March 8, 2014

Wild Soccer Facts!

Soccer, the most watched and played sport in the world, has some amazing and weird facts that are truly fascinating! Here are some you might enjoy.

Soccer is one of the easiest sports to learn. This is the easiest way to learn it.

During the first World Cup in 1930 at Uruguay, the soccer balls used were monkey skulls wrapped in paper and leather!

Soccer as we know it originated in Britain.

Soccer shirt number 10, Diego Maradona, was just 16 when he made his debut for Argentina.

Talking about number 10, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious numbers in soccer. Number 10 soccer jerseys have been worn by legends of the game, such as Michel Platini, Pele, Zico, Zinadane Zidane, Rivaldo, Mario Kempes, including Maradona, of course.

Sheffield Wednesday's goalkeeper Kevin Pressman was actually sent off after 13 seconds against Wolverhampton Wanderers, making it the fastest red card in English soccer!

Goalkeepers were not required to wear different colored soccer uniforms from their teammates until 1913.

Soccer became an Olympic sport in 1908.

Former England international, Paul Gascoigne, was arrested and sectioned under the Mental Health Act in Newcastle.

Sheffield FC is the world's oldest club, going back to the year 1857!

Ronaldinho scored all 23 goals for his youth team, during which his team beat the opposition 23:0. He was only 13 at the time!

Italian goalie, Walter Zenga, holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in Cup history. He played 517 minutes without letting in a goal during the 1990 tournament!

Pele is the youngest player to score a goal in the World Cup. He was 17 years and 239 days old when he scored against Wales in 1958.

Cameroonian, Roger Milla, is the oldest player to play in the World Cup. He was all of 42 years and 39 days when he played against Russia in 1994! During that game, he also scored, making him the oldest goal scorer in the World Cup!

In 1990, the United Arab Emirates qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Although they were knocked out during the group stage, two players managed to score goals. Both of them received a Rolls Royce for the goals!

The 1970 World Cup held in Mexico was a landmark tournament since yellow and red cards were used for the first time in its history. Yellow cards were given as a warning, while red cards were used to eliminate players from matches. If a player received two yellow cards, it counted as a red card.

According to video evidence, one of the fastest ever goal scored was in 2.8 seconds by Uruguayan Ricardo Olivera in 1998!

Sweden has actually played against Brazil seven times in World Cup history. No other country has faced Brazil that often.

No host country has ever been eliminated during the first round of a World Cup tournament.
Pele scored as many as 589 goals in only 605 matches for his team Santos!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2969888

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