Soccer Facts

The English Premier League is in full swing and one cannot help but feeling bad about Liverpool fans (including me!), due to the team's shoddy performance. But it's fine, until and unless, the game, the beautiful game of Soccer aka Football which it is called the world over, is alive and we are delighted by players like Kaka, Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo and the likes make life worth living for us. What makes this sport so awe-inspiring are the interesting tit bits that happen on and off the field.

Facts about Soccer

Soccer being one of the most popular game has been dotted with amazing anecdotes over the years. Here are some perhaps known and probably some interesting facts.

• European Teams have reached the final of every World Cup except in 1930 and 1950.
• In 1997, Nigerian international Celestine Babayaro broke his leg while celebrating a goal in his Chelsea debut during a pre season game.
• Until 1913, goalies wore the same colored jersey as their teammates.
• Some of the most famous soccer players include Pele, David Beckham, Diego Maradona, Bobby Charlton and Ronaldo.
• Sir Alex Ferguson was fired by St. Mirren in 1978 for swearing at a lady.
• FIFA (Federation International Football Association) is recognized as the international leading organization of soccer and is located in Switzerland.
• At sixteen-years, Diego Maradona made his appearance for Argentina.
• The word "soccer" was coined in the late nineteenth century from a shortening of ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL plus -ER.
• Only 7 countries have ever won the World Cup: Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, France, England, Italy, and Germany
• The most number of goals scored by one player in a single soccer match was 15 by Ronaldo from Brazil.
• Ryan Giggs' dad was a professional Rugby League player.
• The world's oldest club is Sheffield FC was formed in 1857.
• World Cup referees took a crash course in swear words - especially English - and give a RED CARD if they hear offensive language.

Wow! This was surely some amazing stuff.

Few More Facts and History

• The official ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the Jabulani, which means "rejoice" in Zulu. Though many teams had complained that it moves too quickly.
• The first set of rules for soccer were made by the London Football Association in 1863.
• The player with the most cards in World Cup play is Zinedine Zidane (France), with 4 yellows and 2 reds.
• A Manchester City fan was banned in 1995 from bringing dead chickens into City's Maine Road ground. He used to celebrate City goals by swinging the birds around his head.
• A referee at a friendly match in Brazil drew a revolver and shot dead a player who disputed a penalty decision. The referee escaped on horseback.
• West Ham defender Alvin Martin scored a hat-trick against three different goalkeepers in the 8-1 win over Newcastle in 1986. The injured Martin Thomas was replaced in the Newcastle goal first by Chris Hedworth, then by Peter Beardsley.
• A throw-in may be legal as long as some portion of each of the thrower's feet is either behind or on the touchline. This means the thrower's heels may be on the touchline with his/her toes on the field.

This was just a minuscule of what all happened on the football pitch. In fact, I guess each major soccer tournament and country has its own set of such snippets.

I hope you found this piece of information interesting and alluring. Till then, it's adios! It is full-time for me!