63336 Scores With Quirky Football Facts

25 July 2011

The 2011 edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup starts in Colombia on 29 July 2011 and will run until 20 August 2011. It is a time for the world to watch the future stars of football; Lionel Messi was an U-20 World Cup winner with Argentina in 2005, as was Diego Maradona in 1979.

Naturally the English public will be hoping for an England victory, but the team have a tough group, with Argentina, Mexico and North Korea to play. Bearing this in mind, 63336 has found some quirky football facts that might cheer up the boys as they prepare for some of the most important games of their youthful careers.

Romantic crooner Julio Iglesias was a goalkeeper for a Real Madrid team until he suffered an injury; Karol Józef Wojtyła played football and was also a goalkeeper before he became better known to the world as Pope John Paul II. Celebrity chef and connoisseur of profanity Gordon Ramsay had trials with Rangers football club, although perhaps they were looking for someone to make pies to sell on the terraces?

Every football fan knows Eric Cantona, the French midfield wizard who sparkled in the Manchester United team from 1992 until 1997. But how many football fans know Eric's younger brother Joël Cantona was also a skilled footballer who reached the mighty heights of playing for Peterborough United in 1993 and Stockport County in 1994? At least Stockport is near Manchester…

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is currently one of the most exciting players in the world. The Real Madrid player, better known as just Cristiano Ronaldo, also has a son called Cristiano. It seems obvious where he got the inspiration for his son's name, but his father was inspired by Ronald Reagan! However, it was the former president's acting career that Ronaldo's father admired, not his policies. Good job his father wasn't a fan of Bing Crosby. Cristiano Bingo?

Stanley Matthews, the Blackpool, Stoke and England legend, was never booked or sent off in his career. Considering he played over seven hundred league games that is a colossal achievement for the footballer who played in his last English league game at the age of 50. Gary Lineker is another famous England player who was never cautioned or sent off.

Football can help prevent animosity between countries; the victor is decided on the pitch, not on the battlefield. Unfortunately, it can also start wars. The Football War was a brief conflict between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. The two countries had been locking horns for years beforehand, but 3 ill-tempered football matches between the two countries helped ignite the war, which eventually cost around 3,000 lives over 4 days of fierce fighting.

In 1978 Scotland were managed by former Blackburn player Ally MacLeod. MacLeod was on top of the world; his team had beaten England at Wembley and were off to the 1978 World Cup, whilst England had failed to qualify. In a moment of hubris, MacLeod claimed Scotland would win the much prized trophy and even retain it. Unfortunately, Scotland fared poorly in their first game against Peru, losing 3-1. MacLeod was forlorn at a following press conference and upon seeing a mongrel dog he said that it was the only friend he had left. The dog then proceeded to bite him. Unsubstantiated rumours suggest the dog was a vengeful football-loving Old English sheepdog.

Finally, if the players at the FIFA U-20 World Cup have to play with the much-maligned Adidas Jabulani ball they can at least be happy in the fact that it was once described as the "roundest-ever" ball. No doubt rival football manufacturers Mitre were busy working on a cube shaped football.

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