10. Luis Figo, a world-famous soccer star, who played for FC Barcelona from 1995 to 2000. He was arguably the FC Barcelona fans’ favorite player until 2000. That’s when it “happened”, the Barcelona’s biggest rivals, Real Madrid, decided to splash out and break the transfer fee record by signing Luis to Real Madrid.
The move caused outrage among Barcelona fans, Madrid got it 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 forward to take the corner, a pig’s head was thrown at him from the side of Barcelona. Another incident took place during the EURO 2004 Cup final between Greece and Portugal. A Portuguese fan ran onto the field, managed to escape from the police and, heading towards Luis, threw a Barcelona jersey at him, while everyone looked on.
9. 1996 – African Challenge.
1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, The most surprising gold medals went to Nigerian soccer stars after they beat Brazil in a thrilling semi-final, with a score of 4-3. The final was between Argentina and Nigeria, more than 2 billion people were watching it, of course, most thought that Argentina would have no problem getting the gold medal, but most were wrong. Argentina was in the driver’s seat after leading 1-0. The goal came in the 3rd minute, scored by Claudio López, in the 28th minute Nigeria managed to equalize, as Babayaro scored a perfect shot. So it was 1-1 at the break. Early in the second half, Hernán Crespo gave Argentina the lead again and Argentina were on their way to gold medals, but “not so fast,” Amokachi said as he scored the equalizer and again gave Argentina hope. Nigeria. The game was almost over and everyone thought it would be decided on penalties. Minute 90 and Amunike gave Nigeria the lead, it was a shock for Argentina, the time was almost up, Argentina had no luck, so it ended with a final score of 3-2. Nigeria won the gold medal for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games.
8. 1960, First UEFA European Football Championship (EURO) held in France. It was won by the USSR, beating Yugoslavia 2-1 in a tense final in Paris. However, it is quite interesting to note that earlier in the competition Spain had withdrawn from their quarter-final match against the USSR for political reasons. As an interesting fact, the USSR also scored the first goal in EURO history, during the qualifying matches.
7. 1998/1999 season of the English Premier League, Manchester United won all possible trophies that season. They became the first team in football history to do so in one season. First they clinched the Premier League title, finishing top of the league table, then they took the FA 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 loss, and score neither one goal nor two goals in stoppage time beating Bayern Munich 2-1; it was considered to be one of the greatest comebacks ever seen.
6. World Cup 2002, Korea/Japan. Korean fans will never forget that historic moment, when Guus Hiddink led them to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. The Korea national soccer team became the first Asian national soccer team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. of the world. No one expected the underdogs to make it this far as they beat Portugal 1-0 in the group stage, then a famous 2-1 win over Italy, drew with Spain in the quarter-finals and then beat them 5-3 in the penalties. However, in the end they were unable to meet Germany in the semi-finals and lost 1-0. In the third place game, the Korean team faced Turkey, but again lost. Ultimately, Korea Republic finished fourth in the 2002 World Cup, which continued to be a great success for the country’s football team.
5. June 2003, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC for a record fee of 140 million pounds. It was then the biggest sale ever for an English football club. Immediately, Roman wanted to make Chelsea the best and strongest club in the world. He started buying players for a record transfer fee. First season under new ownership Chelsea FC finished as runners-up. But the following year, the 2004/2005 English Premier League season, Chelsea became champions of England for the first time since the 1954/1955 season. In the 2005/2006 season they took the Premier League trophy again by being crowned champions of England for the second consecutive time. These 2 seasons were the 2 most successful years in the history of the club.
4. January 11, 2007. It is confirmed that David Beckham will leave Real Madrid to play for the American “soccer” club, Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham’s decision surprised many, as one of the best soccer players in the world is moving to the United States of America, where “football” is not so popular. He was the first great player to enter Major League Soccer.
3. February 6, 1958, Munich air disaster. It was the darkest day in the history of Manchester United Football Club. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team along with the club’s 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 starting. When a third takeoff was attempted, the plane failed to gain proper 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. The 2006 World Cup final produced one of the most famous moments in football history, when Zidane headbutted 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. The next day, newspapers around the world weren’t writing about how Italy won their fourth World Cup title, but how Zidane pulled the “trick” on Marco. That was definitely one of the greatest moments in football history.
1. Edison Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, the most famous name in the world in football. Soccer is probably the most famous sport in the world, and Pelé is the man who made it what it is today. Pelé made 669 club football appearances, scoring 626 goals. He also played 92 games for the Brazilian soccer team and scored 77 goals. He made his first club appearance when he was just 15 years old. He made his first international appearance for Brazil when he was 16 and won his first World Cup when he was just 17. Pelé is hailed in Brazil as a national hero. The number one moment in football history is when Pelé managed to score his first international goal for Brazil, just three months before his 17th birthday.
