June 10 – Greavsie On All Fours

THE 1962 World Cup often gets overshadowed by the events at Wembley Stadium four years later, but whether it’s fighting Italians, the silky skills of Garrincha or one of the most stylish posters ever made, the Chileans put on a heck of a good show. It was on this day back in ’62 that England took on Brazil in a quarter-final clash that provided one of the World Cup’s funniest ever moments.

England had scraped past the group stage, pipping Argentina on goal average to face an impressive looking Brazilian outfit, who topped their group despite seeing Pele hacked down in their first game against Czechoslovakia.

The coastal town of Viña del Mar was the stage for the last-16 match, and every man, and indeed his dog, were present at the Estadio Ausalito. They were treated to a master-class from Garrincha, the player of the tournament, who scored two goals as Brazil cruised past Walter Winterbottom’s side.

However, the antics of the bandy-legged womanizer they called the ‘Little Bird’ are not the enduring memories of the match. That honour falls to another animal, when a stray dog wandered onto the pitch and was trickier than an east-end car-salesman and evaded capture from officials and players with a mixture of pace and fancy footwork (or should that be paw-work?).

Obviously a fan of animal psychology, Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves got down on all fours to meet the canine pitch-invader at his level and gave him the come hither eyes. The pooch wandered over and showing the sort of reactions that bagged him 39 goals in the previous season, Greavsie grabbed his four-legged friend by the neck, bringing cheers from the Chilean crowd.

These cheers tuned to laughter seconds later, when the crowd realised that the dog had urinated all over Greaves’ shirt. No one found it funnier than Garrincha who enjoyed the incident so much that he took the dog home with him after the match. Greavsie also managed to see the funny side of it, claiming that “I smelt so bad, but at least it meant the Brazilian defenders stayed clear of me.” Not clear enough though, as a 3-1 defeat saw England return home.

Meanwhile, there were no close shaves for the Brazilians this time as they put football’s second most famous dogging incident behind them and romped to the title. See Jimmy doing his best Dr Dolittle impression with Baddiel and Skinner below and if it’s more World Cup moments you want, it’s more you’ll get if you’re back here tomorrow.

June 9 – Captain Guv’nor

WITH it’s origins in the white working-class, football has had to deal with the thorny issue of racism right from the start. It took until 1978 for a black player to represent the English national team when Viv Anderson made his debut, and today in 1993 another barrier was broken down as Paul Ince became the first black player to captain the Three Lions.

The match in question was a US Cup game played at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts against the USA who were ramping up preparations for the 1994 World Cup. With David Platt and Tony Adams missing, Ince was handed the armband, but he was unable to prevent a 2-0 loss, with goals from Tom Dooley and Spin Doctors lead singer clone Alexi Lalas.

The Guv’nor had made his mark on the fledgling Premier League since he had left West Ham for Manchester United in 1989. Fitting into the United midfield with Bryan Robson he became a staple of Ferguson’s first title winning Old Trafford side in the 1992/93 season.

Despite Ince’s domestic form and his pioneering role with the captain’s armband, England manager Graham Taylor wasn’t convinced enough to keep him in the team, as Ince was dropped for two vital World Cup qualifiers as England failed to make it to USA ’94.

After spells at Internazionale, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Wolves, Ince eventually hung-up his boots in 2006 and turned his attention to management. The days of black English players being booed on the pitch has long gone, but a quick look around the dugouts tells you where one of the biggest problems of the modern game lies.

Last season there were only two black managers across the Football League, Ince at MK Dons and Macclesfield Town’s Keith Alexander. Ince has made an impressive start to his managerial career, starting off with saving Macclesfield Town from near-certain relegation in the 2006/07 season before taking MK Dons to a league and FA Trophy double this year.

As he did on the pitch, Ince is proving to be an inspiration. The issue of black coaches in the English game is something that the FA is keen to tackle, with calls for the encouragement of positive discrimination, following it’s successful introduction in the National Football League in the USA, as they hope to see more young black coaches given an opportunity to prove themselves in a game dominated by white ex-pros.

Whatever happens in the future, we’re sure that we’ll be seeing more of Incey in the dugout. First black England manager anyone? See one of his finest moments on the pitch below and join us tomorrow for the story of football’s second most famous dog. And we don’t mean Soccer Dog 2.

June 8 – Indomitable Lions Stun the Champions

WHILE for England fans the defining image of Italia 90 is without doubt Paul Gascoigne’s tears in the semi-final and Gary Lineker’s little ‘watch him’ signal to the bench, the tournament as a whole is regarded as one of the poorer World Cups with tight defensive displays the vogue in the country that has always favoured the 1-0 score line.

One bright spot in the competition was the performance of Cameroon and their veteran striker Roger Milla. It was on this day that the Africans showed they meant business in Italy when, in the first match of the tournament, they stunned reigning world champions Argentina by beating them 1-0.

The Cameroonians relished their status as massive underdogs and showed they were no pushovers by keeping the score at 0-0 into the second half. Their chances of keeping up the level of resistance took a blow when Andre Kana was sent off with half an hour left to play but just six minutes later they scored against the shell-shocked Argentinians. François Omam-Biyik scored when he placed a perfect downward header just to the left of Argentine goalkeeper Nery Pumpido who fumbled the ball into the net.

Argentina pressed for the equaliser but it would not come, even when Benjamin Massing was sent off for the Africans on 89 minutes, and the Indomitable Lions held on for a famous win.

Roger Milla said later: “San Siro was as full as a can of sardines. Fans had come from all over the world to see Diego Maradona and Argentina, who had won the tournament four years before, and none of the experts gave us a chance.

“What they forgot was that football matches are won and lost on the pitch – and that we were the Indomitable Lions.”

Milla continued with a delightful food-reference that Motty would be proud of: “The media did not take us seriously. Nor did Argentina. They showed no respect. They thought they would make a rabbit stew of us.

“I left with Maradona’s shirt and a feeling of pride in Cameroon that would only grow over the following games.”

That pride would grow and grow as the African team went on to beat Romania thanks to two goals from 38-year-old Milla which would see them win the group, depite losing 4-0 to the USSR.

They also beat Colombia, again with two goals from Milla, to take them to the quarter-finals – the first African team to achieve this feat. They were eventually knocked out by England but not before they had led the game 2-1 with just eight minutes remaining with the Three Lions needing two penalties from Gary Lineker to beat their Indomitable counterparts.

Meanwhile Argentina were lucky to get through the group stage at all and only scraped through as one of the best third-placed teams, having finished behind Cameroon and Romania in the group. They put that behind them to make it all the way to the final where they were beaten by West Germany.

But the tournament’s headlines belonged to Cameroon. Milla said: “Victory over Argentina was just the start. Our success during the 1990 World Cup made the country proud.

“After we were knocked out by England we did a lap of honour and everyone was on their feet acclaiming the Indomitable Lions.

“We had given great pleasure and brought respect to Africa.

“We had taken Cameroon’s flag and planted it on the highest summit of world football.”

Have a look at highlights from the match below and don’t forget to check in with us tomorrow for more frivolous football fun.

June 7 – Classic England v Brazil

IT was the match that had everything, the two best teams in the world, the best save ever made and the best tackle ever made, all in the white-hot atmosphere of the best World Cup ever held.

Today in 1970, World Champions England lined up against the tournament favourites Brazil in a match that lived up to its billing as the game that should have been the final.

England arrived in Mexico with the 1966 heroes still in their prime and they were, if anything, a better team than the one that lifted the Jules Rimet trophy four years earlier. Meanwhile Brazil were the bookies tip for the title with Pele playing in his last World Cup.

The champions had the best of the opening ten minutes until Brazil burst into life. Jairzinho skipped down the right hand side and sent over a far post cross to the waiting Pele who met the ball with a bullet header, sending it down towards the left hand post. With the brilliant Brazilian already shouting “GOOOAAAAL” in celebration Gordon Banks had other ideas and flung himself at the ball “like a salmon leaping up a waterfall” (as Pele later put it) to tip it over the cross bar. It is widely hailed as the best save ever made.

As the match wore on Bobby Moore was kept busy breaking up Brazilian moves as the South Americans began to exert more and more pressure which eventually paid off on the hour mark. Tostao for once managed to outwit Moore and he flicked the ball over to Pele by the penalty spot. As he held the ball and the England defenders were drawn to him he slipped it to Jairzinho who was unmarked on his right-hand side who walloped the ball into the net from close range.

England came back immediately and went close through Charlton but then got caught on the break after sending everyone up for a free-kick. Jairzinho carried the ball into the England penalty area but the immovable object of Moore was there, and stuck out his leg with perfect timing to steal the ball cleanly. It is the famous “Tackle by Moore,” referred to by Baddiel and Skinner in the only decent football song to come out in years: Three Lions.

England did have chances, notably through Jeff Astle who shot wide after a mix up in the Brazilian defence, and Alan Ball whose shot beat the keeper but hit the bar. In the end they could not score and Brazil had won. Pele and Moore embraced after the final whistle, two titans of the game with enormous mutual respect.

Brazil used the win over the champions as a springboard and went on to win the trophy for the third time, while England fell apart against West Germany despite being 2-0 up with just 20 minutes remaining in the quarter-final.

Have a look at the highlights below, which are well worth a watch, and come back tomorrow for more World Cup memories from us.

June 6 – Tottenham Sans Frontiers

WHEN they got rid of Glenn Hoddle in September 2003, you’d have forgiven Tottenham fans for thinking that the board might have had a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings. This wasn’t to be however, as it was only today in 2004 that Glenda’s successor was given the job, when the club appointed France national team boss Jacques Santini.

For nearly a whole season Spurs persisted with caretaker David Pleat as they searched for the man who would bring ‘the glory days back to the Lane’ for the umpteenth time.

Contenders came and went, as bookmakers took bets on over 85 different names before, like everyone else, they got bored and closed the book. Days after meeting with newly jilted ex-Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri, chairman Daniel Levy decided on his man and took a chance on Santini who was then preparing France for their Euro 2004 tilt.

Santini came with an impressive pedigree. He had secured the France job after taking Lyon to their first league title in 2002, and he must have done something right there, because they haven’t surrendered their grip on Ligue 1 since, winning seven consecutive titles.

He took over Les Bleus following their shock first-round exit in the 2002 World Cup, but didn’t have the best of it in Euro 2004 as the defending champions lost to eventual winners Greece in the quarter-finals.

His appointment was seen as a coup for Spurs, as they believed they had their Mourinho or Wenger, throwing adjectives like ‘cerebral’ and ‘thinker’ down on to press releases for all to see. Title challenges and European nights were around the corner if you believed the White Hart Lane spin doctors.

But, as most seasoned Premier League watchers know, for all the hype, Spurs never quite manage to take it to the next level. Santini’s preferred tactic was to keep it tight at the back and his negative brand of football meant that he had the fans on his back almost from the start.

Santini would only last 13 games at the Lane, with a meagre six goals scored during the 11 league matches he oversaw that would only garner Spurs eight points. It’s fitting that his most memorable contribution to the Premier League was to annoy the Special One, when Jose Mourinho complained that all his side did was ‘park the bus in front of the goal’ after a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.

In September Santini stood down, citing personal problems that meant he had to return to France. However, many reports at the time gave the impression that he was going a bit Steven Ireland on us, as he was giving his wife a phantom illness and the real reason for his departure was a feud with sporting director Frank Arnesen.

Santini’s next stop was a season in charge of Auxerre where he again struggled, as he was filling the shoes of their legendary coach Guy Roux, who had spent the best part of the last 40 years in charge of the club. Taking over the reigns after one man has made himself an institution is never a wise career move, as we’re sure the poor sod that takes over the Old Trafford hot seat will realise in a couple of years or so.

Spurs meanwhile, put all of Santini’s ‘anti-football’ behind them in their next game as Martin Jol kicked off his regime with a 5-4 loss at home to Arsenal, in one of the best games of the last few seasons. As we’ve got nothing interesting to show you from the Santini era, it’s probably best that we show you highlights from that game. Enjoy the goalfest below and come back tomorrow for one of the greatest games of all time.

June 5 – Heads or Tails?

FOR the neutral, penalty shoot-outs are one of the best things in football. Anything that makes John Terry and Christiano Ronaldo cry in the space of seconds is worth it’s weight in gold. However, the dreaded shoot-out has only been around since 1970, so before then stalemates were all down to lady luck and the toss of a coin. Today in 1968 a place in the European Championship final was decided with a simple ‘head or tails’ as Italy and the USSR couldn’t be separated.

The 1968 version of the championships was a fair bit different to what we’ll be seeing in Austria and Switzerland this summer. Only four teams participated in the final tournament in Italy, as the qualifying campaign was even more long-winded and stressful than the one England fans had to endure last autumn. Back then though, England were the world champions, so they made the final four, pitting themselves against Yugoslavia in the other semi-final.

At the Stadio San Paolo in Naples neither the Soviets nor the Italians could find the net, playing out a 0-0 draw after extra time. With the final scheduled to be played in three days a replay was not an option, so both sides were at the mercy of the coin.

The Soviet captain Albert Shesternyov was tasked with the responsibility of winning the match for his side. He was nicknamed ‘Ivan the Terrible’ and this was an apt description of coin predicting skills, as he got it wrong and Italy had the most fortuitous semi-final win in major tournament history.

This all took place in the dressing room, so when Italian captain Jacinto Facchetti emerged out onto the pitch to tell the fans, he sparked scenes of celebration among a crowd that didn’t care how hollow their victory was. And it’s a good job they won because, as the stereotypes suggest, the Italian nation love a good conspiracy, so the press and public alike would have surely had a field day had the Italians lost out.

Italy went on to win in the final, although this time they triumphed after a replay against Yugoslavia, as the organisers wouldn’t risk another coin toss after the sides drew 1-1. The poor old Soviets had to settle for fourth place, as Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst gave England a 2-0 win in the third place play-off.

As there’s no dressing room footage of Italy riding their luck, so here’s a clip from the game where karma hit back. Like a Sven Goran Eriksson pay-off, we’ll be back tomorrow, so join us then for more footy facts to bore your mates with.

June 4 – England v The Mighty Ducks

If OTFD understands anything about the American judicial system it is that if you are a rich lawyer who gets caught speeding, the punishment metered out by the judge presiding over your case will not be prison or a fine, instead you will have to become the new coach of a peewee ice hockey team who get beaten at least 10-0 in every match they play. After a dodgy start you will galvanise the rag-tag bunch of no hopers into an elite side capable of winning the championship thanks to a snappy new formation and great team spirit.

While a hackneyed early ’90s Emilio Estevez film is probably not the best place to garner legal knowledge, The Mighty Ducks did at least provide us with that overly long and almost entirely irrelevant intro for today’s entry about Aylesbury United, nicknamed The Ducks.

On this day in 1988 the Buckinghamshire team had their 90 minutes of fame when they played a friendly with the full England team, and they remain the only non-league side to have played the Three Lions.

Bobby Robson’s charges were in the final preparations for the Euro 88 tournament and needed one last game before heading out to West Germany. Bizarrely the reigning Beazer Homes League Premier Division champions Aylesbury United were chosen as the opposition for match.

Sadly The Ducks did not employ their famous ‘flying V’ formation and the 6,000 fans who squeezed into their home ground Buckingham Road saw England thrash the non-leaguers 7-0 with Peter Beardsley grabbing four goals. The home side’s best chance came through their all-time leading scorer, the gloriously named Cliff Hercules when he headed over Peter Shilton’s bar.

The comprehensive victory did little for England’s fortunes in the tournament itself as they lost to Ireland, Holland and then the USSR to complete a miserable hat-trick of loses for Robson’s team.

Here is some footage of the England team in the dressing room before the game, check out Bobby Robson running around trying to get everyone to sign the balls, and come back tomorrow for a mint result.

June 3 – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Robot

Back in the summer of 2004 just as Rooney was strutting his stuff so impressively for England in Portugal, Southampton splashed out £2million on the ludicrously proportioned Peter Crouch.

Many Saints fans were not happy with the deal – not least because Crouch had spent time playing for bitter south coast rivals Portsmouth.

Crouchie had spent the previous couple of seasons stalking around in Villa’s reserve team and the then Villa manager David ‘eh we’re a young team’ O’Leary probably couldn’t believe his luck that someone was willing to not only take the gangly goon off his hands, but also pay £2m for the privilege.

Fast forward to the end of the 2004/5 season and the picture was very different. Not only had Crouchie been probably the Saints best player of the season, contributing 16 goals and nearly keeping them up, but that summer Liverpool shelled out £7m to take him to Anfield. Just as Crouchie was getting over the shock of that, and before you could say ‘he’s got a good touch for a big man,’ Sven called him up to the England squad. From Villa reserves to leading the line for England in one short season.

Unlike many previous unlikely call ups (Ricketts, Beattie, Phillips etc), old Crouchie actually managed to keep his place in the squad and Sven was even going to take him to the World Cup.

As part of the pre-tournament preparations England, as usual, played a number of meaningless friendlies against various no-hopers. Nothing like a good 5-0 thumping of the Faroe Islands or whoever to get the media to turn the ‘we’re going to win the world cup’ bandwagon into a fully fledged ocean going liner.

It was in one such game on this day in 2006 that the Couching Tiger Hidden Dragon showed that given the opportunity against fairly limited opposition, he could actually put the ball in the back of the net, which was more than Heskey ever did for England.

After coming off the bench to score in England’s previous game against Hungary, Crouch starts the game against Jamaica up front alongside Michael Owen. Despite missing a penalty, Crouchie bags a hat-trick to become something of a “cult hero” according to Garth Crooks in his post match interview with the striker.

Not only did Crouch out do Heskey with his goal scoring exploits, but Heskey’s golf swing and dj celebrations were comprehensively out shone by Crouchie’s robot dance. See the whole thing below and come back tomorrow when we’ll be traveling back through time once again.

June 2 – The Battle of Santiago

“Good evening. The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.”

These were the choice words that David Coleman used to introduce the highlights of Chile’s World Cup clash with Italy that took place today in 1962 and would go down in infamy as the ‘Battle of Santiago’ – and he wasn’t wrong.

The seeds for this firebrand tale were sewn in the weeks before the match, when a pair of Italian journalists by the name of Corrando Pizzinelli and Antonio Ghirelli were dispatched to report on the state of the nation in Chile and were less than complimentary about the World Cup hosts.

Complaining of loose women, alcoholism and illiteracy, the pair described the nation as ‘backward’ and said that “it has agreed to organise the World Cup in the same way as Mussolini agreed to send our airforce to bomb London (they didn’t arrive).”

Amongst this backdrop of diplomatic unrest, The Italian team that took the field that day were missing several key men in the shape of Gianni Rivera, Giovanni Trapattoni and Cesare Maldini, but soon tried to stamp their authority on the game, literally, as they took twelve seconds to commit the first foul.

Tasked with keeping order was Englishman Ken Aston, who said after the game: “I wasn’t reffing a football match, I was acting as an umpire in military manoeuvres.” It took him eight minutes to dismiss the first Italian, Giorgio Ferrini, who refused to leave the pitch, and had to be dragged off, kicking and screaming, by a group of policemen.

Next to get in the wars was Chile’s Lionel Sanchez, who was punched and knocked to the floor by Italy’s Argentine-born midfielder Dionisio Maschio. Sanchez. Once Sanchez dusted himself off, he arose and broke Maschio’s nose, with what the BBC commentator described as “one of the neatest left hooks I’ve ever seen!”

Mario David was next to take a pop at Sanchez, as he went in neck-high on the Chilean, committing one of the worst fouls of all-time. The Italian management nearly pulled their team out at half-time, but the team emerged from the dressing room, only to lose 2-0.

Rather predictably, the Italian press didn’t react too well and cried corruption and conspiracy, but referee Aston was cleared of any wrongdoing and even went on to invent the red and yellow card system, more than likely in response to the events of that day in Santiago.

Words don’t really do much justice to some of the fouls committed and punches thrown by the two hot-headed teams, so here’s the footage for you, complete with Coleman’s scathing intro. Unlike half the players out there, we won’t be out for the count, so join us tomorrow and make sure you bring your dancing shoes.

June 1 – Rafa Swaps the Mestalla for Merseyside

WHETHER he’s sitting in a zen-like pose during a penalty shoot-out, or sarcastically telling journalists he’s ‘focused on training and coaching my team’ Rafa Benitez is an emotional bloke. Today in 2004 he was pouring his heart out to a press conference in Spain, as he announced he was quitting Valencia to take up the vacant Liverpool job following Gerard Houllier’s departure.

Benitez’s pre-Liverpool career had more ups and downs than a night on the tiles with Paul Gascoigne. After failing to make the grade at Real Madrid as a player he turned out for Castilla CF, AD Parla and CD Linares before he hung up his boots to concentrate on management.

By the time he took over at Valencia Rafa had managed eight sides, working his way through various Real Madrid youth and B-teams before being sacked by Real Valladolid and Osasuna. His persistency started to pay off eventually though, as Rafa would achieve promotion success in his next two jobs at CF Extremadura and CD Tenerife.

This earned him a three-year spell as Valencia boss where he would bring the club their first title in 31 years in his maiden season in charge. Another La Liga title followed in 2004, along with the Uefa Cup, but tensions were beginning to appear between Rafa and Jesus Garcia Pitarch, the club’s director of sport.

Wanting control over new signings, Rafa’s pleas for more money to reinforce the squad didn’t go down very well. “I asked for a table and they bought me a lampshade,” was how he put it at the time. See, it’s not just outlandish American owners that he can pick a fight with.

Rafa then handed his notice in and blubbed his way through a press conference to announce his departure. Turning on the waterworks, he told us that “Valencia will always be in my thoughts and in my heart,” before leaving the press room in tears as it all turned a bit reality TV.

And Valencia were certainly in his thoughts a month later when they sued the new Liverpool manager for failing to honour his contract, but Rafa would respond with his own claim for outstanding salary and bonus payments.

After a successful, European Cup winning start at Liverpool, Rafa has managed to upset his bosses again, criticising the club’s Statler and Waldorf-alike owners. A fragile truce is currently in place at Anfield, but we’d be surprised if Rafa doesn’t earn himself some more headlines over the coming months. Join us tomorrow for a tale of fiery South Americans, but until then enjoy this comedy clip of Rafa ‘The Magician’ Benitez.