1. Three yellows become one red
At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the referee's oolong behavior became a hot spot. In the match between Australia and Croatia, England referee Graham Ball forgot to send Croatian player Josip Simunic a second yellow card. Simunic's reaction was also calm, he did not see Ball show him a red card, so he calmly continued to play on the field. When the game was over, Pol realized he was in trouble. After blowing the end-of-game whistle, he walked up to Simunic and showed him a third yellow card asking him to leave. As a result, the off-punished Simunic followed all the players to the field with peace of mind. After this incident, Pol lost all his face and immediately announced that he would hang up the whistle and would not blow any more national team matches.
Pictured: It was too late for Bohr to show Simunic a red card
2. Bizarre diving
At the 2002 World Cup, world-class star Rivaldo staged a "diving" that he himself was ashamed of. In the first group match on June 3, Brazil and Turkey, who were in the same group as China, played against Turkey. By injury time, Brazil had taken a 2-1 lead and played one more man. On the dead ball, Turkish defender Hakan Yunsar kicked the ball near the horn flag, but it hit Rivaldo's leg. At this time, Rivaldo made a reaction that fans all over the world felt strange, covered his face and fell to the ground. The referee, who did not know the situation, showed Yunsar a second yellow card and sent him off. After the game, Rivaldo was blamed profusely for the move. While he also admitted his mistake, the incident became a hard-to-erase stain on the world footballer's career.
Pictured: Rivaldo dives in full view
3. Self-harming vultures
The Stadium Maracanã in Brazil is a great stadium with countless legends. The best-known story took place at the 1989 FIFA World Cup In Italy South American qualifiers. Chile must beat Brazil away from home to keep the last glimmer of hope of reaching the World Cup. As the game progressed, Brazil temporarily took the lead, and near the Chilean goal, a fan threw a firework from the stands, and the Chilean team's penalty area was suddenly filled with smoke. In the blur, Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas suddenly fell to the ground, seemingly injured by the fireworks attack. When the smoke cleared, the medical team members came on the field and found Roxas lying on the ground covered in blood. Angry Chilean players gathered in a circle to protest to the referee. Shortly after the game was suspended, the entire Chilean team announced a strike for safety reasons and left the stadium, and the Malacanã Stadium was in turmoil. The referee had to decide to terminate the match and waited for FIFA's final ruling. Obviously, if the Brazilian Football Association cannot even guarantee the personal safety of the chilean players who are visiting, FIFA will judge the home team. However, during the investigation, an Eagle Eye camera captured a scene that shocked fans around the world. The camera captured that in the fog where Roxas had fallen to the ground, he secretly took out a razor hidden in his gloves beforehand, deliberately scraped his face, and disguised himself as a victim. An in-depth investigation revealed that the accident was a farce written and directed by the Chilean team in order to win by this means. In the end, Chile lost the qualification for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and Rojas himself and the Chilean officials involved were sentenced to lifelong grounding. It was not until 2001 that Roxas, also a victim of the incident, was pardoned and returned to football.
Pictured: Roxas falls painfully in smoke
4. The Secret of the Gate God
Perhaps most fans remember the semi-final of Euro 2000, when the injury of the Italian team goalkeeper Buffon made Tordo a miracle. In fact, in Argentina, there is also such a magical goalkeeper, Sergio Goyechea. In the group stage of the 1990 World Cup, Argentina's main goalkeeper Pempido fractured his leg in the second game, and Goyetchea had to be killed. When he first played, Goyetchea appeared to be in a hurry. After the game, the media rated it as the biggest hidden danger in the Argentine backline. But as the game progressed, his performance surprised everyone. After reaching the quarter-finals, Goyetchea saved four consecutive penalties against Yugoslavia and Italy, almost single-handedly sending Argentina to the final. Even more surprising is that Goyetchea's good fortune stems from a not-so-elegant habit. Every time he faced a penalty, he would hide in the corner of the goal and urinate on the pitch. It seems that this move has encircled his sphere of influence, and opponents have always been unable to score the ball. However, this trick did not work in the final. In the face of west Germany's penalty, Goyetchea judged the right direction, but still watched Bremer's ball drill into his goal. In the end, Argentina lost the World Cup final, but Goyetchea became a long-lasting memory of this Italian summer.
Pictured: Goyethia fights side by side with Maradona
5. Whose ball is used today?
Before each major event, organizers often issue a large number of match balls for the players to familiarize themselves with a long time in advance. However, in the 1st World Cup final, the match ball became the focus of controversy. Before the match, both Argentina and Uruguay insisted on using their own nationally produced football in the final. Due to the initial World Cup, the standard of balls used in the game has not been unified. FIFA only collects leather balls produced in various countries and screens those that meet the quality standards, but there are no strict rules on which side of the football to use. So, before the start of the 1st World Cup, the referee made a decision by tossing a coin, using a football produced in Argentina. However, a large number of reports that have not been confirmed by FIFA show that in fact, in the second half of the day, the referee changed the ball and switched to the football brought by Uruguay. This powerfully explains why Argentina led 2-1 in the first half only to be reversed 2-4 at the end of the game. The incident became a mystery in the history of the World Cup, and Argentines still believe that they are the victims of this case.
Pictured: Argentina stepped on the field before the final
6. If you want to be rich, take off your pants first
There are so many superstitions on the football field that everyone now classifies them into metaphysics. In the previous issue, we introduced the superstitious behavior of the French team in 1998, and another important World Cup winner, England, in 1966 also confirmed the importance of metaphysics on the pitch. During the 1966 World Cup, England captain Bobby Moore was a bit superstitious. As captain, he believes he should be the last to put on his pants before each game so that he can bring good luck to the team. Martin Pitts, an international who also plays for West Ham, knows the captain's habit. So he made a joke to Captain Moore. When he saw Moore being the last to put on his pants, he would take them off and put them on again. Moore saw that Petes's behavior had become very serious, so he had to take off his pants again and put them on. So, before every game, there is a scene in the English dressing room: Moore is the last to put on his pants, Petres takes off his pants and puts them on, and then Moore takes off his pants again. This became a pre-match tradition for England. After winning the World Cup, this tradition continued into West Ham United. Moore and Petes, two good friends, look at each other before each game and take off their pants.
Pictured: The three legends of West Ham United (From left to right, Pitts, Moore, Hearst)
7. Disputes arising from sponsors
The 1974 World Cup was a sign of the commercialization of football. Just before and after this tournament, the world's top national teams and clubs have signed sky-high contracts with sponsors, and the most popular of them is naturally Cruyff, the world's first star at the time. Before the World Cup, Cruyff had a dispute with the Dutch national team. Due to competition between Dutch sponsor Adidas and Puma, who was personally endorsed by Cruyff, Cruyff had to refuse to wear a Dutch national team jersey with the Adidas three-bar logo. The two sides quarreled over the issue, and Cruyff narrowly failed to play in the World Cup. Just a few days before the start of the match, Adidas and Puma finally reached a compromise. Cruyff still wears the Adidas-sponsored Dutch national team jersey, but uses two bars at the arm. In the end, Cruyff's Dutch team lost in the final to the West German team, which was also almost disbanded due to economic disputes, and regrettably fell to the second place.
Pictured: The other players are wearing three bars, only Cruyff's shirt is two bars
8. The Germans' off-the-plate moves
The 1974 World Cup final will surely be ranked among the three greatest matches in the history of world football. At that time, Cruyff and Beckenbauer led their respective teams into the world championship battle. The pre-match atmosphere was very tense due to its vital importance. The Germans, who have always been shown to the world with prudence and justice, have even made an extra-plate move. Just the day before the final, the headlines of several West German newspapers broke the news that they were relaxing before the game, and a number of Dutch players held a huge nude party in the hotel. The players found enthusiastic female fans who went out with the team, and also called a number of recruit girls, and repeatedly feasted on beer and champagne. Newspapers also listed the names of the players who participated in the party, including Cruyff, the leader of the Dutch team. Since the match was played in West Germany, the credibility of german media reports made the Dutch ladies nervous. Just before the final, in the hotel where the Dutch team was staying, phone calls from the players' wives and girlfriends poured in, making the players unable to rest. Anger, quarrels, persuasion, saving marriages, the Dutch players were disturbed. In the end, everyone arrived at the World Cup final with fatigue and emotion, only to witness the summit of Beckenbauer and the West Germans.
Pictured: Cruyff in the game