Unforgettable Soccer - Luciano Wernicke

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       PREFACE

      On October 26, 2013, soccer, the most popular and exciting sport in the world, celebrated 150 years. It was on that day in 1863 when a group of visionaries met in a London pub called Freemason’s to create The Football Association and write the first “official” regulation for a new game, thereby setting it on its prestigious path. Since then, the ball has rolled along a vast and profuse road—and through stadiums—all over the world, and in millions of professional and amateur matches.

      In popular memory, the great champions, the stars, and the gigantic feats are remembered. But these moments are not the focus of Most Incredible Soccer Matches. To write this book, I’ve dug into the sands of time in search of the most unusual matches, not the most transcendental ones. This book does not intend to recreate facts that have an important place in the history of soccer, but rather to recollect spectacular events that also deserve a place—though modest perhaps—for their unforgettable and unique characteristics. Many great clubs and players will be mentioned, as well as anonymous soccer players or unknown teams, because unexpected, curious, funny, and memorable episodes happened to them.

      I’ll give you a few examples: a soccer player who scored all four goals of a game that ended 2-2. One referee who stopped the game to find the false teeth he had lost, another who sent off a coach when he learned that he was a “friend” of his wife, and a third who was about to be run over by the car of a player furious by the punishment he received. A goal scored by a dog and another by a seagull. A team thrashed after using a one-armed goalkeeper and another because their players had arrived having imbibed several more drinks than they should have during a player’s marriage ceremony. A midfielder who ate the referee’s red card and a defender who was suspended for a match even though, at the time of the ruling, he had been dead for more than a week. A match that had to be canceled due to the appearance of an iceberg and one striker who was sent off twice…in the same game!

      These are just some of the extraordinary stories found in Most Incredible Soccer Matches. One note: In this book you will find very few references to the World Cups, the Champions League, or the Olympic Games, since these competitions have their privileged space in my other books. Some circumstances that occurred in those contests were cited to serve as a context for other curiosities; however, it’s not the renown of the tournaments that make up the soul of this book, but the magical rebounds of the ball, regardless of field, rivalry, or country. I invite you to continue reading and enter an amazing but real world. Welcome to the most incredible soccer matches!

       –Luciano Wernicke

       THE WEDDING

      The return leg against AFC Comprest GIM meant a double commitment for the players of CS Viitorul Chirnogi. On the one hand, they had a sporting commitment to face the second division of Romania in the second match of the promotion league after a shameful 0-10 in their first match. On the other hand, they had the human commitment: One of the starting players was getting married the night before the defining match. Another player proposed to assume both responsibilities, so they all approved, even knowing that a wedding was not the best place to concentrate before the match. On the morning of June 20, 1993, all of Viitorul Chirnogi’s players showed up for the match drunk after so many toasts to the health of the new couple. Their performance, funnily, provoked a “double” result, much like their blurred vision: 21 to 0 for the fresh and sober athletes of Comprest. And it was only 21 because the referee ended the match in the 70th minute when only six of the drunken players were still standing.

       GOLDEN GOAL

      When a match is defined in an “all-or-nothing duel,” it tends to run longer than it should. And while the teams change sides, there is no time for anything. In April of 2000, Surnadal Idrettslag (of the Third Division) and Sunndal Fotball (of Second Division) did not put a dent on the scoreboard at the Syltøran stadium where they faced each other in a match for the Norwegian Football Cup. After 90 minutes and the first 15 minutes of extra time, the score remained 0-0. In this nerve-wracking atmosphere, the goalkeeper for the host team, Olav Fiske, unable to run all the way to the locker room, proceeded to relieve some of that “tension” behind his goal. But the ref did not notice this and blew the whistle to have the play resume, with Sunndal playing the ball from the middle of the pitch. The seasoned midfielder Oddvar Torve noticed that Fiske was still behind the goal and took advantage of it: He kicked the ball directly from the center circle, and it went meekly into the goal. “This situation caused me great shame,” said the humble goalkeeper to the press after the match. Sunndal advanced to the next round, and the Surnadal officials demanded the match be cancelled and then rescheduled, not because of the goalkeeper’s mistake, but because they believed that the referee authorized the restart without realizing that Fiske was not prepared. Their complaint was dismissed by the Scandinavian Federation, which took as legitimate a goal that was truly “golden.”

       THE BAG’S GOAL

      On May 27, 1934, during the derby between CA Peñarol and Nacional Football Club played in the Centenario stadium of Montevideo, one of the most unprecedented cases in Uruguayan soccer took place. Amid an attack by the Peñarol team, Brazilian striker Bahia took a violent shot to the goal of the tricolored Nacional team, which ended up going out by end line. But the ball bounced against the bag of one of the physical trainers, who was watching the play from behind the end line, and returned to the field. Another Peñarol striker, Braulio Castro, took advantage of Nacional’s relaxed defense and sent the ball into the back of the net. The referee Telésforo Rodríguez, who hadn’t noticed the strange situation, validated the goal. Angered by ref’s decision, the eleven National players rushed him and gave him a ferocious beating. Because of this, the derby had to be suspended.

       THE PENALTY SPOT

      The talented Scottish leftie Archie Gemmill was having a lovely afternoon in the Baseball Ground, the former stadium of Derby County FC. That rainy afternoon of April 30, 1977, the club from the heart of England was beating Manchester City FC 3-0, and none of the visiting players could stop the skilled Gemmill. At least legally because, with four minutes left, midfielder Gary Owen fouled him inside the penalty area right after a corner kick, resulting in a penalty kick. Gerry Daly, midfielder for the host team, took the ball and looked for the spot to place it, but the penalty mark had disappeared in the mud. The witty Manchester City goalie Joe Corrigan tried to convince the ref to place the ball almost on the edge of the penalty area, to which he received a yellow card for his efforts. As the search proved unsuccessful, the referee called the stadium steward, Bob Smith, who came armed with a tape measure, a paintbrush, and a bucket of white paint. After stretching the tape 12 yards, Smith took the brush and drew a circle on the wet ground. Daly put the ball on the wet paint, took a running approach, and kicked a right cross shot Corrigan was unable to stop. A goal “tailored” to close the victory 4-0.

       THE URN

      The strong security guard at the Benito Villamarín stadium in Seville stood firm: “He cannot enter with that.” “But,” replied the young green-and-white fan, “I have his annual pass here!” The guard took a few seconds to recover from his surprise, but stood firm: “Even if he has a pass, it’s dangerous, it’s forbidden to enter with a blunt object, if you or anyone throws it to the field or to another section of the grandstand, it can cause serious damage.” “How am I going to throw a funeral urn into the field?” the boy asked himself, disappointed and anguished by the refusal. But, immediately, a brilliant idea occurred to him. He went to a nearby supermarket, bought a carton of milk, emptied it in the lane of the sidewalk and, with borrowed scissors, improvised a container for his father, or rather, the ashes of his father, that would be allowed. On his

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