1-Germany’s Jurgen Kohler and France’s Zinedine Zidane were both sent off in their last matches as professionals. Kohler was sent off for his club Borussia Dortmund in the 2002 UEFA Cup Final vs. Feyenoord.
Zidane was most infamously sent off for his head butt on Italian Materzazzi during the 2006 World Cup Final.
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Photo From: France Football, June 30, 1992, Issue 2412 Jurgen Kohler fighting for the ball with Dennis Bergkamp (June 18, 1992 Euro Holland 3-Germany 1) |
2-For 1982 World Cup Finals, West German manager Juup Derwall took 19 out of the authorized 22 players to Spain. The remaining three players (Holger Hieronymus, Stefan Engels and Thomas Allofs) stayed in Germany as stand-by.
Derwall had stated that why should he take players who knew would most likely not play and just be bored and depressed in their hotel rooms. |
| Photo: From Mondia, April 1985 |
4-English club Nottingham Forest FC is the only previous Champions Cup winner to be playing now in lower divisions.
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Photo: From Onze, June 1980 McGovern and Lloyd holding the 1980 Champions Cup |
5-During 1986/87 season, FK Austria Vienna’s striker Toni Polster looked odds on favorite to Europe’s top goalscorer and win Adidas’ Golden Boot award. He scored 39 league goals that season.
However, in the closing weeks of the season Romanian Rodion Camataru of Dinamo Bucharest overtook him with 44 goals.
The manner that Camataru obtained the title seemed suspicious. He scored 24 goals in his last 12 matches and 12 goals in his last three matches.
Romania was then under Ceaucescu’s dictatorial regime and corruption was thought to be commonplace.
As a result Polster boycotted the awards ceremony at the end of the year due to the dubious nature of Camataru’s achievement.
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Photo from:Onze-Mondial, Hors Serie 3 (Toni Polster, November 15, 1989 World Cup Qualifier, Austria 3-East Germany 0) |
20 years after boycotting the Golden Boot Award, Polster was awarded a Golden Boot, as a tacit admission that Camaturu had been "helped" to score so many goals.
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