Trivia and Facts-Part 13

1-Before the 1974 World Cup Final ,between West Germany and Holland, English referee Jack Taylor noticed that none of the corner flags had been put in place. Since the rules of the game explicitly specify corner flags, he ordered them to be put in.

Photo from : Onze, February 1977

2- Up until September of 1983, the Swiss Federation considered an international cap as at least one half of a match.

If a player played for anything less, by their rules the player did not earn a cap.

Swiss player Robert Luthi played 26 minutes vs. Romania in 1981, 20 minutes vs. Hungary in 1981 and 29 minutes vs. Portugal in 1982.

Therefore, per Federation rules he was not recognized to have earned a single cap despite taking part in 3 matches.

He did however, score a goal in the match vs. Romania on October 10, 1981.

Therefore, he was the only player in the history of Swiss Federation with no caps yet one goal in the record books.

Photo from: L'Equie de Suisse, Authors Guy Balibouse, Roger Felix, Pierre Tripod, 1993

(Robert Luthi of Switzerland)

3-In Germany’s 1994 World Cup squad, Stefan Effenberg was the only player to be registered to a  lower division club.

He was playing for Italian club AC Fiorentina that had been relegated the previous season.

The controversial Effenberg, who was constantly heckled by German fans, was seen to respond to the fans by showing his middle finger.

He was immedistely sent home by German manager Berti Vogts.

The term “foul finger” was coined  to describe Effenberg’s gesture.

Photo : from Onze-Mondial, July 1992

(Stefan Effenberg, June 15, 1992, UEFA European Championshp, Germany 2-Scotland 0)

4- During the first half of 1997/98 season, French midfielder Christian Karembeu was barred from playing by his Italian club UC Sampdoria.

He was involved in a tug of war between Spanish rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Sampdoria had agreed to sell him to Barcelona for a much larger sum than Real Madrid.

However, the player himself had personally agreed terms with Real Madrid and had given his word to join them.

Sampdoria was trying to pressure him this way to force him to join Barcelona.

Finally in the midseason transfer window, he was allowed to join Real Madrid.

Ironically after this half season, he was largely marginalized by successive Real Madrid managers in the following two seasons and rarely played.

Photo From: Le Livre d’or du Football 1993

(Christian Karembeu and his violent outburst during the 1993 French Cup Final vs. PSG that led to a lengthy suspension)

5-When the Falklands war started in the spring of 1982 between Argentina and Great Britain, Tottenham Hotspur’s Argentinean midfielder Osvaldo Ardiles left the club temporarily for patriotic reasons.

He briefly joined French club Paris Saint-Germain.

After a few months when the political situation stabilized he returned to play for Tottenham.

He eventually managed Tottenham in the 1990s.

Photo From:  Onze, September 1982

(Argentina’s Osvaldo Ardiles with Paris Saint-Germain)