Trivia and Facts-Part 17

1-Ruud Gullit’s appearance in the Champions Cup Final, in May of 1990, vs. Benfica, was actually his first full appearance for AC Milan for the entire 1989/90 season.

He had missed virtually the entire season due to injury. He had made his first appearance of the season for his club, just a month prior on April 22, 1990 vs. Verona, by coming on as a substitute.

Despite his lengthy lay-off, AC Milan Manager Arrigo Sacchi judged him to be ready to compete and started him and stated that how could you leave a player like that out of a side.

Photo from: Onze-Mondial, June 1990

(Ruud Gullit during the 1990 Champions Cup Final)

2- Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal was appointed as Barcelona Manager in 1997. In the next three seasons, he signed many of his former Ajax players.

The De Boer brothers (Frank and Ronald), Michael Reiziger, Finish Jari Litmanen, Patrick Kluivert and Winston Bogarde all joined him.

Van Gaal also signed other Dutch players such as Phillip Cocu, Boudewijn Zenden and goalkeeper Ruud Hesp.

Despite winning two League titles and a Copa Del Rey, many local fans complained that Barcelona was being turned into a Dutch colony.

Some even dubbed this Barcelona team as Ajax II.

Photo from: World Soccer, December 1996

(Louis Van Gaal)

Photo from: Onze-Mondial, June 1999

(Barcelona and Brazil players, April 28, 1999, Barcelona 2-Brazil 2)

3- In the off season of 1991, Denmark and Luton player Lars Elstrup wanted to return to his native Denmark.

Luton would not release him. He therefore “retired” as a player. Then a few weeks later came out of “retirement” and signed for Odense.

Photo from : Onze-Mondial, July 1992

(Lars Elstrup scoring Denmark’s winner vs. France, June 17, 1992, European Championships, Denmark 2-France 1)

4- On January 23, 1980, Spain and Holland played a Friendly match in Vigo. The Dutch at first refused to play because the field was rain soaked, however, the match referee, Marcel Bacou of France, ruled the match to go on.

After 18 minutes, a floodlight failure occurred that took as long as an hour to fix. By this time, the Dutch had already showered and were preparing to leave.

They were persuaded by authorities to stay and play, which they did.

Photo From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989

(Dutch squad, January 23, 1980, Spain 1-Holland 0)

5- West Germany played a European Championship qualifier at Malta on February 25, 1979.

The press heavily criticized West Germany’s performance as everyone had expected a big win, instead the match ended as a scoreless tie.

The match was played on Gzira’s infamous sodden pitch.

West German Manager Juup Derwall stated that “asking our men to play on that sort of a pitch would be like asking Picasso to paint on a wall.”

Photo From: Mondial, April 1979

(February 25, 1979, European Championship Qualifier, Malta 0-West Germany 0)