1-During the 1994/95 season, Luis Figo, then a Sporting Lisbon player, was a much sought after player.
He signed two valid contracts with Italian Serie A clubs Juventus and rivals Parma.
The Italian Federation came up with the compromise that Figo could not be transferred to Serie A for a period of two years. After which the clubs would be free to approach him again.
At the conclusion of that season he signed for Barcelona.
He did eventually play in the Serie A by joining Internazionale Milano in 2005.
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Photo from : Onze-Mondial, July 1995
(Luis Figo in action for Sporting Lisbon during the 1995 Portuguese Cup Final, June 10, 1995, Maritimo 0-Sporting 2) |
2- Alessandro Del Piero almost joined Parma in the summer of 1994.
Nevio Scala, the Parma manager, had been very impressed by him after his debut season with Juventus in 1993/94.
Initially Juventus had wanted to sell Dino Baggio to Parma, but the player had refused.
So instead the Juventus and Parma agreed on the Del Piero transfer. In fact the paperwork for the transfer was submitted to the League.
The agreement included the proviso that the transfer would be null and void if Dino Baggio at any point accepted to transfer to Parma.
After 10 days, Baggio accepted to transfer, therefore the Del Piero transfer was nullified.
Del Piero went on top play for Juventus until 2012, a run of 19 seasons.
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Photo from: Onze-Mondial, May 1994
(Dino Baggio, November 17, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Italy 1-Portugal 0) |
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Photo from : World Soccer, April 1995
(Alessandro Del Piero, Juventus, 1994/95) |
3- During the 1995/96 season, Manchester United wore a Gray colored away uniform.
This uniform was very unpopular and thought to be jinxed.
Manchester United Consistently performed poorly when wearing the gray kit.
Late in the season in an away match vs. Southampton, Manchester United wearing that uniform went down to a 0-3 deficit by halftime.
During halftime, Sir Alex Ferguson ordered his players to take the gray jerseys off and wear the third uniform (blue and white).
Manchester United lost the match 1 to 3.
Manchester United wore this jersey 4 and a half times in total. It was never worn again.
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Photo from : World Soccer, September 1995
(Manchester United away uniform, 1995/96) |
4- During the 1987/88 season (May 7th, 1988), Werder Bremen striker Frank Ordenewitz during a match with Koln (lost 0-2) admitted to the referee that he had committed a handball offense in the penalty kick area.
He was subsequently awarded the FIFA fair play award.
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Photo from : Fussball Magazin, January 1988
(Frank Ordenewitz with Werder Bremen teammate Karl-Heinz Riedle, 1987/88 season) |
5- During the 1989/90 season, with the Italia 90 World Cup approaching, the Italian national team was struggling in consistently scoring goals and not performing as a cohesive unit.
With his club riding high in the League and Europe, AC Milan President Silvio Berlusconi suggested that Milan players should represent the national team en masse.
Italy manager Azeglio Vicini responded that every President is in love with his players and that a coach must make decisions objectively.
He went on to say that Milan’s most effective players were its foreign duo of Dutchmen Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard and during matches where both were missing through injury, Milan was an average side. |
Photo from : Guerin Sportivo, May 18-24, 1988
(Silvio Berlusconi, after AC Milan’s title win, May 15, 1988) |
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Photo from : Guerin Sportivo, June 12-18, 1991
(Azeglio Vicini, Italy Manager during 1990 World Cup) |
If Figo had signed for Juventus they would have had their very own galacticos team of Zidane, Figo, Davids and Del Piero.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to Ordenewitz, three years later he deliberately got himself sent off in a DFB cup semi-final so that he could play in the final (he served his suspension for a Bundesliga game prior to the DFB Cup Final).
ReplyDeleteright, i vaguely remember reading about that
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