Events and Consequences, Part Seven

1- Event:

France’s Albert Parsys, Charles Dujardin, Maurice Bigue, Lucien Gamblin and Auguste Schalbart  refusing an International call-up in 1914 for a match vs. Luxembourg on February 8, 1914 (Luxembourg 5 to 4 win).

Some had boycotted the call up under the pretext that they had to pay their own train fare for France’s previous match vs. Belgium on January 25, 1914 at Lille (4 to 3 France win).

Consequence:

The French authorities suspended the players for 15 days.

This incident forced the Federation to enact a ruling that made it obligatory to honour selections under threat of suspension.

Photo From: Les Bleus Author Denis Chaumier, 2004

(Renzo de Vecchi and Lucien Gamblin, February 20, 1921, France 1-Italy 2 )

2- Event:

German Captain Lothar Matthaus serious injury in December 1994.

Consequence:

Matthaus had established himself as Germany’s libero. The injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. In his absence Germany manager Berti Vogts installed Borussia Dortmund’s Matthias Sammer as his new libero.

Sammer performed so well that Vogts decided to keep faith with the younger Sammer even after Matthaus was back from injury.

For a while this seemed to have excluded Matthaus from the National team permanently.

However, Matthaus was recalled by 1998 after Sammer himself had to retire prematurely due to injury.

Photo From: World Soccer, October 1999

(Lothar Matthaus)

Photo From: World Soccer, May 1997

(Matthias Sammer)

3- Event:

Brazil’s loss vs. Uruguay in the Final of the 1950 World Cup at Maracana on July 16, 1950.

Consequence:

Brazil’s goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa was forever established as the scapegoat and lived a virtually ostracized life in poverty.

He passed away on April 7, 2000.

In an interview he remarked that under Brazilian Law the maximum imprisonment penalty is 30 years but he has been paying for nearly 50 years for his mistake.

Photo From: L'Equipe Magazine, April 25, 1998

(Moacir Barbosa)

Photo From: L'Equipe Magazine, April 25, 1998

(Ghiggia’s winning goal, July 16, 1950, World Cup, Brazil 1-Uruguay 2)

Photo From: O Brasil Na Copa America, Author Airton Silveira Fontenele, 1989

(Moacir Barbosa)

4- Event:

Five Scotland players led by skipper Billy Bremner breaking a 1 AM Curfew and being thrown out of a Copenhagen nightclub for drunken behavior, following Scotland’s victory (1 to 0) vs. Denmark on September 3, 1975 in a European Championship Qualifying match.

Consequence:

The five players in question were Bremner along with Willie Young, Joe Harper, Pat McCluskey and Arthur Graham.

A Scottish official witnessed a drunken Bremner and McCluskey trying to turn a bed upside down as a prank.

As a punishment all five players received life suspensions, though it was later overturned in the following years.

In any case this ended Billy Bremner ‘s international career.

Photo From: Scotland, The Team, 1987

(Billy Bremner)

5- Event:

France’s European Championship qualifier at Bucharest vs. Romania on October 11, 1995.

Consequence:

This match was later described by experts/observers/players/etc as the pivotal turning point in the birth of the golden age of the French national team of late 90’s and early 2000’s.

The French refer to this match as the birth of the ‘Zidane Genration’.

France, under Aime Jacquet,  had to win to have any chance to qualify for the 1996 Euros in England and an away match vs. group leaders Romania seemed a daunting task.

France won this match 3 to 1 and this paved the way to qualification.

 Zidane scored one of the goals, along with partner Youri Djorkaeff, and established himself as the playmaker of this generation.

The backbone of the future France squad was established with players such as Karembeu, Lizarazu, Dugarry, Djorkaeff and veterans such as Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly.

Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez even took part in this match, deputizing for the unavailable starter Bernard Lama.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 82, November 1995

(Youri Djorkaeff scoring France’s second, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 82, November 1995

(Zinedine Zidane, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)