Football’s Quarrels and Feuds, Part Six

1- Graham Roberts and Graeme Souness, 1988

After Rangers Glasgow’s loss to Aberdeen on April 30, 1988 (0-1), Rangers Manager Graeme Souness confronted his captain, the Englishman Graham Roberts and blamed him for the given up goal due to his positioning.

Graham Roberts stood up to the manager, as a result Souness informed hin that he would never play for the club again.

For the start of the next season, he was relegated to the reserves and even there the coaches were under orders not to play him.

Finally in September 1988, he joined Chelsea.

Photo From: Onze, Issue 102, June 1984

(Graham Roberts shaking hands with Anderlecht captain Frankie Vercauteren, May 23, 1984, UEFA Cup, Tottenham 1-Anderlecht 1)

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2084, March 18, 1986

(Graeme Souness with the Scottish National Team)

2- Russian players and Pavel Sadyrin, 1993/94

Following Russia’s qualification to the 1994 World Cup, many of the squad members decided to boycott the national team while Pavel Sadyrin was in charge and also demanded higher pay.

They were hoping their actions would force the Federation to sack him.

These players included: Igor Shalimov, Igor Dobrovolsky, Alexander Mostovoi, Sergej Kiriakov, Andrei Ivanov, Vassili Kulokov and Sergei Yuran.

By the turn of the year (1994) the group had rose up to 14, including Andrei Kanchelskis and Igor Kolyvanov.

Some of the players like Mostovoi and Yuran came back on their decision and joined the squad

The federation sided with the manager and maintained the manager until the conclusion of the World Cup.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 54, July 1993

(Sergei Kiriakov, June 2, 1993, World cup Qualifier, Iceland 1-Russia 1)

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 54, July 1993

(Andrei Kanchelskis with Manchester United)

3- Johann Cruyff and Luis Milla, 1990

During the 1989/90 season, Barcelona Manager Johann Cruyff purposefully froze Luis Milla out of the first team after the latter would not sign a new contract.

According to Cruyff he was demanding too much money.

At the end of the season, Milla joined archrivals Real Madrid.

Photo From: Don Balon, Extra Liga 89/90

(Luis Milla)

Photo From: Don Balon, Extra Liga 89/90

(Johann Cruyff)

4- Brazil and Argentina Players, 1981 Mundialito

At the final whistle of the match between Brazil and Aregntina (January 4, 1981, Mundialito, Brazil 1-Argentina 1),  Brazilian midfielder Paulo Isidoro kicked Valencia, Maradona joined in to help his teammate.

Edevaldo tried to stop Maradona. There was a melee with players. The police had to restore order and separate the players.

The referee did not take any action as he was not a witness to the event.

Photo From: El Grafico 1981, Issue 3196

(Diego Maradona, Alberto Tarantini, Toninho Cerezo, Daniel Valencia, Paulo Isidoro and Daniel Passarella, January 4, 1981, Mundialito, Argentina 1-Brazil 1)

5- Noel Cantwell and Jose Angel Iribar, 1965

The winning goal during the World Cup Qualifier between Republic of Ireland and Spain on May 5, 1965 at Dublin (1-0 Irish win) was scored under controversial conditions.

Ireland’s Frank Simon O'Neil took a free kick and lofted inside the goalmouth area. It was a poorly placed attempt that Iribar was sure to save. However, at this moment Noel Cantwell rushed in and shouted and yelled at Iribar which distracted him and Iribar accidentally put the ball in his own net.

The angry Iribar called Cantwell an ‘animal’ afterwads.

The Spanish players refused to exchange jerseys as a sign of protest for what they deemed an unsportsmanlike behavior.

Photo From: AS Color, November 28, 1972

(Spanish goalkeeper Jose Angel Iribar)

Photo From: Ireland on the Ball, Author: Donal Cullen

(Noel Cantwell after the goal, May 5, 1965, World cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 1-Spain 0)

Photo From: Ireland on the Ball, Author: Donal Cullen

(Captains Noel Cantwell and Fernando Olivela, May 5, 1965, World cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 1-Spain 0)

Trivia and Facts-Part 31

1- German Striker Rudi Voeller was born with one foot slightly shorter than the other. Apparently, when he was young a doctor had even suggested to break both of his legs so that they could both grow at the same height.

Thankfully his parents did not sanction this gruesome suggestion.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 28, May 1991

(Rudi Voller followed by Paul Gascoigne, July 4, 1990, World Cup, West Germany 1-England 1)

2-When Russia and Spartak Moscow midfielder Alexander Mostovoi joined Portugal’s Benfica in early 1992, he almost immediately ‘married’ a Russian girl with Portuguese citizenship, so that he would not be considered a foreign player.

Note: I had already posted this once on a different soccer forum a few years back, but it’s worth repeating

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 69, October 1994

(Alexander Mostovoi in his days with Strasbourg, 1994/95)

3- A few years after the 1974 World Cup, Giorgio Chinaglia disclosed that the 19 other members of the Italy squad (except Facchetti, Rivera , Mazzola) had decided to tell Italy Manager Ferrucio Valcareggi to drop Rivera and Mazzola. However, in the last minute the other players backed down.

Photo From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo, 1910-1983

(Gianni Rivera and Sandro Mazzola)

Photo From: Mondial, new series, issue 17, August 1981

(Giorgio Chinaglia with New York Cosmos)

4- On August 2, 1993, Brazilian substitute goalkeeper Armelino Donizetti Quagliato ‘Zetti’ and Bolivian Miguel Ángel Rimba were temporarily suspended after dope tests revealed traces of cocaine.

These were follwing tests conducted after the World Cup Qualifier at La Paz on July 25, 1993 that Bolivia won 2 to 0.

Both players inisisted they had been drinking tea with coco leaves, a remedy for altitude sickness.

Eventually FIFA cleared both players on August 16, 1993.

Photo from: France Football, Issue 2411 , June 24, 1992 

(Sao Paulo and Brazil goalkeeper Zetti)

Photo from: Soccer Illustrated, March / April 1994

(Colombia’s Mauricio Serna and Bolivia’s Miguel Rimba, February 20, 1994, Joe Robbie Cup, Colombia 2-Bolivia 0)

5- During the first leg of the UEFA Cup matchups between West German clubs Stuttgart and Koln on November 26, 1980 (3 to 1 Stuttgart win), Stuttgart’s Karl-Heinz Forster made a dangerous foul on Koln’s Stefan Engels.

K.H. Foerster was already carrying a yellow card from previous rounds and would have automatically missed the second leg.

Just as Swedish referee Rolf Ericsson was about to pull out his card, K.H. Forster hid behind the other Stuttgart players and his brother Bernd presented himself in front of the referee and showed his number.

The referee was fooled and Bernd received the card instead of Karl-Heinz.

After the match in the dressing room, the brothers, their teammates and friendly journalists had a good laugh about the incident.

However, UEFA were alerted and suspended Bernd with four matches and Karl-Heinz with Five.

The brothers were incensed with the lengths of the suspensions, Karl-Heinz remarked that it is incumbent upon the referee to not to make such a mistake, while Bernd remarked that length of suspensions for acts of brutality that cause injuries is less than what they received.

Photo from: Onze, Issue 106, October 1984

(Bernd Forster in action for West Germany)

Photo from: Onze, Issue 84, December 1982

(Karl-Heinz Forster with Stuttgart)