Oriundis and Other Naturalized Internationals, Part Ten

1- Pat van den Hauwe -Belgium and Wales 1980s and 1990s

Welsh defender Pat van den Hauwe was born in Dendermonde in Belgium. He was brought up in London and eventually debuted in the English League.

He earned recognition with Everton when they won the League in 1985 and was capped for the first time that year for Wales.

                                           Photo From: Panini England 1985/86

(Pat van den Hauwe)

2- Roberto Di Matteo-Switzerland and Italy, 1990s

Italian midfielder Roberto Di Matteo was born in Schaffhausen in Switzerland. He made his debut in the Swiss League in Aarau.

He transferred to Italy in 1993 to Lazio and was capped by Arrigo Sacchi for Italy a year later in 1994.

                                         Photo From: Panini, Europa ‘96

(Roberto Di Matteo)

3- Yves Triantafyllos-Greece and France, 1960s into the 80s

Yves Triantafyllos was a French-born Greek striker. He had his best spell at St Etienne and Nantes in the 70s.

He earned a solitary cap for France in 1975.

                                      Photo From: Panini, France 1975/76

(Yves Triantafyllos)

4- Viktor Onopko-Ukraine and Russia 1990s and 2000s

Viktor Onopko was a Ukrainian defender from the 90s. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, he opted to represent Russia Internationally ahead of Ukraine, as Russia had replaced the USSR as a Football entity and felt had more of a chance to play in the 1994 World Cup.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 65, June 1994

(Viktor Onopko)

5- Ray Houghton-Scotland and Republic of Ireland, 1980s and 1990s

Glasgow-born midfielder Ray Houghton qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland through the Grand-parent rule.

He had been overlooked by Scotland, but Jackie Charlton selected him for Ireland as Houghton was eligible since his father was born in Buncrana, Donegal County in Ireland.

                                           Photo From: Panini, Europa ‘88

(Ray Houghton)

Trivia and Facts-Part 30

1- During Australia’s friendly match vs. Czechoslovakia on February 9, 1980 (2 to 2 tie), Australia was forced to take the same penalty kick 4 times.

For the first three times, Czech goalkeeper Dusan Keketi moved before the kick was ordered to be taken. Finally the fourth kick was scored.

Photo From: se Lvickem na prsou-Authors O.Bartunek, J.Kalat

(Dusan Keketi of Czechoslovaki and Spartak Trnava, 1980)

2-During the 1936 Olympics, on August 8, Peru defeated Austria (4 to 2) by scoring twice in the last 4 minutes of overtime.

After the Fourth goal in the 119^th minute, Peruvian fans had invaded the field to celebrate.

As a result, Austria protested and the result was cancelled by the jury of appeal and ordered to be replayed by FIFA.

Peru did not show up for the replay because all their Olympics delegation

had returned home in disagreement with the ruling.

Photo From : Calcio 2000, August 2000

(Peru squad, August 8, 1936, Olympic Games, Peru 4-Austria 2)

3- In 1985, a Belgian Television reporter noted that Everton’s Pat van den Hauwe had a Belgian father and an English mother.

He was having an excellent season with his club and won the League title and Cup Winners Cup.

He was therefore eligible for Belgium. He notified Guy Thys who observed and visited him.

Van den Hauwe finally decided to represent Wales.

Photo From : Mondial, June 1985

(Everton’s Pat van den Hauwe, May 15, 1985, Cup Winners Cup, Everton 3-Rapid Vienna 1)

Photo From : Foot Magazine, March 1982

(Belgium Manager Guy Thys)

4-On September 23, 1973, Argentina were scheduled to play a World Cup Qualifier vs. Bolivia at LaPaz.

Argentina’s Managers Enrique Omar Sívori and Miguel Ignomiriello decided to take the squad away for an extended stay in Bolivia to acclimatize with the high altitude.

The secluded squad became known as ‘El Equipo Fantasma’ (Ghost Team).

The team traveled to the town of Tilcara, Province of Jujuy, at 2500 meters above sea level. 75 days before the match.

According to some of the players, The Argentina Federation ‘forgot’ about the team and did not send funds for supplies/hotel/food/etc.

Therefore, instead of the scheduled two friendlies, the team was forced to play six or seven to have enough money to buy food.

Ian all the team trained in Jujuy, Peru, Costa Rica and LaPaz.

The ‘Ghost Team’ photo was taken by Photographer Lucio Flores, the idea of the sheets was from Miguel Tapia, a Journalist from ‘Hoy’.

The match against Bolivia was won 1 to 0 and Argentina were on their way to qualify for the World Cup.

Photo From : El Grafico, Historia de la seleccion Argentina, 1971-75

(Argentina’s El Equipo Fantasma, September 1973)

5-In 1966 in the Czech town of Olomouc , there was a team made of entirely of brothers aged 16 to 25.

Their father, Josef Olbert, was a 63 year old greengrocer who wanted to form a family football team.

Photo From : World Soccer, August 1966

(Olomouc all family team 1966)