Jean-Marc Bosman Liege 1990. ibid.
Eric Cantona Leeds to Man Utd 1992. ibid.
Steve Daley Wolves to Man City £1.5m 1979. ibid.
Kevin Keegan Hamburg to Southampton 1980. ibid.
Mo Johnston to Rangers 1989. ibid.
Wayne Rooney Everton to Man Utd 2004 £25.6m. ibid.
Socrates to Garforth Town 2004. ibid.
Gianluigi Lentini to AC Milan £13 1992. ibid.
Alan Shearer Blackburn to Newcastle £15m. ibid.
Luis Figo Barcelona to Real Madrid 2000 £37m. ibid.
Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano Corinthians to West Ham 2006. ibid.
Fernando Torres Liverpool to Chelsea £50m. ibid.
Pele to Cosmos 1975. ibid.
Ronaldo £80m Man Utd to Real Madrid. ibid.
50) 2006: Jens Lehmann kept a note in his sock of where likely penalty-takers were likely to place the ball in the net. He saved the lot. The World Cup’s Most Shocking Moments, esias
49) When you get a player like Leonardo wack in the face [elbow to jaw] it’s shocking. ibid. Lynsey Hipgrave
48) 1994 Saudi Arabia v Belgium: al-Owairan scored the best goal of the tournament. ibid. esias
47) The shocking hairstyles that grace the world stage every four years ... Who can forget the mullet of Chris Waddle? ... Romania decided to indulge in a bit of group blonding. ibid. commentary
46) Michael Owen bombs past Argentina 1998. ibid. esias
45) Large Spanish coach Camacho sweats copiously in polyester shirt South Korea 2002. ibid. esias
44) The Roy Keane story was huge. Roy Keane does what Roy Keane wants to do, and won’t be told by anybody. ibid. Danny Mills, England 2001-2004
43) But it wasn’t always thus. At the end of extra-time at the end of their semi-final against Germany, England were heading to what was to them uncharted football territory. England’s first ever shoot-out was going well. This penalty lark was a doddle. Plus we had the best goalkeeper in the world (probably) ... Pearce had a thunderous shot. The only thing at risk was the net. But worse was to follow. But everything was OK ’cause up next was Chris Waddle. ibid. commentary
42) In 1994 mild-mannered Gianfranco Zola ... sent him off seven minutes into his world cup debut. ibid.
41) When Germany faced Bulgaria in the quarter-final, we all knew who we were supporting ... And in the blink of a Klinsman’s dive Germany were ahead ... ‘The holders are out of the World Cup; Bulgaria pull off one of the shocks of recent modern football in the world cup.’ (John Motson) ibid. [England failed to qualify for 1994 World Cup; Klinsman later played for Spurs]
40) David Seaman was one of England’s greatest ever keepers in 1998. However, four years later in 2002 ... the World Cup was in the Far East – Japan and South Korea ... England’s quarter-final against favourites Brazil. England even took the lead. But after a Rivaldo’ equaliser came the moment that had England fans choking on their cornflakes ... In the biggest game of his life Seaman had forgotten to jump, and England were out of the World Cup. ibid.
39) It’s the game so shocking it even has its own web-page ... A colourful 2006 world cup match between Holland and Portugal ... Sixteen yellow cards and sent off four players. ibid.
38) 2002 American substitute while warming up on side of pitch urinates. ibid. esias
37) Croatian legend Slaven Bilic is one of the game’s nice guys. With Croatia trailing France 2-1 in the World Cup semi-final in 1999 ... [Laurent] Blanc was sent off for the first time in his career. But the real shock was about to be revealed by the replays. He’d hardly touched him. ibid.
36) Ray Wilkins did something no player had ever done at the 1996 World Cup [threw ball innocuously at referee]. ibid.
35) In 2002 Rio Ferdinand scored his first goal for England ... What followed was even more clown-like ... Rio’s jig ... None of them are as classy as this [the Crouch robot]. ibid.
34) Ireland’s ultimate penalty unleashed by David O’Leary and Ireland reach last eight. ibid. esias
33) It’s one of the World Cup’s funniest ever songs. Scotland’s 1978 effort Ali’s Army ... They went out in the first round ... And Del Amitri’s Don’t Come Home Too Soon. ibid.
32) Carlos did something that lost the game for Brazil. Sent them tumbling out of the competition, and left him looking like a spanner ... What’s the last thing he should have done? That’s right. Tied his shoelaces. ibid.
31) England v Cameroon 1990 ... Gary Lineker fell over in the box. In extra-time Lineker fell over again. ibid.
30) Back in the ’80s it took a lot more to get sent off than it does today ... The fastest sending off into World Cup history. Just fifty-six seconds. ibid.
29) There is one guarantee: we’ll have a truly shocking World Cup song ... cf. World in Motion. ibid.
28) Imagine breaking a World Cup record and scoring five goals in one game. But not even being the biggest shock of the match. Well that’s what happened to Russian Oleg Salenko in 1994 when he was upstaged by ... Roger Miller [oldest scorer]. ibid.
27) Scotland’s World Cup record of being knocked out in the first round more times than anyone else. Eight if you were wondering. ibid.
Scotland and football don’t mix. ibid. Lynsey Hipgrave
26) ‘And the crowd in the Azteca Stadium stand to him ... Oh, you have to say that’s magnificent.’ ibid. commentary
25) By far the biggest shock of 2002 was the World Cup was held in two countries – one of them was South Korea. ibid.
24) It’s Germany v Argentina in 2006, and the Argentines have just gone out on penalties. Cue mayhem. ibid.
23) From reptiles to birds, Colombian and Brazilian, the only surprise is a great deal of twitching takes place. The fans also help to reaffirm a few national stereotypes. ibid.
22) A nasty surprise for England. When Sol Campbell headed a very late goal in the Argentina match in France 98 a famous victory was on the cards. But the referee had a shock in store [Goal disallowed]. ibid.
21) But then with the game heading towards a humiliating draw our Peter [Crouch] came up with a cunning plan to break the deadlock. ibid.
20) Although England failed to qualify for the World Cup in USA in 1994 several Englishmen did play ... for Ireland. ibid.
19) Brazil’s Rivaldo will never be remembered for his great goals ... He will be remembered for this ... [flop by the flag] ibid.
18) France 98: England v Argentina: the last sixteen. England had gone out on penalties eight years before ... Up stepped Paul Ince ... It was up to David Batty to keep England in the World Cup ... [‘You can’t practise penalties’ David Seaman] ibid.
17) In 1990 Scotland’s bravehearts were knocked out by Brazil, literally in the case of midfielder Murdo MacCleod who got his face in the way of a Branco thunder-buster. ibid.
16) For eight years after his wonder-goal against England Maradona lived the high-life. Literally. He was banned in 1990 for twelve months for drugs and maybe fashion-related crimes ... After a match against Greece [1994] he showed he still had the old magic in him ... What else has he got in him? ibid.
15) England manager Glen Hoddle made some strange and shocking decisions at the 1998 World Cup. First of all he dropped Geordie genius Paul Gascoigne from the squad ... Hoddle then had another bombshell: our other superstar David Beckham ... Hoddle dropped Goldenballs. And England lost. ibid.
14) Grahame Poll was the best in the world. He was close to getting the World Cup final. [three yellow cards] ibid. Mick Dennis, journalist
13) Orlando, Florida, 1994, it’s 105 degrees in the shade and Ireland are losing 2-0 to Mexico. Desperate to change the game striker John Aldridge is ready to come on as a sub. ibid.
12) It’s one of football’s most tragic stories: no, it isn’t the most ridiculous ponytail in football history, although that was pretty shocking; it’s Baggio’s other World Cup blunder ... He scored five goals in three knock-out games. And so when the final went to penalties it was Baggio who had the chance to be the biggest hero in Italian football when he stepped out to take the final penalty of the shoot-out. ibid.
11) Benjamin Massey: the man with the amazing tackle. ibid. Peter Crouch
10) ‘Penalties! Ah, what a way to decide’. ibid. Jack O’Connell, actor
In the 2006 quarter-final ... Him [Lampard] for one. Next, Liverpool’s penalty ace Stephen Gerard missed ... Most penalties saved in a World Cup. ibid.
9) America ... The venue for the 1994 World Cup. And what a spectacle the opening ceremony promised to be ... There was even Diana Ross. ibid.