Maradona Goes International

On 27 February 1977, Argentina beat Hungary 5-1 in a friendly that marked the international debut of 16-year old Diego Maradona. At the time, Hungary had been the more successful team, with two World Cup finals (1938 and 1954), three Olympic gold medals (1952, 1964, 1968) and one silver medal (1972). But they were in decline, failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, the 1976 Olympics, or the 1976 European Championship. Argentina, meanwhile, had reached the Olympic final in 1928 and the World Cup final in 1930, but had since done little on the global stage (they did have 12 Copa América trophies, however).

25 September 1963 – Finney Finally Makes A Move

24 September 1962 – The Rise Of The Super Ranger

On 24 September 1962, two-time European Golden Boot winner and current Rangers boss Ally McCoist was born in Bellshill, Scotland.

The striker, nicknamed “Super Ally,” started his professional career in 1979 with St. Johnstone. He had a breakout season in 1980-81, scoring 22 goals in 38 league appearances, which led to a move to Sunderland. But after two unsuccessful seasons there, he returned to Scotland, signing with Rangers in 1983 for a fee of £185,000.

Rangers hadn’t won the league since 1978, but with McCoist contributing 34 goals, they won it in 1987 and followed that one with nine straight between 1989 and 1997. In both 1992 and 1993, McCoist matched his tally of 34 league goals, winning the European Golden Boot for both seasons. Along the way, McCoist also won nine Scottish League Cups and the 1992 Scottish Cup. While at Rangers, he made 61 appearances for Scotland, where his 19 goals rank him fifth on their list of all-time scorers.

His played the last three seasons of his career for Kilmarnock (1998-2001), then moved into management. In 2004, he served under Scotland manager Walter Smith, then moved with Smith back to Rangers in January 2007. Upon Smith’s retirement in 2011, McCoist took the reins for the 2011-12 season, which ended with the club in administration and re-forming as a fourth-tier club. McCoist guided them back to the second tier before resigning in 2014

7 September 2010 – Togo Or Not Togo, That Is The Question

On 7 September 2010, Bahrain secured a 3-0 win over Togo. Or so they thought.

The friendly, played in Bahrain, was their third match under new manager, Josef Hickersberger, who was still waiting for his first win after draws with China and Qatar. And Bahrain thought they got it in convincing fashion with a brace from striker Jaycee Okwunwanne (9′, 45′) and a penalty kick from striker Ismail Abdul-Latif (67′).

Afterward, in fact, Hickersberger lamented the lack of competition from Togo, saying “They were not fit enough to play 90 minutes; the match was very boring, and basically it was not good for us because we wanted to get information about the strength of our team, especially playing with many of our professionals. This was a wasted opportunity on a FIFA date, and I’m very sad about it.” And then things got strange.

Christophe Chao, the Togo sports minister, denied that any Togo team ever took the pitch against Bahrain, claiming that nobody in Togo had been informed of such a game. Moreover, none of the 18 people listed on the pre-match roster submitted to Bahrain minutes before the match was a Togo international.

As it turned out, a Togo assistant coach named Tchanile Bana organized the match and falsely represented the team as Togo’s national side. He had committed a similar fraud earlier in the year by organizing a match against Egypt without the knowledge or consent of the Togolese authorities. He had received a two-year ban from all football activities after that match, which Togo extended to three years after learning of his involvement in the match against Bahrain.