Obscure World Cup Kits From History #1

France (v Hungary, 1978)

A strange thing happened on June 10th 1978. The scene was Mar Del Plata in Argentina. The time: 2.30pm. Two teams lined up in the Parque Municipal stadium to play a first round match in the World Cup finals - France and Hungary.

It was any wonder the match came to be played at all. Argentina was a country still viewing television broadcasts in black and white back then, so all matches had to feature one team wearing a dark-coloured strip, the other a light-coloured strip. As France's blue shirts and Hungary's red ones were deemed to be of too similar a shade for monochrome TV, France were asked to wear a change strip. They didn't have one.

When it was looking like the match would have to be called off, someone had the bright idea of borrowing the shirts worn by the local team, Kimberley. So they did, which is why the French team on that day strode onto the field wearing green and white striped shirts, blue shorts and red socks.


Christian Lopez scores the first for France against Hungary

It didn't affect their play - as a matter of fact they went on to win 3-1, despite having a goalkeeper called Dominique Dropsy (but that's another story...)

The Greatest Squad of My Life (Part I)

While watching some archive World Cup footage from 1982 the other day, it struck me that Paolo Rossi must be just about the best player ever to appear in the Finals wearing a number 20 shirt. Let's face it, there can't be many other players that have given the number 20 such classic status... or has there?

What about Michael Owen and David Trezeguet in 1998? Or another star player from 1982, Poland's Zbigniew Boniek? Even Ronaldo pulled on the number 20 back in the 1994 World Cup Finals. And as for Peter Beardsley in 1986...

So it got me thinking... if I was handing out the shirts from 1 to 22 to the greatest players ever to grace the World Cup Finals during my lifetime (i.e. from 1971 onwards) who would get to wear which numbers? Who would be in that amazing squad?

Wonder no more. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you part 1 of my list showing the Greatest World Cup Squad of My Lifetime. Some of my selections are bound to be a little controversial to say nothing of ill-advised, but this is my blog and I don't care.

Actually I do care. You see as well as showing the player I've selected for the appropriate numbered shirt, I've also listed the other candidates I've turned down. This means you can tell me who else you might have picked instead and why. Just do it politely rather than using insulting language, that's all I ask.

So here goes with squad numbers 1 to 11. Read 'em and weep...

1. Zoff (ITA)
Other candidates: Kahn (GER); Schmeichel (DEN); Zubizaretta (SPA); Taffarel (BRA); Dassaiev (USR); Jennings (NIR); Schumacher (GER); Shilton (ENG); Ardiles (ARG); Clemence (ENG); Arconada (SPA); Tomaszewski (POL); Maier (WG)

2. Ardiles (ARG)
Other candidates: Cafu (BRA); Petrescu (ROM); Ferrer (SPA); F. De Boer (NED); Baresi (ITA); Gerets (BEL); Vogts (WG); Haan (NED)

3. Brehme (WG)
Other candidates: Maldini (ITA); Babayaro (NIG); Rijkaard (NED); Bergomi (ITA); Albert (BEL); Cabrini (ITA); Camacho (SPA); Brooking (ENG); Breitner (WG)

4. Vieira (FRA)
Other candidates: Kanu (NIG); Smertin (RUS); F.De Boer (NED); Koeman (NED); Dunga (BRA); Souness (SCO); Hoddle (ENG); Cabrini (ITA); Bossis (FRA); Bremner (SCO)

5. Beckenbauer (WG)
Other candidates: Staunton (IRE); Maldini (ITA); Falcao (BRA); Coppell (ENG); Hansen (SCO); Gentile (ITA); Krol (NED)

6. Gentile (ITA)
Other candidates: Roberto Carlos (BRA); Roy Keane (IRE); Hierro (SPA); Baresi (ITA); Branco (BRA); Passarella (ARG); Junior (BRA); Butcher (ENG)

7. Jairzinho (BRA)
Other candidates: Raul (SPA); Figo (POR); Beckham (ENG); Bebeto (BRA); Larsson (SWE); Overmars (NED); Maldini (ITA); Burruchaga (ARG); Littbarski (WG); Robson (ENG); Strachan (SCO); Molby (DEN); Keegan (ENG)

8. Socrates (BRA)
Other candidates: Desailly (FRA); Hamann (GER); Bergkamp (NED); Matthaeus (GER); Dunga (BRA); Caniggia (ARG); Scifo (BEL); Olsen (DEN); Wilkins (ENG); Francis (ENG); Panenka (CZE); Dalglish (SCO); Zico (BRA)

9. Ronaldo (BRA)
Other candidates: Morientes (SPA); Sukur (TUR); Eto’o (CAM); Batistuta (ARG); Kluivert (NED); Shearer (ENG); Suker (CRO); Milla (CAM); Sanchez (MEX); R.De Boer (NED); Careca (BRA); Voeller (WG); Butragueno (SPA); Francescoli (URU); Van Basten (NED); Beardsley (ENG); Krankl (AUT); Hoddle (ENG); Haan (NED)

10. Maradona (ARG)
Other candidates: Zidane (FRA); Rivaldo (BRA); Owen (ENG); Mboma (CAM); M. Laudrup (DEN); Raul (SPA); Sheringham (ENG); Hagi (ROM); Matthaeus (GER); R.Baggio (ITA); Scifo (BEL); Bergkamp (NED); Stojkovic (YUG); Gullit (NED); Lineker (ENG); Platini (FRA); Zico (BRA); Francescoli (URU); Elkjaer (DEN); Cubillas (PER); Wark (SCO); Kempes (ARG); Rivelino (BRA); R. Van De Kerkhof (NED); Rivera (ITA)

11. Ronaldinho (BRA)
Other candidates: Larsson (SWE); Eto’o (CAM); Asprilla (COL); Veron (ARG); Romario (BRA); Brolin (SWE); Barnes (ENG); Baresi (ITA); Blokhin (USR); M. Laudrup (DEN); Rummenigge (WG); Waddle (ENG); Smolarek (POL); Kempes (ARG); Ceulemans (BEL); Eder (BRA); Lorimer (SCO); Riva (ITA)

Part 2 coming soon...

World Cup Warm-Up Round-Up

Well not long to go to the start of the 2006 World Cup now and many teams have effectively finished their warm-up schedule prior to action starting on June 9th.

In case you've missed any of the results from those games during the last week, here they are for you:

June 5
Ukraine 3 - 0 Libya

June 4
Brazil 4 - 0 New Zealand
Netherlands 1 - 1 Australia
Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Slovenia
Japan 1 - 0 Malta
South Korea 1 - 3 Ghana

June 3
Czech Republic 3 - 0 Trinidad and Tobago
England 6 - 0 Jamaica
Luxembourg 0 - 3 Portugal
Poland 1 - 0 Croatia
Spain 2 - 0 Egypt
Switzerland 4 - 1 China PR

June 2
Angola 2 - 3 Turkey
Germany 3 - 0 Colombia
Italy 0 - 0 Ukraine
Liechtenstein 0 - 1 Togo
Sweden 1 - 1 Chile

June 1
Netherlands 2 - 1 Mexico
Norway 0 - 0 South Korea

May 31
Iran 5 - 1 Boznia & Herzegovina
Paraguay 1 - 0 Georgia
France 2 - 0 Denmark
Saudi Arabia 0 - 1 Turkey
Slovenia 3 - 1 Trinidad & Tobago
Switzerland 1 - 1 Italy

May 30
Argentina 2 - 0 Angola
Chile 1 - 1 Ivory Coast
Czech Republic 1 - 0 Costa Rica
Engalnd 3 - 1 Hungary
Germany 2 - 2 Japan
Poland 1 - 2 Colombia
Tunisia 3 - 0 Belarus

And that should be all the pre-World Cup friendly matches. Game on!

World Cup Links

Hey folks, there's only 14 days to go to the start of the World Cup! As you'd expect, everyone's going completely mental about the whole thing, and rightly so, with websites cropping up all over the place to celebrate the event in various ways.

So to ensure you don't miss out on the smorgasbord of entertainment just waiting for you to pay a visit, check out the list of World Cup-related sites below. There'll be more sites being added as we go along, so be sure to check back and see what's here later on.

BBC World Cup 2006
Tons of stuff to keep you amused including Auntie's video archive, England squad picker and all the latest news from around the world.

Heal Rooney
A frankly silly site that encourages you to do your part in healing Wayne Rooney's injured foot.

FIFA World Cup 2006
Follow the tournament with The Management.