The KnowledgeFootball
Have any footballers ever admitted moving for the money?
Plus: what's in a number (2); the Newcastle-Man Utd cereal poser; and the most random goalkeeper of all time. Email your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk
Radzinski: in it for the money. Photograph: Getty Images
Nicky Bandini, Ian Bass and James Dart
Tue 26 Sep 2006 20.36 EDT
"With all the recent fuss about Ashley Cole's 'I'm not greedy' claims, I was wondering if any player has ever actually come out and just admitted 'I moved for the money'?" enquires Hannah Smith.
Indeed there have, Hannah. As recently as this March, Scotland striker Garry O'Connor admitted his move from Hibernian to Lokomotiv Moscow was all part of a greater plan to retire at the age of 35 with £10m in the bank. "I can set my family up for life," said O'Connor. "If I was single and never had Lisa and Josh [fiancee and son] I maybe wouldn't have made the move to Russia. But I signed a five-year contract and I have other ambitions to play in England, Italy, Spain or France."
Tomasz Radzinski was similarly straightforward in his attitude to leaving Anderlecht in 2001. "I'd love to sign for Everton," claimed Radzinski shortly before joining the Toffees. "They are offering me a wonderful four-year deal, I could earn three times as much as I do know at Anderlecht. I know Everton are not a top club, they don't play in Europe."
And Chris Waddle displayed admirable candour in explaining his move from Tottenham to Marseille in 1989. "I just had to accept," said Waddle at the time, after accepting a hefty pay hike to make the switch. "Because of what it offered my family for the future."
Do you know of any other shameless money chasers? Let us know at knowledge@theguardian.com.
WHAT'S IN A NUMBER (2)
Several weeks ago, we delved into the glitzy world of shirt numbering and promised to produce a 'definitive' guide of weird and iconic examples from around the globe. So, especially for your delectation, here's our list:
0 Yes, it has happened. Between 1999 and 2002 Aberdeen's Moroccan striker, Hicham Zerouali obtained special dispensation from the SPL to wear zero as it was his nickname.
1 Clearly the obvious number for any club's first-choice goalkeeper, though not always. In 1974 the Dutch World Cup squad was numbered alphabetically, starting with Ruud Geels. Goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed was No8. Johann Cruyff should have been No1, but he wanted to keep No14. More on Cruyff later. In 1978 and 1982 Argentina went down the same route, with first Norberto Alonso and then Ossie Ardiles carrying No1. The somewhat less celebrated Charlton player Stuart Balmer also wore No1 in the mid-nineties.
2 Traditionally the number worn by a right-back. Famous wearers of this number have been Phil Neal and Gary Neville, along with Mike Duxbury.
3 Our pick for the most prominent No3 is predictably, as well as justifiably, Paolo Maldini. The AC Milan legend has worn it throughout his career and rumour has it that the imprint is actually visible on his back.
4 Has to be one of the dullest numbers on the pitch. A straw poll revealed Ronald Koeman as the archetypal No4 - filling the sweeper role in the dream Holland side of the late eighties and early nineties.
5 Only Franz Beckenbauer can claim this shirt, despite also wearing No6 on occasion. The Liverpool sides of the seventies and eighties broke with tradition and gave this number to midfielders, including Ray Kennedy and Ronnie Whelan.
6 As football icons go, Bobby Moore has to be right up there with the best. He wore No6 and any Hammers player wearing that number had better be up to the job, which doesn't necessarily explain why George McCartney is wearing it now. Another former England captain Tony Adams wore it and current skipper John Terry is carrying on the tradition.
7 For Manchester United fans, No7 is the number of George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Try to take that number from Cristiano Ronaldo and he would be off faster than you could wink. At Liverpool too, it was the number of Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Peter Beardsley. Purely out of interest, and in no way enhancing the number's reputation, Harry Kewell wears Liverpool's No7 now.
8 Ian Wright, Wright, Wright wore No8 with total pride throughout his Arsenal career on his way to a scoring record and the fans' hearts, before undoing all his good work with his current career.
9 From Jackie Milburn to Alan Shearer, No9 is the number of Newcastle's front man. It is also the number of Ronaldo. When he moved to Inter, he took the number from Ivan Zamorano, prompting the Chilean to spit his dummy and famously wear 1+8 as a protest. No9 is also the name allocated to Ronaldo in a number of football management games that did not pay for his image rights.
10 Fighting with No7 for top billing in the mythology of football, No10 possibly shades it: Pele, Maradona, Rivera, Platini, Puskas, Zidane - need we say more?
11 Surely this is the number of the tricky winger. The most recent example of the tricky No11 is Ryan Giggs, whose shirt number is almost as iconic as his chest wig.
And outside the first XI ...
12 In the days of one substitute, this was the number worn by "super-sub" David Fairclough. He made this number his own, which has to be a dubious claim to fame. Marco van Basten wore 12 when he scored "that goal" in the 1988 European Championships against Russia, though Van Basten diluted his claim for iconic status by wearing No9 in the 1990 World Cup. In more recent times it has become the squad number reserved for the 12th man - the fans - by many clubs, except ...
13 Reading give No13 to their fans, just to be different. No13 is also the squad number worn by David "Calamity" James in this year's World Cup - more ironic than iconic. It wasn't an unlucky number for Gerd Müller, who wore it in 1974 as his goals carried West Germany to the World Cup.
14 The aforementioned Dutch genius Johann Cruyff always wore No14, even when the rest of the squad were numbered alphabetically. When you're that good, no one is going to argue over your squad number. Now it is the number worn by Arsenal goal machine, Thierry Henry.
16 Manchester United fans will permanently associate this with mild-mannered and quiet-spoken Roy Keane, the player who perhaps more than anyone symbolised the dominant force of the nineties.
19 Paul Gascoigne at Italia 90. Many fans associate this number with the man who became an international star at the World Cup. Since then, it has been worn by: Les Ferdinand (1998), Joe Cole (2002) and Aaron Lennon (2006), so maybe it still belongs to Gazza.
20 Paolo Rossi came back from a suspension for his involvement in a betting scandal to score six goals as Italy won the World Cup in Spain in 1982.
23 Already an iconic No7 for Man Utd and England, David Beckham has been a marketing icon for Real Madrid wearing No23. Raul kept No7, but Beckham outsold everyone in the shirt stakes. Coincidentally this is also the number of players in national squads for major tournaments, but don't put your money on Beckham wearing it in Euro 2008.
40 In the first season of Premiership squad numbers (1993/94) Lee Chapman became the first player to wear No40 when he signed for West Ham.
69 Bixente Lizarazu wore this number at Bayern Munich. Despite rumours to the contrary, this was apparently because: he was born in 1969, his height was 1.69m and he weighed 69kg. Any link to other reasons for wearing this number is entirely coincidental, or so he said.
88 Gigi Buffon, the most expensive keeper in history chose this number one season, sparking controversy. The number is associated with fascism in Italy and Buffon had previously been seen sporting a T-shirt with the fascist slogan "Death to those who surrender". He denied any links to fascism and the number was swiftly changed.
99 The highest number allowed by Fifa under current regulations. Vitor Baia wore this number when Porto won the European Cup final of 2004.
100 Guadalajara's Adolfo Bautista wears this number in domestic matches in Mexico, making him the highest-numbered player that the Knowledge is aware of.
Can you fill in the gaps? Are their any players with claims more pressing than those mentioned? Contact us at knowledge@theguardian.com.
CEREAL THRILLER
"Who scored for Newcastle United and has also saved a penalty for Manchester United?" poses Damon Cummings.
Hmm, sounds like a trick question to us, Damon. How about ... the Honey Monster? And we don't mean Richard Dunne. The big yellow beast once scored a last-minute winner for the Magpies in a Sugar Puffs advert made during the Kevin Keegan era. Incredibly, the multi-talented monster subsequently donned Peter Schmeichel's gloves in a later commercial, holding his nerve to making a flying penalty save for Manchester United.
As a result of that initial advert, sales of Sugar Puffs in the north-east fell by up to 20 per cent after rival Sunderland fans boycotted the cereal, much as they have with Northern Rock and a host of other products and services linked with Newcastle down the years.
"Fabien Barthez's comical goalkeeping stirred some half-forgotten memory of the Peruvian goalie in the 1978 World Cup finals," wrote Jonathan Key in 2001. "I seem to remember him straying so far out of his goal that he managed to get booked for a foul in the opponents' half of the field. Is my memory playing tricks or was he really the most random goalkeeper of all time?"
Jonathan's memory served him well. The player he was looking for was the infamous Ramon 'El Loco' Quiroga, who was booked for fouling Poland's Lato. As Gareth Price remembered: "Lato received the ball on the left-hand side just inside his own half; he turned to advance upfield only to find El Loco in his face! The goalie retreated, with head bowed in contrition, as the ref showed him the yellow card. Quiroga's infamy was furthered after he played in the famous 6-0 defeat to the Argentine tournament hosts later in the group. That emphatic victory ensured that the team going through to the final was Argentina - the land of Quiroga's birth!"
Meanwhile, Eduardo Villanueva Mansilla added: "He went on to become a second-string manager in the Peruvian league team Deportivo Wanka (that's a region of Peru by the way)." As if we didn't know ...
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"My friend pointed out that the goalscorers of last Saturday's game between Arsenal and Sheffield United all had the same birth date," writes Ali Tan. "Both William Gallas and Thierry Henry were born on August 17 1977, while Phil Jagielka (own-goal) was born on the same day in 1982. Has any match ever had more goalscorers sharing the same date of birth?"
"Following Xabi Alonso's wonder strike, has any other player has scored from his own half twice?" asks Gary Thwaites. "If so, has anyone matched Xabi's achievement by doing so with both feet?"
"Is the 93-game run of Rafael Benítez naming changed Liverpool sides the longest in history?" asks Dave Hollis.
"Some years ago in a basketball game between Sporting and Benfica, I remember that the players forgot to switch sides for the second half. Have any teams ever failed to switch sides for the second half in a football game?" wonders Bernardo Cruz Morais.
"Are there any guidelines, either set out by Fifa, Uefa or national associations, as to what constitutes the 'lowest' level of football for adults, say, over the age of 18?" enquires Liam Maloney.
Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com.