Flying Down to Rio, Flight Thirty Six.

Its finally arrived, so as you prepare to stay up half the night I've assembled some, trivia and images to pass the time till kick off. I've mixed in a few questions just to keep you on your toes.  Some of the answers have appeared during this series. Answers at the end. 

So who is the World Cup clever clogs ? One point per answer. 

What did you score ? 

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1) With England due to play Italy first, which two Spurs players have scored in this fixture ?

When Northern Ireland qualified in 1958 the Council of Churches in Ireland and the Northern Irish FA told its squad that it was against Irish law to play two of their first-round matches as they fell on a Sunday and therefore they could not compete. After player protests, the FA dropped their objection (1).

2) What was special about the England /Italy game in 1949 ?

The future Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty was a player in 1954. When he was asked why Scotland had lost to Uruguay he said that the Uruguayan national anthem was too long and had exhausted the Scots before the game had even started.
Fredy Bickel turned out for Switzerland against Yugoslavia in 1950, 12 years and 13 days after his last appearance in the competition.

1. The first final - 1930

3) Which Tottenham player has featured in the World Cup final ?

4) Which six players have played in the World Cup Final and for Spurs in the League ?

2. Paul Gascoigne in 1990

The former Yugoslavia qualified on eight occasions, playing a total of 37 fixtures reaching the semi-final twice. Since the country broke up Croatia have finished third in 1998 and Bosnia-Herzegovina will make their debut this summer.

Brazil have come from behind to win 14 games in World Cup history; more than any other side.  

5) Which player has been penalized for handball more times than any other player in the World Cup since 1966?

6) Which country has the worse goal difference at the World Cup finals ?

Wonder what happens to players when they go home…ten years after captaining Algeria in the finals Salah Asad, was executed during a government crackdown on Islamic fundamentalists... France’s 1930 captain Alex Villaplane, was executed in 1944 for collaborating with the Germans in World War 2.

question 10 - who is this ?

question 11 - And this ?

7)  Which player is the all time top goal scorer in the Finals ?

8)  If your feeling very clever which two players with Tottenham connections are in the top ten ?

3. Glenn Hoddle - 1986

Brazil kept the original World cup after their third win in 1970 (4).  It was then stolen in 1983 from their FA’s HQ….Haiti defender Ernst Jean-Joseph became the first player in the World Cup to fail a doping test (1974). He was taken back to the team hotel and beaten up by his own squad officials.
in 2002  FIFA banned Cameroon from wearing the sleeveless shirts they had used throughout the 2002 African Nations Cup as they were deemed to be “vests”

9) Which three players played at the 1986 finals and signed for Spurs the same year.?

And Finally - In 2006 FIFA forced spectators to remove "Leeuwenhosen", an orange-coloured, lion-tailed overalls which been distributed by a Dutch brewery ahead of a Netherlands match because the brewery concerned was not an official tournament sponsor. As a result, some fans watched the game in their underwear

Answers  -
1) Jimmy Greaves in 1961 and Jermain Defoe in 2012.
2)  It was played at White Hart Lane. (note 2)
3) Christian Ziege (note 3)
4) The six are Martin Peters (1966), Ossie Ardiles (1978), Jurgen Klinsmann (1990), Christian Ziege (2002), William Gallas (2006), Rafael Van der Vaart (2010)
5) Diego Mardona.
6)  Mexico. They have scored 52 goals but conceded 89 goals. That’s minus 37.
7) The top goal scorer is Ronaldo Brazil with 15, (next comes Muller and Klose - 14, Fontaine 13, Pele 12)
8) Then in joint 6th - Jurgen Klinsmann with 11 and in joint 8th - Gary Lineker with 10.
9) The spurs players you are looking for are - Richard Gough, Nico Classen and Steve Hodge.
10)  World Cup willie form 1966 (5)
11) Striker, The US mascot in 1994.

Notes -1 - Danny Blanchflower, A Biography of a visionary. - Dave Bowler.
2 -  Hotspur Towers 3. - Its slightly odd that although England played Italy on 30th November 1949, Italy were banned from the 1950 World Cup. 
3 - Flying down to Rio, Flight 28.
4 - Flight 10.
5 - Flight 22.
Top image - Jurgen Klinsmann, Thanks - FIFA, BBC, Football facts, The Times, Planet World Cup, ESPN

About the author:
Keith Harrison,
Nilgiris, TN
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