Now You Know Big Book of Sports. Doug Lennox

Peruvian goalkeeper Ramon Quiroga was cautioned for pulling down a Polish player — in Poland’s half of the field?

       Which country has participated in every World Cup qualifying competition but never made it through to the finals?

      From 1934 to 2005, Luxembourg played 104 qualifying matches and lost 100, scoring 50 goals and giving up 356. The only two teams that Luxembourg has defeated in qualifiers are Portugal (4–2 on October 8, 1961) and Turkey (2–0 on October 22, 1972) — not quite good enough to get them in.

       Why was Prince Fahid, the Kuwaiti FA president, fined $14,000 U.S. after a 1982 World Cup finals match against France?

      After France scored, one of the Kuwaiti players complained to Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar that prior to the goal he’d heard a play-stopping whistle. When Prince Fahid walked out onto the field to argue the point with the referee and threatened to pull out his team, Stupar reversed his goal decision. France ended up winning the match anyway, 4–1. For their actions, Stupar was suspended and Fahid fined.

       Quickies

       Did you know …

      that Colombian player Andreas Escobar was shot dead by an angry fan after he scored an own goal that was part of his team’s collapse that saw them eliminated in the first round of the 1994 World Cup?

       What did Brazilian player Ronaldino donate to charity during World Cup 2006?

      Two locks of his hair. They were donated for an auction organized by a Swiss newspaper to raise funds for a cancer charity. The hair was collected by a team of Swiss barbers in the Brazilian camp in Switzerland before the start of the finals.

       Who were “The Elephants”?

      Ivory Coast’s team — nicknamed “The Elephants” — created their own “elephant dance” and practised the steps in training sessions before each match of the 2006 World Cup, hoping to dance before cheering fans to celebrate a winning goal. They lost their first two group matches, but the world had the chance to watch them dance on June 21, 2006, when they defeated Serbia and Montenegro 3–2.

       What country holds the record for the longest winless streak in the World Cup?

      That would be Bulgaria, with six ties and 11 losses in 17 consecutive matches from 1962 to 1994.

       World Cup First Cards

      • First yellow card: Lovchev (USSR) against Mexico, May 31, 1970.

      • First red card: Carlos Caszely (Chile) against West Germany, June 14, 1974.

      • First coach sent off: Cayetano Re (Paraguay) against Belgium, June 11, 1986.

      • First goalkeeper sent off: Gianluca Pagliuca (Italy) against Norway, June 23, 1994.

       What country holds the record for the longest goalless streak in the World Cup?

      That would be Bolivia, with a five-match goal drought from 1930 to 1994.

       What country holds the record for the longest winning streak in the World Cup?

      That would be Brazil, with seven matches in 2002 and four in 2006 for a record total of 11 straight wins.

       Quickies …

       Did you know …

      that prior to the 2006 World Cup a Shamanic priest from Ecuador named Tzamarenda Naychapi came to Germany to purify the stadiums where Ecuador would play? The spell apparently only lasted until the second round, when they were eliminated after losing to England 1–0.

       What country holds the record for the longest losing streak in the World Cup?

      That would be Mexico, with nine consecutive losses from 1930 to 1958.

       What was the first tournament played between all four national teams of the United Kingdom?

      In the early 1880s, the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland each had slightly different rules for the game. When friendly matches were played, the rules of the hosting team were used. On December 6, 1882, the four associations met in Manchester and agreed on one uniform set of rules. This meeting not only marked the founding of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), but also gave birth to the British of the International Football Association Board Home Championship, which would see the four national “Home Teams” — England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland — compete in a formal tournament played out over the 1883–84 season. The winner was Scotland.

       Quickies

       Did you know …

      that the 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France drew over 700 million viewers worldwide, eight times more than that year’s Super Bowl?

       What was the Ibrox Disaster of 1902?

      For the final of the 1902 British Home Championship, over 68,000 fans gathered at Ibrox Park in Glasgow on April 5 to watch Scotland face England. In the first half, shortly before 4:00 p.m., a section of terrace in the stadium’s West Stand collapsed, killing 25 and injuring over 500. Play was stopped, but was restarted after 20 minutes. The match played out to a 1–1 draw, but was later declared void and replayed on May 2 at Villa Park, Birmingham, to a 2–2 draw.

       British Home Championship Winners

       What is the oldest trophy in soccer?

      The Scottish Cup was made in Glasgow by George Edwards and Sons of Buchanan Street and, having been minted in 1885, is the oldest national trophy in world soccer.

       What is the record attendance for a Scottish Cup final?

      The record attendance for a Scottish Cup final was set April 24, 1937, when, by official counts, 146,433 spectators saw Celtic beat Aberdeen 2–1 at Glasgow’s Hampden Park.

       Have any teams outside the Irish Football League ever won the Irish Cup?

      Since the inception of the Irish Football League in 1890–91, the Irish Cup has been won by Irish League teams on every occasion except three famous “giant-killing” occasions when junior teams beat senior opponents in the final: In 1928, Willowfield beat Larne 1–0; in 1955, Dundela beat Glenavon 3–0; and in 1976, Carrick Rangers beat Linfield 2–1.

       What team holds the record for con-secutive wins of the Irish Cup?

      Glentoran FC, which was founded in 1882 and plays in the IFA Premiership at The Oval in Belfast, holds the record for the most consecutive wins of the Irish Cup, with four victories from 1985 to 1988. Glentoran was also the first Irish team to win a European trophy, taking the Vienna Cup in 1914.

       Quickies

       Did you know …

      that the first Old Firm final in the Scottish Cup was played in 1894 and saw Rangers defeat Celtic 3–1?

       Who won the first Welsh Cup?

      The first Welsh Cup was played in 1878, with Wrexham FC defeating Ruabon Druids in the