Football quiz: test your knowledge of memorable friendly games

Sassuolo faced Real Vicenza in a memorable friendly game earlier this summer. Photograph: Castaldi/LaPresse/Shutterstock

1. In July this year, Sassuolo played fourth-tier side Real Vicenza in a friendly. What was the final score?

   1. Sassuolo won 12-0

   2. Sassuolo won 22-0

   3. Real Vicenza won 7-1

   4. The teams drew eight-all

2. Why did Real Madrid agree to play Plymouth in a friendly at their Austrian training base back in 2006?

   1. Argyle were booked into Real's usual hotel and agreed to move, with the friendly game offered as a thank you

   2. Ian Holloway and the Real Madrid manager, Fabio Capello, became friends on holiday at the same resort

   3. The two teams have a historic friendship, going back to a friendly played to mark the defeat of the Spanish Armada

   4. Real Madrid had drawn Werder Bremen and Panathinaikos in their Champions League group and wanted to play a team in green

3. What unusual substitution did Harry Redknapp make at half-time in a West Ham friendly at Oxford City in 1994?

   1. He replaced a misfiring forward with his wife, Sandra

   2. With both goalkeepers injured, he put the Hammers' mascot in goal for the second half

   3. He approached a vocal fan behind the dugout and offered him the chance to play

   4. He brought on his son, Jamie, a Liverpool player at that time

4. 'I thought it was dangerous' – Exeter manager Gary Caldwell's verdict on a recent friendly at Torquay. But what caused him concern?

   1. Building works going on during the game

   2. A waterlogged pitch at Plainmoor

   3. The game going ahead in high winds

   4. The tough tackling of the host side

5. Which top four team once had a garish yellow away kit which earned infamy in a friendly defeat to Leyton Orient?

   1. Manchester United

   2. Newcastle United

   3. Arsenal

   4. Manchester City

6. Wolves' pre-season meeting with Levante in Spain last summer stretched the concept of a 'friendly' game. What happened?

   1. There were four red cards in the first half

   2. There was a brawl between both sets of coaching staff

   3. Scuffles between fans saw the match abandoned

   4. Six penalties were awarded, with five missed

7. In 2013, Club Brugge played Romania's Otelul Galati at what unusual Cheshire venue?

   1. Chester Zoo

   2. Widnes Vikings' home ground

   3. Jodrell Bank observatory

   4. Mottram Hall golf club

8. Which two Manchester United players were handed Premier League suspensions in 2006 for red cards earned in a friendly?

   1. Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes

   2. Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic

   3. Rio Ferdinand and Louis Saha

   4. Alan Smith and Wes Brown

9. Which European Cup winners lost a pre-season friendly 2-1 to Accrington Stanley in 2019?

   1. PSV Eindhoven

   2. Marseille

   3. Steaua Bucharest

   4. Celtic

10. What brought a premature end to Gateshead's recent pre-season game against Dunston?

    1. All of the available match balls were kicked out of the ground, ending up in the nearby River Tyne

    2. Dunston's remaining players refused to play the second half after their star striker verbally agreed to join Gateshead

    3. A hearse was driven on to the pitch and left there by masked men in an apparent protest

    4. Lightning hit the main stand, causing a power cut

11. Why were Craig Levein and Graeme Hogg sent off for Hearts in a pre-season game at Raith in 1994?

    1. The teammates fought each other on the pitch, with Levein punching Hogg and breaking his nose

    2. With Hearts 4-0 up at half-time, the pair went for a half-time pint and were spotted by the referee

    3. Frustrated after missing a header, Levein picked up the ball and threw it to Hogg, who punched it into the net

    4. Both players were dismissed for dissent after complaining about a penalty decision

12. Finally, what reportedly happened when Arsenal faced Dynamo Moscow in a friendly back in 1945?

    1. The Russian side brought on substitutes at will, at one point having 15 players on the pitch

    2. An Arsenal player was sent off, but came back on without anyone noticing

    3. The Gunners keeper ran into the goalpost and had to be replaced by a supporter

    4. All of the above

Solutions

1:B - The Serie A side aren't the only ones to enjoy a morale-booster this summer; Bayern beat amateur side Rottach-Egern 27-0 in one of their friendlies., 2:A - Real Madrid won the game 1-0 in front of hundreds of travelling Plymouth fans, with Julio Baptista scoring the only goal., 3:C - Steve Davies was given a kit, sent on to replace Lee Chapman – and scored a goal., 4:D - City defender Pierce Sweeney was sent off for reacting to one bad challenge as Torquay took a 4-0 lead. 'We're not going to be shrinking violets,' said the Gulls manager, Gary Johnson., 5:B - The two-tone yellow 'deckchair' shirt was already unpopular enough with fans before it was worn as the Magpies lost 6-1 at Brisbane Road in 2009., 6:A - Two separate off-the-ball scuffles led to two red cards apiece for each team, though they were allowed to field 11 players in the second half, behind closed doors in Benidorm, 7:D - The golf club happened to have a full-size football pitch, built for Germany's Euro '96 side to match Wembley's dimensions., 8:A - United were furious when the FA ruled both players had to serve three-game bans for their dismissals against Porto., 9:B - The game was played at the AJ Bell Stadium, home to Salford and Sale rugby teams, and advertised with the prescient slogan: 'Marseille? Who are they?', 10:C - Yes, this really happened., 11:A - The Hearts manager, Tommy McLean, called the incident 'an insult to Hearts Football Club'. Boosted by the two-man advantage, Raith won the game 2-0., 12:D - Despite thick fog, the referee refused to abandon the game – which, to add another layer of strangeness, was played at White Hart Lane. Dynamo officially won 4-3, but who knows what really happened?

Scores

1. 4 and above.

   Decent preparation for the new season

2. 9 and above.

   It's a confidence-boosting 22-0 win for you

3. 0 and above.

   A painful 4-0 loss to lower-league opposition