Manchester City have started the season with five wins and are yet to concede a goal,” writes JB Hollick. “What’s the longest a team has gone without conceding at the start of the season?”
City are the fourth team to start a top-flight season in England with five successive clean sheets. In 1997-98 Manchester United kept five clean sheets before conceding to West Ham in the sixth game of the season, while in 2006-07 Portsmouth went five games without conceding then conceded 22 minutes into their sixth game (Bolton’s Kevin Nolan breaking the deadlock).
Chelsea, though, went one better in 2005-06, going six matches without conceding before Aston Villa’s Luke Moore scored 44 minutes into their seventh Premier League game of the campaign. So City have a match and a half to go before they can start thinking about any sort of record.
Teams have gone even deeper into a season without conceding elsewhere in Europe. Barcelona set a new La Liga record last season with eight successive clean sheets (and seven wins) before Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the spot 36 minutes into El Clásico.
But in the Bundesliga a more unlikely side just outstrip the 2014-15 Barcelona vintage. VfB Stuttgart began the 2003-04 season with a 2-0 win over Rostock, then proved inpenetrable against Hertha Berlin (0-0), Monchengladbach (1-0), Kaiserslautern (2-0), Schalke (0-0), Dortmund (1-0), 1860 Munich (3-0) and Cologne (0-0) before 60 minutes into their ninth league Angelo Charisteas scored past the otherwise unbeatable Timo Hildebrand for Werder Bremen. VfB ended the season in fourth with – unsurprisingly – the best defensive record in the division, 10 points behind the eventual champions … Werder. Skonto Riga also had an eight-game unbreached stretch at the start of the 1997 Latvian season (slap-bang in the middle of their 47-match unbeaten run).
Ajax’s 1994-95 campaign saw them become the first Eredivisie team in 76 years to go through a season unbeaten. And their 1995-96 campaign began with a remarkable nine clean sheets. Wins over Utrecht (4-0), NEC (6-0), Sparta (4-0), Go Ahead Eagles (4-0), Fortuna Sittard (4-0), NAC (1-0), Heerenveen (4-0), Vitesse (3-0), FC Twente (3-0) all came without Louis van Gaal’s side conceding. The run was ended two minutes into the 10th game of the season when Feyenoord’s Clemens Zwijnenberg beat Edwin van der Sar at the De Kuip. Van der Sar had a decent back four in front of his too – Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, Danny Blind and Frank de Boer were providing the protection.
But going one better than even that great Ajax side is Tunisia’s Espérance, who began the 2000-01 domestic season with 10 clean sheets – the season began in August and it was 24 December before they conceded to US Monastir.
Elsewhere, it would be interesting to find out when Al-Ahly conceded their two goals in the 21-match Egyptian championship in 1975-76.
PLAYERS NAMED AFTER OTHER PLAYERS (2)
Last week we looked at a few players who had been named in homage to other footballers, and this week the Knowledge inbox has been positively bulging with further examples.
A couple of fairly well-known progenies to start with: Cameron Crawford points out that Enzo Zidane is named in honour of his father Zinedine’s footballing hero, Enzo Francescoli, while Dennis Bergkamp was named after Denis Law.
CF União Madeira midfielder Breitner Da Silva has been lumbered with two greats of the game in his name. “ The guy’s father, who once also was a professional footballer, felt a deep admiration for the two gifted players Wolfgang Overath and Paul Breitner who were both important members of the World Cup winning team of West Germany in 1974,” writes Maurice Séché. “Such admiration must have been still profound when the boy was born in 1989 and he was named Overath Breitner da Silva Medina.”
A glance through the Houston Dynamo roster throws up the name Boniek Garcia, the Honduran international named, writes Carrie Decker, in honour of the Poland and Juventus midfielder Zbigniew Boniek. “It’s a beautiful thing to have the same name as someone who was such a star in his time, and with humility I work very hard so that some day maybe I can be at his level,” said García. Also in the MLS, with LA Galaxy, is midfielder Baggio Husidic (though his real name is Adis and the Baggio moniker bestowed on him by his father at an early age). He has a fascinating – and traumatic – backstory that is well worth discovering. Thanks to JH Stephenson for that spot.
Ian Williams emails to point out that Ajax Cape Town defender –and the youngest player to win a cap for South Africa – Rivaldo Roberto Genino Coetzee was born just after the 1996 Olympics and named after three members of the Brazil squad at that event – Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and, with a misspelling, Juninho. Pablo Miguez points out that another member of that squad Bebeto had a son during the 1994 World Cup (hence this) who he named Mattheus Oliveira after Germany midfielder Lothar Mattheus. Young Mattheus is currently on loan at Estoril from Flamengo.
“Gavril Pele Balint won the European Cup with Steaua Bucharest (1986, where he scored the decisive penalty in the final) and was part of the Romanian Golden Generation of the 90’s,” writes Mihai Martin. “His father was a fan of Pele, a name which he thrust upon his son.”
Former Chelsea and Portugal midfielder Maniche’s given name is Nuno Ricardo Oliveira Ribeiro but his nickname is a tribute to the Benfica and Denmark player Michael Manniche (hat tips to readers Thomas Caspersen and Benjamin Bilde Boelsmand). Giampiero Ambrosi notes that former Roma and Italy star and current Sassuolo coach Eusebio Di Francesco has a fairly obvious tribute in his name.
Rademel Falcao is named after Brazil midfielder Falcão, writes Luan Barros, but almost wasn’t: “My parents always said they liked him very much as a player and admired him because of his style of play,” said the Chelsea striker. “So they decided to ascribe his name to me. Although my mother was less in favour and not fully in agreement, my dad made sure it happened.”
Gareth Walsh emails to point out that Gianluigi Buffon’s son Louis Thomas Buffon is named after Cameroon goalkeeper Thomas N’Kono. “It was Thomas N’Kono and his spectacular saves that made me fall in love with the position,” said Buffon. “He quickly became my hero and I called my son Louis Thomas in his honour. After he was born N’Kono called to congratulate me.” Both Ron Vlaar and Daryl Janmaat have sons named Xavi.
We end, though, with this from Mark Muscat: “I can go at a slight tangent and mention three Brazilian footballing siblings all named after 80’s footballers: the three Petriaggi’s – one named Diego Maradona, another Roberto Rivelino and yet another Michel Platini.
“To corroborate my claim, I can point to this article (albeit in Portuguese) and this YouTube video (again in Portuguese). I had the pleasure of playing in 2011-12 with Diego Maradona who was (and I guess still is!), aptly enough, a diminutive left-footed dribbler – although he was a mostly introverted, soft-spoken and God-fearing soul, in contrast to his namesake. His brother Roberto Rivelino was also playing the same division for part of the same season, leading to the utterly befuddling spectacle of Brazilian siblings named after footballers playing against each other in the lower reaches of the Maltese football pyramid. Diego Maradona is currently plying his trade with Corinthian Casuals in the lower reaches of the English football pyramid, having joined them this summer after a period out of the game.”
OH BROTHER
“Joleon Lescott signed for Aston Villa on deadline day,” noted Ian Symes last week. “His brother Aaron was previously at the club, making just one first team appearance on 2 January 1999. Assuming Joleon makes his debut some time in September, is 16 years and eight months the record for the longest time between two brothers playing for the same club?”
“Not even close,” writes Graham Doe. “Allan Clarke made his debut for Walsall in 1963. Subsequently brothers Derek and Kelvin also played for Walsall. Finally Wayne Clarke made his Saddlers debut in 1992 and played his last game for the club in the play-off defeat against Crewe on 19 May 1993.
“Can’t find the exact date of Allan’s debut – some sources say he was 16, others 17 – but he and Wayne certainly played for the Saddlers at least 29 years apart.”
KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE
“South Africa’s spectacular failure to reach the Africa Cup of Nations got me wondering,” wrote Ed Irwin in 2011. “Have any other teams ever played for the wrong result?”
“Spectacular” is one word for South Africa’s footballing weekend. “Hugely embarrassing and laughable mess” are several others. If you missed it, Bafana Bafana went into their final group game against Sierra Leone level on eight points with their opponents and one point behind Niger, who were taking on Egypt.
Just over an hour into the game in Nelspruit it was 0-0, but Niger were 3-0 down in Cairo. So as it stood, three teams were level on nine points. South Africa had comfortably the best goal difference, but, unfortunately for them, the head-to-head record was the one that mattered and on that criterion Niger led by a point (Niger had picked up six points against South Africa and Sierra Leone, South Africa only five against Sierra Leone and Niger).
South Africa, then, needed a goal. Unfortunately their coach, Pitso Mosimane, wasn’t up to speed on the regulations and decided to play for the draw. Which they got. Cue celebrations on the pitch, and then recriminations. Mosimane admitted he had been at fault. “Do you think I would have left [striker Lehlohonolo] Majoro on the bench and put on a midfielder if I knew that we needed a goal? It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I feel like I have failed,” he added, somehow substituting the words “feel like I have” for “have definitely and unforgivably”. “The European and South American formats are so much better,” he whined, seemingly unaware that qualification for Euro 2012 works on exactly the same basis.
The South African Football Association has even had the gall to write to the Confederation of African Football challenging the rules. “We are not satisfied about the decision, our CEO has written to CAF and we want to engage further,” said the Safa vice-president, Mandla “Shoes” Mazibuko. “As far as we are concerned, a goal-difference rule should be the first criteria.”
So an embarrassing episode for all concerned, and one only compounded by their refusal to accept it. Still, they’re not alone. Back in 1995-96 the battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League had gone right down to the wire.
Coming into the final day, Manchester City, Southampton and Coventry City were all level on 33 points. Alan Ball’s Manchester City, whose goal difference was seven goals worse than their rivals, occupied 18th spot, the final relegation place (the fates of QPR and Bolton having already been sealed). They welcomed third-placed Liverpool to Maine Road on the final day, Coventry hosted mid-table Leeds and Southampton took on Wimbledon, themselves not mathematically certain of survival, at the Dell.
Things didn’t start well in Manchester – a Steve Lomas own goal after six minutes gave Liverpool the lead and four minutes before half-time Ian Rush made it 2-0 to the visitors. At the break the games at Highfield Road and the Dell were both goalless.
Hope for City came in the shape of an Uwe Rösler penalty after 71 minutes and seven minutes later Kit Symons equalised. Maine Road went bananas, but the home side still needed to score again if Coventry and Southampton held on for draws. Ball and his players were perfectly aware of this, but what they hadn’t counted on was duff information. Somehow Ball got the impression that Southampton had gone behind. “He called me over and said: ‘We’re up, kill this game off, just do whatever you can,” recalled Lomas years later. It was the unfortunate Northern Irishman who took the ball to the corner flag and began playing for time.
It was the substituted Niall Quinn who alerted Lomas to the mistake. “I had gone off 15 minutes from time and was watching it on TV,” said Quinn. “So I had to run up the tunnel and get the message on that we needed another.” It was all in vain. It ended 2-2 and City were relegated on goal difference. Somehow Ball survived the debacle, but after three games of the following season he was out.
But there’s more. Jonathan Wilson points us towards to what he describes as “the famous case of Olt Scornicesti” but what everyone else would call “the little-known case of Olt Scornicesti”. Scornicesti was the home village of Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania’s brutal and despotic communist leader between 1965 and 1989. Jonathan picks up the story in his excellent Behind The Curtain (available in all good bookshops, etc and so forth):
“Under Florin Halagian – a coach who has been accused of beating his charges, and would commonly kick under-performing players off the team bus on the way back from away games – the side from Ceausescu’s home village miraculously earned three successive promotions in the late 70s. On one occasion they put 17 past Electrodul Slatina in the second half to win 18-0, having erroneously been informed that their rivals Flacara Moreni, who were 2-0 up at half-time, were winning 9-0.”
The problem was one of communication. With no phone line connecting the two villages, men were stationed between the two grounds with radios and instructed to relay the score to Scornicesti. Unfortunately, but rather predictably, this game of Chinese whispers went awry. On hearing the wrong score, the referee, having already blown for full-time, apparently dragged the sides out of the changing rooms and played enough injury time for the home side to rack up the goals they needed, thus securing Scornicesti’s promotion.
Other examples of fans, rather than the players or manager, getting it wrong are listed in this old Knowledge, but here’s an addendum: on the final day of the season at Gigg Lane in May 2009, a late goal sparked a pitch invasion, with several hundred fans seeming to believe the strike had secured promotion. It hadn’t. The Shakers were still in the play-offs and the delay did no one any favours.
For thousands more questions and answers take a trip through the Knowledge archive.
Can you help?
“Reading a Blackpool forum, one fan made the (faintly ridiculous) suggestion that for one game only, Blackpool fans to and cheer on their rivals Preston just to make a point regarding their owner,” writes Howard. “Made me think - with end-of-season promotion/relegation issues in mind, are there any instances of large groups of fans of a rival club turning up at their rivals ground/game to cheer on their enemies so their own team could benefit? Are there any such instances out of relegation/promotion season when, mid-season, fans have turned up to support their rivals, and if so, what were the circumstances?”
“Ipswich played Sheffield United 13 times between 1958 and 1971, with the winner alternating each time (the home team won every match except for the games in the 1960/61 season),” writes Phil Boor. “Can any pair of teams beat that kind of run?”
“I noticed that in the Georgian 1995/96 season Duruji had only won a single game,” writes Ben Watts Stanfield. “Intrigued to know which poor team had been beaten by the perennial losers, I looked down and found that in the 27th Round they had, in fact, been awarded the win over fellow relegatees Egrisi. That got me wondering, are there any other teams who have been awarded more wins than they themselves earned? Slight deviation, but the two teams had defeats awarded against them in the final round of fixtures. Could anyone shed light on the reasons why?”
“Big Phil Scolari, who won the 2002 World Cup as Brazil manager is managing Guangzhou Evergrande, who were managed by Marcello Lippi a few years ago,” writes Pablo Miguez. “Lippi of course, won the 2006 World Cup as a manager. Apart from Guangzhou Evergrande and Boca Juniors (who were managed by César Luis Menotti and Carlos Bilardo), are there any clubs who have been managed by two different World Cup winning managers?”
“With Greece currently on course to finish bottom of Group F, would they be the first top seeds to finish bottom of a Uefa qualifying group either for the Euros or the World Cup?” writes Tim Byrne. “And surely the Faroes must be the first bottom seeds to take six points off the top seeds?”
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