“Last month, Lazio scored a late winner (in the 82nd minute) against Parma despite having two players sent off earlier in the game,” writes Bogdan Kotarlic. “I wonder if any team has scored a goal (or maybe more) with eight players and with three players receiving red cards before that?”
There’s only one place to start: Boghead Park, Dumbarton. “In August 1991, Premier Division Airdrieonians played Dumbarton in the Scottish League Cup,” writes Bill Hall. “What looked like an innocuous tie was anything but - especially for Dumbarton’s Colin McNair, Stephen Gow and Jimmy Gilmour, who were shown red cards in what must have been a bad-tempered affair (I was there but it was 34 years ago, and I was in the pub beforehand, so memories are a bit vague).
“What I do remember is that eight-man Dumbarton valiantly held out and then went 1-0 up early in extra time before Airdrie managed to score two late goals to spare blushes, Owen Coyle sclaffing one in from a yard with the last kick of the game. Great memories, if a little vague.”
There’s an even better story from Brazil in 2005, when Grêmio beat Náutico 1-0 in a promotion playoff match. Future Manchester United star Anderson scored the winning goal in the 61st minute of the second half, by which point – and this helps explain why there was so much added time – Grêmio were down to seven men. Náutico also had a man sent off just before the goal, so it was seven versus 10 when Anderson scored. Oh, and there were two missed penalties, a face-off between police and players and much else besides. The match became known as the Batalha dos Aflitos (the Battle of the Afflicted) and even has a Wikipedia page of its own.
Rodrigo Calderon has another example from South America. “In January 1978, Talleres and Independiente were playing the second leg of the final of the 1977 Argentinian National Championship. Talleres scored a goal, apparently with a hand ball, that put them temporarily up 2-1 and would have given them the championship. Independiente players protested angrily and three players were sent off.
“The game resumed, 11 versus eight, and eight minutes later Ricardo Bochini scored the equaliser for Independiente in a counter that caught Talleres players off guard. The match ended 2-2 and Independiente won the championship on away goals (the first leg at Independiente had ended 1-1). The Talleres fans graciously applauded Independiente players. Not sure this would be the case nowadays.”
Last, and emphatically not least, to Uruguay for another case of eight men conquering 11. “In April 1987, there was a friendly tournament in Montevideo featuring Peñarol, Nacional and Betis,” writes Pablo Míguez. “The match between the Uruguayan sides became known as the ‘eight against 11 clásico’, and it’s not unusual to see Peñarol flags remembering that game. With the score 1-1, three Peñarol players were sent off during the second half, but in the 82nd minute, Peñarol found a winner. You can read about the game in Spanish here.”
Where have Ballon d’Or winners never played?
“Al-Nassr have been drawn against Arkadag in the AFC Champions League Two, making it highly likely that Cristiano Ronaldo will play in Turkmenistan,” notes Jack Hayward. “This got me thinking: what is the highest-ranked nation in the Fifa world rankings that a Ballon d’Or winner has never played in?”
Mykola Kozlenko has got us covered when it comes to the men’s game. “I am pretty sure the answer here is Senegal, currently No 19,” he writes. “I tried to find evidence of any Ballon d’Or winner playing there and failed. The best candidate would have been George Weah, but he didn’t play in the Senegal v Liberia match on 30 July 1995 (he did play the home leg). During his African club career he didn’t face any Senegalese opposition.
“Senegal also hasn’t hosted any major competitions, except the 1992 African Cup of Nations (where Liberia didn’t qualify). The national team did play against Ballon d’Or winners (e.g. against Luka Modrić’s Croatia in 2018) but never in Senegal, always away or on neutral territory. I couldn’t find any evidence of even friendly matches involving any club or national team that would feature any Ballon d’Or winner in Senegal.”
The Ballon d’Or Féminin, which was introduced in 2018, has only been won by four players: Ada Hegerberg, Megan Rapinoe, Alèxia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí. We thought the answer might be Japan, who are eighth in the world rankings, but Hegerberg played there in the Under-20 World Cup in 2012. And so we move to an answer that requires no additional detail: No 9, North Korea.
An own-goal scoring hat-trick hero
“Inspired by an occurrence I saw on Football Manager, have there been any notable examples of a player scoring a hat-trick and an own goal in the same match?” asks Jason Jandu.
In September 2019, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea romped to a 5-2 victory at Wolves in the Premier League. Tammy Abraham, one of the young players given a chance by Lampard, scored his first hat-trick for the club to put them 4-0 up early in the second half. He then scored a consolation goal for Wolves, becoming the first player in the Premier League era to score a hat-trick and an own goal in the same game.
Knowledge archive
“Scott Bain signed for Hibs on loan on the first day of the window and left for Celtic on the last day. Have any other players ever joined and left a club in the same window?” tweeted Brian Milne in 2018.
The answer, of course, is yes. In the summer of 1980, Clive Allen joined Arsenal from QPR for a fee of £1.25m. He played in three friendlies before joining Crystal Palace’s team of the 1980s, in a swap deal which sent Kenny Sansom and his Norman Wisdom impressions in the opposite direction. Ostend Gudgeon reckons this became a Newman-Baddiel running gag, “probably in the Mary Whitehouse Experience”.
James Borg, meanwhile, remembers January 2004, when Liverpool had Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland injured. “So the club brought in veteran Wales goalkeeper Paul Jones on a short-term loan from Southampton. Jones played two games, keeping a clean sheet in the first and conceding two in the second. He returned to Southampton at the end of January.”
And he continues: “In 1998, Coventry bought Croatian international Robert Jarni. However, Real Madrid took a fancy to him after some good displays at that year’s World Cup. They eventually persuaded Coventry to sell him on before he had made any appearances for the Sky Blues.
“That same summer David Unsworth asked to be transferred from West Ham to be closer to his Merseyside home. He signed for Aston Villa, but then (allegedly under pressure from his wife) decided that Birmingham was not close enough, and told Villa he wanted to return to Everton. So Unsworth rejoined the Toffees, having spent just a few weeks at Villa. He is still at Everton today.” This, of course, greatly amused the Villa manager, John Gregory. “It’s quite clear that it’s David’s missus who wears the trousers in their house,” he informed the press. “She refused point-blank to move to the Midlands.”
Finally, Dave Claes points to Dodi Lukébakio, signed in January by Watford. “When Watford declared their interest, he was on loan to Sporting Charleroi from Anderlecht. Charleroi had an option to buy Lukebakio and took it up, paying Anderlecht around £1.35m. Watford then paid around £4.5m for his services, netting Charleroi a tidy profit for a player who was officially theirs for a very short time.”
Can you help?
“Ashleigh Neville made her debut for Leicester on Sunday against former club Spurs, scoring an own goal in the 40th minute,” writes Kirsty O’Neill. “Has anyone else (man or woman) played their debut against their former club and scored an OG? And if so, has anyone managed to do it faster than Ash?”
“The funeral of the former Norway player and manager Åge Hareide, who died in December, was shown live on Norwegian state television. Have the funerals of other footballing figures been broadcast on terrestrial TV?” asks Kári Tulinius.
“Following on from Manchester City’s joint-record win against Exeter (or Exeter’s joint-record defeat if you prefer), it feels like most of these record victories occurred many moons ago when it was more common to see teams score 10 goals in a game. Who has the most recent outright record victory/defeat?” asks Dan Taylor. “Let’s not include phoenix clubs.”
“West Ham are in danger of having both their men’s and women’s sides relegated this season. Has any club in the top flight of both divisions ever had that happen to them before?” asks Glenn.
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