Five bizarre moments in football history

As Jimmy Greaves once proclaimed, “football is a funny old game.” And Greaves, one of the most precocious goalscorers in English football history and one half of celebrated television duo ‘Saint and Greavsie,’ couldn’t have been more right when he coined the famous phrase for the first time.
We have over the years witnessed all number of bizarre and frankly comedic incidents that have made us laugh, wince and look on in almost disbelief at the events unfolding in front of our eyes. For example, who could forget Motown legend Diana Ross’ pitiful and embarrassing penalty kick miss during her opening ceremony performance ahead of the 1994 World Cup finals or Zinedine Zidane’s spontaneous head butt into the chest of Italian defender Marco Materazzi which saw him sent off in the 2006 World Cup final? Then there were Newcastle teammates Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer fighting each other on the pitch during a match, Eric Cantona’s infamous Kung-fu kick on an abusive fan and Paolo Di Canio’s shove on referee Paul Alcock who stumbled before falling to the floor like a drunk exiting a pub.
Yes, there have been many odd and let’s be honest funny moments for us all to savour over the years. But here we remember with a wry smile a few of the lesser known incidents that have occurred in history that may well have escaped your attention.
Welsh referee Thomas controversially disallows last gasp Brazil winner
Picture the scene. Brazil, the three-time World Champions are drawing 1-1 with Sweden in their first match of the 1978 World Cup finals with the full time whistle imminent. The ball goes out for a corner. One last opportunity for the Selecao to snatch a valuable opening win. Seconds remain and as Nelinho flights his cross into the box, future Brazilian legend Zico rises highest to head home the winner. Only it isn’t the winner. Cue referee Clive Thomas to take centre stage as the Brazilians celebrate their late goal.
The Welshman walks off the pitch pointing at his watch to signal that he has blown the full time whistle. He had but not after the ball had nestled in the net but just as Zico was about to head home the winning goal. Despite the animated protestations of the Brazilians however and the bewilderment of the watching world, Thomas, a renowned stickler for the rules waved his arms in the air to signal no goal and exited the field without even an air of apology or embarrassment. To his credit, Thomas, who caused controversy with his decision making on more than one occasion during his career, took part in a sketch for the popular television show Fantasy Football League with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel in the 1990s during which they recreated the famous incident. It’s unlikely though that you’ll find a Brazilian who would watch the ‘Phoenix From The Flames’ recreation and find humour in it.
Panama’s ghost goal helps secure first ever World Cup qualification
Over the years there have been plenty of goals that have been ruled out wrongly despite the ball clearly crossing the line for a goal. Think Pedro Mendes for Spurs against Manchester United or Frank Lampard for England against Germany at the 2010 World Cup. On the other side of the coin we’ve witnessed Luis Garcia’s ghost goal which sent Liverpool to the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul at the expense of Chelsea and that bizarre Reading goal against Watford back in 2008 that actually went wide of the post yet was still awarded as a goal by the referee in charge.
However, has any goal ever been as controversial or as important as the one awarded to Panama during their crucial World Cup qualifying match against Costa Rica? Unlikely. Trailing 1-0 at home and seemingly set to miss out on a first ever finals appearance, a corner in the 52nd minute saw Gabriel Torres’ effort strike a post and as forward Blas Perez attempted to force the ball home a Costa Rican defender prevented it crossing the line and scrambled the ball out for what he thought would be a corner. Yet, to the amazement of the Costa Rican team and millions across the globe referee Walter Lopez awarded a goal despite the fact that the ball had clearly not crossed the line. A late winner from Torres secured a crucial win for Panama and coupled with the USA’s shock defeat to Trinidad and Tobago, ensured a first ever finals appearance for the Central American nation.
Greavsie gets soiled by Garrincha’s dog during a World Cup match
How’s this for sheer comedy? Way back in 1962 during a World Cup quarter-final between Walter Winterbottom’s England and World Cup holders Brazil in Chile, proceedings were brought to a standstill by a canine invader who decided to go for a run around the pitch mid-match. It’s nothing we haven’t all seen before with cats, dogs and even squirrels making the headlines for interrupting professional football matches over the years at one time or another.
But on this occasion things played out a little differently. After giving his would be captors the run around, England’s star forward Greaves, an avid dog lover, got down on his hands and knees and beckoned the canine to him. However upon collaring his furry friend he was rewarded when the dog urinated all over his white England shirt. Reliving the story some years later, Greaves told how back in the day the team only had one set of kit and how he therefore had to complete the match in his urine-soaked shirt. Lovely eh? After the match, which Brazil won 3-1, Greaves revealed that Garrincha who scored two goals to send England crashing out of the tournament, adopted the stray dog resulting in the Tottenham forward being nicknamed ‘Garrincha’s dog-catcher.’
Scotland line up to play absolutely nobody
Have you ever played or watched a match where you thought to yourself the opposition might as well have not bothered turning up? Well back in 1996 the Scottish national team travelled to Estonia to face the hosts in a World Cup qualifier only to learn that their hosts would be doing just that – not turning up. The Estonian team would refuse to play citing logistical problems for their players following a late change of kick-off time due to the FIFA match delegate’s concerns over the stadium’s floodlights.
Hence, Craig Brown’s men changed and readied themselves for kick-off, shook hands with the referee and his assistants and completed the coin toss while the travelling Tartan Army in attendance sang in good voice “Only one team in Tallinn.” Billy Dodds kicked off the match passing the ball to John Collins before the referee blew the final whistle after just three seconds. What a farce. Due to the Estonians refusal to play, it was expected that Scotland would be awarded a 3-0 victory. However, after months of debate UEFA ruled that the match would be replayed in Monaco. It surely was and the match ended 0-0. What a waste of time that was then!
Zaire international fails to understand free-kick laws, or does he?
This surely has to go down as one of the funniest moments in footballing history. Anybody who knows a thing or two about football will be aware that when the referee awards a free-kick to the opposing team, the defending team needs to firstly retreat 10 yard and then wait for the opposing team to actually take the free-kick before being permitted to approach the ball. Tell that to former Zaire international Mwepu Ilunga who sadly passed away two years ago. He obviously didn’t get the memo. Or did he?
Back in 1974 during a World Cup match against reigning champions Brazil, Ilunga lined up in the Zairean wall to defend a free-kick when suddenly he broke ranks and hoofed the ball down field before a Brazil player could react. A figure of amusement ever since for his apparent lack of knowledge of the laws of the game, Ilunga refuted such claims in 2010 by revealing that he acted deliberately in protest at the Zairean government’s decision to withhold bonus payments to himself and his teammates. Whatever the truth of the matter, it still raises a smile every time it’s shown on television.
There have been countless instances of bizarre incidents occurring on football pitches around the world. And while the Sun Bets sports betting website may not be able to offer odds on dogs urinating on famous footballers or a team lining up to play nobody, it can offer all the best prices on worldwide football from the Premier League to the World Cup. Panama to win the World Cup next year? Okay maybe that’s going a bit too far!