What are some amazing facts about football/soccer players? | Ask Me
What are some amazing facts about football/soccer players?
Goalkeeper Arthur Wharton was the first black professional soccer player. He was born in Ghana (then Gold Coast). Arthur played his professional soccer for English team Rotherham United, in 1889.
The only goalkeeper to win a ballon d’or was a Russian Lev Yashin.
Nicknamed The Black Spider, he spent his whole 20-year career plying his trade for Dynamo Moscow and representing The Soviet Union (now Russia).
He developed the role of the modern goalkeeper by guiding and controlling the game from the back and played a sweeper role by intercepting crossed and rushing opposition players at a period when goalkeepers were static between the posts.
Yashin forged his legacy in the 1958 world cup which was the first to be broadcast and showcased his brilliance to the whole world. He was honored by the prestigious Balon D’or and was inducted into the World Cup all-time team.
Pele, one of many superstars with single word nicknames from Brazil, received his nickname due to having six toes on each foot when he was born. The word Pele means “six feet” in Brazilian Portuguese.
Pele is the only player to hoist the World Cup trophy three times. He won the 1958, 1962, and 1970 titles with Brazil.
Ballon D’or winner George Weah became a President.
The only African player to win the prestigious Balon D’or, he earned the distinction of becoming the 25th president of Liberia. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, the former PSG and AC Milan forward entered into politics first serving as a senator before campaigning for the top job. In 1996, George Weah also paid his teammates uniforms and expenses, so that Liberia could enter the African Nations Cup.
Oleg Salenko of Russia holds the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup match. He was able to score 5 in Russia’s win over Cameron in 1994.
Didier Drogba helped to stop a civil war in his country, Ivory Coast.
On October 8th, 2005, Ivory Coast battled to qualify for their first ever World Cup. After scoring a goal that sent Ivory Coast to the world cup for the first time, Drogba recorded a video urging the warring factions to hold their arms and make peace. The factions taking from the singing and dancing of the players in accord decided to lay down their arms silencing the civil war that had been raging.
Rogelio Ceni is the top scoring goalkeeper with 131 goals.
Spending a bulk of his 25-year career in Sao Paulo, and earning 18 caps for Brazil Ceni, managed to reach a tally of goals some strikers dream of. The former Flamengo coach was a dead ball specialist and was his team’s official penalty and free-kick taker since 1997 until he hang up his gloves in 2015 at the age of 40. He was always comfortable with the ball at his feet and also an exceptional shot stopper which was evident in the Club World Cup Final win against Liverpool in 2005.
The richest soccer player is Faiq Bolkiah.
While the debate will always rage on between Messi and Ronaldo in how their performances affect their income and who makes more, the richest soccer player is former Leicester City reserve player Faiq Bolkiah. Though most footballers derive their earnings from the game, the player derives his from family possessions. The player is nephew to the Sultan of Brunei and is worth an estimated 20 billion dollars.
The most expensive transfer in soccer history came when Paris St. Germain paid FC Barcelona $263 million to obtain Neymar Jr.
Subscribe- t.me/askmenow
