Inside Track: Curiosity Corner

KNOW YOUR INITIALS

It’s LD this week

1: The last game of the competition can be this

2: He played in the boiler house for the England rugby side

3: You have them at the big race meetings

4: Arguably England’s best-ever female golfer turned commentator.......

5:...and this chap of the same nationality knows a thing or two on the golf course

6: It’s a precise pass of considerable length on the football field

7: His father lined out for Ireland, but this player hopes to be in the England World Cup squad

8: This hyphenated word is a disappointment to any sportsperson

9: My Christian name is an Irish river, and my surname a well-known Dundalk Clan na Gael family

10: A Wimbledon Singles winner, and for many years the World’s No 1

WORLD CUP BITS ‘N’ PIECES

One of Portugal’s – and the game’s – greatest-ever, Eusebio (full name Eusebio Ferreira da Silva), scored on his International debut. It wasn’t, however, a very auspicious occasion for his team.

Very embarrassing, in fact. Drawn in the same qualifying group as England and Luxembourg, Portugal had their place in the 1962 finals in Chile booked before meeting Luxembourg in their last game.

Going into the tie, Luxembourg had conceded 19 goals in their three previous outings. It looked an easy one for Portugal, and that may have been the reason why 19-year-old Eusebio and others were given a first start. Luxemburg won 4-2.

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Another embarrassment was South Africa failing to see beyond the group stage in 2010. It meant that for the first time, the host nation had failed to advance to the first round or the group stage.

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Six thousand miles is a long way to travel for just one game. That was the sea journey undertaken by Mexico to reach Italy for the 1934 finals. They were beaten 4-2 by the USA in a pre-tournament and promptly headed home.

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A Republic of Ireland player has the distinction of being the first to score four goals in a World Cup match. Lining out in a 1930 qualifier with Belgium at Dalymount Park, Paddy Moore bagged the lot for his side in a 4-4 draw.

He was described as “diminutive with an aversion to train,” begging the question: What could he have achieved had he been a six-footer who couldn’t be beaten off the training ground.

Paddy was playing with Aberdeen at the time, having begun his senior career with Shamrock Rovers. He was 41 when he died.

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France have the worst record of defending champions. In 2002, four years after beating Brazil in the final, they failed win a group match and scored just one goal.

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Northern Ireland have played in three World Cup finals, but George Best, the greatest ever to wear the other green jersey, wasn’t part of any of them.

WHO AM I?

I laughed when I read the caption to the photo of England soccer team manager, Steve McLaren, along the sideline in a suit, protecting himself from the driving rain.

“Wally with the.... (my surname)”, it said. It’s more with surprise, maybe even shock, that people react to some of the stuff I write and say. In my playing days, however, I often earned cheers from the crowd.

HE SAID

“The improvement has been obvious, especially in tight games. They’ve shown more composure and supporters will expect a lot more from this point onwards.”

Steven McDonnell, an All-Ireland winner, speaking ahead of Armagh’s 2021 championship campaign.

He had only three years to wait before the Sam Maguire Cup was back to the Orchard County, manager, Kieran McGeeney, joining a select band to have won an All-Ireland as a player and manager.

ANSWERS

Know Your Initials: 1 League Decider, 2 Lawrence Dallaglio, 3 Ladies’ Day, 4 Laura Davis, 5 Luke Donald, 6 Long Delivery, 7 Liam Delap, 8 Let-down, 9 Lee Dixon, 10 Lindsay Davenport. Who Am I? Joe Brolly.