Jon Stollberg - Totally Epic, True and Wacky Soccer Facts and Stories

TOTALLY Epic ,

True & WACKY

SOCCER

FACTS & STORIES

BY PUCK ART BY JON STOLLBERG

duo press

Contents

Post game show:

Introduction

Soccer is played all over the world. With millions of fans and thousands of games played week after week, its easy to hear epic stories of heroism and glory and tales about the great players and the amazing gooooooooooals!

But of course soccer also has a wild side. Some of the stories in this book are weird, a bit odd, and definitely crazy. Others are about amazing (and not so amazing) records and those passionate (and sometimes wild) fans in the stadiums.

So, trap the ball, start dribbling, and be ready for an epic run to the goal!

Chapter

Youve Got to Be

Kidding Me!

O n and off the field, anything can happen. On the pitch (thats British for field) things can get odd, gross, and sometimes ridiculous .

From floating soccer fields to megastars injuring themselves playing video games, these pages are your ticket to some of the wackiest moments of world soccer.

Y ou can buy a true-to-life sculpture of Lionel Messi for only $5 million. It is made of gold and was designed by a Japanese jeweler.

The shirt that Pel wore during the final match of the 1970 World Cup, in which Brazil won its third World Cup trophy, was sold in 2002 for US $137,100.

Alfredo Di Stfano, one of the best players in soccer history, built a monument for a soccer ball in his house. Its a ball made of bronze with a plaque that reads Gracias, vieja. (Thanks, old woman.)

Old soccer stadiums didnt have many seats. Most fans watched the games standing on bleachers made of concrete.

The record for the highest-altitude stadium belongs to the Hernando Siles Stadium in Bolivia. With an altitude of 2.23 miles (3.6 kilometers) above sea level, playing here leaves players gasping for breath.

The Float at Marina Bay is the biggest floating soccer stadium in the world. The pitch of the stadium floats on the waters of the Marina Reservoir in Singapore.

The Panyee Football Club on the island of Koh Panyee in Thailand needed a place to play their games. But finding a patch of grass on this tiny fishing island was impossible. Even the schools sit atop stilts here. So the kids decided to build a floating football field. Today, the Panyee Football Club is one of the best youth teams in Thailand!

Thousands of soccer fans gather every year to watch games played by elephants in Chitwan National Park in Nepal!

Perhaps the messiest form of soccer is swamp football. Six players per team play in a swamp and do their best to play the beautiful game. The Swamp Soccer World Cup is held in Scotland every year.

If you like both soccer and bike riding, then cycle ball is the sport for you. Also known as radball, this is a form of soccer where teams of two players ride bikes while controlling a ball with the wheels.

Golfoot is a mix of golf and soccer. The idea is to kick a ball into a hole, as in golf. Of course the holes are much bigger here.

T hings seemed normal on the field when France was playing Kuwait during the 1982 World Cup in Spainthat is until a man wearing a robe, sandals, and a kaffiyeh (an Arab headdress) stormed onto the field to protest a goal. The man, a sheik and also president of the Kuwait Football Federation, was upset about what he thought was an illegal goal against his team. The referees were so confused that they agreed with him and changed their decision. France won the game 4 to 1, something no leader could have stopped.

A 2001 study found that the jersey of a soccer player almost doubles in weight from the beginning of a game to the end. Thats a lot of sweat!

B razil and Italy were playing for a spot in the World Cup final in 1938. With only a few minutes left to play, the referee conceded a penalty for the Italians. Giuseppe Meazza, an Italian striker, placed the ball in the penalty spot. A goal would put Italy in the final. With great determination, Meazza began his run, and just when he was about to kick the ball his shorts dropped. The spectators, the referee, and especially the Brazilian goalie didnt know what to make of this, but Meazza never hesitated, grabbing his falling shorts with one hand and kicking the ball with his powerful foot. He scored, and Italy played the final match a couple of days later.