Showing posts with label "Forgotten footballer". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "Forgotten footballer". Show all posts

Friday, September 5, 2014

Forgotten Footballer: Tony Morley


Please also see my
 All-Time World Cup Team Index.
EnglandScotlandWales,
Ireland/Northern Ireland combined team,
IrelandNorthern Ireland,

United Kingdom.
Aston Villa

Tony Morley, the hero of Aston Villa's 1982 European Cup victory, was relatively a forgotten man.  He was one of the most exciting winger of his time.   He started his career with Preston North End, playing with Bobby Charlton.  The best of his career was spent in Aston Villa, where he joined in 1979 for 200,000 pounds. He was a skilful winger known for his spectacular goals.  In 1981, he scored against Everton, the club he supported as a child.  The goal would become the goal of the year in the English league.  At Aston Villa, he was known for his partnership with striker Peter Withe.  They won the League Championship in 1980–81 and the European Cup the year after. The winning goal against Bayern Munich in the final was scored by Withe after a skilful dribble and a cross from Morley.

Aston Villa winning the European Cup in 1982


That same year, Morley was selected for the provisional squad for the WC Finals in Spain, but Ron Greenwood did not select him for the final squad, despite Aston Villa the European Cup that year.  He opted for Graham Rix of Arsenal. The snub was a great disappointment for his career.  Some said that his career became a slow decline after that.  He would play in Holland, Hong Kong and the United States later in his career.



Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Monday, September 1, 2014

From NCAA soccer to Chelsea's executive: Michael Emenalo


Please also see my
 All-Time World Cup Team Index.




Michael Emenalo is one of the few Black executive in English football.  At the time of writing, he is criticised by Chelsea fans for his mismanagement of recent transfers.   However, at one point, he was considered to be a genius at the "art" of football transfers.  His assent to the top of football world was very dramatic.

Emenalo left Nigeria for a college education in the US.  He joined Boston University in 1986, where he excelled in both classroom and the soccer field.  He earned "All-American" selection while at BU. Upon graduation, he went to play for Molenbeek in Belgium, Eintracht Trier in Germany and Notts County F.C in England before going back to the MLS. Emenalo was part of the original allocated players for Major League Soccer and spent two seasons (1996–97) with the San Jose Clash. After that, he played with Lleida in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.  

He was capped 14 times by Nigeria, and played all but one of Nigeria's game at USA 1994.



At Maccabi Tel Aviv, he played under Avram Grant and Grant was impressed with his intelligence.  When Grant went to Chelsea, he brought Emenalo with him in 2007.  Perhaps, he was one of the few professional players with a college degree.   He quickly worked his way up.  On 8 July 2011, Chelsea appointed Emenalo Technical Director, making him one of the most powerful men at the club.  His responsibilities include heading the scouting and academy programs. 


Emenalo went to Boston University and became one of the few Black, football executive  in Europe.




Thursday, May 8, 2014

Giancarlo Antognoni: the forgotten man of Italian football


Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Italian diaspora
Southern ItalyCentral Italy,
Northern Italy(excluding Lombardy)Lombardy
Italy after 1982Italy between 1938 and 1982.
What if Italy Euro 1992


Giancarlo Antognoni was the heart and soul of Fiorentina during the 1970's and 1980's.  He is regarded as one of the club's greatest players ever wore the purple jersey.  He started his career not with Fiorentina but with Italian Serie D club Astimacobi.   In 1972, Nils Liedholm convinced him to join Fiorentina.  He played over 400 games for them and holds the record for the most appearances in Serie A for Fiorentina, with 341 appearances.

During his prime, Antognoni was considered to be one of the Italian players in his generation. However, he does not have the same name recognition of his contemporaries, despite helping Italy to win the World Cup.  Paulo Rossi scored 6 goals and was proclaimed the hero of the World Cup.  Dino Zoff was the captain that organised one of the best defence in history.  Along with Marco Tardelli, Gaetano Scirea, Claudio Gentile and Antonio Cabrini, they also built a dynasty with Juventus at the club level.  Giancarlo Antognoni, on the other hand, stayed loyal with Fiorentina and only won a Coppa Italia in 1975.  He also missed the World Cup Final due to an injury.

Antognoni had his best chance to win a major trophy for his club team during the 1981-1982 season.  Earlier in the season, he suffered a horrible, head  injury after being knocked down by Genoa's goalkeeper, Artemio Franchi.  His career could have ended that day.  Despite Antognoni missing many games, Fiorentina still managed to be level on points with Juventus heading to the final game of the season, but Fiorentina could not break the deadlock against Cagliari while Juventus won by a single goal. Liam Brady who already knew that Juventus had signed Michel Platini as his replacement scored the only goal from the penalty. 


Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Vsevolod Bobrov: the two sport hero of the Soviet Union

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

Этот блогер Артур Янтурин скопировал мою блог-команду. Его запись была написана в 2020 году, но моя была загружена в 2014 году. Я также периодически ее обновлял. Я нашел ошибки. Он сохранил мои ошибки. Казалось, он был кем-то из бывшего Советского Союза. Он должен был знать эту тему гораздо лучше, чем я, но все равно допускал мои ошибки. Он также скопировал многие-многие мои блогерские записи.

Его запись "Состав Спартака Москва за всю историю" была опубликована в октябре 2020 года, а моя - в 2017 году. Его запись о голландско-немецком соперничестве между Реал Мадрид и Барселоной была написана в 2020 году, а моя - в 2014 году.

His Facebook and Instagram

Please also see my
 All-Time World Cup Team Index

Soviet UnionRussiaUkraine,

The former Soviet Union without (Ukraine and Russia)
Central Asia

Vsevolod Bobrov was one of the greatest ice hockey player in history. He was also capped by the Soviet Union football team three times. He led the Soviet football league in scoring twice.    He represented the USSR for soccer in 1952 Olympics.  Four years later, he won the gold medal for hockey in 1956.  He also represented the Soviet Union in bandy.

Bobrov started his career playing bandy hockey as a youngster.  He soon was discovered by CDKA Moscow for his football talents.  In 1945, he joined Dynamo Moscow as a guest player for a tour of Great Britain.  He scored six goals against teams which included Chelsea, Arsenal, and Glasgow Rangers.  He was highly rated by the British.  During his visit in Britain, he accidentally discovered ice hockey.  He literally walked into a game between two British teams and he fell in love with the sport. After returning to the Soviet Union, he started to play ice hockey for CDKA Moscow.



On the football field, he was the Soviet league top scorer in 1947.  He was capped 3 times, scoring 5 goals.  At the 1952 Olympics against Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union was down 5-1, but they fought back and made 5-5.  He scored a hat trick in the game. During the extra-time, Bobrov dribbled past several defenders and hit the post.  After 1952, he lost interests in football and concentrated on ice hockey.


His successes on the ice rink exceeded that of his successes on the football field.  In 1948, Bobrov scored 52 goals, compared to the runner-up who had 23. He also won the league scoring crown in 1951 (41 goals) and 1952 (34 goals).  In 1950, a plane crash almost killed the entire Soviet national ice hockey team. Bobrov survived the crash as he overslept and travelled by rail.  With his leadership, the Soviet Union won the world championship Gold medals in 1954 and 56.  They also came second in 1955 and 57. He also won the Olympic Gold in 1956.  He played 59 international games for his country and scored 89 goals.

He was enshrined into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1997, the first year it was created. For the greatest Russian athlete in the 20th century, Bobrov finished third behind football goalkeeper Lev Yashin and Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin. 



Monday, January 13, 2014

Forgotten Footballer: Gerri Muhren

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram




Gerri Muhren played a big part on the great Ajax team of the 1970's that won three European Cup.  Against Real Madrid in the semi-final of the European Cup in 1973, he decided to jiggle the ball in the middle of the field before passing it.  His action captured the minds of football fans from around the world.  Many considered the jiggling act as symbol of Ajax's greatness.  

Muhren was projected to be a starter at the WC Finals in 1974.  Unfortunately, he withdraw from the squad because his son was ill.  Wim Jensen took his spot in the starting lineup.  Without the spotlight from the WC Finals, his name is not as famous as the Dutch players of his generation.   His brother Arnold Muhren was a part of the great Dutch team that won the European Championship in 1988.  Although Gerri was probably rated higher of the two, Arnold is probably the bigger name because of the title in 1988.  

Gerri Muhren would finish his career in Spain and Hong Kong.  He died in 2013.


Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Surnamese-Dutch,
North HollandSouth Holand.
The rest of Holland excluding North and South Holland
Netherlands All-Time Team After Johan Cruyff
Netherlands 2002

Dutch-Indos/Indonesia-born Dutch All-Time Team