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“Lionel Messi scored two goals from free-kicks against Celta Vigo,” writes Bogdan Kotarlic. “Has anyone ever scored a hat-trick of direct free-kicks?”
We were inundated with examples of free-kick hat-trickery, with plenty of video evidence to back them up. So, here goes …
“I remember watching ‘colourful’ Serbian centre-half, Sinisa Mihajlovic, score a hat-trick of free-kicks in a Serie A match in the late 90s. Looking it up, it was for Lazio, in a 5-2 victory over Sampdoria on 13 December 1998,” writes Nick Kaye.
Renzo Di Felice adds that “Giuseppe Signori did it too, while playing for the same team, Lazio, in their 3-1 win over Atalanta on 10 April 1994”.
Moving on, James Calder offers: “Marcus Assunção, formerly of Real Betis and one of the greatest free-kick specialists of them all, achieved the feat for Santos in a 1998 Brazilian Cup tie against Bahia. The match ended in a 3-3 draw.”
Amadeu Faccini Avi points us in the direction of Kostas Frantzeskos, who pulled one off in 1997 for PAOK against Kastoria FC. He’s not finished there, though, as he’s also unearthed an example from Japan, where Cristiano da Silva walloped home three in 2015 for Kashima Reysol against Vegalta Sendai.
And Raymond Simpson takes us to Scotland to round things off. “Ray McKinnon of my team Dundee United managed this on Saturday 22 February 1997 in a 3-2 win away at Kilmarnock.”
Spoilers at the match (2)
Last week we detailed examples of TV show spoilers at football matches. Andy Wright has been in touch with a twist on the original question, the pesky so and so …
“If you want to turn last week’s subject upside down, how about a show spoiling the result of a football match?” he writes. “Anyone who decided to tape the 2005 Champions League final because they had a ticket for Elvis Costello at UEA would have heard the performer giving away the result from the stage.
“When Liverpool reached that final, Costello (a lifelong Liverpool fanatic) tried to reschedule his gig set for 25 May in Norwich. He couldn’t, but put the word out via local press that he would play after the scheduled 90 minutes. He and the band eventually took to the stage as extra-time was starting, with a crew member primed to keep Costello updated. The result was confirmed via the 15th song of the night – the first and only time the band played You’ll Never Walk Alone.
“I was also at a show that was spoiled by the result of a match. An hour after Leeds beat Arsenal in the 1972 FA Cup final, the Kinks (Arsenal fans) were due on stage at a festival in Bickershaw, Lancs. They consoled themselves by getting staggering drunk and accordingly played with the finesse of men wearing boxing gloves. It was only recently I discovered that a young lad called Declan McManus was also in the crowd that day …”
Champions after being thumped on opening day
“With Chelsea riding high in the Premier League despite being smashed 4-0 by Manchester United in their first game, what is the biggest opening-day defeat a team has suffered and still gone on to win the league?” asks Stefan Glosby.
“The ‘You’ll never win anything with kids’ game comes to mind when Manchester United lost 3-1 to Aston Villa in 1995,” suggests Tom Aldous. If we dip down a couple of divisions, David Bullock has a cracking example with a couple of twists from League One. “Brian Gunn’s Norwich City lost 7-1 to Colchester United (managed by Paul Lambert) on the opening day of the 2009-10 season. They went on to win the league by nine points after hiring Paul Lambert as manager. Norwich also beat Colchester 5-0 in the reverse fixture later in the season.”
FA Cup downward spirals
“Chesterfield v Wrexham met in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round, with Wrexham winning the replay,” begins Ken Foster. “In 1997 they also met in the FA Cup sixth round proper. Has there ever been a fixture separated by so many rounds?”
Martin Kane thinks you may find a meeting of two Lancastrian sides stretches the gap. “The ‘Mathews final’ between Blackpool and Bolton took place in 1953 and in 1989-90 the two sides met again in the first round. Match of the Day made a big thing of it, as I recall. Should Bolton’s downward trajectory continue, there is the possibility of the 1894 final between them and Notts County being recreated in the preliminary rounds of the competition.”
Knowledge archive
“Could you tell me which three sets of brothers have played in European Cup finals? asked Genevieve Masroh in May 2005. “Plenty of free drinks are in the balance for this.”
Here at The Knowledge, we always like to try and help any of our readers win booze-related bets, so here goes nothing. First up, in 1975, were the Gray brothers – Frank and Eddie – lining up in the same Leeds United team that controversially lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich. Eddie, subsequently caretaker manager at Elland Road, came on as a substitute, but he couldn’t stop the Germans’ victory. Then, a year later, came the Revelli siblings: Hervé and Patrick. Sadly, their final appearance against Bayern also ended in defeat, 1-0 at Hampden Park. But one famous set of brothers did taste European Cup glory, in 1995, when Frank and Ronald de Boer helped Ajax sink Milan 1-0. The pair then lined up for the Amsterdammers in the 1996 final, but this time they lost to Juventus on penalties.
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Can you help?
“I heard that a player called Thomas Sweswe played a full 90 minutes without touching the ball. He’s a retired Zimbabwean footballer. Is this true?” asks Ogunsile Olumide.
Michael Gledhill
(@uki2484)@TheKnowledge_GU Highland League side Keith have a prolific scorer in their side whose surname is Keith. Any other examples of players with the same surname as their clubs name?
Opta Fred
(@OptaFred)In Paris, there’s a restaurant called Joe Allen. Apparently it’s the oldest American restaurant in Paris. This got me wondering, are there any other restaurants that have the same name as footballers? And what kind of restaurant would someone like Sean Dyche open? Or Harry Kane?
“Owing to a number of home draws in the FA Trophy and FA Cup, a rescheduled match and a postponement, Haringey Borough played their 10th consecutive home game last Monday. Is it a record?” asks Jem French.
Scott Walden
(@ScottyWalden)Breaks between home league games… Boston United are scheduled to play a home league game tonight, for the first time since September 28th. What’s the longest break (same season, of course) between home league games?
“Queens Park have voted to end their purely amateur status and can now take on players on a professional basis. What is the highest status that an amateur club has reached in the post-war years, taking into account the standard of the national league they play in?” asks Alistair Murdoch.
Ross Taylor
(@RossP_Taylor)@TheKnowledge_GU Having looked at their Wikipedia page, I notice that Luxembourg’s biggest ever win was a 6-0 tonking of Afghanistan in 1948, which for some reason took place in Brighton – can anyone elucidate, and are there any other equally bizarre occurrences?
“When Georginio Wijnaldum played for Feyenoord, he lost 10-0 to PSV at their Philips Stadium in Eindhoven,” begins Johan van Slooten. “This was in October 2010. Less than a year later, he played with the Netherlands in the same stadium, beating San Marino 11-0. Has there been another player who enjoyed such opposite fortunes in the same stadium in an equally short period?”
• Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.
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