Avoiding the Drop

Well, as usual, both of “the Andrews” took a stab at last week’s challenge, but unfortunately neither got them all right- but one did do significantly better than the other.  I won’t single out “that” Andrew, he can suffer in his own personal silence…  No, we had one winning entry this week and it was our very own Mags.  He plays along most weeks, but just for the fun of it, not to get his name in the post, preferring to leave the glory for those of you who are kind enough to visit ATD and play along with my little quizzes.  We’ll give him a tip of the cap this week, though, just to let him know he’s appreciated.

To the Answermobile!

1. What do these cities have in common?

-Sandviken: Northernmost city to host a World Cup match.

-Mar Del Plata: Southernmost city to host a World Cup match.

-Palo Alto: Westernmost city to host a World Cup match.

-Sapporo: Easternmost city to host a World Cup match.

2. Who was the Scotsman who played 9 matches (scoring 7 times!), for the Azzurri? Giovanni “Johnny” Moscardini, who was born in Falkirk.  I could go into a whole “thing” about what a vital role Italian immigrants have played in the history of Scotland over the last century or so, but I try your patience quite enough so I’ll move along…really though, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear somebody like race car driver Dario Franchitti speak with a Scottish accent- it’s more common than you think.  For instance, there’s Paul di Giacomo at Ross County…

3. What famous German team fielded a starting line-up of players whose first names were, Gottfried (Leibniz), Immanuel (Kant), Georg (Hegel), Arthur (Schopenhauer), Friedrich (Schelling), Friedrich (Nietzsche), Franz (Beckenbauer), Karl (Jaspers), Karl (Schlegel), Ludgwig (Wittgenstein), and Martin (Heidegger)? These were the first names of the German players who started against the Greeks in Monty Python’s “Philosphers’ Football Match” skit.  Notes, Karl Marx was on the bench and came on as a second half substitute, Ludwig Wittgenstein was actually Austrian, and “Der Kaiser,” as you know, wasn’t actually a philosopher, but a reasonably good footballer.

4. Has the USMNT ever fielded a World Cup squad comprised of entirely native-born players? If so, in what World Cup did this team play? No.  Not even close.  Not this summer either…Holden, Feilhaber, etc.

5. What do these players have in common:  Ronaldo, Emmanuel Adabayor, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Roberto Baggio, Ronaldinho, Raul Gonzalez, and Luis Figo? All of these players are (or were) some form of ambassador for UNICEF.

6. What national team plays its matches on a pitch made of dirt, in a “stadium” that holds 2,000 supporters but has no permanent seats, and may be the only outdoor pitch in the entire country? The Greenland National team who play in Nuuk Stadium in Greenland’s capital city of Nuuk.

7. What do these dates have in common:  September 24, June 11, July 5, September 28, July 12, March 26, November 7? There is a football stadium named after each one of them.

8. Only one club team in the world plays in a stadium named for a pope. What is the club and who is the pope? A.S.D. Albalonga, who play in Italy’s Serie D play in Stadio Pio XII.

9. What do these places have in common? They are the locations of the main location of the national training center/center of excellence/football academy in their respective countries.

• Largs: Scotland
• Clairefontaine: France
• Burton-upon-Trent: England
• Coverciano: Italy
• Togliatti(Tolyatti): Russia
• Carson: United States

10. What is the oldest manufacturer of football equipment (boots, balls, goalie gloves, etc.) in the world?

The English sporting goods company Mitre was founded in 1817.  Mitre is one of those interesting companies that sell all of their quality mersh in the home country and send all of their crap to us.  Fun Fact:  During their most recent foray into the U.S. “boot” market, their top model was made from goat leather- true story.

As always, I’ll be back tomorrow with a new challenge.