Panini fail : Ian RUSH

Rush made his Welsh debut before he had been handed his first start for Liverpool, playing his first match on 21 May 1980 against Scotland in Glasgow, a 0–1 loss. He played his last international match on 24 January 1996 – a friendly match against Italy in Terni which Wales lost 0–3. Rush played regularly for the Welsh national team for more than 15 years, scoring 28 goals (Welsh record) in 73 games. He scored in a friendly against Italy in Brescia on 4 June 1988, the only goal in a shock win. During his career the team never qualified for a major tournament, although in 1991 he scored the winning goal in a memorable Euro 1992 qualifier against Germany on 5 June 1991. On 9 October 1992, he netted a hat-trick in a 6–0 win over the Faroe Islands at Cardiff Arms Park in 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, the first Welsh hat-trick in over 13 years, and one of only 14 in the nation's history. So the sticker on the left is a fake than I made, first for the topic Ian RUSH : The Integral. But this week-end I find a nice fail in the Colombian Panini album of 1989. In this album and as the national team has benne qualified for the 1990 World Cup, Panini made a special double page with the future stars of the Italian World Cup. Of Course you can see the national idol on the top Carlos Valderrama and others stars like Diego Maradona, Gary Lineker, Dragan Stojkovic, Enzo Francescoli or Ruud Gullit (All OSP's legends as you can see on the right column) and also Ian RUSH for.... United Kingdom !!! Perfectly like Gary Lineker. A big fail for Panini Colombia who didn't know that Gary Lineker played for England and Ian Rush for Wales. 

Ian RUSH : The Integral

Just one word is needed to describe Ian Rush's Liverpool career: goals. The Welshman scored 346 of them in 660 appearances, a club record which will take some beating. Nothing shakes the Kop more than a goal, and no one has caused quite so much structural damage to the famous stand as Rush. More importantly, his predatory instincts were instrumental in the Reds dominating the game for most of the 1980s. He was loved at Anfield, feared at every opposition ground and renowned throughout Europe.  It's hard to believe that such a glittering Liverpool career had such an inauspicious start. Signed from Chester in 1980 for £300,000 (then a British transfer record for a teenager), Rush initially felt he wasn't getting a fair crack under Bob Paisley. He even asked for a transfer. A possible move to Crystal Palace was discussed, though Paisley had no intention of sanctioning the deal. He knew that Rush's time would come. Tall, thin and ungainly, the young striker looked anything but a future striking hero when he broke into the team, but looks can be deceptive. It actually took nine games for him to register a first senior goal, but the floodgates opened from there.It was in 1981-82 that Rushie fully established himself as a Reds regular. Paisley was in the process of rebuilding his team and the new boy's tally of 30 goals in 49 appearances helped deliver an ominous message to Liverpool's rivals. Oh, and there were two new additions to the Anfield trophy room to boot. In November 1982, an awesome display of finishing by the boyhood Evertonian sunk the shell-shocked Toffees during an unforgettable afternoon at Goodison.

The name Ian Rush was now etched indelibly into Merseyside folklore. No wonder Europe's big fish were starting to circle. Often described by his teammates as Liverpool's first line of defence, the Wales international was not just a goalscorer but a hard-working, selfless runner who never gave up the chase. Electric pace and eagle-eyed anticipation meant he was also a nightmare to mark and his attacking partnership with Kenny Dalglish is regarded as one of the best ever.
The 1983-84 season was perhaps Rush's finest. A remarkable 47-goal haul (50 if you count his spot kick conversion in Rome and two goals for Wales) was enough to see him become the first British player to win Europe's Golden Boot. This was a perfect accompaniment to an unprecedented treble of league title, European Cup and Milk Cup, not to mention double player of the year recognition. Running on to perfectly threaded throughballs was Rush's forte and when one-on-one with a keeper you'd bet your mortgage on him netting. But what made him stand out from the rest was the variation in his goals. Of course there were countless close-range tap-ins, but also in his locker were many well-timed volleys, the odd 25-yard pile-driver and occasional header. One of his finest displays of finishing came on an icy night at Villa Park in January 1984 when he bagged a memorable hat-trick. Liverpool's master marksman netted against almost every team he faced but it was neighbours Everton on whom he inflicted most damage.

His memorable double against our Mersey rivals in the 1986 Cup final secured the club's first domestic double but, as the dust settled on that triumph, the blue half of the city was given reason to dance with joy when it was announced that Liverpool's lean, mean, goalscoring machine had agreed to join Juventus.  Unsurprisingly, news of his move, which was to go through the following summer, shook the Kop to its core and a 'Rushie Must Stay' campaign was launched in a futile bid to keep their hero at Anfield. Determined to bow out on a high, Rush signed off by breaching the 40-goal barrier for only the second time in his career and left for the land of the lira with everyone's best wishes. After just one season in Italy, however, he was to make a sensational return. Having been made aware that their former star had failed to fully settle in Turin (it was like living in a foreign country, said Rush at the time), Liverpool jumped at the chance to sign him once more. The predator responded by picking up where he left off, scoring goals for fun and proceeding to smash any goalscoring record he hadn't yet broken. Everton remained high on his hit-list and another brace in the 1989 FA Cup final saw him finally overtake the legendary Dixie Dean as the most prolific derby goalscorer. Three years later he became the most fruitful forward in Cup final history after netting his fifth during the 2-0 victory over Sunderland.  All this was small fry compared to what Rush was to achieve in October 1992, however, when he netted for a 287th time in a Liverpool jersey and in doing so surpassed Roger Hunt as the leading scorer in Anfield history. The same year saw him handed the captaincy by manager Graeme Souness and in 1995 he fulfilled a personal dream by lifting the Coca Cola Cup.  Rush's work on Merseyside was still not done, though, and his last act before leaving for Leeds on a free in the summer of 1996 was to pass on his goalscoring wisdom to striking prodigy Robbie Fowler. While records are there to be broken, it's likely that the number nine's phenomenal tally of Liverpool goals will go unsurpassed well into the new millennium. ven if it is eventually beaten, the fact Rush left the Kop with 346 heart-thumping memories means he'll forever be renowned as one of the all-time Anfield greats.



How old is Radamel FALCAO ?

Since Radamel FALCAO arrived at Monaco in summer 2013 many rumours have suggested he is actually two years older than that. If the Colombian international has rubbished them in the past, commenting on Twitter in 2013 that they are "completely ridiculous". Falcao has also released a copy of his birth certificate in a bid to end the speculation. But some questions are still available and if we have a look back at the pictures and the sticker albums we can make our own opinion. First if we consider this old post on Old School Panini about his father : Radamel Falcao's father. We can see that Radamel Garcia loved to take his son with him before many games. The secound picture of the topic is the most interresting. In this one with the Deportes Tolima we can see Radamel FALCAO's father with his teamate who is an other famous father. On his right side there is Wilson James Rodriguez who is the father of other Colombian international, James Rodriguez of Real Madrid. As we can see in the Colombian Stickers albums they played together in 1988. That's what I posted on this famous topic in december 2014 : James RODRIGUEZ & Radamel FALCAO's fathers
This stickers are from 1988 because in the following year, in the 1989 Colombian Stickers album both players moved in others teams. James RODRIGUEZ's father played for the Deportivo Cali and Radamel Enrique GARCIA played for Bucaramanga : 
So the picture with the Deportes Tolima is from 1988. The matter is simple. Radamel FALCAO was born in 1986 so on this picture just below can we see a two years old boy ?
Of course the boy he's not a 2 years old. At least it's a 4 years old child. And if this he young Radamel Falcao on this picture, some rumours could be true. In 2013 and considering his primary school claim he was born in 1984 and here's only Falcao and no other kids with his dad in other photos, it's a bit of a big coincidence. Isn't it ?

Brazil vs France 1986 - Zico Penalty


Brazil faced France in the quarter-final of 1986 world cup, and the match up was a real high-profile one. France was reigning European Nations Cup champion and Brazil arguably had the strongest line-up since they last won the world cup on 1970. Both the teams were high on confidence and full of star players. Football lovers across the world felt this was too good of a match-up to happen before final. The match lived up to the expectation and had a lively first half. Careca gave Brazil the lead on 17th minute only for France to equalize through Michael Platini on 41st minute. 2nd half was as entertaining as the 1st one. Brazil came very close of scoring again as Careca’s header crashed into the cross-bar. Tele Santana, the Brazilian coach was desperate for goal, and brought in Arthur Antunes Coimbra, the talismanic No. 10, popularly known as Zico, in place of Muller, on 71st minute of the match. Zico, nicknamed as “White Pele” was playing his last world cup, and despite the age of 33, he was still a threat around opponent’s penalty box. Brazilian fans were angry to see their hero on the bench, and were finally delighted to see him on the pitch, their hero sprang into action almost right after coming onto the field. Branco played a one-two wall pass with Zico and then continued a run inside the French penalty area. French goal-keeper Joel Bats sensed the danger and rushed from his line only to foul Branco. Referee Ioan Igna awarded penalty in favor of Brazil. Though Brazil had Careca and Socrates on the pitch, who converted two penalties on their previous match in round of 16 against Poland, this time Zico stepped up to the spot to take the penalty. It was probably the rotation policy of penalty takers in Brazilian squad that prompted the decision along with Zico’s outstanding record from the penalty spot. Zico had missed only two penalties in his career, and was considered the master of the dreaded spot. Joel Bats himself probably was not too confident himself about saving the penalty either seeing Zico walking up to the spot. Branco walked towards Zico and said something in his ear as he was placing the ball in the spot. Joel Bats was standing right in the middle of the goal line, hands in his knees, looking at the ball in the spot. Zico did not have a big run up. He was standing two-step to the left of the spot facing the goal. He bent down a little, took two small steps and shoot the ball low, almost close to ground level, towards little left of Joel Bats. Bats was probably expecting this and saved the penalty with his left hand. 


The rebound fell on Careca who shot it wide amidst pressure from French defence. The whole world along with Tele Santana, Brazil fans, Zico himself along with French supporters were shocked by the turn of the event. No one expected “Rooster” to miss a penalty. Platini went on to tap on Zico’s shoulder to console him right after the penalty. Brazil would have won it had the penalty gone in. It ended 1-1 after 120 minutes. Zico scored in the penalty shoot-out, but Socrates’ shot was saved by Joel Bats, this time diving to his right, during the shoot-out. Brazil lost 4-5 to France to bow out of the world cup, as Julio Cesar hit the post and Fernandez scoring the winning penalty for France. Incidentally, Michael Platini, who was the first person to console Zico when he missed the penalty in the regulation time, would miss his spot-kick during the shoot-out, though his miss did not cost France the match. Zico retired from the national team after 1986 world cup with 71 matches and 48 goals to his credit. He was one of the finest footballers to have played the game, won many accolades, but, somehow, his “missed-penalty” in his last international match lingered for ever in the mind of football lovers across the globe. And now the Penalty's timeline :
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