International book international book of favorite sports_FV | Page 24

II.4 Football - fun facts
(Polish team)
1. The game about similar rules was played in China 2,300 years ago.
2. Football is the most popular sport in the world. You can kick the ball both in
the Sahara and Antarctica.
3. This sport is practiced by over 280 million players and 5 million judges.
4. The biggest football event is the World Championships held every 4 years from
1930 except for 1942 and 1946.
5. The biggest stadium currently in the world is May Day Stadium in Pyongyang
(North Korea). Its official capacity is 150,000 seats.
See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ji8ttRT04
6. The first reports of the game can be found in letters from around 476 BC
7. Andrew Wats, born in British Guyana, was the first professional black
footballer. He was a star in the Victorian era in 1880.
8. The best scorer in history was Brazilian Arthur who in 1920-1940 scored 1329
goals.
9. The fastest suicide goal was scored by Pat Kruse from Torquay United (English
League) in 1977 in 6 seconds.
10. Eduardo Maglioni, footballer Independiente scored the team Gimnasia y
Esgrima LP 3 goals in 1 minute and 51 seconds, on March 18, 1973.
11. In the Malagasy league in 2002 in the match AS Adema - Stade Olympique
Emyrne, a record score of 149: 0 was reached. At every opportunity, they shot
suicide goals in protest against the biased refereeing.
12. Pele is the youngest player who won the World Cup by playing against
Sweden in 1958. He was 17 years old and 237 days old.
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