Governing Bodies
IT’S 20 YEARS TODAY SINCE THE UNLIKELY WORLD CUP GOAL RECORD
A 31-0 score line in a top flight football such as a World Cup qualifying match looks very unlikely. But it happened on this day 20 years ago! Australia, certainly not among the world football super powers beat American Samoa 31-0 which has since turned an unlikely mark that will surely never be surpassed.
This is the back-story of how the record books were torn to shreds in Coffs Harbour. About six hours north of Sydney, the area’s beachside ambience is more renowned as a summer holiday spot.
But in football circles, the town’s name has become more synonymous with a barely believable 90 minutes.
Newly-minted international striker Archie Thompson scored an unthinkable 13 goals, another world record that seems certain never to be erased.
Unbelievably, Thompson posted a new individual FIFA World Cup scoring record moments before the break to leave the half-time score at 16-0.
It was, of course, the stuff of nightmares for under-siege goalkeeper Nicky Salapu. Also with cause to feel hard done by was David Zdrilic, whose haul of eight goals would have been enough to set a world record in any other previous match since international football began in 1872.
The scoreboard even presented the final score as 32-0, adding insult to American Samoan injury, until someone did a recount.
How and why the record score line happened
Eligibility rules changed shortly before the tournament, meaning the vast majority of American Samoa’s squad was missing.
Work, and even school, commitments ensured further unavailability. Their final squad even included a couple of 15-year-olds who reportedly had not played a 90-minute match before the tournament.
Conversely, Australia’s golden generation was just beginning to bloom. The majority of the squad were based at big clubs in Europe, others were stars of the nation’s former National Soccer League.
The likes of Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell were omitted from the tournament squad. Left on the bench were the likes of 2006 World Cup goalscorer John Aloisi and then-Socceroos all-time leading scorer Damian Mori.
Nevertheless, rarely has there been such disparity between two teams lining up for an international.
Australia were looking to exorcise some demons. Four years earlier, the national team’s seemingly cursed quadrennial push to reach a first World Cup since 1974 reached a new nadir as their unbeaten campaign ended with a hugely unlucky away-goals elimination against IR Iran after leading 2-0.
At the other end of the spectrum, American Samoa had played their first-ever World Cup qualifier just four days earlier, recording a crushing 13-0 loss against Fiji. Boasting less than 50,000 inhabitants, the tiny, unincorporated US island territory sits at the remote eastern end of Oceania.
Off the field, the relative ambitions and resources of the respective teams spoke volumes. Australia’s resort-style hotel boasted a nine-hole golf course and its own playing fields.
American Samoa, on the other hand, were holed up three-to-a-room in an old motel on the noisy main highway that links Sydney and Brisbane.
Australia 31-0 American Samoa – Scorers
Goals: Con Boutsianis 10′, 50′, 84′, Archie Thompson 12′, 23′, 27′, 29′, 32′, 37′, 42′, 45′, 56′, 60′, 65′, 85′, 88′, David Zdrilic 13′, 21′, 25′, 33′, 58′, 66′, 78′, 89′, Aurelio Vidmar 14′, 80′, Tony Popovic 17′, 19′, Simon Colosimo 51′, 81′, Fausto De Amicis 55′
What they said
“The American Samoa team were absolute beginners. In some ways it just did not seem the right thing to do, to walk all over them the way we did, but we had to at least show them the respect of trying our best.”
Archie Thompson
“It was really hard for me to deal with. But I thought if I don’t get back on the field I would never get a win for American Samoa. I had been suffering for a long time to get that win. To be part of this has been a big deal for me.”
Nicky Salapu after helping American Samoa to their first international win.
What next
American Samoa, with Salapu in goal, claimed a well-documented maiden victory in 2011 – subsequently detailed in a highly-regarded documentary – having gone into those Brazil 2014 qualifiers with a record of played 30, lost 30, scored 12 goals and conceded 229.
Four years later, they doubled that tally and only goal difference denied the Polynesians an unthinkable spot in the next round.
Just a few months after defeating world champions France at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, Australia again saw their World Cup ambitions end with a final-hurdle defeat, going down 3-1 to Uruguay in an intercontinental play-off. But they turned the tables against the South Americans four years later to reach Germany 2006, and have now qualified for four successive World Cups.
Other World Cup Goal Records
- IR Iran set a new World Cup record with a 19-0 win over Guam in 2000. Australia eclipsed that mark with a 22-0 scoreline against Tonga two days before facing American Samoa.
- The most goals scored in a World Cup qualifier was initially set by Australia’s Gary Cole in 1981 against Fiji, and then equalled by IR Iran’s Karim Bagheri against Maldives in 1997.
-Fifa
Governing Bodies
Sanusi set for record-extending tenure as Nigeria’s football politicians assemble in Asaba
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Speculations gathered ahead of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Football Federation holding in Asaba on Friday have it that tenure elongation for the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, is a major item on the agenda.
Neither formal confirmation nor denial has been issued since one of the leading newspapers in Nigeria, ThisDay dropped the hint.
The agenda of the meeting is also not made public. Dr, Sanusi is the longest-serving General Secretary in history having been in office from 30 March 2015 making 3,476 days or nine years six months and four days.
It easily drowned that of his closest rival in tenure – Sani Toro whose tenure from 21 December 1993 to 3 May 1999 is merely 2020 days or five years, six months and 12 days.
Thus, no one had enjoyed a longer period in office than the incumbent, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi. It is speculated that the tenure will be extended as NFF has reported that all delegates have arrived in the Delta State capital by Thursday evening.
The NFF Annual General Assembly, the first of which took place 90 years ago in Lagos on 19 February 1934, is the biggest assemblage of football administrators and stakeholders in the country.
In one such meeting on 24 July 2008 in Makurdi, the football body changed its name from NFA to NFF.
This year, according to a press release by the NFF, the plenary will have in attendance, the chairmen and secretaries of football associations in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, chairmen and secretaries of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Nigeria National League, Nigeria Women Football League and the Nationwide League One, as well as chairmen and secretaries of the referees’ association, players’ union and coaches’ association. This group of 88 makes up the Congress.
They are joined by the members of the NFF Executive Committee and the management team as well as former NFF Presidents and General Secretaries.
The Minister of Sports Development, John Owan Enoh, is announced as the special guest. Nigeria’s Member of the FIFA Council, Amaju Melvin Pinnick is also expected as well as a representative of the West African Football Union (WAFU B).
The Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Francis Oborevwori will declare the General Assembly open.
Venue is the Unity Hall of the Delta State Government House.
Governing Bodies
Like in Egypt, former Nigerian Olympian, Sadiq Abdulahi wants Tinubu to declare ‘State of Emergency’ in Sports
Former Nigerian tennis player and Olympian, Prof. Sadiq Abdulahi has called for drastic action to arrest the decline of Nigeria in global sporting events.
The former tennis player who is now a professor in the United States declared that the “failure to win a medal at the regular 2024 Paris Olympics, the few medals at the Paris Paralympic and the fallout at the National Youth Sports Festival has exposed the deep problems facing the sport’s sector.”
He wants Nigeria to have the same approach that the Egyptian president has taken while reacting to the country’s performance at the Paris 2024 Olypics.
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participated at the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
According to Prof. Abdulahi, the National Sports Federations charged with the preparation of elite athletes have failed to do their job despite the cry for funding from the government.
“Federal Government cannot adequately fund all the Olympics sports. It is impossible.
“By declaring a state of emergency, new people, new approaches and new funding models will be identified. More importantly, the Federal Government will redefine grassroots sports development.
“We will lay sustainable foundation for sports development.”
Continuing, he called for the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) which enabling decree was abolished through Decree No. 7 of 1991, but came back through presidential proclamation under Sani Abacha before it was abolished again.
The original NSC was established in 1964 as National Sports Council before the promulgation of Decree 34 of 1971 which legalised it as the apex Federal Government agency to control, regulate and organize sports.
“The FG may now bring back the National Sports Commission or the National Sports Authority. Our emerging national economy with the full participation of the private sector can support this new beginning. I hope this helps.”
RELATED STORY: President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Governing Bodies
CAF gives Yoruba and Arabic interpretations of ‘OLA’ the Super Cup 2024 Official Match Ball
The Confédération African of Football, CAF, has given the linguistics interpretation of OLA, the confederation’s official match balls produced by Puma which has also unveiled a special edition for the Super Cup duel holding on Friday in Saudi Arabia.
According to CAF, OLA, symbolizing the dynamic and energetic nature of African football, means “wealth,” “honour,” and “respect” in Yoruba and “rise” and “success” in Arabic.
The OLA ball stands out with its vibrant design and cultural significance. “OLA”
The ball is a mix of black and gold, representing power and sophistication. The ball will be the centrepiece of the eagerly-awaited match between the two giants of African football.
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