In football there are happenings that occur sometimes that leaves you gobsmacked, shocked and wondering at the possibility of it. In this article, I would be reeling out some football facts that would leave you stunned.
The football facts that would be outlined here would put you in a wowed state as it is very revealing and in-depth.
Let’s dive straight into the football facts;
We would be starting with Brazilian forward known as Hulk, his actual name is Givanildo Viera De Sousa but he is fondly called Hulk due to his strong built for a footballer.
He acquired his nickname as a result of his likeness for actor Lou Ferrigno, who acted as the incredible Hulk on the eponymous television show in the 1970s.
But do you know that “Hulk” scored seventy-seven (77) goals for FC Porto, Seventy-seven (77) goals for Zenith St Petersburg and Seventy-seven (77) goals for Shanghai SIPG?
I am sure this stat has left you astonished at the consistent numbers the Brazilian attacker pulled at those three clubs.
He played for FC Porto from 2008 till 2012 before joining Zenith St Petersburg in 2012. He left the Russian side in 2016 and moved to Shanghai SIPG in 2016 where he spent four years before leaving for Brazil to put pen-to-paper on a deal with Atlético Minero.
Another shocking stat is Belgian attacker Christian Benteke having more goals scored in the English Premier League than Manchester United and French great Eric Cantona.
Eric Cantona scored seventy (70) goals in one-hundred-and-fifty- six (156) appearances for Manchester United.
Christian Benteke scored a total of eighty-six (86) goals in two-hundred-and-eighty (280) appearances during his time in England. During his time in England, he played for Aston Villa, Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
Now down to the third footballing fact that is certainly captivating;
This fact is on arguably the two greatest players of their era or if you do want to stretch it…. “of all-time in Football”!
The age difference between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is the same as their oldest sons, eight-hundred-and-sixty-nine (869) days.
Thiago Messi who is currently 11-years-old has an eight-hundred-and-sixty-nine (869) days age difference with Cristiano Ronaldo Jr who would be thirteen (13) years of age in a few months.
FC Utrecht attacker Bas Dost is the next name in line for our list of bizzare football facts.
During Bas Dost’s time in Portugal for Sporting Lisbon, the Dutchman once went on a long run of scoring fourty-five (45) first touch goals in a row.
In total, he scored seventy-six (76) goals in eighty-four (84) games for Sporting Lisbon between the year 2016 till 2019.
He ended his mind-blowing record when he opened scoring for Sporting Lisbon in their 4-3 win over Belenenses in April 2018, he made an extra touch before scoring that goal.
Bayern Munich and German legend Philip Lahm also has his name in our well detailed list and his name shows on this list because of his record of going thirteen months without committing any foul.
The Bayern Munich Legend started and ended his career with the Bavarian side.
Lastly, Italian forward who was menacing during his active playing days, Gianfranco Zola makes an appearance in our list.
Zola is the only player to be red-carded in a world cup encounter on his birthday, the Red card came in Italy’s game against Nigeria in USA 94 World Cup.
He was sent off for what some have termed a non-existent foul on former Nigerian International, Augustine Eguavoen. The referee who sent him off is Arturo Brizio Carter.
And that puts an end to our list of shocking footballing facts that would leave you gobsmacked.
