Footy facts

The World Cup is upon us, with the first match between France and Senegal to be played in Seoul tomorrow night. But how much do you know about this mega sports event that comes around once every four years? Here are some quirky facts to clue you up .

Captaining a winning football side at the World Cup must be every player's dream. Doing it twice would be a miracle. Diego Maradona came close when he led Argentina to victory in 1986, and to silver medals in 1990. Following in his footsteps, Dunga of Brazil won as captain in 1994, but his team lost in the final in 1998. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of the former West Germany team is the only captain to have lost two World Cup finals (in 1982 and 1986).

Another referee, Russian Miroslav Stupar, made a controversial decision in the Kuwait-France match in 1982. France led 3-1 when Alain Giresse blasted home number four with the Kuwaiti defenders rooted to the spot. They claimed they had stopped playing after hearing a whistle blow. The president of the Kuwaiti Football Association Prince Fahid marched on to the field to protest. This led to Stupar disallowing the goal. However, France scored a fourth goal in the last minute. For Prince Fahid's interference, an #8,000 (HK$91,200) fine was imposed on the Kuwaitis by FIFA.

North Korea sent Italy out of the 1966 World Cup in the group stage. In Italy, such an early exit is considered a disgrace. The team flew home to a secret destination to avoid the media and angry fans. But some of the fans found out where they were, and bombarded their bus with fruit and rotten tomatoes as they tried to make their escape from the airport.

Dismissals and send-offs didn't help much in the Brazil-Hungary game in 1954. Three players were sent off, but by today's standards, that number should have been much higher. The match produced disgraceful behaviour on the part of the players, and was later dubbed 'The battle of Berne'. The players were still fighting on their way back to their dressing-rooms after the final whistle blew. Hungary won the match 4-2.

The United Arab Emirates have never really been favourites for winning the World Cup. In 1990, they were knocked out after three straight defeats in the group stage. However, they managed to score two goals, and it was no wonder the goal scorers celebrated as if they had won the World Cup: the players received a Rolls-Royce for every goal they scored.