Victor Attah's Today in Football History

The news that CAF has awarded 2026 AFCON to Morocco came with to me with no surprise, as CAF pre-planned for Morocco to win the tournament. The evidence is in the officiating in knock out matches involving Morocco.
I believe the joy of winning a trophy comes immediate when the adrenaline is still high.
Moroccan players are not supposed to buy into the decision of their FA and CAF as they didn't experience that joy in winning.

Christians Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are both legends in the game of football. There has been an unending debate on whom is the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) among them.
Both are greatly talented. However, some school of thoughts think that Messi is more talented and Ronaldo is more hardworking.
Each of them has won individual awards like Ballon d'or. Both have won numerous trophies in different competitions; both at club and international levels.
However, the most coincidental scenario about these two was that they both won their first international title on 10th of July.
Christiano Ronaldo with Portugal won Euro 2016 against the host France with 1-0 scoreline.
Lionel Messi with Argentina won 2021 Copa America against the host Brazil with 1-0 scoreline.
Both won their first international trophy against the host nation.
Both won with a 1-0 scoreline.
None of them scored in the match
It all happened on July 10.
What a coincidence!

This club world cup is unpredictable. Who would have thought after Chelsea lost to Flamengo that both Chelsea and Bayern Munich would finish second in their respective group to avoid meeting in the round of 16. More surprises seem to be coming.

JUNE 20
On this day in 1976, PANENKA was born.
Antonin Panenka, a formal Czechoslovakia player in EURO 1976 final between West Germany and Czechoslovakia at Yugoslavia chipped a penalty in the middle of the post to give birth to a style of penalty now known as Panenka.
The match ended 2-2 stalemate in regulation and extra time. During the penalty shoot out, a German player missed their final kick, and the responsibility of winning the competition for Czechoslovakia rested on the shoulder of Panenka. He didn't disappoint as he dispatched the penalty with outmost confidence by chipping the ball in the middle and sending the Goalkeeper the wrong way.

On this day in 1974 Johan Cruyff turn was invented by Cruyff himself. In the world cup match between Netherland and Sweden, Cruyff made a 180° (one hundred and eighty degree) turn to free himself from a Swedish defender. The turn is very common these days as it's being used by most players including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cruyff led the Netherlands to the final of the 1974 FIFA World Cup and received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.
Cruyff was a legendary player, and he won the Balloon d'Or three times. He was also a legendary manager. He has a football philosophy known as TOTAL FOOTBALL, which is now popularly called tiki taka.

June 18: NIGHTMARE DAY FOR ITALIANS AGAINST KOREANS
This day in football history seems to be a day of Nightmare for Italian national team, the Azurri against the Koreans.
In the 1966 world cup in England, North Korea defeated Italy in what was the shock of the tournament, and one of the shocks of world cup tournaments. The 1-0 win was enough to take the Koreans to the quarter final at the expense of the Azurri.
In 2002 world cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, the Azurri was again a victim of the Koreans, but this time, the South. In the round of 16, South Korea defeated Italy 2-1 in a controversial circumstance. The winning goal was an extra time golden goal scored by Ahn Jung-hwan, a Perugia player at the time.
The next day, his contract was cancelled by Perugia Chairman stating, " 'I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football'.
South Korea went on to defeat Spain in the quarter final, but was defeated by Germany in the semi final and by Turkey in the 3rd place match.
The lesson here is that Italians should do well to avoid Koreans on June 18th.

Enzo Fernandez is becoming new Frank Lampard. Always popping up from the midfield to score a score. Maresca has really improved him in terms of scoring. Take your flowers Enzo Fernandez.

CRISTIANO RONALDO SCORED HIS FIRST WORLD CUP GOAL
On this day in 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first world cup goal in a match between Portugal and Iran in Germany, through a Penalty. Portugal went on to win the encounter 2 goals to nil. He was 21years at that time. Prior to the match, he had made his world cup debut in a 1-0 win against Angola when he impressed the football world. Portugal and Ronaldo finished 4th in the tournament, the farthest they have gone in world cup in recent times. However, they have won Euro and UEFA Nations League since then, and Ronaldo has scored so many goals for club and country. He has also gone on to win so many individual honours including Ballon d'or. He has scored eight world cup goals. He has gone on to score 138 goals in 221 international caps, becoming the leading scorer in the history of Portuguese national team