Golaço Stories

       In 1987 tragedy struck in Peru. A flight that was brining back Alianza Lima from an away match crashed and resulted in the death of 43 people including 16 players as well as directors and coaching staff. Alianza was sitting at the top of the table at that moment, and after a month of grieving the local federation determined that the league must resume. Alianza Lima struggled to find proper players to complete their newly formed roster and that's when an unlikely gesture of solidarity created a timeless bond. Colo-Colo, from Chile, stepped in and loaned 4 players...

       Contrary to popular belief, a nation does not need to be fully independent in order to have a national team that participates in official tournaments. Gibraltar and Faroe Islands, for example, are British and Danish territories respectively and not entirely sovereign states, however they still compete in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.  This gives hope to the beautiful island of Greenland, who's been desperately trying to associate itself to FIFA for the past 30 years but the harsh weather and a small population of 55,000 people have always gotten in the way. With a lot of work in past...

         It is commonly said that the city of Rovaniemi, in Finland, is the real life home of Santa Claus, and a local club took that Christmas spirit to the next level. The fusion of two neighborhood clubs in 1992 resulted in the creation of FC Santa Claus. The Christmas theme goes beyond just the name for this charismatic club. The founding story, as told by the team, is that they were founded by Santa's elves who were kicking the ball around in the snow in-between packing presents. Not only that, but the club had to ask Santa...

         In Brazil's remote northern city of Macapá lies one of the most curious soccer stadiums in the world. Officially it is named Estádio Milton de Souza Corrêa, but it is much more commonly known as the "Zerão" (The Big Zero). The reason behind the peculiar name is because the midfield line on the pitch runs perfectly on the equator, meaning that it's exactly at latitude zero. This creates a few funny scenarios, like the fact that the teams defend in the southern hemisphere during one half and in the northern hemisphere during the other half. Also, you could...

   Not George Weah, not Didier Drobga, not Samuel Eto'o. The first African player to score a hattrick in UEFA Champions League history is Yakubu Aiyegbeni. The Nigerian international had a historic season for Israeli side Maccabi Haifa in 2002/03, scoring a total of 7 goals in the UCL. Of those 7 there was a notable goal against Manchester United, but more importantly a historic hat trick against Olympiakos.Yakubu was only 19 years old at the time, he would go on to play in the Premier League and even score for Nigeria in the 2010 World Cup. Despite his many...