Golaço Stories

India historically underperforms in World Cup Qualifiers. Not only has the country of 1.4 billion people never played in a World Cup but it usually never comes close, many times falling behind real minnows.  Despite never participating in a World Cup, India did actually qualify to the 1950 edition in Brazil. India was drawn in a qualifying group with Myanmar, Indonesia and Philippines. All 3 of India's opponents withdrew from the matches and India was left alone as the qualified team from the Asian region. In a decision that would be unimaginable today, India at the end declined its participation...

Some of soccer's most inspiring stories stem from clubs standing for something greater than the sport. Usually this involves standing up for a cause, or representing a specific region or ethnicity. This can be manifested in many ways, today we're going to talk about the clubs who self-impose restrictions on their own rosters in order to maintain an identity. The most famous by far is Athletic Club from Bilbao. The club from the Basque region of Spain maintains an extremely strong bond with the proud area, so much so that it has never fielded a non-Basque player in its 125+...

To end this series we're going to quickly go through some honorable mentions that don't have a deeper story but are worth knowing. Netherlands, Portugal and Greece all adopted the Italian created system of a gold star for every 10 championships. Israel, Turkey and Russia have the same system but for every 5 championships. It is also important to note that as of 2013 Russia has recognized and unified the titles from the USSR era. Fenerbahce, on the other hand, is fighting with the Turkish federation for recognition of titles they won before 1959 when the Turkish Super League as...

Stars are not always placed above the crest, some clubs decided to go in a less traditional route and placed the stars within their crests. Some are symbolic, some are commemorative, but some become a problem. Aston Villa is a good opportunity to touch upon England, a country where clubs don't have the culture of placing commemorative stars over their crest. Nottingham Forest does have 2 stars for their UCL titles, and Aston Villa placed a discrete star within in crest to also represent its continental title. Chapecoense from Brazil also has a discrete star within its crest, place right...

France has the exact same rule as Italy, 1 star for every 10 national titles. However, the application of this rule isn't as black and white as the rule itself. Saint-Etienne was the first French club to reach 10 national titles in 1981, an achievement that is celebrated with a big star on their crest with French flag colors. Olympique Marseille is the only other French club with a star on it's crest but it is not for 10 national titles (they have 9), but for their 1993 UCL championship. To this day OM is the only team from France...