Golaço Stories

Few countries allow the existence of "B Teams" within their professional soccer pyramid, even fewer allow them to participate in the cup, and of those few even fewer are able to progress significantly. In 1993 Hertha Berlin's B team, known at the time as Hertha Berlin Amateure, shocked Germany. As the name suggests, B Teams are really only meant to develop and test young players in a competitive scenario. However in Germany these reserve teams are allowed to participate in the national cup which opens up the possibility of a Cinderella story.  The journey began in the round of 64...

Italian soccer has an ongoing myth that was brought back into the spotlight as of recently, every time a Pope dies Avellino get promoted. In reality this is a half truth. This story bases itself on the following coincidences: 1958Pope Pius XII diesAvellino promoted to Serie C1963Pope John XXIII diesAvellino promoted to Serie C1978Pope Paul XI diesPope John Paul I diesAvellino promoted to Serie A 2005Pope John Paul II diesAvellino promoted to Serie B 2013Pope Benedict XVI steps downAvellino promoted to Serie B 2025Pope Francis diesAvellino promoted to Serie BThe first inconsistency is pretty easily spotted, in 2013 Pope Benedict...

It was recently announced that in 2026 the Brazilian National Team's away jersey will not be blue. In fact Nike, with the federations approval, has decided that the away jersey won't have any of the colors in the Brazilian flag. Even though no further information was given at the moment, this is a great opportunity to remember the rich history behind Brazil's blue away jersey. The story starts in 1950 when Brazil, like a lot national teams and clubs, only had one set of uniforms: white. However, Brazil lost the 1950 World Cup final at home against Uruguay in a...

Figuratively speaking it is common to call a teams stadium a "fortress" during an unbeaten run at home. FC Duruji Kvareli however took the saying literally. The Kvareli Fortress, located in the small town of Kvareli in Georgia, was constructed between the 17th and 19th century, renovated in 1985, and became a soccer stadium for the local team. Duruji Kvareli turned the fortress into a pitch with a capacity of about 1,000 fans where they hosted their home games, making it perhaps the most unique stadium in the planet. Durji Kvareli featured in the Georgian first division between 1994 and...

In the 1986/87 season of the English fourth division the fight against relegation went down to the last matchday. With many teams within few points of each other, and all matches being played simultaneously, tensions were high. Torquay United was playing at home against Crewe Alexandra down by 1-2. With relegation looming over the stadium the fans were at the brink of rioting so local police decided to bring out the German Shepherds to reinforce the access from the stands to the field. With 7 minutes left Torquay defender McNichol was running down the wing when one of the dogs,...