WORLD CUP STORIES: THE SACKING OF AHN JUNG-HWAN

Not happy in your job and want out? Too complicated just to quit? Then what you need to do is clear: Give your boss the perfect reason to fire you!

When co-hosts South Korea came up against Italy in the second round of the World Cup in 2002, most people thought it would be the end of the road for the plucky Red Devils. The Koreans had surprisingly won a tough group to qualify for the knock-out stages for the first time in their history. They could consider themselves unlucky to be playing Italy who had finished runners-up in a group they had been expected to win.

South Korea had in their starting line-up Ahn Jung-Hwan, the David Beckham of Korean football, who also happened to be employed at the time by Seria A side Perugia. As the dramatic evening unfolded, the emotions of Italians fans in the stadium and around the world - and in particular their feelings towards Ahn - underwent the greatest contrast imaginable.

Just four minutes into the match and Korea were awarded a penalty following the sort of "handbags" incident in the penalty area which is part-and-parcel of life in the Italian League. Not so at the World Cup, and golden boy Ahn steps up only to see his average kick saved by Buffon. Ahn becomes a temporary 'hero' for the Azzuri. Fast-forward the game to four minutes from the end of extra-time - with the score 1-1 and the 'golden goal' rule in play - and Ahn Jung-Hwan cleverly steers a header past Buffon that sends a nation into raptures and the Italians to the airport for the plane home.

Ahn Jung-Hwan had effectively just ripped up his contract. Following the game, Luciano Gaucci, president of Perugia F.C., gave him the sack, offering the following words: "That gentlemen will never set foot in Perugia again. I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football." Gaucci faced wide criticism for his actions but claimed that the decision was NOT because of the goal that Ahn had scored, but because of his post match comments which Gaucci interpreted as Ahn asserting that Korean football was superior to Italian football. Ahn denied this, and the Perugia coach Serse Cosni attempted to persuade the club president to reverse his decision, but Gaucci was having none of it and Ahn was on his way out of Italy.

FIFA - usually quick to get their nose in where it's unwanted - stayed out of this one, stating that the matter was entirely between club and player. One thing is for sure though: This sour grapes story can't detract from what was one of the great World Cup shock results of all time, and a match which formed an unforgettable part of South Korea's fairy tale run to the World Cup semi-finals on home turf.

SPAIN TOP RANKINGS AS ENGLAND CLIMB AGAIN

The announcement of the latest FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings has seen European Champions Spain retain top spot ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands.

The top three remain unchanged for the fifth successive month, since November 2009, but the rest of the top ten saw some considerable action this month.

Former World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo has seen his Portugal side move up two places to fourth at the expense of defending World Champions Italy and three-time winners Germany who both drop a place to fifth and sixth respectively.

Meanwhile Fabio Capello's England climbed the rankings for the second successive month as they jumped one place to seventh with France dropping down to eighth.

Croatia re-entered the top ten just behind Argentina who are unmoved in ninth, while Australia have now broken into the top twenty after moving up four places to 19th.

This summer's hosts South Africa, have fallen seven places to 88th.

This month's biggest gainers were Senegal who climbed an impressive 22 places to 72nd whilst the biggest losers were Guam who fell 14 places to 196.

Full FIFA World Rankings here.

DIDIER DROGBA CAN SLEEP EASY AFTER SVEN APPOINTMENT

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba has backed new national boss Sven-Goran Eriksson to lead his country to glory this summer.

The Chelsea striker has publicly praised the appointment of the former England and Mexico manager and believes his team-mates will now be much more relaxed in the run-up to the tournament.

He told football365.com "This is like a wish come true for me and most of my colleagues.

"For weeks and months we have been pondering over going to the World Cup without a coach, but what we feared most has taken a different twist. Now I don't have to wake up every morning and think about the future of my team without a coach. Surely all things will work in line for us with Eriksson in charge."

Eriksson had been linked with a number of jobs since his departure from English League Two side Notts County, where he held a role as Director of Football. The Swede will now aim for glory with the Elephants in the first World Cup on African soil and Drogba hopes his new boss will help the team better their efforts of 2006, when they failed to progress past the group stages.

"Our performance in Germany was not up to what we set out to achieve. We have to improve and play much better if we want the other teams to take us seriously. This is not a tournament you can go and play just anyhow.

"It has to be better this time round and I hope Sven provides us with that spirit and direction. We are going to South Africa to win big. This is not something I am saying alone. It is the general feeling when you talk to the other boys in our team."

Eriksson has experience on the big stage having taken England to the quarter finals of both the 2002 and 2006 World Cup before being knocked out to Brazil and Portugal respectively.

MARCELLO LIPPI MAY QUIT ITALY AFTER WORLD CUP

Marcello Lippi hinted today that he may step down from his role as Italy manager after this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

Lippi led the Italians to their fourth crown at the previous World Cup in 2006, when the Azzuri beat France on penalties in a final that included Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt. After the tournament Lippi stepped down from the national team, only to return to the post in 2008.

Rumours abound that the 61-year-old is ready to return to Juventus for the start of next season and Lippi himself has hinted at an exit.

He told Italian press that Italian Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete "already knows what I will do" after the tournament.

Lippi won five Serie A titles with Juventus during two spells at the club and made the Champions League Final three years in a row, lifting the trophy in 1996.

TICKETS FOR SOUTH AFRICA NOT SELLING

Reports from ESPN today revealed that a mammoth 650,000 tickets for this summer's World Cup in South Africa are still unsold.

FIFA are refusing to panic and planning to make a final push for sales in the remaining weeks leading up to the tournament. However the figures make for stark reading, especially in comparison to the previous World Cup.

The 2006 tournament, which was held in Germany, received an incredible 15 million applications for the 3.4 million tickets they had available but South Africa is having to work much harder to attract the fans.

Even the English fans, infamous for travelling in their numbers, have not snapped up tickets as expected with the FA sending back over 1,000 of their allocated 29,000 tickets to FIFA.

The safety of the host nation has been questioned on countless occasions since FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in South Africa and it appears to be proving a real decision maker for fans.

The lack of sales has been attributed to safety fears, heavy costs of flights and accommodation and the logistical problems of getting around a vast country with a limited infrastructure. Fans cannot simply base themselves in one city as their teams are likely to be playing in varying destinations, meaning additional travel costs will incur as they travel across the country.

FIFA issued a statement in which they confirmed tickets would now be more readily available saying, "Ticketing centres in host cities will now be open for sales until July 11, the day of the final, plus the call centre. There will also be mobile sales units."

Despite the large number of unsold tickets some 2.3 million tickets have so far been sold so far with sales figures late last year showing South African's had bought more tickets than the rest of the world combined. The host fans had bought over 340,000 tickets with American fans leading the way for foreigners, buying almost 83,000 tickets. British fans rounded off the top three with 48,000 tickets bought.

COUNTRY FOCUS: GERMANY

Many people are of the opinion that, for a few years now, Germany have failed to produce a national side to compare with some of the great German teams of past years. In terms of quality of players produced there is some truth in that, but they continue to deliver when it really matters - time and time again. Germany play the role of the underdog better than anyone else in the world. No other country plays tournament football as consistently well. Methodical preparation, a team ethic, mental strength second-to-none and an imperious self-belief - these attributes are innate to 'the German national team' of any era. Why is it said that we should never write off the Germans? Because they never write themselves off. Their recent record in the major tournaments - semi-finalists four years on home soil, runners-up at the 2002 World Cup and at Euro 2008 - should leave us expecting Germany to be in the thick of it again come the latter stages of South Africa 2010.

World Cup Pedigree:

Germany first took part in the World Cup in 1934 and reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by Czechoslovakia. Four years later they were knocked out in the first round by Switzerland following a replay and during the war years no tournament took place. The Germans were banned from taking part in 1950 but landed the first of three World Titles in Switzerland in 1954. The Final against Hungary is known in Germany as "The Miracle of Bern"; an earlier match in the group stages of the tournament between the two sides had resulted in an 8-3 victory for the "Magical Magyars" and few doubted that Hungary were destined to become World Champions that year. When they scored twice in the opening eight minutes of the Final another hiding appeared to be on the cards, but in heavy rain the Germans displayed their trademark tenacious qualities to fight back for a 3-2 victory. Their bid to defend the Title four years later was ended by Sweden at the semi-final stage. In the quarter-finals they had knocked out Yugoslavia by a 1-0 scoreline, and in 1962 in Chile the two sides met again at the same stage, but this time with the reverse result. West Germany reached the Final again in 1966 in England but were beaten 4-2 after extra time in a compelling match. In 1970 they participated in what most people agree is the finest World Cup match ever played - the semi-final against Italy at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the right to play Brazil in the Final. The Italians prevailed 4-3, with five of the seven goals being scored in the extra time period. On home soil in 1974, despite a shock defeat in the first round group stages to neighbours East Germany, West Germany reached the Final again and faced Holland in Munich. The Dutch were widely regarded as the best team in the world at the time, and took the lead in the first minute of the match. Just as against the Hungarians 20 years earlier, the Germans came back to triumph unexpectedly and win the World Cup for the second time. In Argentina in 1978 West Germany failed to win any of their group matches in the second round, but then made history between 1982 and 1990 by becoming the first team to reach three consecutive World Cup Finals. They finished runners-up at Espana 82 and Mexico 86 to Italy and Argentina respectively, but triumphed at Italia 90 in a repeat Final against the South Americans. In winning that World Cup Franz Beckenbauer became the first European to win football's greatest prize as both a player and a manager. Surprise quarter-final defeats followed for the Germans in the next two World Cups; to Bulgaria at USA 94 and to Croatia at France 98. A interesting statistic prior to the 2002 tournament in Korea/Japan was that Germany had never faced Brazil at the World Cup. They duly met in the Final that year where two goals from Ronaldo condemned the Germans to runners-up spot for the third time in the previous six World Cups. Four years ago, as the host nation for the second time, Germany were under the leadership of legendary player-turned-coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was seeking to emulate the Beckenbauer feat. The nation started to believe that a repeat of the 1974 triumph could be on the cards after a penalty shootout victory against tournament favourites Argentina in the quarter-finals, but - and not for the first time - German hopes were ended by the Italians in the last four.

Greatest Moment:

Defeating the inventors of "Total Football" - the Dutch - on home soil to win their second World Cup in 1974. As with their first triumph 20 years earlier, Germany proved themselves to be the most powerful of underdogs.

Biggest Heartbreak:

Missing out on a place in the Final four years ago (at home again) when two Italian goals deep into extra time wrecked a nation's dream in a semi-final of the highest quality.

At South Africa 2010 Germany will be competing in their seventeenth World Cup.

AUSTRALIA COACH TO QUIT AFTER TOURNAMENT

Australia coach Pim Verbeek has confirmed he will step down from his role as coach of the Socceroos after the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Verbeek has led Australia to 15 wins during his 27 games in charge and taken the team to their highest ever World Ranking of 14th.

However Verbeek has now revealed he will step down from his role in charge of the national team after being appointed back in 2007.

"It has been a very difficult decision for me after more than two years, but it is time for me to look for a new challenge," said Verbeek. "I have enjoyed every minute of being head coach of Australia and we achieved some fantastic results including qualifying for the World Cup and the Asian Cup."

"It is a good time to make this announcement so we can now focus completely on preparing everything perfectly for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. We will do everything right to prepare for this tournament to get the best result possible."

Verbeek will be in charge for the tournament however and his side have been drawn in Group D alongside Serbia, Ghana and three time champions Germany.

THE GREATEST BATTLE FOR THE ULTIMATE PRIZE

80 DAYS TO GO...

THE TROPHY TOUR

The World Cup trophy is currently on a 'World Tour' in preparation for this summer's Finals in South Africa.

Recently in London, it's now in St Petersburg for a brief stop and is due to move on to Moscow tomorrow. On Monday it will travel on to Donetsk in southern Ukraine and then on March 25 it will be in Bratislava.

The stops are part of a 225-day tour of the trophy which started last September and which will include stops in all 54 countries on the African continent.

In total the 'World Cup' will have travelled 134,000 kilometres and visited 86 countries, ending up in South Africa in May, where it will lie in waiting for the 19th World Cup tournament, which kicks off at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg on June 11.

CLASSIC WORLD CUP ENCOUNTERS

SPAIN 1982, Semi-Final: France v West Germany



This game had everything. Considering what was at stake on that extraordinary summer evening in Sevilla, southern Spain, this has to be remembered as one of the most dramatic football matches ever played. It's the sort of game that will never be forgotten by those who watched it. The sort of game that will haunt the players who played on the losing side all the way to their graves. A game which summed up so perfectly how football mirrors life through the intertwining of the cruel, the absurd, and the triumphant. A game that one almost feels it would be a insult to try and describe.

Let me leave it with the words of Michel Platini, who played on the losing side:

"That was my most beautiful game. What happened in those two hours encapsulated all the sentiments of life itself. No film or play could ever recapture so many contradictions and emotions. It was complete. So strong. It was fabulous."

DAVID BECKHAM OUT OF WORLD CUP

Former England captain David Beckham's hopes of making another World Cup were left shattered last night after he suffered a heart-breaking injury.

The LA Galaxy midfielder tore his Achilles tendon whilst playing for loan club AC Milan in their 1-0 Serie A victory over Chievo on Sunday. Beckham had moved to Milan in a bid to keep his match fitness up through the Major League Soccer off-season.

Early reports suggest the injury will keep Beckham out until the middle of June and with England manager Fabio Capello set to name his squad for the World Cup on June 1, Beckham's hopes of a fourth World Cup look certain to be over.

Capello himself has admitted that Beckham looks extremely unlikely to make the World Cup after this injury.

He said in a statement, "We have to wait for the results of the scan but it looks like he is out of the World Cup. I spoke with him after the game on Sunday night to offer my support, as did Franco Baldini. David is a great professional and has worked very hard to be ready for the World Cup, so missing it will be a big blow."

Many expected the World Cup to be Beckham's last hurrah in an England shirt and considering he will be 35 after the tournament it looks like "Goldenballs's" international career could be over.

There was more bad news on the injury front for Fabio Capello with Tottenham Hotspur claiming they are disappointed at Aaron Lennon's level of recovery from his groin muscle injury.

Lennon is yet to play for his club this year and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has admitted the pacy winger is "quite a way off" from a first team return.

Capello may also have to plan for life without first choice left-back Ashley Cole, who is currently sidelined through injury, and second choice Wayne Bridge who has ruled himself out of contention for the national team after problems in his private life relating to England and Chelsea defender John Terry.

AFRICA AWAITS THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

90 DAYS TO GO...

PLAYER FOCUS: BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER

Many German footballers have left their mark on the World Cup; Gerd Muller, Franz Beckenbauer and Jurgen Klinsmann to name but a few. This summer may be the turn of another as Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger attempts to put his name in the FIFA record books.

At just 25 years old, Schweinsteiger is yet to reach his prime and, after a bright start to his career, has failed to make the impact on the world stage than was perhaps expected of him. However, that’s not to say he’s not tasted his fair amount of success.

Schweinsteiger was a national champion in successive years at under-17 and under-19 level, before winning his first senior honour with Bayern Munich the following season, at the tender age of just 18. Schweinsteiger’s debut season at Bayern saw him pick up both a league and cup winner’s medal and the Kolbermoor born star has since gone on to win an impressive eight major honours, achieving the Bundesliga and German cup double on four occasions.

It’s not just club football where Schweinsteiger has shown his ability, by the time he steps onto a pitch in South Africa he will be amongst the twenty highest cap winners in German football history. With 73 caps, at the age of just 25, he is more experienced on the world stage than many older international stars such as club mate Franck Ribery (42 caps), former England captain John Terry (59) and Real Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso (66).

Those caps have been earned on the big stage too, after making his international debut at the age of just nineteen, he reached the semi-final of his first major tournament at the 2006 World Cup and then went one step further by making the final of the European Championships in 2008, before losing out to eventual champions Spain. This time around Schweinsteiger will be looking to go one step further again and pick up yet another piece of silverware for his ever expanding trophy cabinet.

According to his player profile on Bayern Munich’s official website Bastian has all the attributes needed to conquer the world. His interests are listed as “travel and new experiences” so he shouldn’t find himself too far out of his comfort zone in South Africa this summer. His personal motto - “Never lose your belief” - will undoubtedly come in handy as his country have been drawn in a tricky group alongside Australia, Serbia and African Nations Cup runners-up, Ghana.

Combine his ‘never-give-up’ attitude with accomplished shooting and passing over great distances and Schweinsteiger could well prove to be Germany’s secret weapon.

TOP FIVE......WORLD CUP GOALSCORERS

Two Brazilians, two Germans - no surprises there. The two most successful nations in the history of the World Cup have produced four of the five all-time top scorers. But what is the nationality of the player third in the list? And who tied for fifth place with the German striker who also managed his country to a third-placed finish four years ago on home soil?

1. RONALDO (Brazil, 15 goals)

Ronaldo scored four goals at France 1998 (including one penalty), top-scored in 2002 with eight goals as Brazil won their fifth World Cup (including both goals in the 2-0 win against Germany in the Final) and added three more at Germany 2006. When he scored Brazil's opening goal in the fifth minute of their second round clash with Ghana, he overtook Gerd Muller's record to become the leading World Cup marksman of all time. Rumours of him returning to the Brazilian squad for South Africa 2010 to try and add to his record tally are surely wide of the mark.



2. GERD MULLER (Germany, 14 goals)

Muller's international goals record makes sensational reading: 62 appearance for his country, and 68 goals. He notched up 10 goals at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, which included one penalty and two hat-tricks in the group stages. In 1974 in Germany Muller scored another four goals, including the winning goal against Holland in the Final to secure Germany's second World Cup triumph.

3. JUST FONTAINE (France, 13 goals)

The truly extraordinary thing about Just Fontaine is that his 13 goals were all scored at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He scored six times in the groups stages, two in the quarter-final and one in the semi-final defeat against Brazil. Leaving the best to last, he then added a further four in the third place match with Germany to create a record for goals in one World Cup tournament which will surely never be broken.

4. PELE (Brazil, 12 goals)

Pele's World Cup goals haul was spread over the four tournaments between 1958 and 1970. In 1958 in Sweden he scored six, setting a host of records in the process. Brazil won the World Cup that year for the first time, and Pele's goal in the quarter-final win over Wales made him the youngest player ever to score in the finals. In the semi-final he became the youngest ever player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup in the 5-2 battering of France. And a goal in the Final made him the youngest player to find the net in a World Cup Final. All three records stand to this day. In 1962 he scored in Brazil's opening group match against Mexico but was injured in the next game and missed the rest of the tournament. Brazil successfully defended their title, and had Pele played throughout it's quite conceivable that his name would be at the top of this list instead of Ronaldo. He added another goal in the 1966 tournament in England, before hitting four in 1970 as Brazil claimed the trophy yet again.




5= JURGEN KLINSMANN (Germany, 11 goals)

The German maestro was an integral member of West Germany's World Cup winning side of 1990, scoring three times, including a vital goal in the second-round win against European neighbours and historical rivals Holland. Five goals at USA 94 was an impressive haul given that the Germans went out in the quarter-finals to Bulgaria, and at France 98, in his last World Cup as a player, Klinsmann added three more goals to take his total to 11 and place him fifth in the list of all-time World Cup goalscorers.

5= SANDOR KOCSIS (Hungary, 11 goals)

A prolific goalscorer from Hungary's golden era. Like Just Fontaine, Kocsis netted all of his 11 goals in one tournament - the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, which was the only tournament he played in. The 'Magical Magyars' won their two group games 9-0 and 8-3 respectively, with Kocsis scoring seven times in the two matches. He added two more in both the quarter-final and semi-final wins over Brazil and Uruguay. His average of 2.2 goals per game in the tournament remains a record.

SPAIN THE TEAM TO BEAT

World Cup favourites Spain sent out a clear message to the football world last night with a clinical 2-0 victory in Paris against the 2006 runners-up.

Despite Raymond Domenech using the match to experiment with a new central defensive partnership, the class of the Spanish was evident throughout and the European Champions are rightfully favourites to land the 'big one' this summer.

Diego Maradona's Argentina, poor in qualifying, secured a morale-boosting victory against Germany in a heated encounter in Frankfurt thanks to a goal by Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuian on the stroke of half-time.

England, dogged in recent weeks by off-the-field scandals, came from a goal behind against African champions Egypt at Wembley to claim a 3-1 win, inspired by a brace from substitute Peter Crouch.

Holland saw off the USA 2-1 in Amsterdam, and World Champions Italy were held to a scoreless draw by African hopefuls Cameroon in Monaco.

The Ivory Coast, considered by many as dark horses for the tournament, suffered a surprise 2-0 reverse against 2002 semi-finalists South Korea.

KEY FRIENDLY RESULTS

France 0-2 Spain
Holland 2-1 USA
Italy 0-0 Cameroon
England 3-1 Egypt
Germany 0-1 Argentina

ONE HUNDRED DAYS UNTIL SOUTH AFRICA 2010

Just 100 days to wait now until the big kick-off...

Brazil have just beaten Ireland 2-0 in a friendly at the Emirates stadium in London. After a poor first half in which Brazil only took the lead via an own goal just before the break, the Samba stars improved in the second period and Robinho scored a fine second goal to wrap up a deserved victory.

Tomorrow most of the other nations who will be present in South Africa will also be in action, giving coaches the chance to further fine-tune their thought processes in the build-up to June 11. Germany play Argentina, England take on African champions Egypt at Wembley, France meet tournament favourites Spain, Holland play the USA and defending World champions Italy face Cameroon.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

See previous post for questions!

Sweden played Romania in Stanford, California, and the side from Scandinavia emerged triumphant in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw. In the semi-final the Swedes met Brazil for the second time in the tournament, having qualified for the knock-out stages from the same group as the eventual champions.

Cuba was the nation on the end of that trouncing - way back in 1938. That remains the Caribbean nation's only appearance at the Finals, and to qualify for the dizzy heights of the last eight they only had to beat Romania, which they did in a replay. Their World Cup record therefore reads: played 3, won 1, drawn 1, lost 1.

Italy and Spain, with the former emerging victorious on both occasions. In 1934 the match had to be replayed after a 1-1 draw, and in 1994 Robert Baggio scored a late winner shortly after an incident involving Mauro Tassoti's elbow. Spanish midfielder Luis Enrique was left with a bloody nose, but the incident went totally unnoticed by the referee.

In 1954, in a fiercely contested quarter-final between bitter rivals and central European neighbours, Austria overcame host nation Switzerland 7-5 in the highest scoring match in World Cup Finals history. The Austrian reward? A semi-final with mighty West Germany - and a 6-1 thrashing.

13 of the 18 World Cups have used a format that included a quarter-final stage. The five tournaments that DIDN'T were 1930, 1950, 1974, 1978 and 1982.

Uruguay were beaten 4-0 by West Germany, and Argentina lost out by a single goal to host nation England, who went on to win the World Cup for the first and only time so far in their history.

Peru were beaten 4-2 in Guadalajara by the best Brazil side ever. This was Peru's best showing of their four appearances at the World Cup Finals, the last of which was in 1982.

Three quarter-finals were decided by the dreaded spot-kicks. West Germany put paid to host nation Mexico after a dour 120 minutes of goalless football, France beat Brazil in one of the most riveting World Cup matches ever, and the surprise team of the tournament Belgium progressed to the last four by beating perennial underachievers Spain.

Of the 13 tournaments that used a format including quarter-finals, Germany have only failed to reach them on one occasion. Their 12 appearances in the last eight is two better than the next best team, which - unsurprisingly - is Brazil.

Turkey beat Senegal by a golden goal in 2002 to advance to the semi-finals.

WORLD CUP TRIVIA

Ten Questions On...

The World Cup Quarter-Finals


1. At USA 94, which quarter-final featured a Scandinavian country against an opponent from Eastern Europe?

2. Sweden once won a quarter-final by an 8-0 scoreline. Who were their opponents and in which year did it happen?

3. Which two European giants faced each other at the quarter-final stage in both 1934 and 1994?

4. What is the highest-scoring quarter-final ever?

5. In how many of the 18 World Cup tournaments has the format included a quarter-final stage?

6. Which two South American sides lost in the quarter-finals to the two eventual finalists in the 1966 tournament?

7. Which fellow South American team did Brazil beat in the 1970 quarter-final on the way to winning the trophy?

8. How many of the quarter-finals at Mexico 86 were decided on penalties?

9. Which team has the most number quarter-final appearances?

10. Who is the only team to have won a quarter-final by virtue of a golden goal?

ANSWERS TOMORROW! HAPPY HUNTING!