December 14, 1947: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu Opens

December 14, 1947: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol opens its new stadium, named Estadio Chamartín like the old one. In 1955, it was renamed after the man who got it built, team president Santiago Bernabéu.

Bernabéu the man is not to be celebrated: He was a dedicated follower of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco, which allowed him to fix results in favor of his team until his death in 1978, even after Franco died and Spain became free.

Santiago Bernabéu, with an early version of the European Cup

But the 84,744-seat stadium (it went as high as 129,690 before its conversion to all-seater) is one of the world's great sports palaces. It hosted the Finals of the 1964 European Nations Cup and the 1982 World Cup, making it the 1st to host the Final of both.

It's also hosted 4 Finals of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, which Real Madrid have won a record 14 times:

* 1957: Real Madrid won it on home soil, beating Fiorentina of Florence, Italy, 2-0.

* 1969: AC Milan beat Ajax Amsterdam, 4-1.

* 1980: Nottingham Forest beat Hamburger SV, 1-0.

* 2010: Internazionale Milano of Milan, Italy, beat Bayern Munich, 2-0.

In 2018, CONMEBOL, the governing body for soccer in South America, moved the Final of its version of the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, to the Bernabéu, because it was the biggest club soccer rivalry on the continent, and the Bernabéu would be, for them, a neutral site. River Plate beat their Buenos Aires, Argentina arch-rivals, Boca Juniors, 3-1.

In 2019, Real Madrid began a renovation of the stadium, expanding concourses and installing wider seats and a retractable roof.

(UPDATE: It reopened on December 23, 2023, with a seating capacity of 83,186. In 2025, the stadium was renamed simply "The Bernabéu." Apparently, old man Santiago was now considered too much of a symbol of Fascism to allow his name to remain on the stadium, but the Bernabéu name was too lucrative to remove it entirely.)

*

December 14, 1947 was a Sunday. Dilma Rousseff, who would later serve as President of the soccer-mad nation of Brazil, was born.

Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 34-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers, 28-14 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Boston Yanks -- yes, Yankee fans and Red Sox fans, such a sports team actually existed -- 40-13 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* And the Chicago Cardinals beat the Chicago Bears, 30-21 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

And the All-America Football Conference held its Championship Game. The Cleveland Browns beat the football version of the New York Yankees, 14-3 at Yankee Stadium.

No games were scheduled for the Basketball Association of America, the league that would become the NBA. But the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 1-1 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 1-1 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

November 23, 2002: The Pig's Head In El Clásico

November 23, 2002: El Clásico, the biggest sports rivalry in Spain, is played. It becomes the most famous game in the rivalry, but not for anything that was part of the actual game.

The country's 2 biggest soccer teams are Real Madrid Club de Fútbol and Futbol Club Barcelona. Real Madrid, the more successful of the two, became identified with the national government of Fascist leader Francisco Franco. Barcelona became identified with the resistance of the people of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, which opposed Franco and the Fascists, and were seriously oppressed. They are so deeply engrained in Catalan culture that they have adopted the slogan "Mes Que Un Club" (More Than a Club). It's even "written" into the seats at their stadium, the 98,000-seat Camp Nou.

As a result, Real Madrid have been seen as a "cheating" club, somehow turning draws into wins and losses into draws, with dives for penalties and "horror tackles" overlooked by the referees. Eventually, Barcelona learned how to do that, too, especially in European tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, to the point where they became known as "UEFAlona."

Luís Figo was a winger from outside Lisbon, Portugal. He had starred for Sporting Clube de Portugal (a.k.a. "Sporting Lisbon") before Barcelona bought him in 1995. He helped "Barça" win La Liga in 1998 and 1999, and became their most popular player.

Former Real Madrid captain Manolo Sanchis said Figo was his stiffest opponent, even more of a handful than Diego Maradona: "All by himself, he drove us crazy, dribbling us. He was a tremendous player, a crack."

Real Madrid, who had won the UEFA Champions League in 1998 and 2000, had a new club president, Florentino Pérez. He didn't just want the team to reassert themselves: He wanted to send Barça a message, and metaphorically stab their fans in the heart. So he promised Real fans that he would sign Figo, who had a buyout clause of €62 million. (If he could get it done, it would be a world record for a transfer fee for a "footballer": About $68 million, or about 21 times what Barça had paid for him 5 years earlier.)

Contrasting this stance with that of outgoing club president Lorenzo Sanz, ousted in a club election in favor of Pérez, Diego Torres, writing for Madrid newspaper El Pais (The Country), in Madrid, said, "This promise fulfilled all the superpower fantasies of Madridistas. Will he destroy Barcelona with a single cheque? They didn't give a shit for Lorenzo Sanz and his European Cups." In other words, Pérez was going to make it personal, and Real's fans ate it up.

Figo had been trying to renegotiate his Barcelona contract, but the club was stalling. This made him receptive to a move. But he was stuck: He couldn't tell anyone the deal was done until it was legal to announce it. But word got out, and he denied it. In other words, he lied. And the Cules believed him. When the deal was announced on July 25, 2000, the reaction in Catalonia was fury and a sense of betrayal: Not only had he gone to their arch-rivals, but he had lied about it.

Luís Figo

(Cules is a nickname for Barcelona supporters. At the stadium they used from 1922 to 1957, fans made an artificial last row of the stands by sitting on the ledge, with their rear ends, or "cules" in Romance languages, over the edge. So the most common name for Barcelona fans is, literally, "asses.")

The next game between the teams was at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on October 21, 2000 -- the same day as Game 1 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, but even Met fans don't hate the Yankees as much as the Cules hate the Madridistas and their team. Every time Figo touched the ball, the booing and whistling (often equivalent to booing in Europe) was intense. One banner in the stands read, "We hate you so much, because we loved you so much." Barcelona won, 2-0. 

But the Figo signing began the "Galácticos" era of Real Madrid, signing the best players in the world, and not caring how much it cost. They already had Raúl (González), Guti (real name: José María Gutiérrez), Fernando Hierro, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Míchel Salgado, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas. To these were added Figo, Claude Makélélé, Zinedine Zidane, and finally Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, not the later Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, although Real did eventually sign him, too). It worked, as Los Blancos won the Champions League in 2002.

Raúl wore Number 7. He became known as "El Siete." The Seven. Even Figo, who wore 7 for Barcelona and for the Portugal national team, knew that he couldn't talk Raúl into giving the number up. So he switched to 10.

On November 23, 2002, a few days after Figo's 30th birthday, Real Madrid returned to the Camp Nou. It was a 9:00 PM start, so the fans had more time to have pregame drinks than usual. Every time Figo came within throwing range of Barça fans, objected rained down on him: Beer cans, bottles, golf balls, even cigarette lighters. In the 2nd half, with the score 0-0, Figo, the team's regular taker of corner kicks, went to take one. More objects fell near him. He turned around, smiled, and made a thumbs-up gesture, to let them know that they weren't going to stop him.

But the referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo, had seen enough, and he decided the game had to stop, long enough for the throwing to stop and the debris to be cleared. For 16 minutes, there was no action. At one point, a pig's head was found on the edge of the pitch, preserved the way it would be if the entire pig were to be roasted. The message was clear: "Figo, you're a pig." The TV cameras caught the image, and the whole world saw it.

The game was finally resumed, and Figo's corner came to nothing. At 11:08 PM, the final whistle was blown, and the game remained goalless.

Figo, Zidane, and the rest helped Real Madrid win La Liga in that 2002-03 season, Figo's 2nd league title with them, along with the 2 he won at Barcelona. In 2005, he left for Internazionale Milano, and won 4 Serie A (Italian league) titles with them, then retired.

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and each team's fans, still hate each other's guts. And Barça fans still have not forgiven Figo. I suppose it hasn't occurred to them that if their own team had renegotiated his contract like he'd asked, he might not have gone.

*

November 23, 2002 was a Saturday. In English soccer, Arsenal traveled to Hampshire, and lost to Southampton, 3-2 at the St. Mary's Stadium.

El Clásico wasn't the only major rivalry being played that day. It was the beginning of Rivalry Week in American college football. Actually, no: The beginning was 3 days earlier, on Wedneasday night, when West Virginia upset Number 13 Virginia Tech, 21-18 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. On Thursday night, Number 1 Miami beat Number 17 Pittsburgh, 28-21 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. This clinched the Big East Conference title.

But among the games played on that Saturday:

* Rivalry: Number 2 Ohio State beat Number 12 Michigan, 14-9 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State thus won the Big Ten Conference title, and beat Miami in a controversial Fiesta Bowl to win the Bowl Championship Series National Championship.

* Rivalry: Number 3 Washington State were upset by Washington, 29-26 in the "Apple Cup" at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. "Wazzu" still won the Pacific-Ten Conference title.

* Number 4 Oklahoma beat Number 24 Texas Tech, 60-15 at Memorial Stadium, a.k.a. Owen Field, in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma then beat Colorado in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game, and, since Ohio State was Number 2 and locked into the BCS title game, were invited to the Rose Bowl as the now-Number 3 team. They beat Washington State.

* Number 5 Iowa had completed its regular season. They tied Ohio State for 1st in the Big 10, but they didn't play each other, and Ohio State had the higher ranking, so they went to the BCS title game.

* Number 6 Georgia had the week off, in preparation for next week's game against arch-rival Georgia Tech. They won that game, then beat Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

* Rivalry: Number 7 USC, the University of Southern California, beat Number 25 UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles, 52-21 at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California. USC thus finished in a tie with Washington State for the Pac-10 title. But since Wazzu had beaten USC head-to-head, this would be the only game USC would play at the Rose Bowl stadium that season. USC went to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Iowa.

* Number 8 Notre Dame beat Rutgers, 42-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Alabama were upset by Auburn, 17-7 in the "Iron Bowl" at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. 'Bama still finished 1st in the SEC Western Division, but were on probation, and not permitted to play in the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 10 Kansas State beat Missouri, 38-0 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Number 14 Florida State were upset by North Carolina State, 17-7 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. FSU still won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, but lost the Sugar Bowl to Georgia.

* Rivalry: Number 18 Maryland were upset by Virginia, 48-13 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

* Rivalry: North Carolina beat Duke, 23-21 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, 24-0 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now First Bank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: Purdue beat Indiana, 34-10 for the "Old Oaken Bucket" at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Illinois beat Northwestern, 31-24 at Ryan Field outside Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.

* Rivalry: Wisconsin beat Minnesota, 49-31 for "Paul Bunyan's Axe" at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Rivalry: Utah beat Brigham Young, 13-6 in the "Holy War" at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* Rivalry: The University of California beat Stanford, 30-7 in "The Big Game" at the original California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

* Rivalry: Oregon State beat Oregon, 45-24 in "The Civil War" at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

* And among the service academies, Army lost to the University of Memphis, 38-10 at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) in Memphis; Navy lost to Wake Forest, 30-27 at Groves Stadium (now Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Air Force lost to San Diego State, 38-34 at Falcon Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Baseball was out of season. There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 96-82 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-99 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Washington Wizards, 85-74 at the Great American Pyramid in Memphis.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 97-84 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Indiana Pacers, 106-91 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 115-105 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls, 110-90 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns, 80-79 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 95-94 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And there were 13 games in the NHL:

* Speaking of rivalries, the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-3 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-1 at the Mellon Arena (as the Pittsburgh Civic Arena was then known).

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Edmonton Oilers played to a 1-1 tie at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Dallas Stars, 2-0 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

July 25, 2000: Luís Figo's Defection Begins the "Galácticos" Era

July 25, 2000: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol sign Luís Figo to a contract. This begins the team's "Galácticos" Era.

The Spanish soccer team define themselves by the UEFA Champions League, the tournament known from its 1955 establishment until 1992 as the European Cup, which is still the name of the trophy given to the winner. They won the 1st 5 in a row, from 1956 to 1960. They won it again in 1966. Then they didn't win it again until 1998. From 1966 onward, managers have been fired for not winning it, even after seasons when they won Spain's La Liga.

They won it in 2000, in large part because they had signed one of the best players from England, Liverpool FC's Steve McManaman. Inspired by this, and newly installed as the team's president, Florentino Pérez was determined to keep it. So, hearing that Figo, the most popular player for their arch-rivals, FC Barcelona, was disgruntled and wanted to leave, they paid €62 million for him.

The reaction in Catalonia was fury and a sense of betrayal: One banner at an El Clásico match between the teams read, "We hate you so much, because we loved you so much."

(Note: This post is about Real's Galácticos. Figo's move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, and how it affected the relationship between the teams, is a separate story, deserving of a separate post, which I have written.)

Pérez also signed Claude Makélélé from Spanish team Celta Vigo. He and Figo were added to a team that already included Fernando Hierro, Raúl (González), Guti (real name: José María Gutiérrez), Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Míchel Salgado, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

But Real were eliminated from the 2001 Champions League in the Semifinal, by Germany's Bayern Munich. So Pérez poached perhaps the best player in the world at the time, spending €73.5 million to get French midfielder Zinedine Zidane from Italian team Juventus. It worked, as Zidane led Los Blancos to win the Champions League in 2002.

But enough was never enough. Pérez shelled out €45 million to get the world's best forward, 2002 World Cup winner Ronaldo of Brazil, from Italian team Internazionale Milano. A generation later, it can now truthfully be said that Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the greatest Ronaldo to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.

But in 2003, Juventus knocked Real out in the Semifinals. So Pérez splashed the cash again, giving English champions Manchester United €37.5 million for the most famous (though hardly the best) player in England, David Beckham. It wasn't enough: In 2004, AS Monaco eliminated Real on penalties in the Quarterfinal.

So Pérez made another entreaty to England, getting Michael Owen from Liverpool. But the injuries that curtailed Owen's career were already taking effect. The era was fizzling out, and Real did not win the Champions League again until 2014 -- although that started a run of 5 in 9 years, giving them 14, twice as many as any other team.

The Galácticos concept inspired other teams. In 2003, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought West London team Chelsea FC, and spent them to glory, including buying Makélélé. The royal family of the United Arab Emirates bought Manchester City, and did the same thing. The prices of players went up, up, up. A player whose talents might have cost €5 million in 2005 would, by 2015, have cost €50 million, leading to the joke, "Did somebody forget a decimal point?"

*

July 25, 2000 was a Tuesday. In America, the only sport in progress at the time was baseball. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 19-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Bronx Bombers got home runs from Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Ryan Thompson and Clay Bellinger. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher.

The Yankees knew a thing or two about building a team of superstars, although, being from an Anglophone country, they didn't use the term "Galácticos." The Orioles' "Galáctico," Cal Ripken Jr., having ended his streak in 1998, did not play in this game.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Glendon Rusch was the winning pitcher. The Mets' "Galáctico," Mike Piazza, went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The Expos' "Galáctico," Vladimir Guerrero Sr., went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. The New Englanders' "Galáctico," Nomar Garciaparra, went 2-for-4. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs -- for the Twins. He wouldn't join the Red Sox until 2003. It's not clear when his steroid use began, but that was the year he tested positive for them.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Cubs' "Galáctico," Sammy Sosa, went 0-for-1... with 3 walks.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. The Braves' "Galáctico," Chipper Jones, went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. The Tribe's "Galáctico," Jim Thome, went 0-for-1 with 2 walks, then left the game due to injury.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. José Hernández singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. The Astros had 2 "Galácticos": Craig Biggio went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Jeff Bagwell went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. The Reds also had 2 "Galácticos," both graduates of Cincinnati's Archbishop Moeller High School: Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs; while Barry Larkin (5 years older and never a teammate, even in an All-Star Game, until this season) went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Rays' "Galácticos," Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, both went 2-for-3 with a walk. Canseco also had an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. The South Siders' "Galáctico," Frank Thomas, went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Cards' "Galáctico," Mark McGwire, did not play. The Diamondbacks', Randy Johnson, did, but was the losing pitcher.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 9-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). The Padres' "Galáctico," Tony Gwynn, did not play, although you could count reliever Trevor Hoffman, who got the save in relief of Woody Williams. The Giants' "Galáctico," Barry Bonds, went 0-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-7 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

March 1, 1922: The Death of Pichichi

March 1, 1922: Rafael Moreno Aranzadi dies of typhus his hometown of Bilbao, Spain. Known as "Pichichi," he was only 29 years old. Had the antibiotics developed in the 1940s been available then, he probably would have survived.

The son of a Mayor of Bilbao, and the nephew of renowned Spanish author Miguel de Unamuno, he starred for Athletic Bilbao, helping them win 5 regional championships (Spain's La Liga wasn't founded until 1929) and the Copa del Rey (King's Cup, their version of the FA Cup) 4 times between 1931 and 1921. In the 1915 Copa del Rey Final, he scored 3 goals to beat Barcelona team RCD Espanyol. He also led Spain to the Silver Medal at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

A statue of him stands inside Athletic's San Mamés Stadium, having been placed at the previous one in 1926 and moved to the new one in 2013. Since 1953, the Spanish newspaper Marca has annually awarded the Pichichi Trophy to La Liga's leading scorer.

*

March 1, 1922 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. There were 2 games in the NHL. The Toronto St. Patricks (forerunners of the Maple Leafs) beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Ottawa Arena. And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Hamilton Tigers, 3-2 at the Barton Street Arena in Hamilton, Ontario.

February 17, 2017: A Soccer Lineup From 11 Different Countries

February 17, 2017: Granada Club de Fútbol play Seville-based Real Betis, at Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes in Granada, in Andalusia in southern Spain. This game, in Spain's La Liga, is a milestone: Granada fielded players from 11 different countries. No two of their players came from the same country. This is believed to be the first time it has ever happened in any soccer league, anywhere in the world. Here is the lineup:

Goalkeeper: Number 13, Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico.

Right Back: 25, Sverrir Ingi Ingason, Iceland.

Left Back: 3, Gastón Silva, Uruguay.

Centerback: 23, Héctor Hernández (known by just his first name), Spain

Centerback: 22, Dmitri Foulquier, France, the team's Captain.

Central Midfielder: 5 Uche Agbo (also known by just his first name), Nigeria.

Right Midfielder: 29, Martin Hongla, Cameroon.

Left Midfielder: 8, Mubarak Wakaso, Ghana.

Center Forward: 18, Andreas Pereira, Brazil

Right Wing: 16, Mehdi Carcela, Morocco.

Left Wing: 7, Adrián Ramos, Colombia.

That's 11 different players, from 11 different countries, and from 4 different continents: 4 from Africa, 3 from Europe, 3 from South America, and 1 from North America.

And it worked: Carcela scored in the 18th minute. Ramos scored in the 28th. Pereira scored in the 33rd, and Granada went into halftime up 3-0. Ramos scored again in the 64th. There was a fight in the 66th minute, and both Pereira and Matías Nahuel of Betis were sent off, leaving both teams to finish the game with 10 men. Brazilian player Petros got a consolation goal in the 75th, and it ended 4-1 to Granada.

It was the highlight of the season for Granada. They had already fired manager Paco Jémez early in the season. His successor, Lucas Alcaraz, was no better, as they won only 1 of their 15 remaining La Liga games, and were relegated. Alcaraz was fired on April 10, and former Arsenal Captain Tony Adams managed their last 7 games, all losses.

Granada were promoted back to La Liga in 2019. Jémez now manages U.D. Ibiza in Spain's 2nd division, Alcaraz manages Olympiakos Nicosia in Cyprus' 1st division, and Adams has never managed again.

(UPDATE: Granada were relegated again in 2022. Jémez now manages a team in Iran's 1st division. Oddly, Alcaraz succeeded Jémez as manager in Ibiza. As of the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Adams, one of the greatest centrebacks of his generation, still has never managed since being fired by Granada in 2017.)

*

February 17, 2017 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA was in its All-Star Break. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh. Mikko Rantanen scored the winning goal with 37 seconds left in overtime.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in in Columbus. Brandon Dubinsky scored the winning goal with 3:56 left in overtime.

* And the Florida Panthers beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

February 17, 1974: Johan Cruijff, the Hero of Barcelona

February 17, 1974: Futbol Club Barcelona win El Clásico, the biggest sports rivalry in Spain, defeating Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, 5-0 at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. For the people of Catalonia, for whom FC Barcelona are a cultural touchstone -- as they say, "Més que un club" ("More than a club") -- it is the beginning of the end of the tyranny over their home region.

On this day, the power of Francisco Franco cannot compete with that of Johan Cruijff.

The Dutch soccer star -- whose name is usually written outside his homeland as "Cruyff" -- had starred for his hometown team, AFC Ajax in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, leading them to 3 straight European Cup wins.

But all good things must come to an end. In August 1973, due to infighting at Ajax, Cruijff wanted out, and he got it: His former manager Rinus Michels brought him to Barcelona, for what was then a world record transfer fee, worth about $2 million at the time. Barça fans, known as cules, were ecstatic, getting the man then generally regarded as the best player in the world, something their arch-rivals, Real Madrid, had previously had with Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo Di Stéfano. Now, it was La Blaugrana who had this advantage over Los Merengues.

Crujiff married a woman named Danny Coster. They had daughters Chantal in 1970 and Susila in 1972. They maintained a home in Barcelona from 1973 onward. On February 9, 1974, their son was born. Johan gave his son a Catalan name: Johan Jordi Cruijff. Naming his son after Jordi, Catalonia's patron saint, further endeared him to the Catalan people, especially since Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (who would be dead within 2 years), said to have fixed titles in favor of Real Madrid, had banned all use of Catalan national symbols. (Jordi Cruyff, as his name has usually been written, went on to have a decent career as a player, but people always expected more from the son of Cruijff.)

But what the cules really loved about him came just 8 days later: On February 17, 1974, Barcelona went to Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid's mighty 100,000-seat home stadium, and beat them 5-0. Cruijff scored one goal, and assisted on 2 others. It should have been 6-1, but Barcelona had a goal disallowed, and Real Madrid were denied a penalty. If Crujiff had never played another game for La Blaugrana, they would have loved him forever for this game alone.

Note that the captain's armband is the Catalan flag.

Barcelona won La Liga in 1974. It all seemed to be setting Cruijff up for the greatest prize of all: The World Cup. The tournament was being held in West Germany, and the Dutch team seemed to have the best of all Dutch worlds. Alas, in the Final, they had to face West Germany, with several players from Bayern Munich, who had replaced Ajax as European Cup winners, and they had to play it in Munich. The Germans won, and while the Dutch have never complained about the officiating or the home-field advantage, they also have never gotten over the defeat.

Cruijff remained with Barcelona until 1978, seeing the death of Franco and Spain's return to democracy. He then went to America to play for the Los Angeles Aztecs and the Washington Diplomats of the North American Soccer League, before going back to Europe. He would manage both Ajax and Barcelona. He wanted to copy the Ajax Academy that had produced himself and so many other great players. It was established on land owned by the club, outside a 1702 house known as La Masia ("The Farmhouse"), and La Masia has remained the academy's name ever since. It has kept the talent flowing, well into the age of Lionel Messi.

He died in 2016. Ajax subsequently renamed its Amsterdam Arena for him. But he may be more loved in Barcelona, not just for his performances, especially this one, but for what they represented against the Fascist regime then ruling Spain.

*

February 17, 1974 was a Sunday. Actor Jerry O'Connell was born. And the Zamalek Stadium disaster happened in Egypt. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 97-86 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 32 points and 23 rebounds.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-107 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Capital Bullets -- as the Washington Bullets were known in their 1st season only -- beat the Boston Celtics, 99-95 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-105 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Houston Rockets, 135-118 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Bob McAdoo scored 38 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 112-100 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Gail Goodrich of the Lakers and Lou Hudson of the Hawks each scored 35 points. Pete Maravich of the Hawks scored 32.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-97 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Virginia Squires beat the Kentucky Colonels, 118-113 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Jim Eakins scored 41 points.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Rockets, 93-92 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver.

* And the San Diego Conquistadors beat the Carolina Cougars, 129-123 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Travis Grant scored 41.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 2-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the California Golden Seals, 7-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

And there were 6 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Jersey Knights beat the Quebec Nordiques, 10-3 at the Cherry Hill Arena in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Chicago Cougars, 6-5 at the Cleveland Arena.

* The New England Whalers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 in overtime at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Houston Aeros, 6-1 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Toronto Toros, 3-2 in overtime at the Edmonton Gardens.

* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 4-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.