The year was 1986 and there was a World Cup in Mexico. All the people were looking at the strong home team, which was expected to lift the trophy. That was the second time in the history Mexico to be the host country of the tournament, after the first time in 1970, when The Tri were knocked out in the quarterfinals, losing to Italy 4-1.
The expectations for Mexico were very high, because the team was the host of the competition. In addition, there was the Real Madrid’s star Hugo Sanchez in the squad. The forward said to journalists before the tournament that he feels he will score lots of goals, because he has a “supernatural” feeling in the opponents’ box.
However, Mexico were again eliminated in the quarterfinals by West Germany on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the regular and the extra time. But that’s not the most interesting thing in our story. The Mexicans won their group after two victories (against Belgium and Iraq) and a draw against Paraguay 1-1. Exactly the draw against the South American team was crucial for Hugo Sanchez, who was psychologically broken. The reason was a missed penalty.
And do you actually know why he missed the penalty? There was a commercial for cheese with the participation of Hugo Sanchez. The Paraguayan goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez said that he knew where Sanchez will shoot the ball, exactly because the goalie has watched the commercial a hundred times.
Hugo Sanchez said after the match that he will not take another penalty until the end of the competition. The forward also said that he has lost the “supernatural” feeling, we spoke about earlier. The striker was not used in the third group match against Iraq. He took part in 4 of the 5 Mexico’s matches in the competition. Sanchez only managed to score once (against Belgium in the first game).
The winners of The World Cups usually have very strong mentality and aren’t shaken after missing a penalty. Everyone has missed a penalty! That’s why the Germans have never lost penalty shootouts in the World Cup tournaments. Because of their strong mentality and that’s why they have won the World Cup on 4 occasions! So, sometimes you must kick the ball without thinking about the consequences and you mustn’t lose heart if you miss!
Huddersfield Town had a dreamed start of the season in The Championship. The Terriers recorded 7 victories in their first 10 games of the campaign. They only lost twice and finished with a draw once. But, what is more impressive – The Terriers won their matches against maybe the strongest teams in the division. They beat Newcastle at St. James’ Park (2-1), Barnsley (2-1), Wolverhampton (1-0), Leeds United (1-0) and Queens Park Rangers (2-1). Moreover, Huddersfield Town recorded a draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
One of the best scorers in The NBA history – Kevin Garnett has announced the end of his professional basketball career, after 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association. In his last season and a half, the 40-year-old Garnett returned to Minnesota, where he actually started his professional basketball career in 1995 and where he played until 2007. Then, he moved to the team of the Boston Celtics, and then Garnett played for the Brooklyn Nets. The power forward has recorded 15 appearances in the All-Star Game and has won over $ 330 million of wages in his career, more than any other player in the league!
The biggest legend of the US national football team, Landon Donovan is going to return to the professional football! The attacker has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy, which was his last team before hanging the boots in December 2014. However, now he is back at his favourite team, where he will play alongside with the English legends Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and the best Irish striker Robbie Keane.