Eurosport - Mon, 14 Jul 12:17:00 2008
A missed penalty, a blistering yet controversial 100m, and a cyclist on a train all feature as we once again reflect on what happened 'on this week' in sport.
1994: Penalty woe for Baggio in World Cup final - July 17
The 1994 World Cup started and ended with a poor penalty. But while Diana Ross's awful effort in the opening ceremony could be expected, Roberto Baggio's miss in the final's penalty shoot-out was more of a surprise. The Italian playmaker had been outstanding in the semi-finals, scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Bulgaria. But after a poor 0-0 draw with Brazil in the final, the fate of the Italians rested in Baggio's hands after previous misses from Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro had got them into trouble. Baggio then did his best Chris Waddle impression and ballooned the ball over the bar - Brazil were champions for a fourth time.
1989: Laurie Cunningham killed in a car crash - July 15
Before there was David Beckham, Michael Owen or Jonathan Woodgate there was Laurie Cunningham - the first English player to feature for Real Madrid. He was adored by the club's fans who called him 'Black Flash'. He was also the first black player to play a competitive match for England (Viv Anderson's first cap coming in a friendly). Long after his spell with Real he returned to Madrid to play for Rayo Vallecano. However, aged just 33, he was tragically killed in a car crash in his adopted city on this week 19 years ago.
1988: Seve wins his third Open - July 18
Seve Ballesteros won his third Open Championship on this week 20 years ago when a scintillating final round of 65 saw him take the title by two shots from Nick Price at Royal Lytham & St Annes. It was the fifth major title of his career but also his last. He would only have three more top-10 finishes in majors and would never again finish higher than fifth (1989 Masters).
1988: Flo-Jo breaks world 100m record - July 16
The fastest 100m run by a woman this year is a 10.88 second effort from Veronica Campbell-Brown, but that still falls some way short of the world record set by Florence Griffith-Joyner on this week 20 years ago. However, the 10.49-second performance at the US trials in Indianapolis is clouded in controversy as many in the stadium felt it was wind assisted, even though the wind meter measured 0.0. Of course there was also that question that dogged 'Flo-Jo' throughout her career - was she on drugs? She never tested positive for a banned substance but you'll find few in the athletics community who believe she was clean. When she died in 1998, the coroner's office was not allowed to test Griffith-Joyner's body for drugs, steroids or growth hormones, leaving her successes shrouded in mystery to this day.
1983: The British & Irish Lions suffer record defeat - July 16
A miserable Lions tour of New Zealand ended on this week in 1983 with the famed side suffering their biggest ever drubbing - a 38-6 defeat in Auckland. It completed a 4-0 whitewash for the All Blacks and was only the second time the Lions had suffered such a shutout. The touring party was captained by Ciaran Fitzgerald, coached by Jim Telfer and managed by Willie John McBride, and they also suffered defeats to Auckland and Canterbury during their near two months Down Under.
1955: Moss claims first grand prix victory - July 17
Stirling Moss became the first Englishman to win the British GP when he edged out his Mercedes-Benz team-mate and world champion Juan Manuel Fangio at Aintree near Liverpool on this week way back in 1955. It was the first grand prix victory of Moss's career. He would go on to win 16 races in total but he never won the world championship. He was runner-up five times between 1955-60 - four times to Fangio and once to fellow Briton Mike Hawthorn.
1903: Maurice Garin wins first Tour de France - July 19
Maurice Garin became the first winner of the Tour on this week back in 1903. Garin represented France, but was actually an Italian. He was given French citizenship in 1901 after having twice won the Paris-Roubaix, and then won the first Tour two years later as a Frenchman. He also defended the title in 1904 before being disqualified. The reason was never officially revealed but apparently he used a train during part of the route - naughty boy, eh?
Comment 1 - 2 of 2
Or was he like Chambers? Got on by mistake?
Was yer man drugged along by the train?
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