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The beautiful game has never failed to surprise the spectators and at times there have been moments on the football field that are etched in history. The 90-minute long games are usually filled with excitement and surprises; however, at times the spectators witness controversies and petty spats on the field which take football related fanaticism to a whole new level.
Some football matches have turned out to be so strange that they have witnessed new rules being implemented, the intervention of authorities and World records being set. These football matches have at times given the beautiful game a hilarious twist or in some severe cases disgraced it.
We shall now take a look at five of the strangest football matches ever played and how their occurrence has shaped the game we all love to watch today.
#5 PAOK FC vs AEK FC (2018)
Every football fan has at least once in his life went berserk over a referee's decision taken against his team; however, the Russian owner of PAOK FC, Ivan Savvidis went a step further as he entered the field with a handgun in a holster when the referee disallowed PAOK's 89th minute goal against AEK Athens.
The game was initially halted and the authorities had to arrive on the field to take the infuriated PAOK owner away from the referee. AEK's players left the field as they were concerned about their safety and hours later the match was abandoned.
The Superleague Greece was suspended by the Greek government on 12th March 2018, a day after the incident took place for an indefinite amount of time. The suspension was removed on 27th March 2018 with PAOK being deducted 3 points and AEK being awarded 3 points for the incident.
Savvidis was apologetic for his behavior and violent outburst as he said in a statement released on PAOK's website a few days after the incident.
#4 Kuwait vs France (1982)
Kuwait made their first and till date only FIFA World Cup appearance in 1982. They had a decent start as they drew their first match 1-1 with Czechoslovakia and were all set to play their second group game against France.
On 21st June 1982 Kuwait faced France at the Estadio José Zorrilla, Valladolid and thousands in the stadium along with millions around the World witnessed a bizarre moment unfolding before their eyes France were leading 3-1 and Alain Giresse scored to give the French an unassailable three-goal advantage; however, the Kuwaiti defenders had stopped playing as apparently they heard the referee Myroslav Stupar's whistle.
Stupar didn't give heed to the Kuwaiti defenders' complaints and stood his ground. Prince Fahid, president of the Kuwaiti FA then decided to take matters in his own hands and entered the field signaling his players to leave the pitch. The referee finally gave in to the pressure and disallowed the goal.
The game ended with a scoreline of 4-1 as Maxime Bossis scored in the 89th minute. The incident saw Prince Fahid fined for his actions and Stupar was banned from refereeing. Kuwait went on to lose their final game by 1-0 against England and was eliminated from the World Cup.
#3 West Germany vs Austria (1982)
Another strange incident took place at Espana '82 when West Germany played against Austria in the final group game of the first round. The game saw disgraceful collusion between the Austrian and West German players that resulted in the subsequent elimination of debutantes Algeria.
Algeria played their final group game a day before which meant both West Germany and Austria knew exactly what they had to do in order to proceed to the next round. A West German victory by a goal or two would've resulted in qualification of West Germany and Austria into the next round, a large victory by three goals or more by West Germany would have seen the latter qualify along with Algeria and a draw or Austrian victory would've eliminated the West Germans with Austria proceeding along with the Algerians.
West Germany took the lead in the 10th minute through a goal by Horst Hrubesch but after the goal was scored the game took an ugly turn as both the teams resorted to a very defensive style of play and passed the ball among themselves in their own half and hardly made any attempts to score. The game ended 1-0 in favor of the West Germans which meant they along with Austria qualified to the next round.
The players received flak for their disgraceful display; however, FIFA was unable to take any action against the teams as they didn't break any rules. The game was given the name "Disgrace of Gijon" and became the primary reason why final group games in most international tournaments today have a simultaneous kick-off time.
#2 AS Adema vs SO l'Emyrne (2002)
Every football fan loves a high scoring game as it makes the game much more exciting and captivating. The game between Malagasy clubs AS Adema and SO l'Emyrne on 31st October 2002 saw a total of 149 goals being scored; however, all these were own-goals scored by SOE to protest refereeing decisions in the previous match that saw them lose the league title.
The controversy sparked off in SOE's penultimate game against DSA Antananarivo which ended as a 2-2 draw after the referee awarded a late and disputed penalty to the latter. This meant the league title went to AS Adema and SOE in their final game of the four-team round-robin play-off made their resentment pretty clear as they deliberately scored 149 own-goals.
Following the match, SOE coach Zaka Be was suspended for three years and four of the team's players including the captain of the Madagascar national football team, Mamisoa Razafindrakoto were suspended until the end of the season.
The game holds the world record for the highest scoreline and is recognized by the Guinness book of records.
#1 Barbados vs Grenada (1994)
Scoring an own-goal is considered a grave blunder by a player; however, when Barbados met Grenada in the 1994 Caribbean Cup qualifier, an own goal came to the rescue of the Barbadians due to a strange rule implemented by the organizers wherein no match could end as a draw.
An unusual form of golden goal rule was adopted by the organizers wherein the first goal in the extra-time not only won the match but also counted as double. The game between Barbados and Grenada started with both sides having a chance to proceed to the main tournament. Barbados required a victory by a margin of two goals or more which they had till the 83rd minute when they were leading by 2-0. However, Grenada scored late in the game to make it 2-1 and Barbados had only seven minutes to find the net and restore their two-goal advantage.
Barbados made few attempts to score but in the 87th minute they changed their strategy and made a rather 'smart' move under the circumstances. The defender Terry Sealy and goalkeeper Horace Stoute passed the ball between each other and finally, Sealy intentionally scored an own goal in order to force extra-time wherein they could score a golden goal which would fetch them two goals thereby restoring their requisite two-goal advantage.
With the scoreline at 2-2, Grenada now had the option to put the ball into any of the two sides in the remaining regulation time. The final few minutes of the match were nothing short of a hilarious spectacle as Grenada was trying to score an own goal and Barbados were defending on both sides.
The Barbadians were successful in defending both sides and extra-time followed. Barbados scored in the extra-time and their winning "golden goal" was counted as double making the final scoreline 4-2 in favor of Barbados, ensuring their qualification into the 1994 Caribbean Cup.
The Grenadian manager James Clarkson was surely enraged by the peculiar "golden goal" rule and said -
"I feel cheated. The person who came up with these rules must be a candidate for a madhouse. The game should never be played with so many players running around the field confused. Our players did not even know which direction to attack: our goal or their goal. I have never seen this happen before. In football, you are supposed to score against the opponents to win, not for them".
