Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (March 23rd) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, feel free to post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!
On This Day in 2014 - Messi Became the Leading Scorer in El Clasico
On 23rd May 2014, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid thanks to a late Lionel Messi penalty in one of the greatest Clásico matches in recent memory. The game had just about everything over the 90 minutes including a hat trick, three penalties, a red card and some spectacular goals.
Lionel Messi netted a hat-trick to become the leading scorer in El Clasico history as part of a 4-3 Barcelona victory.
The match got off to a nice, energetic start with both teams getting good chances to grab an early goal. Lionel Messi hit Neymar with a well-played pass in the fourth minute but the Brazilian's shot from a tough angle was covered up by Diego Lopéz. A minute later, a slightly hobbled Karim Benzema grabbed a poor pass in the Barca box but sent his shot well wide.
In the seventh minute, Messi found Iniesta on the left side of the box and the Spaniard did not waste his chance. Iniesta's shot went up and over Lopéz's shoulder, and into the top right corner of the goal, giving Barcelona an early 1-0 lead.
In the 20th minute, Benzema proved that third time is indeed the charm. Di María set up the chance, sending in an exquisite cross from the left wing that Benzema rose to meet. The striker's header was well placed, but Victor Valdés will be annoyed with himself as the ball bounced off his gloves and over the line to pull the Merengues even at 1-1.
Four minutes later Di María and Benzema connected again, giving Madrid their first lead of the day. Benzema somehow managed to control Di María's cross with his thigh, spinning the ball up in the air and rocketing a volleyed shot past Valdés, making it 2-1.
Just before the halftime break, Messi jumped on a loose ball in the Madrid box and directed a low shot past López to even the match at 2-2. Messi sent the initial ball in to Neymar, who managed to return the favor just ahead of a lunge from Dani Carvajal. Messi darted in front of Sergio Ramos, who did move quickly enough to make a clearance and used the pocket of space in front of goal to tie things up.
The goal pulled Messi even with Hugo Sanchez on the La Liga all-time scoring list (234) and moved him ahead of Alfredo Di Stéfano for the all-time goal-scoring lead in Clásicos (19).
Ronaldo got the penalty in the 55th minute when he tripped over Dani Alves' foot on the edge of the box. The referee wasted no time pointing to the spot and the Portuguese striker finished things off himself, beating Valdés low and to the left to make it 3-2.
Barca wasn't done though and in the 63rd minute, Sergio Ramos made some contact with Neymar in the box, denying a goal-scoring opportunity and bringing out a red card. Madrid fans won't be thrilled with the call, but Barca didn't care as Messi stepped up and just beat López to again even the match, this time at 3-3.
Xabi Alonso brought down Iniesta as the Barca midfielder tried to jump past him on the right side of the box. A penalty was quickly given, much to the chagrin of Alonso and his teammates. Messi coolly stepped up and completed his hat trick, giving Barca a 4-3 lead.
On This Day in 2009 - He's Dr. Special One Now
On 23 March 2009, the Technical University of Lisbon awarded an honorary doctorate to manager José Mourinho in recognition of his professional success. It is one of 30 individual accolades received by Mourniho during his managerial career.
He had graduated from the university almost 20 years earlier with a five-year degree in sports science. His mother had enrolled him in a business administration program, but Mournho dropped out after the first day and decided to concentrate on sport instead. According to his mother, he went through the physical education program "like a bullet, with excellent marks."
Upon graduation, he took coaching programs offered by the English and Scottish FAs with an eye toward becoming a manager. He got his start as the youth team coach for his hometown club, Vitória de Setúbal, then moved his way up the ladder to take his first head coaching position with Benfica in September 2000.
Since then, he has established himself as one of football's greatest managers with stints at UD Leiria (2001-02), Porto (2002-04), Chelsea (2004-07), Inter (2008-10), and his current club, Real Madrid. Along the way, he has collected a massive haul of silverware that includes six league championships and two Champions League titles. Individually, he has won several manager of the year awards, including the UEFA Manager of the Year (2003, 2004) and the International Sports Press Association Best Manager of the Year award (2010).
On This Day in 1973 - Liverpool Legend Dudek was Born
Liverpool and Polish former goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was born 23 March 1973.
After beginning his career in his home country, he went on to have successful spells in the Netherlands and England, winning the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and appearing in 186 official matches for the club over six seasons. He also spent four years at Real Madrid.
Dudek played 60 times for Poland – the second most-capped player in his position for several years – representing the nation at the 2002 World Cup.
On This Day in 2008 - The Football Equivalent Of The Planets Aligning
On 23 March 2008, each of the English Premier League's "Big 4" clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United - played another in two matches. The day was billed by the media as "Super Sunday" for its implications on the race for the league title (and is not to be confused with the Sky Sports program). It was only the fourth time that each Big 4 team played another on a Sunday since the introduction of the Premier League in 1992-93.
While those four teams are known as the Big 4 due to their usual occupation of the league's top four spots, that domination is relatively recent. They first filled the top four positions at the end of the 1997-98 season, but did not repeat the feat until the 2003-04 season. After skipping the 2004-05 season, however, they have finished as the top four ever since.
23 March was the fourth Sunday on which the League had aligned the teams to play each other and the second such time that season. They had earlier met up on 16 December 2007, with Manchester United winning 0-1 and Liverpool and Arsenal winning at home against Chelsea, 1-0. In the next Super Sunday round, United again topped Liverpool, but by a larger margin, winning 3-0 at Old Trafford. Chelsea, meanwhile, repaid Arsenal for the previous result, this time beating the Gunners 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The six points earned by United on the Super Sundays proved decisive, as they held on to repeat as League champions, beating second-place finishers Chelsea by two points. Arsenal finished two points behind Chelsea in third, while Liverpool came in a distant fourth.
While the matchups were generally well-received, not everyone was happy with the schedule. Before the matches on 23 March, England manager Fabio Capello complained that the matches were preventing several key players from participating in England's friendly against France the following Wednesday. The FA assured Capello they they would not schedule another Super Sunday before a competitive international and, to date, there have been no more Super Sundays.
On This Day in 1968 - Hierro Is Here
On 23 March 1968, former Real Madrid captain and Champions League Best Defender Fernando Hierro was born in Vélez-Málaga.
He joined Real Madrid in 1989 after two seasons with Valladolid and won the league in his first season there. Despite playing at center back and as a defensive midfielder, he was a prolific scorer, with a total of fifteen goals in his first two seasons. Then, in his third season, he recorded a career-high 26 goals across all competitions.
Additional league titles followed in 1995 and 1997. Then, in 1998, he won the first of three Champions League trophies as Real Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 in the final, one of eight clean sheets they kept throughout the tournament. For his part, Hierro was named the tournament's Best Defender--the first time that honor was awarded.
Hierro became the team captain in 2001 and remained with Real Madrid until 2003, winning another two league titles (2001, 2003) and two more Champions League trophies (2000, 2002). His total of 601 appearances place him fifth on Real Madrid's all-time list.
After leaving Madrid, he played one season each for Qatari team Al Rayyan and English team Bolton before retiring in 2005.
