Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (June 17th) 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 2006 - Ronaldo scored his 1st goal at World Cup
On 17 June 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first ever World Cup goal in Portugal 2-0 Iran. Ronaldo doubled the score from the penalty spot in Frankfurt when Luis Figo was brought down in the box on 78 minutes.
Barcelona playmaker Deco opened the scoring on 62 minutes with a vicious 22-yard strike past stranded Iran goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour.
This is also Ronaldo's 1st World Cup and he made his World Cup debut in the 1-0 group-stage win over Angola in Cologne and it was an unremarkable display as he picked up a yellow card before being taken off after the hour mark.
By that time, Ronaldo was firmly established as one of the most exciting young players in the world, making his mark in the Premier League with Manchester United, and the 2006 World Cup was another step on his journey to the top of the game. Wearing the number 17 jersey due to the seniority of Portugal's number 7 Figo, Ronaldo played in six games as his country reached the semi-finals, ultimately finishing fourth.
On this day in 2003 - Beckham signed for Real Madrid from Man Utd
On 17 June 2003, Manchester United sold their star midfielder David Beckham to Spanish giants Real Madrid for €35 million (£25M).
Beckham signed with Manchester United in 1991 at the age of 14 and helped secure a number of honors for the Old Trafford club, including six Premier League titles, two FA Cup trophies, and one UEFA Champions League trophy.
He also earned numerous individual awards, including the PFA Young Player of the Year (1996-97), the UEFA Club Player of the Year (1999), and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year (2001). In all, Beckham made 394 appearances for the Red Devils in all competitions, scoring 85 goals.
By the year 2000, despite his success on the pitch, his relationship with manager Sir Alex Ferguson began to deteriorate, due in part to Beckham's off-pitch commitments and growing celebrity following his marriage to Victoria "Posh Spice" Adams in 1999.
The relationship between player and manager hit bottom on 15 February 2003 when, after an FA Cup loss to Arsenal, Ferguson kicked a boot that hit Beckham above the eye, requiring stitches.
At the end of that season, with the relationship beyond salvage, Manchester United sold Beckham to Real Madrid for €35 million (£25M) on 17 June. The transfer was completed on 1 July 2003, making Beckham only the third Englishman to play for the Spanish side.
After spending twelve years with United, the move triggered a peripatetic period in Beckham's career. He spent only four seasons with Real, helping them to the La Liga title in 2006-07. In the summer of 2007, he moved to the United States, joining MLS side L.A. Galaxy. He remained there until 2012, including two loan spells with AC Milan, then finished his career at PSG.
On this day in 1997 - Overmars & Petit were unveiled at Highbury after they signed for Arsenal
On 17 June 1997, Dutchman Marc Overmars from Ajax for £.5.5m, France's Emmanuel Petit from Monaco for £2,5m are unveiled at Highbury.
By the end of Overmars' first season, he became a focal point of Arsenal's league and cup double success. He scored the winning goal against league rivals Manchester United which set his team on their way to securing the Premier League title and opened the scoring against Newcastle United in the 1998 FA Cup Final.
After joining Arsenal, Wenger switched Petit from central midfielder to defensive midfielder, and partnered him with fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira. The French duo formed a midfield partnership which brought instant success, as Petit won the double with Arsenal in his very first season, clinching both the Premier League title and the FA Cup.
Altogether, in the three seasons in his Arsenal career, Petit made 118 appearances and scored 11 goals, including a stunning drive from outside the area against Derby County (which was also the winning goal), during the 1997–98 season.
Petit moved to Barcelona (together with Arsenal teammate Marc Overmars) in the summer of 2000 for £7 million (€14 million).
On this day in 1990 - Jordan Henderson was born
Jordan Henderson was born on 17 June 1990 and began his career at Sunderland in 2008, with a loan spell at Coventry City in 2009, before moving to Liverpool in 2011.
He became captain of Liverpool in 2015 following the departure of Steven Gerrard. He also captained the club to victory in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final.
In 2010, Henderson won his first cap for England, having previously played for and captained the under-21 team. He has represented the country at UEFA Euro 2012 and 2016, and the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups.
On this day in 1995 - Clement Lenglet was born
Clément Lenglet began his career with Nancy, making 85 appearances from his debut in 2013, and winning the Ligue 2 title in the 2015–16 season.
In January 2017, he joined Sevilla for a €5.4 million fee where he went on to make 73 appearances, scoring 4 goals, in an 18-month spell before joining Barcelona for €35 million.
Lenglet played the full 90 minutes for Barcelona as he helped them beat his former club Sevilla 2-1 in the 2018 Supercopa de España. On 23 September, Lenglet was sent off in his La Liga debut against Girona following an elbow on Pere Pons.
Lenglet scored the winning goal in their Copa del Rey clash against Cultural Leonesa in 1-0 win. He scored his first goal for Barcelona in La Liga against Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou.
On this day in 1982 - Alex was born
Alex Rodrigo Dias, better known as Alex, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a central defender. He was known for his physical strength and the power of his shot, which has gained him the nicknames of "The Tank" and Canhão da Vila ("Cannon of Vila Belmiro").
Having been bought by the Premier League club Chelsea in 2004, he was loaned to Dutch team PSV and he won 3 Eredivisie titles with them. Alex finally joined the Chelsea squad in the summer of 2007 after three years in the Netherlands.
In his time at Chelsea, he won the FA Cup in 2009 and a league and FA Cup "double" in 2010, as well as reaching the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final.
He joined Paris Saint-Germain for £4.2 million in January 2012 and won Ligue 1 twice with the club, moving to Milan on the expiration of his contract in 2014 and retiring two years later.
Alex earned 17 caps for Brazil between 2003 and 2008, winning the 2007 Copa América and finishing as runner-up at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
On this day in 1962 - Brazil defended their World Cup title
On 17 June 1962, World Cup holders Brazil successfully defended their title, beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the Final. After going down 0-1, the Brazilians scored three unanswered goals to become only the second country to win consecutive World Cups.
Played before a crowd of 68,679 at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, the Final was a rematch of the two squads' previous group stage meeting, which ended as a scoreless draw. Brazil went down early, this time conceding a 15th-minute goal to Czech midfielder Josef Masopust.
But Pelé's replacement Amarildo, who had scored both goals in Brazil's 2-1 final group stage win against Spain, brought his side level two minutes later. The teams ended the first half even at 1-1.
The champions took the lead in the second half with a 68th-minute header from midfielder Zito, then capitalized on a mistake by the Czech keeper Viliam Schrojf. In the 78th minute, Schrojf, who had played brilliantly throughout the tournament, allowed a high ball to slip through his hands and drop to the feet of Vavá. The forward tapped it into the net, becoming the first player in history to score in two World Cup Finals.
