Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (March 22nd) 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 2013 - Pogba made his France debut
On 22 March 2013, Pogba made his debut for the French senior team in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Georgia. He played the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 win.
Goals from Olivier Giroud and the inspired Mathieu Valbuena either side of half-time were essential for Didier Deschamps’ side, who struggled to break down obstinate opponents for long periods of the opening 45 minutes. Franck Ribery added a fine third for Les Bleus before Aleksandr Kobakhidze pounced to score a consolation.
France 3-1 Georgia Highlights
On this day in 2014 - Chelsea thrashed Arsenal 6-0 in a DRAMATIC match
On the eve of the worst party in football history Arsène Wenger said: “Every defeat is a scar in your heart.”
In isolation, a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea could be dismissed as a freakish derby day demolition. But the Gunners have a habit of collapsing away from home against fellow title contenders. They went down 6-3 at Manchester City and 5-1 at Liverpool in that season.
Goals from Samuel Eto'o and Andre Schurrle hurtled Chelsea into a 2-0 lead within the opening seven minutes as Arsenal's defence disintegrated before the match exploded with one of the most bizarre incidents seen in Wenger's 18 years at the helm.
An Eden Hazard shot was swerving wide but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain threw his hand out and touched the ball as it fizzed past the post. Referee Marriner awarded a penalty and then astonishingly sent off Kieran Gibbs rather than Oxlade-Chamberlain, who even approached the referee to admit it was his misdemeanour. To make matters worse, the red card was incorrect as the handball had not denied a goalscoring opportunity, with the ball already going wide.
Hazard stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake and Oscar added a fourth goal before half-time, capping a crazy 45 minutes. At half-time, Marriner admitted to BBC Radio 5 Live that he had made a mistake and the FA also sent out tweets detailing the appeals process for a case of mistaken identity.
Oscar crashed in a fifth goal - his second of the match - midway through the second half, although Wojciech Szczesny in the Arsenal goal was beaten by the bounce of the ball just in front of him, before Mohamed Salah scored his first goal for the club to make it 6-0.
On this day in 2009 - Gerrard scored a hat-trick in Liverpool 5-0 win
Steven Gerrard scored three goals with a free-kick and two penalties, with the latter one following the dismissal of goalkeeper Brad Friedel for bringing down Reds striker Fernando Torres.
In the first-half Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera had scored, before Gerrard took over with his set-piece onslaught.
On this day in 2017 - Lukas Podolski made last international appearance for Germany
On 22 March 2017, Podolski was given his last ever international appearance for Germany against England on 22 March 2017 where he scored the winning goal.
Podolski was included in the squad for UEFA Euro 2016. He made a substitute appearance against Slovakia during the tournament. After the tournament, on 15 August, he announced his retirement from international football (effective 23 March 2017) saying he wants to shift his focus and spend more time with his family.
Goal Gifs
