Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (June 12th) 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 1992 - Barca's versatile midfielder Coutinho was born
Born on 12 June, 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Phillipe Coutinho is one of the most talented midfielders in the world with the potential to get even better. The Brazilian has shown his talent and class at the highest level with Premier League club Liverpool and with the Brazilian national side.
Coutinho began his footballing journey in his home town with Vasco de Gama. In 2008, at the age of just 16, he moved to Europe to begin a new stage of his career at Italian giants Inter Milan with whom he would go to make his Serie A and Champions League debut by the age of 18. After two and half seasons in Milan and six months in Barcelona on loan with the city’s other club Espanyol in 2012, playing there for six months and scoring five goals in 16 games, becoming one of the team's stars.
Coutinho then made the move to the Premier League when he signed for Liverpool in January 2013. With the five times European Champions, the Brazilian quickly established himself as a key player at the club.
After five successful years in England, Coutinho’s arrival at FC Barcelona was confirmed on 8 January 2018. He signed for the remainder of the 2017/18 season plus five more with his buyout clause set at 400 million euros.
Coutinho made his Barça debut on 25 January 2018 in the Copa del Rey quarter-final return leg versus Espanyol. He scored his first Barça goal in the Copa del Rey too, against Valencia. He would finish the season with 10 goals.
Before arriving at Barça, Coutinho was already an established member of the Brazil national team, and was one of the team's top players at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
On this day in 2018 - Lopetegui was named Madrid manager after the World Cup
'Spain national team coach Julen Lopetegui will take over as Real Madrid manager after the World Cup', the Spanish club had announced just two days before the tournament began in Russia.
Real had been heavily linked with a number of potential managerial appointments following the shock resignation of Zinedine Zidane, including Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino and former Spurs and Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas.
However, they had decided to appoint Lopetegui, who signed a new two-year extension with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) one month ago.
Two days later, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) said it had dismissed the 51-year-old because the negotiation occurred "without any information to the RFEF". Spain sporting director Fernando Hierro took charge for the World Cup.
On This Day in 2014 - Chelsea signed Fabregas from Barcelona for a reported fee of €33m
The Spaniard, 27, spent three years at Barca and joined the Blues after Arsenal turned down a first option to buy him.
Fabregas joined for an undisclosed fee and said Chelsea matched his football ambitions, adding he had "unfinished business" in the Premier League.
The Spanish midfielder began his career in England at Arsenal after joining them from Barcelona's academy and was named as the club's captain in 2008.He spent nearly eight years at Arsenal before returning to his boyhood club in 2011.
In Spain, Fabregas won the Copa del Rey and La Liga in successive seasons before he returned to England in 2014 with Chelsea.
He won the League Cup and the Premier League in his first season, trophies that had eluded him during his time at Arsenal.
Further title success came in the 2016/17 season before he lifted the FA Cup for the first time last season.
In January, Cesc Fabregas left Chelsea to reunite with Thierry Henry at Monaco.
On This Day in 2003 - Real Madrid announced the signing of Beckham from Man United
There have been a lot of stars to come though the Royal Whites clubhouse. Sixteen years ago (this summer), one man came to Madrid after rumors had him going to FC Barcelona.
He signed a €35 million four year deal. The deal was announced the first of June in 2003, but that transfer wasn't complete until a month later on July 1st. He would be at the time, only the third Englishman to play for the team. The other two were Steve McManaman and Laurie Cunningham. Keep in mind this is a team that already had Zindedine Zidane, Raúl, Ronaldo, Figo, Iker Casillas and more.
David Beckham won only two trophies in his time at Real Madrid: The 2003 Spanish Super Cup and the League title in 06/07. He appeared 155 times, scoring 20 goals and completing 33 assists. He was solidly 2nd in assists in La Liga during his time at Madrid until his final season when he led that category.
On This Day in 1979 - Inter's tango legend Diego Milito was born
Diego Alberto Milito is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian side Genoa in 2003. In 2005, he was acquired by Spanish club Real Zaragoza, where he remained for three seasons, before returning to Genoa in 2008. His prolific goalscoring exploits during his second spell with Genoa earned him a move to defending Serie A champions Inter, where he was pivotal in the club's 2009–10 treble-winning season scoring 32 goals in all competitions including two goals in the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final. He returned to Racing Club in 2014, where he retired in 2016. At the international level, Milito has earned 25 caps for Argentina, scoring 4 goals, and represented his country in two Copa América tournaments, winning a runners-up medal in 2007, and at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
He has been nicknamed El Príncipe ("The Prince" in Spanish) because of his physical resemblance with former Uruguayan footballer Enzo Francescoli, who had the same nickname. A prolific and consistent centre-forward, Milito has averaged nearly a goal every two appearances over the course of his professional career.
