Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (December 11th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!
On This Day in 2013 - Neymar Scored His First UCL goal to Help Barca 5-0 Celtic
The Brazil star Neymar scored a hat-trick as the visitors slumped to their heaviest defeat in Europe since they lost 5-0 away to Artmedia in a Champions League qualifier in 2005
The Barça defender Gerard Piqué opened the scoring from close range in the seventh minute before Pedro Rodríguez and Neymar added a second and third before the interval.
Neymar scored his second two minutes after the break before grabbing his hat-trick and substitute Cristian Tello got in on the act in the 71st minute when his drive was heavily deflected past Fraser Forster by the Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk (yes, the Liverpool star, one of the best defender in EPL now) for number six before Georgios Samaras grabbed a late consolation for the Scottish champions.
On This Day in 1886 - Arsenal First-Ever Match Ended with 6-0
On 11 December 1886, Arsenal, then known as Dial Square FC, played their first match, defeating Eastern Wanderers 6-0. The match was played in an open field in London's Isle of Dogs.
Dial Square were founded earlier that year by a group of workers from the Dial Square workshop at the Royal Arsenal, located at Woolwich in southeast London. The club's founding members included Scotsman David Danskin (who captained the side for the match against Eastern Wanderers and had also purchased the club's first football) and Englishmen Jack Humble, Fred Beardsley, and Morris Bates.
The club played in red shirts obtained from Nottingham Forest. Both Beardsley and Bates had previously played for Forest and convinced their former club to donate the shirts.
On Christmas Day 1886, Dial Square changed their name to Royal Arsenal, then changed it again in 1891 to Woolwich Arsenal. In 1913, they moved to Highbury in north London and changed their name once more, this time dropping the "Woolwich" to be known simply as Arsenal. They have since become one of the most successful clubs in football, winning 13 top flight titles and 10 FA Cups.
On This day in 2007 - Vintage Torres Helped Liverpool Thrash Marseille 4-0
On 11 December 2007, Liverpool overwhelmed Marseille to win a third successive Champions League game and reach the last 16 that year.
Steven Gerrard won a penalty on four minutes and although his spot-kick was saved by Steve Mandanda, the Liverpool captain crashed home the rebound.
Fernando Torres then scored a superb solo goal, beating a posse of Marseille players before curling the ball in.
Early in the second half Dirk Kuyt swept home a third and in stoppage time Ryan Babel broke clear for the fourth.
On This Day in 1988 - PSV's Penalty Luck Runs Out
On 11 December 1988, Nacional eventually claimed the Intercontinental Cup, beating PSV Eindhoven in a penalty shootout that reached a total of 20 kicks.
Level at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the match went to extra time, where PSV took the lead with a 110th-minute penalty kick from center back Ronald Koeman, who sent his shot straight down the middle. But nine minutes later, with PSV looking almost certain to win, Ostolaza struck again with another header to send the match into penalty kicks.
Penalty kicks had been kind to PSV earlier in the year, as they topped Benfica in the European Cup 0-0 (6-5). But after five kicks each, the two teams were still level, having converted three each. After Ostolaza converted the ninth kick for Nacional to stay level at 6-6, PSV right back Barry van Aerle missed his kick, opening the door for the Uruguayans, who won 2-2 (7-6) after Tony Gómez converted his attempt.
On This Day in 1911 - Football Comes To Cuba
On 11 December 1911, Cuba had its first organized football match, with Rovers AC beating SC Hatuey 1-0.
The sport had been played prior to that informally, introduced by the British in the early 1900s. In 1907, a group of players in Havana formed the country's first club, Sport Club Hatuey. Then, in 1909, a group of British citizens in Havana established Rovers Athletic Club. The two teams finally met at the Campo de Palatino in 1911, where Rovers' Jack Orrs scored the only goal of the match.
Rovers went on to win the first Cuban league title in 1912, while Hatuey won it in 1913. Another title for Rovers in 1914 was the last for either club. Since then, FC Villa Clara have emerged as the country dominant club with a total of thirteen league titles, including the last three straight.
