5 December 2009 - Clearly, They Didn't Believe In Cover Jinxes

On 5 December 2009, the Sun celebrated England's draw for the 2010 World Cup by using their opponents' names to form the word "EASY" on their cover. It turned out to be a little more difficult than they thought, however.

The draw, which had taken place the previous day in South Africa, placed England in a group with the United States, Algeria, and Slovenia. Calling it "the best English group since the Beatles," the Sun headline touted the draw as "England, Algeria, Slovenia, Yanks." Several commentators agreed, with former English international Jack Charlton going so far to say "I think it is probably the easiest of the World Cup groups."

It turned out to be anything but, as England struggled to draws with the United States and Algeria in their two opening matches. Going into the group's last match day, they were level on points with the United States and needed a result against leaders Slovenia to ensure their progress into the next round.

As it turned out, they advanced with a 1-0 win over Slovenia, but did so as the group's second place team after the US topped the group by defeating Algeria. The relief was short-lived, however, as both England and the US were knocked out in the next round with losses to Germany and Ghana, respectively.

2 August 1969 - For Leeds, Charity Begins At Home

On 2 August 1969, Leeds United continued their remarkable run of success under manager Don Revie, winning the Charity Shield over Manchester City. Although the final score was 2-1, the match was not as close as that narrow margin suggests.

Don Revie had taken charge of Leeds as their player-manager in 1961, with the club in the Second Division. Under his guidance, they earned promotion to the top flight in 1964. By 1968, they won their first major honors, taking both the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the League Cup that year. They followed that performance by winning the First Division title in 1969, which sent them to the Charity Shield against the 1969 FA Cup winners, Manchester City.

Despite their recent success, Revie sought to strengthen the side that summer by signing Allan Clarke from Leicester City for the then-record British transfer fee of £165,000. The Charity Shield, played at Leeds' Elland Road stadium, was his first match for his new club and the striker promptly established himself as a scoring threat, striking the bar early and forcing a couple of impressive saves from the City keeper.

The match remained scoreless at the break, but after the restart, Leeds scored twice in quick succession with goals from Eddie Gray (55') and Jack Charlton (58'). The rapid change deflated the City side, who nevertheless managed a consolation goal in the 90th minute from Colin Bell.

The Charity Shield turned out to be Leeds' only silverware that season, though they came close to winning more. They finished as runners-up in both the league and the FA Cup, and as semifinalists in the European Cup.

21 December 1995 - England's Honorary Irishman

On 21 December 1995, Jack Charlton resigned as manager of the Republic of Ireland. At the time, he had the highest winning percentage of any non-caretaker manager for the national team.

Charlton had been an outstanding center back for England and Leeds United, the club where he spent his entire career. He retired from playing in 1973, having won a League title, an FA Cup, a League Cup, and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups with Leeds, and the World Cup with England. He moved directly into management, taking over at then-Second Division Middlesbrough in 1973. He guided them to promotion in his first season, earning himself the 1974 English Manager of the Year award in the process.

He left Middlesbrough in 1977 and, after spells at Sheffield Wednesday (1977-83) and Newcastle (1984-85), he took charge of the Republic of Ireland. As the national team's first English manager, his appointment was controversial, but he quickly converted his critics by qualifying for the 1988 European Championships, then taking the team to their first-ever World Cup in 1990. There, they advanced to the quarterfinals before narrowly losing to Italy, 1-0.

Ireland again qualified for the World Cup in 1994, where they beat Italy in the first round before getting knocked out by the Netherlands in the second round. Ireland met Holland again in a playoff for Euro '96, with the Dutch winning again to eliminate the Irish from contention. Charlton resigned soon after, with a record of 47 wins, 30 draws, and only 17 losses. At the time, it was the best winning percentage for any Ireland manager at an even 50%. Since then, only Brian Kerr (2003-05) has done better at 53.13%.

25 June 1990 - Nine Months Later, Many Irish Babies Were Born

On 25 June 1990, the Republic of Ireland, competing in its first ever World Cup, defeated Romania 5-4 on penalties before a crowd of 31,818 at Genoa's Stadio Luigi Ferraris. The win sent Ireland through to the quarterfinals, which is the farthest the Republic has ever advanced in World Cup competition.

Ireland survived the group stage despite scoring only two goals and drawing all three matches with the other members of the group: 1-1 against England, 0-0 against Egypt, and 1-1 against the Netherlands. The Netherlands had similarly drawn all of its group matches and scored only two goals, so that Ireland and the Dutch side were tied for second place in the group, even on points (3), goal differential (0), goals for (2), and goals against (2). In order to determine the final placement, FIFA officials drew lots. Ireland won to claim second place. (The Netherlands still advanced, as their 3 points placed them among the top four third-place teams, all of whom qualified for the knockout rounds under the rules in place that year.)

The Irish seemed intent on drawing the match with Romania as well. While the Romanians played with flair and style, the Irish matched them with grit and determination. Neither side was able to score through 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime, so the match went to penalty kicks. Even then, there was little to separate the sides, as the first four kickers from each team successfully converted.

That changed, however, when Romanian forward Daniel Timofte stepped up to take his side's fifth kick. Timofte, who had come on as a substitute in the 96th minute, sent his shot to the left, where Irish keeper Pat "Packie" Bonner (pictured) dove to meet it and swatted it away. Forward David O'Leary, who had come on in the 95th minute, then put his shot past Romanian keeper and captain, Silviu Lung, giving Ireland the victory.

After the match, the Irish team's English manager, Jack Charlton, told the press: ''The pubs will sell more booze tonight than they have in the last year. There's going to be a party this town has never seen the likes of before, a party Dublin has never seen the likes of before." Although Ireland lost in the quarterfinals to Italy, the shootout with Romania has become famous and was later immortalized in the film version of Roddy Doyle's The Van.

[Note: The clip below has some language that might be considered NSFW.]