7 February 1997 - Two Nations Weren't Big Enough To Hold Him

On 7 February 1997, USSR-born defender Akhrik Tsveiba joined an exclusive group when he made an appearance for his third national team.

In 1990, at the age of 33, Tsveiba (pictured) started his international career with the Soviet team, making 25 appearances for them through the summer of 1992 (the last seven of those appearances were with the Soviet Union's successor team, the Commonwealth of Independent States).

On 26 August 1992, after the dissolution of the CIS team, he made a lone appearance for Ukraine in a 1-2 friendly loss to Hungary. Then, just over five months later, he switched his allegiance to Russia. His first appearance for them came on 7 February 1997 in the opening match of the Carlsberg Cup, which Russia won over Yugoslavia on penalties, 1-1 (6-5). (Russia went on to win the tournament with a win over Switzerland in the final.)

He proceeded to make another seven appearances for Russia, bringing his career total to 34 before retiring from international play in 1997.

While players with caps from two different national teams are not uncommon, Tsveiba is one of only seven who have played for three different teams. Three of the others--Yury Nikiforov, Andrei Pyatnitskyi, and Sergei Mandreko--were former USSR players in similar situations to Tsveiba. The other three are Josef Bican (Austria, Czechoslovakia, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia), Laszló Kubala (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Spain), and Karel Burkert (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Bohemia and Moravia).

26 June 2006 - The Great Swiss Wind-Up

On 26 June 2006, Switzerland set a couple of World Cup records. Unfortunately for them, however, neither of them was one they wanted to set.

The Swiss had surprised most observers by winning their first-round group with a scoreless draw against France and a couple of 2-0 victories over Togo and South Korea. That performance sent them through to the Round of 16, where they met the Ukraine.

Playing before a crowd of 45,000 in Cologne, the two teams were locked in a defensive struggle. The Ukraine's best chance came from Andriy Shevchenko, who sent a header off the bar, while Switzerland's Alexander Frei also hit the woodwork. But nobody managed to find the back of the net through extra time, so the match went to a penalty shootout.

Shevchenko took the first kick, but sent it right into the arms of Swiss keeper Pascal Zuberbuehler. Switzerland's euphoria was short-lived, however, as their first shooter, Marco Streller, did the same. Then, after Ukraine converted their next two kicks, Switzerland proceeded to miss theirs, sending one over the bar and the other right to Ukraine keeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy (pictured). Ukrainian midfielder Oleh Husyev then scored on the next kick to send the Ukraine through, 0-0 (3-0).

The result earned Switzerland the dubious distinction of becoming the first team to get eliminated from the World Cup without conceding a single goal. They also became the first team in a World Cup to miss all of their kicks in a penalty shootout.