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).

10 June 1976 - The Behavior Was Bad, But Those Kits Were Worse

On 10 June 1976, UEFA banned Wales from participating in the European Championships because of crowd violence during a qualifier against Yugoslavia at Ninian Park. Initially intended to last until 1982, the ban was softened later that year.

Wales and Yugoslavia had met at Ninian Park on 22 May to play the second leg of their qualification match for that year's European Championship, with a spot in the tournament semifinals at stake. Yugoslavia had won the first leg 2-0, so the pressure was on Wales to overturn the deficit. Unfortunately for the hosts, referee Rudi Glöckner awarded a penalty to Yugoslavia in the 19th minute (replays suggested that the Yugoslavian player had dived). Josip Katalinksi duly converted the spot-kick, giving Wales an even greater mountain to climb.

A ray of hope arrived in the form of Welsh defender Ian Evans, who found a 38th-minute equalizer. Then, shortly after the break, John Toshack put the ball in the net with an acrobatic overhead kick. Glöckner, however, ruled that Toshack's play was dangerous and disallowed the goal, sending the 30,000 home supporters into a frenzy. They threw beer bottles at the referee and several fans tried to scale the fencing surrounding the pitch.

The situation grew worse for Wales. Glöckner disallowed another Toshack goal as offside, then Terry Yorath missed a penalty kick. The match ended 1-1, sending Yugoslavia through with an aggregate score of 3-1. At the final whistle, Glöckner needed an escort of 16 policemen to get off the pitch, while one spectator hurled a corner flag that stabbed an officer in the neck.

Four months after issuing the ban, UEFA lifted it to allow Wales' participation in the 1980 European Championship, but directed that no matches could be played at Ninian Park.

7 June 1962 - Yugoslavia Delivers The Knockout Punch

On 7 June 1962, Yugoslavia and Colombia met in the World Cup with a place in the knockout rounds at stake.

Playing on their group's last match day, the two teams were battling to join the USSR, who had won the group the previous day with a 2-1 win over Uruguay, in the quarterfinals. Yugoslavia, sitting on 2 points at the start of the day, could advance with a draw. Colombia, however, had only a single point and needed a win to take the group's second spot in the knockout rounds.

Although the stakes were equal for both teams, the day belonged to Yugoslavia. Striker Milan Galić opened the scoring in the 20th minute and was joined on the scoresheet five minutes later by his fellow striker, Dražan Jerković (both Galić and Jerković had been instrumental in Yugoslavia's run to the Final of the European Championship in 1960).

Colombia tightened up their defense and managed to keep the score 2-0 until the 61st minute, when Galić added another. Not to be outdone, Jerković scored a second goal in the 87th minute, with an intervening goal in the 82nd minute from midfielder Vojislav Melić.

The 5-0 scoreline sent Colombia home and catapulted Yugoslavia into the next round, where they advanced over Hungary 1-0 before falling to Czechoslovakia in the semifinals. It remains their best showing in a World Cup, matched only by their semifinal run in 1930.

28 July 1962 - One League To Rule Them All

On 28 July 1962, the Bundesliga was created in the West German city of Dortmund. The Bundesliga is the top tier of the German football pyramid, with promotion from and relegation to the second tier, known as the 2d Bundesliga.

Football in Germany dates back to the 1870s, when it was introduced by English expatriates. The locals quickly took to the sport and, by 1900, had created so many clubs that the need for some administration was apparent. On 28 January 1900, representatives from 86 clubs met in Leipzig and founded the Deutscher Fußball-Bund ("DFB"). Although the DFB administered football across the nation, it was essentially a collection of regional leagues.

By the 1950s, German football's status began to drop, as many of Germany's best players left for other countries and the German national team struggled in international competitions. Critics blamed the decline on the DFB's league structure, which at that time consisted of five separate regional leagues known as the Oberligen, and issued calls for a national professional league.

On 28 July 1962, after the West German national team was eliminated from the World Cup by Yugoslavia, newly-elected DFB President Hermann Gösmann approved the creation of the new 19-team national league to begin play in the 1963-64 season. 46 clubs from the five Oberligen applied for the 19 available spots, but the five Oberligen champions for 1962-63 earned automatic inclusion, leaving 41 teams to compete for the final nine spots. The remaining teams were ultimately chosen based on a formula that assigned value to their league finishes and cup appearances.

The Bundesliga played its first season in 1963-64 as scheduled, with FC Köln claiming the first title.

28 June 2006 - Yugoslavia Yu-Goes Away

On 28 June 2006, the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro (the FSSCG) split into two separate associations: the Football Association of Serbia (the FSS) and the Football Association of Montenegro (the the FSCG). The split eliminated the last football remnants of a unified Yugoslavia, as all of its former republics now had their own associations.

The Yugoslavian national football team had existed in various forms since 1920, when it represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Its most successful squad during that period was the 1930 team, which reached the World Cup semifinals.

After a hiatus from 1941 to 1945 due to World War II, the team re-emerged under the banner of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They enjoyed a strong period in the 1960s, finishing in fourth place at the 1962 World Cup and reaching the Final in both the 1960 and 1968 UEFA European Championships. At that time, Yugoslavia comprised six regional republics - Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia - as well as two autonomous provinces - Kosovo and Vojvodina.

In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence, triggering the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic. In 1992, Serbia and Montenegro established the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Despite finishing at the top of their qualifying group for the 1992 UEFA European Championship, the Federal Republic was banned from participating in the tournament due to the ongoing civil wars among the former Yugoslav states. FIFA also banned it from participating in the 1994 World Cup.

In 2003, the Federal Republic officially dropped the name "Yugoslavia" and changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro for both the state and the national team. Montenegro then declared its independence from Serbia in 2006, resulting in the split between the two football associations and ending the last political union between former Yugoslav republics. FIFA recognizes the Serbian side as the successor to Yugoslavia.

At present, Serbia is at the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup, while Montenegro is near the bottom of its group.

26 June 1992 - Is There A Danish Word For "Cinderella"?

On 26 June 1992, Denmark won the UEFA European Championship, defeating Germany 2-0 before a crowd of 37,800 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Danes were unlikely champions, having initially failed to qualify for the tournament. They finished second in their qualifying group, losing out to Yugoslavia by a single point. On 30 May 1992, however, just eleven days before the opening day of the tournament, the United Nations issued a trade embargo against Yugoslavia in response to that country's ongoing ethnic conflicts. Yugoslavia was thus disqualified from participating and Denmark was called in as a replacement.

As to be expected from a team that had not been planning to play in the tournament, the Danish side got off to a shaky start, drawing with England (0-0) and losing to hosts Sweden (1-0), before finally securing a win against France (2-1) in its last group stage match. The win placed Denmark second in its group, just one point of ahead of both France and England, and sent the Danes through to the knockout rounds.

In its first knockout match, Denmark faced the Netherlands, who were the defending Euro title holders. After trading goals to finish 2-2 at the end of extra time, Denmark won on penalties, 5-4, to advance to the Final against defending World Cup champions Germany.

In the Final, Danish midfielder John Jensen (pictured) opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Describing his goal after the match, Jensen told the press: "The first 20 minutes of football were the hardest most of us had ever faced. The Germans were all over the pitch and we couldn't get into our play. We were working tirelessly and suddenly I had the chance to have a shot at goal. I remember the manager had said to me before the game that if I have a chance to take a shot, then I should go for it."

The Danes kept Germany from scoring and, in the 78th minute, Jensen's midfield partner Kim Vilfort added a second goal as unnecessary insurance. The match ended at 2-0, giving the Danes their first major trophy.