7 April 1983 - The First Time France And Germany Agreed On Anything

On 7 April 1983, future two-time French Player of the Year Franck Ribéry was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer. A winger who prefers to play on the left, he is considered by many to be one of the leading French players of his generation, with former French superstar Zinedine Zidane calling him "the jewel of French football."

Ribéry began his professional career in 2000 with his hometown team, Boulogne, then in the fourth division. After only two seasons, which saw Boulogne promoted only to be relegated again, he moved to couple of lower-division teams (Olympique Alès, 2002-03, and Stade Brestois, 2003-04) before landing in Ligue 1 with Metz in 2004. His initial stay in the French top flight was brief, as he left after only six months due to a contract dispute, ending up at Istanbul's Galatasaray in January 2005.

His stay in Turkey was equally brief, as after winning the 2005 Turkish Cup, he returned to Ligue 1 to play for Marseille. Although he had three years left on his contract with Galatasaray, he petitioned FIFA to void it, claiming that he had not been paid and that a Galatasaray director had threatened him with a baseball bat. The Turkish club denied the charges, but FIFA decided the matter in Ribéry's favor.

In two seasons at Marseille, he established himself as one of France's most dynamic and creative players, helping the club to capture the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup, then reach the back-to-back Coupe de France finals in 2006 and 2007, leading to his first French Player of the Year Award. His success in Marseille sparked a bidding war among several European clubs, including Arsenal and Real Madrid, but Germany's Bayern Munich eventually signed him in 2007 for €25 million.

At Bayern, Ribéry was instrumental in helping restore the club to its former glory, securing a double in 2007-08 by winning the German Cup and the league. For his role, Ribéry was named both the 2008 French Player of the Year and the 2008 German Footballer of the Year. He is currently still playing for Bayern, who are leading the Bundesliga and have advanced to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

6 April 2005 - Mourinho Gets Away Clean

On 6 April 2005, Chelsea manager José Mourinho - already well-known as a quirky and controversial figure - added to his growing legend by cleverly defying a UEFA ban instituted for Chelsea's Champions League quarterfinal match-up against Bayern Munich.

Chelsea had played Barcelona in the previous round, losing the first leg 2-1 on 23 February. Afterward, Mourinho publicly accused Barça manager Frank Rijkaard of influencing the match by allegedly entering the dressing room of referee Anders Fisk at halftime. The accusation was so explosive that Frisk received a number of death threats, leading to his premature retirement on 12 March. Less than two weeks later, UEFA dismissed Chelsea's complaint and subsequently found Mourinho guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, issuing a two-match ban from the touchline and the dressing room.

When Bayern arrived at Stamford Bridge on 6 April, however, there were signs that Mourniho was present. Chelsea's fitness coach, Rui Faria, appeared to be wearing an earpiece covered by a heavy woolen hat, while their goalkeeping coach, Silvinho Louro, made several second-half trips to the dressing room, returning with pieces of paper that he handed out to the other coaches, with substitutions shortly following.

Years later, insiders reported that Mourinho had been smuggled into the Chelsea dressing room by hiding in a laundry basket. He spoke to his team during the break, then snuck back out after the match using the same laundry basket. The plan apparently worked, as Chelsea won 4-2 and Mourinho never faced any consequences for violating the ban.

5 April 2002 - Suwon Says Goodbye To Anyang

On 5 April 2002, defending champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings met their fellow South Korean compatriots Anyang LG Cheetahs at Tehran's Azadi Stadium in the 2002 Asian Club Championship Final. The two teams had met earlier in the quarterfinals, where they played to a 0-0 draw, and the Final was an equally close contest.

The Asian Club Championship started in 1985 as a replacement for the previous Asian Champion Club Tournament, which had been played from 1967 to 1972. The new tournament was modeled after UEFA's European Cup, pitting the top Asian Football Confederation clubs against each other. For the first several rounds, the clubs were divided into Eastern and Western brackets, culminating in the quarterfinals, which were played as a group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals.

Suwon and Anyang opened the East Asian quarterfinals by playing to a scoreless draw on 17 February before finishing as the top two East Asian sides, while the top two West Asian sides were Iran's Esteghlal FC and Uzbekistan's Nasaf Qarshi FC. In the semis, Suwon easily dispatched the Uzbekistani side 3-0 while Anyang needed a 72nd-minute goal to edge the Iranians, 2-1.

The two South Korean sides were equally matched in the Final, playing to another scoreless draw through extra time. In the ensuing shootout, Suwon keeper Lee Woon-jae provided the edge, twice denying Anyang to give Suwon a 4-2 win on penalty kicks. It was Suwon's second consecutive Asian Club Championship trophy.

It was the last such trophy, as the following season, the AFC rebranded the tournament as the AFC Champions League.