7 May 1986 - Steaua Steals The Win

On 7 May 1986, Romanian side Steaua Bucureşti won the European Cup, beating Barcelona on penalties, 0-0 (2-0), before a crowd of 70,000 at Seville's Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. The star of the day was Steaua's goalkeeper, Helmuth Duckadam, who was hailed afterward as the Hero of Seville.

The Romanians had ridden a strong defense to the Final, not conceding more than one goal in any earlier match and keeping four clean sheets. The last of those clean sheets was the critical semifinal second leg against Anderlecht. Down 1-0 from the first leg, Steaua stifled the Belgian offense while scoring three goals of their own to advance 3-1 on aggregate.

Barcelona, meanwhile, had several close calls, advancing from the first and second rounds by virtue of the away goal rule and winning their semifinal matchup against Gothenburg in a penalty shootout.

The first 120 minutes of the Final itself were rather dull, with the Romanians content to sacrifice their offense in favor of a stern defense that the Catalonians could not penetrate. But all the excitement that had been held at bay during those first two hours spilled out in the penalty shootout. For the first four shots - two from each side - the keepers guessed correctly each time and swatted the ball away. Steaua forward Marius Lăcătuş finally broke the deadlock, blasting a powerful shot just under the bar and into the roof of the net.

Duckadam saved yet another kick, a low rolling shot to his right, then Steaua midfielder Gavril Balint sent Barça keeper Javier Urruticoechea the wrong way to put the Romanians up 2-0. Barça's hopes then fell to forward Marcos Alonso, but again, Duckadam guessed correctly, diving to his left to save the kick. He had saved all four shots against him, leading Steaua to their first (and to date, only) European Cup trophy.

6 May 1990 - They Could Change The National Anthem To "1-0, Canada!"

On 6 May 1990, hosts Canada kicked off the 1990 North American Nations Cup with a 1-0 win over the United States.

Organized by the North American Football Confederation, the competition has been played only four times - 1947, 1949, 1990, and 1991 - with each tournament consisting of three teams. Canada, despite being a member of the NAFC, did not participate in either of the first two, both of which were won by Mexico.

After a 41-year break, the NAFC resurrected the Cup, which was hosted that year by Canada and included the United States and Mexico. Although both Canada and Mexico fielded full-strength teams, the US sent a B squad as their preparations for the US-hosted 1990 World Cup led to fixture congestion. As a result, the US does not consider the 1990 North American Nations Cup matches as official results.

Official or not, Canadian striker John Catliff scored the match's only goal to give his side the 1-0 win. Catliff had played for Harvard University, where he was selected to the 1986 All-America first team, before moving to the Canadian Soccer League in 1987. He went on to win the tournament for the Canadians, scoring both goals in their 2-1 win over Mexico on 13 May.

The US finally won the trophy in 1991, after which the North American Nations Cup was replaced by the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

5 May 1956 - Trautmann Puts His Neck On The Line

On 5 May 1956, Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final before a crowd of over 100,000 at London's Wembley Stadium. It was a remarkable win, considering that the Man City goalkeeper, Bert Trautmann (pictured, center), played the last seventeen minutes with a broken neck.

Although it was Manchester City's second consecutive appearance in the Final, having lost 3-1 to Newcastle the previous year, the English press hailed Birmingham as favorites due to a strong run up to the Final that saw them concede only two goals while scoring eighteen. Man City, on the other hand, had advanced in every round by a mere one-goal margin. But they had an advantage in Trautmann, whom the Football Writers' Association had recently named Footballer of the Year.

Manchester City pressured the Birmingham goal from the opening kickoff, resulting in a third-minute strike from forward Joe Hayes that gave them a 1-0 lead. Birmingham quickly equalized, however, when a 15th-minute shot ricocheted off a Man City defender to wrong-foot Trautmann, then landed in the path of forward Noel Kinsey, who slotted it home.

The two sides were evenly matched to the hour mark, when Man City took advantage of Birmingham's defensive lapses to score two quick goals from forwards Bobby Johnstone (62') and Jack Dyson (64'). Birmingham attacked the Man City goal with renewed fervor when, in the 73rd minute, forward Peter Murphy collided with Trautmann. Murphy's knee rammed into Trautmann's neck, knocking the keeper unconscious.

The rules at the time did not alow for substitutes, so after Trautmann recovered, he insisted on staying on the pitch as Manchester City complete the 3-1 win. Three days later, Trautmann's neck still hurt, so he went to a doctor who confirmed that he had dislodged five vertebrae, one of which was broken in two. Trautmann became a folk hero at Manchester City, for whom he played until 1964, making over 500 appearances.