Richard Boock: Alphabet soup of Cup moments and memories

Whichever way you look, it's hard to get away from the World Cup.

From the shop in Germany which offered 5 per cent off for every goal scored in their opening match (and ended up selling their goods at a 40 per cent discount), to an article in a London newspaper which claimed football had overtaken sex as the most searched-for item on the internet, the beautiful game has never seemed so prominent.

So in the spirit of soccer fever, here is a random A-Z file of World Cup memories ...

A is for ... Alf Ramsey - the manager of England's World Cup winners in 1966, who ran out on the field after the quarter-final to prevent his players swapping shirts with the Argentines. Said Ramsey afterwards: "We don't swap shirts with animals".

B is for ... Brothers Victor and Vyacheslav Chanov, who were in the 1982 Soviet Union squad - both as goalkeepers. Neither of them played a match though, as the great Rinat Dassaev was first choice.

C is for ... Captaincy, a once-in-a-lifetime experience if history is any gauge. No one has managed to lift the trophy twice, although Diego Maradona captained Argentina to victory in 1986 and to a runners-up medal in 1990, and Dunga of Brazil won as captain in 1994 and lost the final in 1998.

D is for ... Dismissals, which were a feature of the Brazil-Hungary game in 1954 when three players were sent off. Dubbed "The battle of Berne", the players were still fighting on their way back to the dressing-rooms. Hungary won 4-2.

E is for ... Erik Nilsson of Sweden, who with Alfred Bickel of Switzerland, is one of only two men to have played in the World Cup both before and after World War II. They both appeared in 1938 and 1950.

F is for ... Fortune, which favoured the two United Arab Emirates' goal-scorers whose side were knocked out at the group stage after three straight defeats in 1990. Each goal-scorer was awarded a Rolls-Royce when he arrived home.

G is for ... Gays, who with long-haired and bejewelled players did not have a future in the Argentine 1998 side as long as Daniel Passarella was the coach. Even Gabriel Batistuta was forced to have a haircut.

H is for ... Harald Schumacher, West Germany's great goalkeeper and twice World Cup silver-medallist, best known for his assault on French defender Patrick Battiston in the 1982 semifinal.

I is for ... Inattention, which affected the performance of French referee Michel Vautrot during the 1990 semifinal between Italy and Argentina. Vautrot allowed only eight minutes in the first period of extra-time.

J is for ... Jose Batista of Uruguay, who was sent off after just 56 seconds against Scotland in 1986, the fastest dismissal in cup history.

K is for ... Korea (North), who sent Italy out of the 1966 cup at the group stage. Italy attempted to keep their homecoming details secret but were still bombarded by fruit and rotten tomatoes when they arrived.

L is for ... Laszlo Kiss of Hungary, the only substitute to have scored a hat-trick in the World Cup. Hungary were ahead 5-1 in 1982 when Kiss scored his first of three against El Salvador, pushing the scoreline out to 10-1. It is the biggest victory in cup history.

M is for ... Mario Zagallo, who managed Brazil to their 1970 triumph, becoming the first man to play in and then manage a cup-winning team. He was a member of the Brazilian sides which won the trophy in 1958 and 1962. Germany's Franz Beckenbauer later emulated the feat.

N is for ... Notoriety which walks hand-in-hand with the 1982 match between West Germany and Austria. When West Germany took the lead after 10 minutes, both teams virtually stopped playing as a 1-0 win allowed both nations to progress. From 1986 onwards, final first-round games have been played simultaneously.

O is for ... One of the most controversial managerial decisions made in the history of the tournament - by Ademar Pimenta, coach of the 1938 Brazilians. He dropped star player Leonidas for the semifinal against Italy in order to save him for the final. Brazil lost the game but won the play-off for third and fourth - as Leonidas scored twice.

P is for ... Penalty shoot-outs, which have played a vital part in recent cups. West Germany/Germany and Argentina have the best records, winning all three they have take part in. Italy have been the most unlucky, having participated three times and lost all three.

Q is for ... Quiroga, the Peruvian'keeper in 1978. In the match against Poland he was booked for a foul in the opponents' half of the field.

R is for ... Russian referee Miroslav Stupar, who disallowed a French goal against Kuwait in 1982 because the Kuwaitis claimed they had heard a whistle and had stopped playing.

S is for ... Suspension, which made it impossible for Paolo Rossi to play for two years after he was implicated in a bribery scandal. He returned to the Italy side weeks before the 1982 cup, scoring a hat-trick against Brazil, a brace in the semifinal against Poland and the first goal in Italy's 3-1 win in the final.

T is for ... The turncoats who have appeared for two nations: Jose Altafini (then known as Mazzola) Brazil in 1958 and Italy in 1962; Luis Monti, Argentina in 1930 and Italy in 1934; Ferenc Puskas, Hungary in 1954 and Spain 1962; Jose Santamaria for Uruguay in 1954 and Spain in 1962 and Robert Prosinecki for Yugoslavia in 1990 and Croatia in 1998. The rules now prevent players from representing more than one country.

U is for ... Unusually low-scoring finals, which occurred in 1990 when West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 and in 1994, which went to penalties after a goalless draw. Up until those matches, every final had produced at least three goals.

V is for ... Venues, and particularly the Azteca Stadium in Mexico, where the opening match of the 1970 finals marked the start of substitutions, and yellow and red cards.

W is for ... Walter Zenga, goalkeeper of Italy, who holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in cup history. At the 1990 tournament he played 517 minutes (almost six games) without conceding a goal.

X is for ... Xuereb of France, who came on as a substitute for Bruno Bellone in the semifinal against West Germany in 1986, meaning every letter had been used for players' surnames since the start of the championships in 1930.

Y is for ... Youth, and the youngest player to have appeared in a cup match was Norman Whiteside of Northern Ireland in 1982. He was 17 years and 42 days old when he played against Yugoslavia. The oldest player was Roger Milla of Cameroon, who was 42 years and 39 days when he played against Russia in 1994.

Z is for ... Zairean Muampa Kazadi, who in 1974 became the first goalkeeper in cup history to be replaced for any reason other than injury. Zaire were 3-0 down against Yugoslavia after just 22 minutes, but replacement Dimbi Tubilandu was unable to stem the flow and his country eventually lost 9-0.

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