Alternate Football Scores

[Romantic Nihilist]

I saw a thread from a while back with a similar premise and it's a shame it's dead now. So, pick a football result and alter it. Bonus points if you can detail the ramifications from the result. I'll start:

England 2-1 Germany

UEFA EURO 1996 Semi Final

A golden goal from Paul Gascoigne saw England triumph over their 1990 victors. They met the Czech Republic in the final and won courtesy of two Shearer goals which truly meant football was coming home. The public clamoured for Terry Venables to remain as England manager in the wake of the 1998 World Cup qualifiers which were fast approaching.

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

Cameroon 2- 1 England

World cup 1990, Italy.

Cameroon advances into the semifinals and Africans and Asians are elevated much, much higher. By 2006, the World Cup has 10 African teams at the cost of Europe and South America!

YES! AN AFRICA-WANK!

 

[Romantic Nihilist]

World Cup 2010

New Zealand 1-0 Italy

Following a draw over Paraguay, New Zealand progressed to the knockout stage for the first time. They're narrowly beaten 1-0 by the Dutch though the mood is lifted significantly in New Zealand and there's much optimism for the next World Cup in 2014.

 

[The Oncoming Storm]

Seville, July 8th 1982, World Cup Semi Final

France 3 West Germany 1

France qualified for their first World Cup Final after goals early in extra time from Marius Tresor and Alain Giresse proved decisive. The turning point in the game was the sending off of German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher for a shocking foul on Patrick Battiston just before full time that left the French player unconscious with broken teeth and a damaged vertebra. The extra man proved decisive and the Germans were unable to seriously trouble the French for the remainder of the game.

France went on to defeat Italy 3-1 in the final to win the World Cup for the first time, Schumacher received a 3 match international ban but never played for West Germany again as he was blamed by many German fans for costing their team the match.

 

[Coulsdon Eagle]

FA Cup Third Round - January 1990

Nottingham Forest 1 - Manchester United 0

Mark Robins misses United's best chance, and a Stuart Pearce free kick condemns United to defeat. Lagging in lower mid-table in the First Division, and after 4 years in charge with no trophy, Chairman Martin Edwards sacks Alex Ferguson.

Liverpool win the League title (as in OTL) but are knocked out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals by the eventual winners Crystal Palace, who triumph in the Final against Second Division Oldham Athletic.

Manchester United never do break that drought in League titles as Liverpool's dominance grows, with Arsenal and a rejuvenated Everton the only real threats.

Note: I was at Old Trafford on 9 December 1989 when Crystal Palace won 2-1 in the League. United were a poor team of good players who finished level on points with Palace that 89-90 season. Mel Machin had just been sacked at Manchester City, and there is no doubt a sizable part of the United crowd wanted Ferguson out. A prominent banner read: "Ta-ra Fergie, five years of excuses". Palace would have played in Europe the following season, and we would be excused United's dominance of the English game since. No Cantona, probably Giggs at Everton, Beckham at Spurs, Keane stays at Forest...

 

[Romantic Nihilist]

Euro 2004

England 2-1 Portugal

A last minute Sol Campbell goal was enough to see England through to their first Euro semi-finals since 1996. Though they were missing Rooney through injury, they saw off a dull Netherlands side 1-0 to reach the finals against Greece.

After an eventful final, England were victorious and claimed the cup. Urs Meir continues as a fairly undistinguished referee.

 

[thevaliant]

FA Cup Third Round - January 1990

Nottingham Forest 1 - Manchester United 0

Probably one of the most interesting football TL's I'd like to see. United without Fergie!

Anyway:

1998 World Cup:
England 3 - 2 Argentina

Despite Beckham being sent off and England on the back foot there after, a Sol Campbell header late in the second half saw England through by the skin of their teeth.

 

[Romantic Nihilist]

FIFA World Cup 1974

Scotland 4-0 Zaire

A convincing scoreline becomes a blessing in disguise as Scotland edge out Brazil on goal difference for the tournaments biggest shock. They reach third place after a lacklustre second round where they lose to Poland.

 

[Bantamtim]

Bradford City 1-2 Liverpool, May 2000.

David Wetherall's early header gives City the lead, but Michael Owen equalises with a shot that squirms past Gunnar Halle on the line (IRL he cleared it). A second from Owen seals Champions League qualification for Liverpool and sends Bradford City down at the expense of Liverpool.

Paul Jewell resigns following a row with chairman Geoffrey Richmond and assistant Chris Hutchings takes over. Hutchings struggles the following season as City finish mid-table in the first division, and is sacked the season afterwards with City in upper mid-table. His assistant Stuart McCall is put in temporary charge, but stands aside for fellow Scot David Moyes, who leaves Preston for the more ambitious and better funded Bantams. He takes City back into the Premier League through the playoffs and establishes them as a mid-table side before leaving for Everton in 2005. Richmond himself resigns in 2003 after tax worries, and signs over control to co-owners the Rhodes family. McCall himself is promoted to manager from assistant in 2005, and is still there, though is being linked with the vacant Scotland post.

Liverpool's Champions League adventure ends in the group stages, but they do a domestic cup double. Eventually performances under Houllier drop and he leaves in the summer of 2003.

Leeds do not qualify for the Champions League, stopping them from "living the dream" under Risdale. They do, however, qualify in 2003, pipping Chelsea to the last CL spot, but don't get very far and have to sell players after failing to qualify for the next season's tournament. They are still a Premier League team, however, and fairly regular participants in the Europa League.

Chelsea's lack of Champions League football sends Roman Abramovich in the direction of Tottenham Hotspur, who win their first title under him in 2006. Chelsea's huge debts send them into administration and they barely avoid relegation from the Premier League in 2005. They are now a mid-table club, though have recovered financially and nearly qualified for Europe last season.

Wimbledon's survival keeps them in London, and they are still a lower mid-table Premier League team under the inspired management in adversity of the long-serving Terry Burton. They finally agreed a deal with Merton council in 2011 and are due to move into their new 20,000 seater stadium in Wimbledon, provisionally named New Plough Lane, in the summer of 2013. Milton Keynes has no football league team.

England still don't win any major international tournaments.

 

[Romantic Nihilist]

EURO 84 QUALIFYING

Spain 11-1 Malta

Spain missed out on qualification by just one goal. A glaring miss by Senor sealed Spain's fate while the Netherlands went through to the finals.

The Dutch progressed through a relatively untroubling group - seeing off rivals West Germany in a thrilling encounter - to beat France in the finals.

 

[Chris Oakley]

2004 MLS CUP

Kansas City Wizards 4 D.C. United 3

A pair of corner kick goals in the final three minutes of regulation clinch an amazing upset victory for the Wizards, establishing Kansas City as a rising MLS power and sending D.C. into a tailspin from which it will take years to recover.

 

[Enigmajones]

40: New York Giants over Baltimore Ravens: 21 Super Bowl XXXV

 

[Hugo Strange]

FIFA World Cup 2002, semi-final
25 June 2002 Seoul, South Korea

South Korea - Germany 2-1

And the madness continues! After controversial victories over Italy and Spain in the previous rounds, South Korea overcame a late goal by Michael Ballack with an injury-time equalizer by Ahn Jung Hwan. Only 6 minutes into over-time Ahn Jung Hwan would strike again, putting his free kick past German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.

The entire country went into a frenzy. Reporters covering the match for South Korean television shed tears of happiness, as all over the country millions flocked to the streets celebrating their team's success and virtually elevating coach Guus Hiddink to sainthood. Of course, the Germans did not take this defeat graciously. German tabloids 'Bild' and 'Der Spiegel' led the charge, blaming referee Urs Meier for their defeat and accusing the South Koreans of buying their way to the world cup final. Meanwhile, North Korea stopped all coverage of the world cup, censoring the success of their mortal enemies.

In an amazing twist of events, South Korea went on win the world cup, defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final. Again, the Brazilians too accused referee Pierluigi Collina of siding with the South Koreans, blaming FIFA for the defeat of the so called 'big countries', and demanding an investigation into possible bribery. Conveniently the Brazilians forgot of course how Belgium was denied a perfectly legitimate goal against them in the first knock-out round, or their own foul play in the group stage when Rivaldo grabbed his head and rolled around in pain after a football hit him on the leg, ensuring his Turkish opponent would be send off with a red card.

 

[Alex1guy]

World Cup 2010

New Zealand 1-0 Italy

Following a draw over Paraguay, New Zealand progressed to the knockout stage for the first time. They're narrowly beaten 1-0 by the Dutch though the mood is lifted significantly in New Zealand and there's much optimism for the next World Cup in 2014.

Damn, I was gonna do this one

 

[imperialaquila]

40: New York Giants over Baltimore Ravens: 21 Super Bowl XXXV

2011-2012 AFC Championship
Baltimore Ravens: 27
New England Patriots: 23

With New England clinging to a 23-20 lead, the Ravens defense forced a punt with 1:44 left in the fourth quarter. Three passes to Anquan Boldin for a total of 41 yards brought the Ravens to the Patriots' 13-yard line. The game-winning touchdown was caught by Lee Evens on second down, with the Patriots' attempt at a game-winning Hail Mary fizzling. The Ravens went on to win Super Bowl XLVI in a reprise of Super Bowl XXXV, 27-21.

 

[RedDogGaz]

FA Cup Final 1991

Nottingham Forest 1 - Tottenham Hotspur 0

Paul Gascoigne is booked for a high tackle on Forest midfuielder Gary Parker in the early minutes.

Not long after he scythes down Forest right back Gary Charles. This is a second bookable offence and he gets his second yellow and is sent off. All this happens while Gascoigne is lying on the ground in agony, having sufferred a potentially career ending knee injury.

Forest score from the resultant free-kick, scored of course by Stuart "Psycho" Pearce in typical fashion.

As Gascoigne has been sent off, Spurs are unable to bring on Nayim to replace him.

Spurs push for the rest of the game, but against 11 men, they struggle to break down the Forest defence. As they tire in the last quarter of the game, Forest close out the game with relative ease but don't trouble Spurs with anything other than some shots from distance.

Brian Clough wins the only tophy that he never managed to win as either a player or manager.

(Given my user name and the above, can you tell whether I've got over the actual game or not? )

 

[GeorgeUK]

2012/13 Premier League

Chelsea 4-2 Man Utd

Clattenburg gets the runs three hours from kick off. Man Utd are reduced to ten men when Johnny Evans brings down Torres. Mata and Hazard complete Chelsea's comeback.

 

[Jotun]

England:Germany 2:3,

Wembley Stadium, London, 1966 FIFA World Cup final.

101st minute. Geoff Hurst lets fly with a shot from inside the box that bounces off the underside of the cross bar, hits the ground and bounces back into the field. While the English players begin celebrating their "goal", head referee Gottfried Dienst from Switzerland consults the Soviet assistant, Tofik Bahramov, who tells him the ball was not behind the line. With the ball having been kicked off the field by a German player, the game is re-strarted with a throw-in for England. Both sides continue trying hard to score.

In the 117th minute, Franz Beckenbauer takes a shot at the English goal. The ball rebounds from the left goal post in the general direction of Uwe Seeler. The angle for him to score is almost impossible, so he jumps into the air, twists and somehow manages to hit the ball with his right heel. The ballbounces off the ground about 2 meters from the English goal, under the diving goalkeeper and hits the back of the net. Germany manage to keep the 3:2 lead until the final whistle and bag their second world championship.

 

[KillerT]

Tsk you just had to didn't you? Our one bright moment in the sun, now sullied....

 

[Marky Bunny]

FA Cup Third Round - January 1990

Nottingham Forest 1 - Manchester United 0

Mark Robins misses United's best chance, and a Stuart Pearce free kick condemns United to defeat. Lagging in lower mid-table in the First Division, and after 4 years in charge with no trophy, Chairman Martin Edwards sacks Alex Ferguson.

Liverpool win the League title (as in OTL) but are knocked out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals by the eventual winners Crystal Palace, who triumph in the Final against Second Division Oldham Athletic.

Manchester United never do break that drought in League titles as Liverpool's dominance grows, with Arsenal and a rejuvenated Everton the only real threats.

Note: I was at Old Trafford on 9 December 1989 when Crystal Palace won 2-1 in the League. United were a poor team of good players who finished level on points with Palace that 89-90 season. Mel Machin had just been sacked at Manchester City, and there is no doubt a sizable part of the United crowd wanted Ferguson out. A prominent banner read: "Ta-ra Fergie, five years of excuses". Palace would have played in Europe the following season, and we would be excused United's dominance of the English game since. No Cantona, probably Giggs at Everton, Beckham at Spurs, Keane stays at Forest...

This has always been a great "What-If" in football. Who do United get as the new Manager? Steve Coppell from Palace would be the obvious or Joe Royle?