FUNDAMENTALS
The FIFA World Cup is here and as the fever continues, we take a look at one of the most important members of the squad — the goalkeeper. Write in with your suggestions, questions ( with answers) to senjam@ gmail. com.
GOALKEEPERS
1. Three goalkeepers led their teams to victory at the World Cup. The last one to do so was Iker Casillas for Spain in the 2010 World Cup. The other two were Italians. Name them.
2. Three footballers have featured in five different World Cups - the maximum so far. Lothar Matthaus of Germany is the only one on the list who is not a goalkeeper. Name the other two.
3. Name the flamboyant Colombian goalkeeper who in the 1990 World Cup changed the outlook for goalkeeping by undertaking dribbling runs and attempting to score goals.
4. A key member of the 2014 World Cup- winning German team was the goalkeeper who also won the Golden Glove at the tournament. Name him.
5. The only goalie to win the Golden Ball at the World Cup did not end up on the winners podium at the tournament where he won the prized award. Name him.
6. 10 — that is the maximum number of matches that a goalkeeper has gone without conceding a goal. Two goalies share this distinction. Name them.
7. Only one goalkeeper has been part of a team that has won back to back World Cups. Who?
8. Between 1994 and 2006, the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper Gianpiero Combi was named after a person who played in three World Cups but never lifted the trophy. Name this legendary footballer.
ANYTHING GOES
1. The Toyoda family wanted to name their car after the family. But its manufacturers had been superstitious and named it Toyota. Why? ( Partha Sarkar, Kolkata) 2. The song Ebony and Ivory, while referring to black and white keys on a piano, is also about racial harmony. Name the two ( black and white) singers who sang the song?
( Daniel Murad, Kochi)
3. In 2004, A. K. Puri was appointed the CEO of a public sector unit with an unintended consequence of his surname complementing the name of the company in a funny manner. Which PSU did he become the CEO of ?
( Vasudev Prakash, received over email)
4. Nitasha Biswas won a beauty pageant in Gurgaon in 2017. The first runner- up was Loiloi from Manipur and the second runner- up was Ragasya from Chennai. What was unique about this pageant?
( Muhammad Arif, Mumbai)
5. The curved shape of bananas is explained by a phenomenon known as negative Geotropism. What is this phenomenon?
( U. N. Murthy, Secunderabad)
6. In Test cricket, there have been 30 instances of batsmen scoring triple centuries in an innings in a Test match. Of these 30 instances, only two have been scored in the second innings, while the remaining 28 have been scored in the first innings. Brendon McCullum from New Zealand scored his triple hundred ( 302) against India in the second innings at Wellington on 18 February 2014. Identify the only other batsman to score a triple century in the second innings of a Test match.
( B. K. Harinath, Mysuru)
7. The construction of which famous fort in south India was initiated by Venkatappa Nayaka and completed during the period of Sivappa Nayaka? ( Gayathri Jeevan, Thiruvananthapuram)