OSAMA MURDER PLOT
TERRORIST Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, was infamous for being behind the 9/11 strikes on the US in 2001.
But in the run-up to the 1998 World Cup in France, he also backed the Algerian Armed Islamic Group’s horrific bid to butcher the England team at their opening game against Tunisia in Marseilles.
It would have seen goalie David Seaman blown up by a suicide bomber, Alan Shearer shot dead and a grenade thrown into the bench where manager Glenn Hoddle was sitting.
Top players Michael Owen and David Beckham were also targeted in the plan where jihadis disguised as medical workers would invade the pitch. Thankfully police foiled the scheme, though the team only found out the truth years later.
Adam Robinson, author of Terror on the Pitch about the plot, described it as “brutal” and “bloody”.