BERLIN: Here is how June 18 has shaped up in World Cup history:
1946 - The birthday of Fabio Capello, who played for his country in the 1974 World Cup, scoring once against Poland in the group phase. The goal is not enough to keep Italy in the competition though, as they lose the match 2-1 and are knocked out on goal difference after managing just a 3-1 victory against football minnows Haiti.
1974 - Italian striker Vincenzo Montella was born. The AS Roma player was a member of the Italian squad at the 2002 World Cup, where the Azzurri are humbled by South Korea in the round of the last 16. Italians afterwards felt hard done by as striker Christian Vieri had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside. Montella makes just one appearance as a substitute in Italy's 1-1 draw against Mexico.
1974 - Yugoslavia beat the first sub-Saharan African team, Zaire, to qualify for the World Cup finals 9-0 to register the highest victory margin at the tournament (it has been matched twice). The Europeans were leading 4-0 after just 21 minutes, after which their goalkeeper Mwamba Kazadi decided he had enough. Dimbi Tubilandu replaced him.
1986 - Spanish striker Emilio Butragueno scored four goals in Spain's 5-1 victory against Denmark - becoming the first player since Eusebio in 1966 to achieve that feat. The Spaniard is one of six players to have scored four goals in a match. Only Russian Oleg Salenko has scored more - scoring five in 1994 against Cameroon.
