18 August 2012 - Wasting No Time To Make An Impact

On 18 August 2012, Málaga's Fabrice Olinga became the youngest goalscorer in La Liga history (and got the match-winner as well).

After finishing fourth in the league the previous season, financial pressures forced Málaga to sell off several players, including star midfielder Santi Cazorla and their 2011-12 top scorer Salomón Rondón. They also lost striker Ruud van Nistlerooy to retirement, forcing manager Manuel Pellegrini to make some changes for the 2012-13 season.

For their opener against Celta Vigo, Málaga started with Sebastián Fernández as the lone forward, but with the game still scoreless in the 60th minute, Pellegrini replaced him with Olinga. Twenty-four minutes later, Olinga scored the game's only goal. He was 16 years and 98 days at the time, breaking the previous record of 16 years and 289 days, set by Athletic Bilbao's Iker Muniain in October 2009.

Despite the successful debut, Olinga made only five other appearances for Málaga's senior team that season and did not score again.

17 August 1994 - That's The Way To Make A Debut

On 17 August 1994, Zinedine Zidane debuted for France, scoring two late goals to earn a draw with the Czech Republic.

The 22-year old midfielder had already made a name for himself with eight seasons in Ligue 1—split equally between Cannes and Bordeaux—and had just completed his first year with Juventus by winning the 1997 Serie A title. But despite six years playing for France's youth teams, he had failed to make the leap into the senior squad.

That changed in August 1994, when he came on as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic. Playing in Bordeaux, Les Bleus were down 0-2 at the break after conceding goals to Tomáš Skuhravý (42') and Daniel Šmejkal (45'). That prompted manager Aimé Jacquet to make a couple of changes at the start of the second half, one of which was bringing Zidane on for Corentin Martins.

France were still down 0-2 deep into the second half when, in the 85th minute, Zidane received a pass just inside the Czech half, beat two defenders, and unleashed a sonic boom of a shot from 25 yards out into the far top corner. That alone would have made it a memorable debut, but he added a second goal two minutes later with a towering header from about 10 yards out to earn the 2-2 draw.

He went on to score a total of 31 goals in 108 appearances for France while reaching the World Cup final twice and winning it in 1998.

16 August 1998 - Later, More Than 50,000 Claimed They Were There

On 16 August 1998, DC United became the first team from the US to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup, beating Toluca 1-0 in the final.

Established in 1962, the Champions Cup (now known as the CONCACAF Champions League) is the federation's premier club competition, comparable in scope to the UEFA Champions League and South America's Copa Libertadores. For over thirty-five years, however, no team from the United States had ever won the competition. Indeed, none of them had even reached the final until the Los Angeles Galaxy managed it in 1997 (but lost to Cruz Azul).

As the reigning MLS Cup holders, DC United entered the 1998 competition in the quarterfinals. They didn't have to travel far, as DC's RFK Stadium hosted all of the remaining matches from that point forward, including the final, which saw United up against Toluca, the Mexican Primera División title holders.

A meager crowd of just 12,600 showed up, but the ones that did were rewarded with Eddie Pope's match-winner in the 41st minute.

DC has yet to return to the final, although other MLS teams have; the Galaxy won it in 2000 and Real Salt Lake finished as runners-up in 2011. Toluca, meanwhile, returned twice more, winning it in 2003.

15 August 2010 - Seeing Red With Double Vision

On 15 August 2010, Liverpool and Arsenal played to a 1-1 draw that saw a debutant player for each side get ejected.

It was the first game of the season for both teams, with Liverpool hosting the Gunners at Anfield. The home supporters were eager to see their new midfielder, England international Joe Cole, signed from Chelsea earlier that summer on a free transfer. But his season started in an inauspicious fashion, as he received a straight red right before the break for a foul on Arsenal center back Laurent Koscielny, who was also making his first league start after moving from Lorient.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Liverpool took the lead at the start of the second half with a 46th-minute goal from striker David N'Gog and managed to hold onto it until right near the end. In the first minute of stoppage time, Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh bounced a cross off the post and into Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, who knocked it over the line for an own-goal to bring the game level.

The day wasn't quite over, however, and Koscielny marked the occasion by receiving two stoppage-time yellow cards in quick succession, resulting in his ejection right before the final whistle.

14 August 1977 - They Were Masters Of Time And Space

On 14 August 1977, the New York Cosmos set a couple of records when they routed the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in the NASL playoffs.

The Strikers had just finished their first season in the league and did so with the best record, winning 19 games and losing only 7. That earned them a first-round bye in the post-season tournament and took them straight into the division championship. There, they met the Cosmos, who had played and beaten Fort Lauderdale twice during the regular season, both times by the score of 3-0.

New York hosted the first leg at Giants Stadium, where a record NASL crowd of 77,691 turned out for the occasion. They were rewarded by a dominant performance from the home side. Led by their star quartet of Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, and Giorgio Chinaglia, the Cosmos rolled to a 4-1 lead at the break with goals from Steve Hunt (2), Beckenbauer, and Chinaglia. (Maurice Whittle scored for Fort Lauderdale).

Early in the second half, Tony Field extended the lead to 5-1, then Chinaglia completed his hat-trick with two strikes in quick succession before the Striker's Norman Piper closed the gap. Gary Etherington added an eighth goal for New York, setting a record for the highest score by a team in the NASL playoffs, while Whittle's final score of the day set the 8-3 result.

The second leg was closer, with New York winning in a shootout before going on to win the final over the Seattle Sounders.

13 August 1997 - It's All About Being In The Right Place At The Right Time

On 13 August 1997, Cruzeiro won their second Copa Libertadores, despite starting the tournament in unimpressive fashion.

Winners of the competition in 1976, Cruzeiro opened the 1997 edition with three straight losses in the group stage, including a 1-0 loss to Sporting Cristal on 28 February. They rallied to win their remaining three group-stage matches, however, with a 2-1 win over Sporting on 11 April to pip the Peruvian club to the group's second place (though Sporting still advanced by finishing third).

The two teams met at the Estadio Nacional in Lima for the final's first leg on 6 August and played to a scoreless draw. Cruzeiro hosted the second leg one week later in Belo Horizonte where the crowd reached an official count of just over 95,000 (and an unofficial count of almost 107,000).

The second leg remained scoreless deep into the second half, when, in the 75th minute, midfielder Elivélton scored the final's only goal. Cruzeiro had taken a corner kick which a Sporting defender headed away. It landed just outside the 18-yard box at the feet of Elivélton, who blasted it into the far bottom corner. The Sporting keeper managed to get a hand to it, but could not keep the ball out of the net.

It was just Elivélton's second goal of the tournament, but was enough to deliver the cup to Cruzeiro.

12 August 1990 - And The Game Hasn't Been The Same Since

On 12 August 1990, striker Mario Balotelli, the first black player to score for Italy, was born in Palermo.

His parents were Ghanaian immigrants who, when Balotelli was three years old, placed him in foster care at the recommendation of social services because they could not afford medical care. From that point on, he was raised by the Balotelli family and, at the age of 18, he became an Italian citizen.

He started his professional career in 2006 with Lumezzane, but made only two league appearances there before moving to Inter in 2007. In three seasons there, he helped the club to three Scudettos, but fell out with manager José Mourinho, who had replaced Roberto Mancini for Balotelli's last two seasons. In 2010, the striker followed Mancini to Manchester City, where he remained for two and half years, winning the 2011 FA Cup and the 2012 Premier League title, before moving back to Italy with AC Milan.

Balotelli earned his first cap for Italy in 2010 and scored his first international goal in November 2011—the first for a black player. Since then, he has scored ten goals in 25 appearances, including both goals in Italy's 2-1 quarterfinal win over Germany at Euro 2012.

Despite his talent, Balotelli has drawn heavy criticism for a lack of discipline both on and off the pitch, including disputes with teammates and a scuffle with Mancini while at Manchester City. One of his most memorable incidents, however, was nearly setting his house on fire while shooting off fireworks inside.