The Football Faithful’s Advent Calendar: December 2nd | OneFootball

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so here’s day two of our football-themed advent calendar!

The ball is rolling in December and the dulcet tones of Chris Rea have returned to our radios. So let’s drive home some more festive facts around the number two.

The Football Faithful’s Advent Calendar: December 2nd

Shirt Number: 2

Clint Dempsey strangely had the number two on the back of his shirt while at Tottenham.

Unbeknownst to many, Dempsey was living a double life. When he wasn’t smashing goals in the Premier League, the American was rapping under the alias of ‘Deuce’, hence the number two.

The number usually belongs to a defender, but in addition to Dempsey, several other Premier League strikers have donned it.

Ivorian Wilfried Bony wore it at Swansea for his second spell at the club to signify his second chance with the Swans.

His first spell with the Welsh club was prolific as he scored 34 goals in 70 appearances. That impressive goal return earned him a £28 million move to Manchester City in 2015.

Another Ivorian, former Wigan and Everton striker Arouna Kone, also wore the number whilst representing the Latics.

He weirdly swapped from the more common nine to two after having the number at Spanish club Levante.

Andy Carroll also had the number whilst at Reading. His kids decided on the number to celebrate his daughter’s second birthday.

Goal on this Day: Hwang-Hee Chan’s stoppage-time strike saves Korea Republic from World Cup exit.

Cast your minds back to the 2022 edition of the World Cup hosted in Qatar.

South Korea needed to beat Portugal to stand any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of football’s greatest competition.

Sergio Costa’s side had got off to a nightmare start after Ricardo Horta scored past Seung-Gyu Kim inside five minutes. But Young-Gwon Kim would equalise just shy of the hour mark with a close-range finish following a corner.

As the game drew on, South Korea were raising the intensity in a desperate attempt to avoid a premature exit.

With the contest into stoppage-time, the Taegeuk Warriors embarked on a blistering counter-attack – spearheaded by national treasure Heung-min Son.

The Tottenham winger weaved around several Portuguese players before slipping in an incisive pass through to Hwang Hee-chan who slotted past Diogo Costa to see his nation progress out of the group stage on goal difference.

Footballer Born on this Day: Kalvin Phillips

29 years ago to the day in Leeds, Kalvin Phillips was welcomed into the world.

The combative midfielder has since gone on to reach great heights in the sport. His biggest achievement includes being an integral part of the England team that reached the European Championship Final in 2021 and his involvement in Manchester City’s treble-winning squad in 2023.

However, his best days were spent at boyhood club Leeds United, where under the stewardship of Marcelo Bielsa, Phillips was a revelation at Elland Road.

He made over 200 appearances for the Whites and was at the heart of their midfield as they earned promotion back to the Premier League in 2020 – after a 16-year absence.

Phillips is currently on loan at Ipswich Town and has made eight appearances this campaign

Fact: The Inception of the PFA

On this day in 1907, the Professional Footballers’ Association – commonly known as the PFA – was founded. At the time it was just known as the Players Union and its genesis occurred in a meeting at Manchester’s Imperial Hotel.

The congregation was convened by Manchester United players Charlie Roberts and Billy Meredith. The main topic of conversation was challenging the maximum wage cap – which at the time was £4 a week.

The PFA is the oldest professional sports trade union in the world.

The PFA Player of the Year award is one of English football’s greatest individual accolades and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Gareth Bale have all been recognised with the title.

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