Where Did These Players Start? Trivia Quiz | Sports

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The great Italian striker, Alessandro Del Piero, is generally associated with Juventus. However, his senior career started in this club, based on a northern Italian city that is the setting for "The Taming Of The Shrew".

Answer: Padova

Del Piero joined the junior squad of Padova at only 13 years old, in 1988, after a brief stint in San Vendemiano. He made his debut with the senior team five years later, in a Serie B match against Messina. In 1993 he was transferred to Juventus, where he played until 2012. His last two clubs were Sydney FC (2012-2014) and Delhi Dynamos (2014).

2. Fiorentina's supporters have great respect for Gabriel Batistuta, who played most of his career on their side. In which English-sounding club did he make his debut in Argentina?

Answer: Newell's Old Boys

Batistuta signed in 1988 to Newell's, a club based in the city of Rosario, after drawing the attention of coach Marcelo Bielsa. Before making the flight to Italy, he managed to play in both River Plate and Boca Juniors, Argentina's most successful teams, winning league titles with both.

"Batigol" became Fiorentina's all-time top scorer in Serie A, with 151 goals. He was also Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer until he was surpassed in 2016 by Lionel Messi (who, coincidentally, also began his club career as a junior in Newell's)

3. Mostly remembered by his stellar performances in Barcelona, Rivaldo played for over 10 different teams throughout his career. Few people know that his senior career began in this "holy" sounding club in his native Brazil.

Answer: Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz (which translates to "Holy Cross") saw Rivaldo taking his first steps in senior professional football, back in 1991. The team is based in Recife, his hometown. His 24 year long career took him around the world, playing in clubs in his native Brazil, Italy, Spain, Greece, Uzbekistan and Angola.

4. An icon of Arsenal during the late 1990s and mid 2000s, and also of the Netherlands' national team, Dennis Bergkamp began his career with the most successful team in his home country. What club is it?

Answer: Ajax

Bergkamp only played for 3 teams in his whole career. He joined Ajax in 1981 as a junior, and made it to the top flight in 1986. He later played for Inter Milan from 1993 to 1995, and finally landed in Arsenal, where he spent the remainder of his career.

5. It's not the "Zorro", it's not ZZ Top, it's Zinedine Zidane! Before leading France to their first ever World Cup title in 1998, and delighting fans of Real Madrid with his skills, "Zizou" kicked off his career in a humble French team. It's certainly deserving of a movie!

Answer: Cannes

I hope the clue about Cannes' famous film festival has lead you to the right answer. Zidane is, deservedly, one of the most decorated footballers from France. Aside from his World Cup campaign in 1998, he won many trophies and accolades in his seasons at Real Madrid.

He retired after the 2006 World Cup, in which he was infamously sent off after headbutting Italian Marco Materazzi in the final match, and began a coaching career, also at Real Madrid.

6. Germany has produced many great players throughout the years. One of them, Lothar Matthaus, is one of the few footballers to have played in 5 World Cups. As did many other players, his beginnings took place in a relatively humble team, with a tricky name for non-German speakers. Which team is it?

Answer: Borussia Moenchengladbach

Matthaus barely even played outside of Germany during his career. Aside from a few years in Inter Milan, and a brief stint in the USA, he spent most of his active years playing for German teams. Actually, he played almost exclusively for Bayern Munich, except for the 1979-1984 period, the first years of his senior career, when he played for Moenchengladbach.

7. Andres Iniesta is a name that will be remembered for years as a symbol from Spain, not only for his exquisite playmaking, but also for scoring the goal that led Spain to win their first-ever World Cup, 2010. He was also part of one of the most memorable squads of FC Barcelona. The question is, did he start his career in that team?

Answer: Yes

Iniesta was scouted at age 12 by the junior coach of Barcelona, and stayed with the club until 2018, when he signed with Vissel Kobe in Japan. He was part of a "golden generation" of Spain that included fellow teammates Xavi, Pique, Busquets and Puyol, among others.

8. During the 2000s, Mexico had a real Titan in the defense: Rafael Marquez. He had such a vision of the playing field, like he had a full "map" of it in his head. Part of the "backbone" of that strong Mexican national side, for which team did he play his first match, in 1996?

Answer: Atlas

Rafa Marquez is widely considered the best Mexican defender of all time. Aside from being solid in the back, he also had great skills in passing, intercepting, and commanding the game coming out of the defense. His aerial skills led him to score several important goals for the national team. Also, in 2018 he became the second Mexican player to appear in 5 consecutive editions of the World Cup (the first was Antonio Carbajal in 1966), and the first player ever to captain his side at 4 editions.
I tried to give some hints in the text, hope you got 'em! ;)

9. When it comes to English strikers, Gary Lineker is surely one of the first names to come up. His first steps on a football field were in 1978 for his hometown's team, which later rose to attention when it surprisingly won the English Premier League in the 2015-16 season. What team is it?

Answer: Leicester City

Though relentless in attacking and scoring, Lineker was actually a very clean player. Notably, he never received a card, either yellow or red, during his entire career. That feat earned him the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990. He played for the national team at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, scoring a total of 10 goals. Six of them were scored in 1986, when he won the Golden Boot Award.

10. Uruguay's Enzo Francescoli is considered amongst the country's finest players, despite not achieving great success at World Cups. He is also one of the greatest idols in River Plate of Argentina. But at what local team did he begin his "travel" in the world of football?

Answer: Wanderers

He actually didn't wander all that much: after two seasons in his home country, he moved to River Plate from 1983 to 1986, then spent 4 years in France and four in Italy, before coming back to River, where he retired in 1997. He played for Uruguay at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, but didn't make it past the round of 16.

However, he did find great success with his country in the Copa America, which he won 3 times -- in 1985, 1987 and 1995. Francescoli was the only Uruguayan included by Pele in his list of the world's greatest living football players in 2004.

Source: Author Gispepfu

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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Where Did These Players Start? Quiz

These players left their mark in football history. In this quiz, we'll look back in time, and revisit the teams that saw them taking the first steps of their careers.
This is a renovated/adopted version of an old quiz by author amitbador

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Where Did These Players Start? Quiz

These players left their mark in football history. In this quiz, we'll look back in time, and revisit the teams that saw them taking the first steps of their careers. This is a renovated/adopted version of an old quiz by author amitbador

These players left their mark in football history. In this quiz, we'll look back in time, and revisit the teams that saw them taking the first steps of their careers.
This is a renovated/adopted version of an old quiz by author amitbador