Come Rain or Shine Trivia Quiz

Answer: Galatasaray

In the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League, Group B was a tough one, since Real Madrid, Galatasaray, Juventus and FC Copenhagen were competing for two passes out of the group stage and into the next round. Even though Real Madrid easily made it through by remaining undefeated, the fight between Juventus and Galatasaray was very tight, making the match between these two teams on December 10, 2013, a crucial one for both squads. The winner of this match would finish second in the group and play in the knockout stage, while the loser would be eliminated. After 31 minutes of play with worsening conditions in the pitch, with players falling and slipping all over the field, Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca decided to abandon the match. It was resumed a day later, and the remaining 59 minutes were played. A goal by Wesley Sneijder at the 85th minute secured Galatasaray's victory and advanced to the Round of 16.

Galatasaray S.K., informally known as "Gala", are one of the best Turkish soccer teams (though they also have successful representatives in sports like basketball and judo.) They had an especially successful season in 1999-2000, when they became the first Turkish team to win the UEFA Cup (which changed its name to Europa League in 2009) and the UEFA Super Cup. Galatasaray was defeated by Chelsea in the round of 16, ending their time in the 2013-14 Champions League which Real Madrid would end up winning.

Answer: Semi-final

The Copa America is an international tournament organized in South America by CONMEBOL, and played every four years. It usually features teams from South America as well as guests like Mexico. In 2016, a special edition was held in the United States, the first time the tournament was played outside of South America. In addition to the 10 CONMEBOL teams, 6 squads from CONCACAF also participated, with only the United States making it far, to the third place match after losing a semi-final against Argentina.

The other semi-final featured Chile and Colombia facing each other for a chance to play the final. Chile won the match by scoring two goals within the first 10 minutes. However, when the second half was about to start, it was announced that it would be delayed due to weather conditions. Joel Aguilar, referee from El Salvador, did not resume the match for two hours. Chile went on to win the Copa America by defeating Argentina in a penalty shoot-out.

Answer: Australia

February 9, 2014 saw the first time in the history of the Australian top professional soccer league, the A-League, where a match was cancelled due to extreme heat conditions. The game, scheduled to be played at 3pm at Lavington Sports Ground, was delayed for two hours because the temperature was too high to play. Even though the match did start at 5pm, temperatures were still very high and the referee had to stop the match three times for water breaks. Interestingly, the fans remained in the stadium the whole time!

Australia is a country in the continent of Oceania, and even though its largest city is Sydney, the capital of the nation is Canberra.

Answer: Russia

30 matches were played in the Group F qualifier for UEFA in Europe. Russia and Portugal qualified for the World Cup, while Israel, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland, and Luxembourg were eliminated. The first match, coincidentally, was Russia vs Northern Ireland on September 7, 2012, where the home side won 2-0 at the Lokomotiv Stadium. The second leg was scheduled to be played on March 22, 2013 in Belfast, but heavy snow led Norwegian referee Tom Harald Hagen to postpone the match to the next day. Despite the Irish Football Association making arrangements to clear the pitch, including calling for fans to show up with shovels to remove the snow, officials called off the match for a second time. This incident marked the first time that an international match in Belfast had to be cancelled due to weather conditions.

The match took place months later, on August 14, 2013, when Northern Ireland defeated Russia by 1-0. Regardless, the Russian team ended in the first place of its group with 22 points, earning direct qualification for the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup. Russia hosted the 2018 edition of the tournament.

Answer: Serie A

Governed by Lega Serie A, the Italian Serie A (started in 1929 in its current format) is the premier competition for soccer in that country. Some of its distinguished teams include Milan, Internazionale de Milan, Roma, and of course, Juventus. Juventus achieved their 34th title in this league, considered one of the best in Europe and the world, in the 2017-2018 season.

La Vecchia Signora (nickname for Juventus meaning Old Lady) has been involved in several match cancellations due to adverse weather conditions. In November of 2011, a flood in the city of Naples forced the match between Napoli and Juventus to be postponed. Further, Italy saw a lot of snow on February of 2012, which forced the rescheduling of three matches, including one between Parma and Juventus. On February 25, 2018, Juventus were unable to welcome Atalanta to their home stadium in Turin due to snowfall that would barely let the ball roll. Juventus won the title at the end of all of those seasons!

Answer: Brussels

In order to prepare for the Brazil 2014 World Cup, which began on June 12, 2014, Belgium played against Tunisia, a team that did not qualify for that tournament. The match took place just days before the World Cup started, on June 7. As the first half was being played, large balls of hail bombarded the field, making it impossible to play football. The referee stopped the match and suspended it for close to 70 minutes. The match resumed, and with a last-minute goal, Belgium won by 1-0. Interestingly, the World Cup draw held on December 1, 2017, revealed Belgium would face Tunisia in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup.

The match was held in the capital of Belgium, Brussels, which is home to famous landmarks like the Grand-Place and the Manneken Pis, a statue in the shape of a child.

Answer: New Jersey

The New York Red Bulls, owned by the energy drink company Red Bull GmbH, began existing in 2006 after the sale of the original team, the New York MetroStars. The team became "Red Bull New York", though it is better known as New York Red Bulls. The club has had in its roster important players like Mexican defender Rafael Marquez, Brazilian midfielder Juninho, and Australian forward Tim Cahill.

During the 2012 MLS Cup playoffs, a variety of adverse weather conditions affected many of the matches. The order of the legs between Red Bulls and D.C. United from Washington, for instance, had to be changed due to Hurricane Sandy in the New Jersey area. Due to a nor'easter in the East, the second leg was rescheduled from November 7 to November 8 -- D.C. United won by an aggregate score of 2-1.

The state of New Jersey was the third state to be admitted into the Union, in 1787. Even though its largest city is Newark, the capital is Trenton.

Answer: Panama

Mexico and Panama are both members of CONCACAF, the governing body of football in North and Central America. They have played each other many times, including memorable matches like the controversial 2015 Gold Cup semi-final. In September of 2007, a friendly match was scheduled to be played in the Cuauhtemoc Stadium in Puebla. Even though the first half was completed, the referee and both teams decided to call off the match at half time due to the rain, in an effort to prevent injuries. Giovani dos Santos was set to play his first match with the absolute Mexico team, but he had to wait until another friendly against Brazil. Exactly 10 years later, in September of 2017, Mexico and Panama faced each other again in the Azteca Stadium of Mexico City, in a 2018 World Cup qualifier. Despite the intense rainfall (which had led to the suspension of a Mexican Cup match the day before,) the game was played and with a goal by Hirving Lozano, Mexico sealed its place in the 2018 World Cup.

Panama's national football team played their first international match against Venezuela in 1938, same year when they lost 11-0 to Costa Rica. Their early history was not very successful, but in 2014, they were extremely close to making it to the play-off that could land them in the World Cup. With a crazy (trust me, crazy!) finish that I watched on the edge of my seat, Mexico barely managed to qualify thanks to American Graham Zusi scoring a goal that would put Mexico barely above Panama in the CONCACAF "Hexagonal." Four years later, their luck would be better, since they would beat Costa Rica and take the spot of the United States in Russia 2018. A national holiday was declared by Panama's President to celebrate the first time the country made it to a World Cup! Their nickname is "canaleros" due to the Panama Canal, a notable waterway that connects two oceans: the Pacific and the Atlantic.

Answer: Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain was founded in 1970, and has become one of the best teams of France. It has played in the UEFA Champions League several times, and won multiple domestic titles, including the Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and the Coupe de la Ligue. In 2011, Oryx Qatar Sports Investments took ownership of the French club, bringing a lot of money into PSG. This allowed for the signings of world-class players like Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Thiago Silva. These transfers led to UEFA sanctioning PSG due to failure to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations. In 2017, the team signed Brazilian striker Neymar from Barcelona by paying his expensive release clause, turning this transaction into the most expensive transfer in history.

PSG competed in the 2013-14 Coupe de France, but did not perform well. Their first match in the competition was postponed not once, but twice, due to weather conditions. They ended up defeating Brest by 5-2 when the match was played on January 8, 2014. Unfortunately for them, they were eliminated in the next round by Montpellier. This seemed to teach PSG a lesson, since they went on to win the next edition of the tournament.

Answer: Poland

The cancellation of the match scheduled to be played on October 16, 2012 was the first time that England cancelled an international fixture since 1979. The capital of Poland, Warsaw, went through a great storm that day, which made it impossible for the pitch to be in good conditions to play football.

Incredibly, the stadium had a retractable roof that was not used until it was too late, leaving fans soaking wet. The English side and manager Roy Hodgson were not happy about the way the fans were treated, since they felt that the roof could've been used sooner.

The match was played the next day and they tied 1-1 with goals by Rooney and Gilk.