Five Things To Know About Lineker, The 2018 World Cup Draw Host

Posted by Samuel on Tue 28th Nov, 2017 - tori.ng

Some interesting facts and information about the World Cup draw host, Gary Lineker, have been revealed in this new post.

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker, who won the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup, was announced last week as the host and will be partnered by Russian Sports Journalists, Maria Komandnaya to coordinate together the 2018 World Cup final draw billed for Friday, December 1, 2017.

It is less than a week for the draws that will determine the groupings of the 32 countries that had booked a ticket at next year’s World Cup in Russia, and it is pertinent to have an insight of who Lineker, the main conductor of the Draw Ceremony is.

These 5 things about Lineker, starting with the more astonishing ones to the most jaw-dropping, are guaranteed to keep your head swirling. Carefully go through them.

5. Was predicted not to make a living out of football:

After leaving school with just four O’ Levels, one of Lineker’s teachers predicted that he would never make it as a footballer.

The teacher attributed the failure to his passion for football, and he wrote on his report card that “he concentrates too much on football and that he would never make a living at that.”

4. England’s highest goal scorer at the World Cup:

The former striker who was capped 80 times by England is the Three Lions’ all-time scorer at the World Cup with 10 goals.

With six goals at the 1986 World Cup, Lineker emerged as the top scorer of the tournament, one that had the likes of Jorge Valdano, Socrates and Diego Maradona as participants.

No English player has yet to win a World Cup Golden Boot even after seven World Cups.

3. Highest goal scorer with three different English clubs:

The former Barcelona forward is the only player to have been the top scorer with three different clubs in England. In 1984 for Leiceser City, Lineker emerged as the joint top scorer with Chelsea’s Kerry Dixon. The duo recorded 24 goals apiece.

In 1985, Lineker moved to Everton in a deal worth around £800,000. He scored 30 goals for Everton in his debut season and finished the season as the league’s top scorer for the second time in a row.

In the 1989 season, he emerged again as the English league’s top division highest scorer– scoring 24 goals for Tottenham Hotspur.

2. Presented a show in 2016 with shorts:

Lineker, who is BT Sport’s lead presenter for Champions League back in 2016, appeared in the first BBC Match of the Day for the 2016/2017 season in boxer shorts.

The 57-year-old had promised in a tweet in 2015 that, if his former club, Leicester, should win the 2015/2016 Premier League, he would appear on the BBC match of the day in his undies. And appear he did!

1. Had zero yellow card in his entire playing career:

With a 16-year playing career that saw him had spells with the likes of Barcelona, Tottenham, Leicester City, Everton and Nagoya Grampus Eight, Lineker went his entire career without receiving neither a yellow card nor a red. This feat earned him the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990.

Hope Lineker has a great day on Friday like he did during his playing days.

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Via The Nation