Contrary to popular belief, the old ‘tandem’ penalty routine executed by Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez last night wasn’t the creation of one Johan Cruyff and his partner in crime, Jesper Olsen.
Oh no, in fact it dates back way further than the Ajax pair. Indeed, it was spotted some 25 years before Cruyff & Olsen, and almost 60 years before Messi & Suarez came along.
We’re talking about Belgian duo Rik Coppens & Andre Piters here, who successfully pulled off a two-man ruse to (just about) bury a spot-kick against Iceland in a World Cup qualifier in 1957…
25 years before Olsen/Cruyff, 59 years before Suarez/Messi, Belgium’s Coppens/Piters 2 man penalty v Iceland in 1957 pic.twitter.com/lWLsGONbok
— The Antique Football (@AntiqueFootball) February 14, 2016
For the record, Belgium were 6-1 up at the time (after just 43 minutes) and went on to win the match 8-3.
UPDATE: Scratch that. Turns out the Belgians were waaaay off the pace!
Thanks to Pies fan Peter Wilt for pointing out that Northern Ireland pair Danny Blanchflower and Jimmy McIlroy pulled off a dual penalty an entire MONTH before Coppens and Piters…
@waatpies actually, that’s not oldest…a month earlier in 1957 Blanchfower & McIlroy pulled it off for N. Ireland.https://t.co/ouuKBJzUFf
— peter wilt (@PeterWilt1) February 15, 2016
(Via @AntiqueFootball)