The Thursday Challenge: The Answers

County old boy Conor Gethins makes good

There was only on entrant this week- Andrew M.- but he did well, missing only one of eight questions.  Click through to see what Andrew discovered when he a) should have been working, b) was ignoring his girlfried, or c) should have helping the less fortunate.

1. In what recent tournament did Mexico finish ahead of the Netherlands, Japan ahead of Argentina, and Uzbekistan ahead of the United States?

These results took place in the group stage of the recent 2011 U17 World Cup.

2. Only one Scottish footballer has scored 100 or more goals for two Scottish clubs- who is he?

James McColl scored 117 goals for Celtic and 130 goals for Hibernian in a career that lasted from 1913-1932 and also included time at Peebles Rovers, Stoke City, Partick Thistle, and Leith Athletic.

3. Only one French footballer has scored 100 or more goals for two French clubs- who is he?

Bernard Lacombe scored 153 goals for Lyon and 142 goals for Bordeaux in a career that lasted from 1969 through 1987 and also included 39 matches for Saint-Étienne in which he scored 29 times.

4. What league’s list of top scorers includes no less than six players who averaged at least a goal per match over their careers?

The Hungarian top flight’s list of top scorers includes Imre Schlosser (1.33), Gyula Zsengeller (1.22), Jozef Takacs (1.01), Ferenc Puskas (1.01), Ferenc Deak (1.28), and Sandor Kocsis (1.00).

5. What former Ross County player once led a European second division in scoring?

Conor Gethins led the Irish First Division (second tier) in scoring in 2007 after spending four years playing for the Staggies. He is currently a fullback with Highland League outfit Nairn County F.C.- maybe.

6. What striker, who just led his country’s Premier League in scoring for the sixth time in a row, has never been capped by his country’s national team?

Striker Rhys Griffiths of Llanelli F.C. has been the league’s leading scorer for the last six seasons, part of the league’s “Best XI” for the last six years, is the all-time goal scoring leader in the Welsh Premier League, led his club to the domestic double in 2007-2008, and has never been called up by Wales.

7. What are the six cups that have been open to both Irish and Northern Irish clubs since 1941?

The Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup, the North-South Cup, the Blaxnit Cup, the Texaco Cup, the Tyler Cup, and the Setanta Cup.

8. What tournament, held only twice, was created for communist countries and those sympathetic towards them?

The Games of the New Emerging Forces were set up as an alternative to the Olympics and featured a soccer tournament. The 1963 tournament saw the UAE defeat North Korea and the 1966 tournament saw North Korea defeat China.

I’ll be back in the morning with a new, difficult, and very special challenge.

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