So last Saturday morning I was kinda bored, you know? Staring at my coffee cup wondering what to mess around with this weekend. Then I remembered how much I loved football trivia, especially those random pub quizzes before matches. Okay then! Let’s make my own guessing game – players, clubs, countries. Sounded simple enough, but man, wasn’t quite that easy.
Gathering the Mess
First thing: I grabbed my notebook and my leaky blue pen. Needed players, duh. Scrolled through my memory for big names across different leagues. Wrote down like twenty:
- Kevin De Bruyne
- Kylian Mbappé
- Erling Haaland
- Harry Kane
- Vinicius Junior
- …you get the idea. Just big names popping in my head.
Building the List & Realizing My Mistake
Next column: clubs. Wrote Man City next to De Bruyne and Haaland. PSG next to Mbappé. Real Madrid for Vinicius. Bayern for Kane. Easy peasy so far. Right?
Then came countries. This is where it got messy. See, Mbappé plays for France, Haaland for Norway. But what about… Rodri? Spain, check. But Son Heung-min? South Korea! Different continent entirely. I had players from everywhere – Europe, Africa, South America. Felt like doing geography homework all over again.
The “Testing” Phase (AKA Torturing My Brother)
Ripped out the page once my list was done. Decided my poor unsuspecting brother would be test dummy number one. Found him glued to his phone on the sofa.
“Hey! Got a game. Guess where these guys play and what country they’re from.” Tossed him the notebook. His face? Absolute confusion at first.
- “Kante? Country easy, France. Club? Ummm… Chelsea? Wait, is he still? Or…” He scratched his head. See? I wasn’t alone!
- He flew through Kane (England, Bayern) and Salah (Egypt, Liverpool).
- Then… the crash. “Joshua Kimmich? Club’s Bayern, right? But country?” He paused. “Germany? Yeah… Germany.” He guessed right, but wasn’t sure. Felt good someone else also struggled!
We was mostly good on clubs, especially the Premier League guys. But national teams? Especially for players whose countries weren’t top ten ranked? That’s where stumbles happened. Got a few hilariously wrong.
What Worked (and What Definitely Didn’t)
So summing up my little weekend project:
- The Good: Listing players was fun! Big names instantly clicked for most people. Clubs mostly stuck if someone followed the sport even casually.
- The Tricky Bit: Countries kicked our butts sometimes. Unless you’re a true hardcore nerd knowing every national team, some countries (like Kimmich’s Germany, surprisingly!) caused pauses. Shows how much we focus on club football, eh?
- Brother Review: His main feedback? “Should have put their pictures next to the names, mate. Easier than reading.” Fair point, lazy git. But also… yeah. Visuals would help.
Anyway, that was my attempt at a football guessing challenge! Simple idea, took twenty minutes to scribble down, caused some laughs and mild confusion. Classic Sunday morning stuff. Learned that knowing club ≠ knowing country! Maybe next time I’ll make it easier and stick to just Prem clubs… or maybe add pictures.
