ON THIS DAY

Mauricio Baldivieso was an unusual record-setter when he made his debut for Aurora against La Paz in the Bolivian First Division on 19th July 2009 – he became the youngest player to play professional football in South America. He was just 12 years old. Ok he was just 3 days off his 13th birthday but that still made him 12 years old! He came on as a late substitute for Aurora but was on the pitch long enough to be on the receiving end of a bad foul which resulted in a confrontation between the two sides. Aurora lost the match 1-0…….oh, and the Aurora manager was Julio César Baldivieso, Mauricio’s Dad! The record was previously held by Fernando Garcia who made his professional debut in Peru a little short of his 14th birthday. Ancient in comparison!

In one of the all-time World Cup upsets North Korea beat Italy 1-0 in front of 17,829 at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough in their final group match. North Korea became the first Asian country to qualify for the knock-out stages of the World Cup, Italy went home.