Marcello Pompa has spent nearly two decades guiding operations at M M Cleaning, Inc., in Malden, Massachusetts, as the company's president. His responsibilities range from managing contract specifications to coordinating the activities of over 160 employees. Beyond his activities at M M Cleaning, Marcello Pompa is a soccer enthusiast.
The sport of soccer is not known for its score lines. That said, there have been a number of unusually high scoring games over the course of the sport’s history. Most notable would be a 31-0 victory by the Australian national team over American Samoa in 2001.
The game, a qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, was controversial long before it began. Australia was ranked 75th in the world by FIFA and, alongside New Zealand, was one of just two teams in the region to have qualified for a World Cup. American Samoa, on the other hand, ranked 203 in the world, dead last, and had never won a game since joining FIFA in 1998. To further complicate matters, the American Samoa team encountered passport issues and the country had a national school schedule that left just one of the initial 20 player squad in tact. Several players, having an average age of 18, had never played a 90 minute match prior to the game.
The game set a number of records, including largest winning margin in an international football match and most goals by an individual in an international football match, with Archie Thompson netting 13. David Zdrilic, who scored eight, had more goals than any player other than Thompson dating back to World War I.
Despite the professional setting and high stakes nature of the game, Australia’s victory was not excessively celebratory. Australian manager Frank Farina, alongside Thompson, were vocal regarding the introduction of preliminary qualification rounds to avoid such uncompetitive games. In response, an additional round of play was added to the Oceanian zone qualification group ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The sport of soccer is not known for its score lines. That said, there have been a number of unusually high scoring games over the course of the sport’s history. Most notable would be a 31-0 victory by the Australian national team over American Samoa in 2001.
The game, a qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, was controversial long before it began. Australia was ranked 75th in the world by FIFA and, alongside New Zealand, was one of just two teams in the region to have qualified for a World Cup. American Samoa, on the other hand, ranked 203 in the world, dead last, and had never won a game since joining FIFA in 1998. To further complicate matters, the American Samoa team encountered passport issues and the country had a national school schedule that left just one of the initial 20 player squad in tact. Several players, having an average age of 18, had never played a 90 minute match prior to the game.
The game set a number of records, including largest winning margin in an international football match and most goals by an individual in an international football match, with Archie Thompson netting 13. David Zdrilic, who scored eight, had more goals than any player other than Thompson dating back to World War I.
Despite the professional setting and high stakes nature of the game, Australia’s victory was not excessively celebratory. Australian manager Frank Farina, alongside Thompson, were vocal regarding the introduction of preliminary qualification rounds to avoid such uncompetitive games. In response, an additional round of play was added to the Oceanian zone qualification group ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
