31 October 1920 - Germany's Golden Player

On 31 October 1920, Kaiserslautern and West Germany legend Fritz Walter was born.

Gifted with a remarkable combination of ball control, vision, and agility, Walter, who was born in Kaiserslautern, spent his entire career with his hometown club. He made his first-team debut for them at the age of 17, but World War II interrupted his career for several years. Play resumed in 1945 and Walter soon guided the team to their first major silverware, winning league titles in 1951 and 1953. He retired in 1959 with a record of 380 goals in 411 league appearances. In 1985, the club renamed their stadium after him.

His greatest achievement, however, came with the West German national team in 1954, when he captained them to their first World Cup trophy, beating Hungary 3-2 in a final known as "the Miracle of Bern" (Hungary were up 0-2 after only 8 minutes before West Germany rallied for the win).

Despite the wartime hiatus, Walter earned 61 caps between 1940 and 1958, scoring 33 goals. When UEFA, in preparation for their fiftieth anniversary in 2004, asked each member nation to name their one greatest player--the Golden Players--of the previous fifty years, Germany selected Walter.

He passed away in June 2002 at the age of 81.

30 October 1985 - Barça Won The Battle, But Atlético Won The War

On 30 October 1985, Atlético Madrid won the Supercopa de España despite losing to Barcelona.

The competition, played over two legs, matched Atlético, the previous season's Copa del Rey winners, against Barcelona, the reigning league champions. They met in Madrid for the first leg on 9 October, with Barcelona taking a 1-0 lead thanks to a 31st-minute goal from Paco Clos. But Atlético roared back with strikes from Mario Cabrera (40'), Miguel Ángel Ruiz (pictured) (52'), and Jorge da Silva (76') to end the day as 3-1 winners (video below).

Barcelona hosted the second leg at Camp Nou three weeks later and again took a 1-0 lead, this time with a goal from center back José Alexanko in the 32nd minute. But Atlético were content to defend their aggregate lead and Barça were unable to find another. So despite winning the second leg 1-0, they lost 3-2 on aggregate.

Since then, the two teams have met four more times in the Supercopa (1991, 1992, 1996, and 2013), with Barcelona winning all four. 

29 October 2000 - History Repeats Itself In The Asian Cup

On 29 October 2000, Japan won their second Asian Cup, beating Saudi Arabia in a rematch of the 1992 final.

Saudi Arabia were the defending champions, having won the 1996 tournament in the United Arab Emirates. They stumbled in their opening match, losing to Japan 1-4, but they rallied to reach the knockout rounds where they advanced with narrow wins over Kuwait and South Korea. Japan, meanwhile, won their group, then reached the final with wins over Iraq and Indonesia.

Playing before a crowd of 47,000 at Beirut's Sports City Stadium, Saudi Arabia had a chance to take an early lead with a penalty kick, bit the shot went wide. Shortly afterward, Japanese midfielder Shigeyoshi Mochizuki (pictured) scored the game's only goal in the 30th minute with a volley off a free kick. It gave his team a 1-0 victory, the same scoreline from their win over Saudi Arabia in 1992.

Japan repeated as champions in 2004 and won a third cup in 2011.

28 October 2007 - Stevie G Completes a Fourth C

On 28 October 2007, Steven Gerrard made his 400th appearance for Liverpool, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

Born in the nearby Merseyside village of Whiston, Gerrard joined Liverpool as a youth player in 1987 and signed a professional contract with them ten years later. He made debuted with the first team on 29 November 1998 and made a total of thirteen appearances that season across all competitions.

By the next season, he had secured a regular starting spot in central midfield, making 31 appearances in 1999-2000 and 50 in 2000-01. In the latter, he also scored a total of 10 goals as Liverpool won a treble consisting of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and League Cup.

He became the team captain in 2003 and additional trophies followed, including the dramatic victory over AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League in which Gerrard scored Liverpool's first goal to start a comeback from 3-0 down to win on penalties, 3-3 (2-3).

For his 400th club appearance, Liverpool hosted Arsenal at Anfield, where Gerrard's 7th-minute free kick from the edge of the box (pictured) put his team up 1-0. Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas delivered an equalizer in the 80th minute to finish the day at 1-1.

27 October 2004 - The Death Of Serginho

On 27 October 2004, São Caetano defender Serginho suffered a cardiac arrest during a match against São Paulo and died later that day. He was 30 years old.

The center back, whose real name was Paulo Sérgio Oliveira da Silva, had joined São Caetano in 1999 after spending the previous four years at six different clubs. While there, according to goalkeeper Silvio Luiz, team doctors discovered that Serginho had an enlarged heart which put him at risk for potential cardiac problems. But, again according to Luiz, they thought the risks of an incident were "less than one percent."

In the 38th week of the season, São Caetano was away at São Paulo when Serginho suffered a seizure and collapsed in the 60th minute. Physicians from both teams attempted to revive him, but with no success. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The match was abandoned with a score of 0-0, but the remaining 30 minutes were played on 3 November, with São Caetano winning 4-2. They were later docked 24 points for allowing Serginho to play with a known heart condition, dropping them from fifth to eighteenth in the final table.

26 October 1988 - No Trophy For Old Boys

On 26 October 1988, Nacional won their third Copa Libertadores, beating Newell's Old Boys 3-0 in extra time of the final's second leg.

Nacional were a very experienced tournament side, having finished as runners-up in 1964, 1967, and 1969 before eventually lifting the cup in 1971, then again in 1980. Old Boys, on the other hand, were in the final for the first time after their title-winning season in the 1987-88 Argentinian Premier División.

Old Boys took the first leg, winning 1-0 at home on 19 October with a 60th-minute goal from forward Jorge Luis Gabrich. The teams then reconvened in Montevideo for the second leg, with a crowd of 75,000 gathering for the occasion.

The organizers instituted a new rule for the 1988 tournament; like the previous finals, it was determined on points, but whereas earlier tournaments went to a playoff when the teams were level on points after two legs, the 1988 edition went to extra time. At the end of extra time, the winner was decided by goal differential with a penalty shootout to follow if needed. As it turned out, it wasn't.

Nacional took a 2-0 lead into the break with goals from Ernesto Vargas (13') and Santiago Ostolaza (36'), then added a third from Hugo de León in the 78th minute to all but seal the win on goal differential, though the teams still needed to play through extra time. Tempers flared in the 115th minute, with the referee ejecting a player from each side as Nacional held on for the title.

Despite their history of success, Nacional have not returned to the final since. Old Boys reached it again in 1992, but lost to São Paulo.

25 October 1998 - Chicago Denies DC

On 25 October 1998, the Chicago Fire, playing in their first season, won the MLS Cup over two-time champions DC United.

Chicago had compiled an impressive record of 20 wins and 12 losses to reach 56 points on the season, third-best in the league behind the LA Galaxy (68) and DC United (58). In the playoffs, they beat the Colorado Rapids in the conference semifinals, then advanced over the Galaxy in a conference final shootout to reach the MLS Cup.

The final was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where Chicago faced DC United, winners of the first two MLS Cups in 1996 and 1997. DC boasted one of the league's most potent attacks. Featuring forwards Roy Lassiter and Jaime Moreno, DC had scored a total of 81 goals, second only to the Galaxy's 85.

Chicago, however, managed to hold DC scoreless in the final while getting two goals of their own from striker Jerzy Podbrożny (29') and midfielder Diego Gutiérrez (45'). Both goals were assisted by midfielder Piotr Nowak (pictured), was was named the game's most valuable player.

It remains Chicago's only MLS Cup, though they finished as runners-up in 2000 and 2003. DC went on to win it again in 1999 and 2004.