7 February 2004 - The Young Yoann Gourcuff

On 7 February 2004, Yoann Gourcuff made his Ligue 1 debut, coming on as a late substitute for Rennes in a loss to Auxerre. He later went on to become the league's Player of the Year.

The French midfielder joined the club as a youth player in 2001 when his father took over as manager, then signed with them as a professional in 2003. His first appearance with the first team came in January 2004 in a 2-0 win over Croix-de-Savoie in the Coupe de France, leading to his league appearance the next month.

He was on the bench as eleventh-place Rennes hosted third-place Auxerre and watched as the hosts went down 0-2 to goals from Philippe Mexès (16') and Bonaventure Kalou (54'). That was still the score when Gourcuff entered the match as Rennes' third and final sub, replacing Cédric Barbosa in the 77th minute, and remained the margin when the final whistle blew.

It was the first of nine Ligue 1 appearances for Gourcuff that season, followed by an additional 57 before he left for AC Milan in 2006. But in 2008, he returned to France to play for Bordeaux, winning both the league and the Coupe de la Ligue in the 2008-09 season. He was then voted the league's Player of the Year and, later, the French Player of the Year.

In 2010, he left Bordeaux for Lyon, but injuries hampered his time there, restricting him to a total of 40 league appearances in his first two seasons. He returned to Rennes in 2015.

6 February 1996 - The Wizard Of Kansas City

On 6 February 1996, Kansas City acquired the rights to former Everton and Portsmouth winger Preki, who went on to become the club's career leader in goals and assists.

The 32-year old Yugoslav-born American international, whose full name is Predrag Radosavljević, had played for a number of different clubs, including Red Star Belgrade and three different American indoor soccer teams, before joining Kansas City for the first MLS season. Despite a mid-table finish, they managed to reach the conference finals in the playoffs, while Preki shined as their star, scoring a team-high 18 goals that year.

He was the league MVP the following year, leading Kansas City to the top of the Western Conference table while individually finishing as the league's scoring champion (based on a combination of goals and assists in which the former were worth two points and the latter one). In 2000, the team finished with the best regular-season record and won the the MLS Cup.

After spending the 2001 season with Miami, he returned to Kansas City in 2002 and the next year was again the scoring champion and league MVP. (He rejoined Kansas City in a supplemental draft after Miami folded, but only after every other team in the league declined to sign him).

He retired from playing after the 2005 season, but moved quickly into management, joining Chivas USA as an assistant in 2006 and taking full rein of the club in 2007. Chivas won the conference that year, leading to Preki being named the MLS Coach of the Year. By 2009, however, the club was struggling, which led to his departure and a brief but unsuccessful spell in charge of Toronto in 2010, the same year he was inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame.

5 February 2011 - I've Always Said A 4-Goal Lead Is The Most Dangerous One

On 5 February 2011, Newcastle earned a dramatic point against Arsenal, coming back from a 4-goal deficit to draw 4-4.

Newcastle were in their first season back in the Premier League after a one-season spell in the Championship and had already beaten Arsenal away in the league, 0-1. But in the return fixture at St. James's Park, the visitors from London took a quick lead with a strike from Theo Walcott in the first minute.

Nine minutes later, Arsenal were up 0-3 with additional goals from Johan Djourou (3') and Robin van Persie (10'). Van Persie scored again in the 26th minute and, to all appearances, a rout was on. Down 0-4 at the break, Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton later commented that the hosts were just hoping to "avoid a cricket score."

The momentum shifted in the second half, however, as Djourou left the game with an injury in the 48th minute. Two minutes later, they were down to ten men as referee Phil Dowd ejected midfielder Abou Diaby after an incident with Barton.

Barton went on to score twice from the penalty spot (68', 83'), with his brace sandwiched around a 75th-minute goal from Leon Best. Cheik Tiote (pictured) then completed the comeback with an 87th-minute blast from the edge of the box that beat Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczęsny and landed in the bottom corner of the net.

4 February 2004 - Manchester City Shines In London

On 4 February 2004, despite being a man down, Manchester City came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Spurs 3-4 in a fourth round FA Cup replay.

The teams had played to a 1-1 draw in Manchester over a week earlier to set up the replay at White Hart Lane. There, Spurs eased to a 3-0 lead in the first half with goals from Ledley King (2'), Robbie Keane (19'), and Christian Ziege (43'). As if the score advantage wasn't enough, Manchester City dropped to ten men for the second half as midfielder Joey Barton, who had already been booked earlier in the match, received a second yellow card in the 45th minute for arguing with the referee.

But manager Kevin Keegan must have delivered an amazing speech at the break, as City roared back to life in the second half. Sylvain Distin started the comeback, heading the ball past Spurs keeper Kasey Keller in the 48th-minute. A few minutes later, City goalkeeper Arni Arason scrambled to save what look liked a certain Tottenham goal to keep the margin at 3-1.

In the 69th minute, Paul Bosvelt closed the gap to 3-2 with a deflected goal, then Shaun Wright-Phillips got the equalizer in the 80th minute.

The last goal came in the 90th minute, as striker Jonathan Macken gave City their first lead of the day, which they held to emerge as 3-4 victors.

3 February 2011 - A Scoreline So Good They Should Make A Show About It

On 3 February 2011, Coritiba beat Iraty 5-0 to start their world-record winning streak of 24 consecutive games.

Founded in 1909, Coritiba is one of the most dominant teams in the Brazilian state of Paraná, winning the state title a record 36 times. It was in that competition, the Campeonato Paranaense, that they defeated Iraty by the score of 5-0, which turned out to be the league's top margin of victory that season.

They followed that win by reeling off another 23 in a row, including victories in the state league and the Copa do Brasil. Their final win of the record run was their largest, a 6-0 victory over Palmeiras in the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals on 3 May 2011.

The streak helped them to another Campeonato Paranaense title with an overall record of 9 wins and 2 draws. They also reached the Copa do Brasil final, where they lost to Vasco da Gama on away goals after losing the first match 0-1, then winning 3-2 at home.

2 February 1936 - The Uncrowned King Is Born

On 2 February 1936, Metin Oktay, Galatasaray's all-time leading scorer, was born in Izmir, Turkey.

Nicknamed "Taçsız Kral" (the Uncrowned King), Oktay first joined the club in 1955 at the age of 19 after three seasons in the lower leagues, including one at his hometown club, İzmirspor. Although Galatasaray were already successful, winning their thirteenth national title in 1955, he gave them a boost with a club-best 19 goals in his first season to help them repeat as champions. It was the first of five league titles he would win with the club (the first three with the Istanbul League and the other two with the Süper Lig).

It was also the first of thirteen seasons in which he was their leading scorer, including each of his first seven seasons with the club. He remained with the club until 1969, broken only by a short spell with Palermo for the 1961-62 season. In all, he scored a total of 538 goals for Galatasaray in 497 appearances across all competitions (the next-highest tally belongs to Hakan Şükür, who scored a relatively meager 241 times in 545 appearances between 1992 and 2008).

Oktay also earned 36 caps for Turkey from 1955 to 1968 and scored 19 goals, but most of those were in friendlies as Turkey either withdrew from or did not qualify for any major tournament during his time with the team. He did score three times during qualification for the 1962 World Cup, but Turkey finished second to the Soviet Union in their group and did not advance.

After his retirement, he remained involved with the club, briefly managing them in the 1969-70 season and later serving on the board of directors. He died in 1991 at the age of 55 after a car accident.

1 February 2012 - The Port Said Stadium Riot

On 1 February 2012, 79 people died and over 1,000 were injured in an outbreak of violence following an Egyptian Premier League match.

The match, between Al-Ahly and Al-Masry at the latter's Port Said Stadium, was played in a charged atmosphere from the beginning, with supporters on the pitch forcing a thirty-minute delay to the opening kick-off. The hosts went on to win 3-1, with subsequent pitch invasions after every Al-Masry goal.

When the game ended, a group of Al-Masry supporters launched an attack on the Al-Ahly players and fans, using knives, clubs, and rocks. A total of 79 people died from a combination of stabbings, beatings, and stampede-related injuries. Another 1,000 people were injured, but survived.

Afterward, many people claimed the riot was politically motivated, accusing the police and the armed forces of conspiring to punish the Al-Ahly supporters, who had been very critical of them in the wake of the previous year's Egyptian revolution.

Authorities arrested 73 people. Of those, 21 were tried and received death sentences in January 2013, which sparked another set of riots even more deadly than the first. After a series of appeals, the number of death sentences was reduced to 10. Among other defendants, 32 received prison sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years and 21 were acquitted.