Weekend Quiz Answers: Who Were These Players, and What Position Did they Play

By: Laurie | February 8th, 2009

If you haven’t yet taken our weekly quiz, stop by here and make your guesses, then come back to see if you’re correct.

It didn’t take you long to guess that these were goalkeepers, did it? And it also didn’t take you long to guess who most of them were. Nobody got all nine, but “eros,juve” was closest with seven correct (at least eventually.)

Best guesses of the week? Ben Affleck, John Elway (US Football, ret.) and Chuck Liddell, a “mixed martial artist.”

Player 1

Gregory Coupet, Atletico Madrid

What a surprise. A (former) France NT player in one of my quizzes. Congrats to Gregorio, the first one to see Coupet.

Player 2

Joe Cannon, San Jose Earthquakes

I was surprised nobody got Joe, my token MLS player for the week and another player I’ve always liked. (One of the few who had the good sense to get out of LA by choice after the first disastrous Beckham year.)

Player 3

Tim Howard, Everton and USA

Yes, this was the Timmy Howard smile, with that curvy dimple thing. Another one of my favorite players. “Eros, Juventus” was the first to see it.

(Come on people. The sooner you learn that these quizzes are all about me, the better you’ll do!)

Player 4

Paul Robinson, Blackburn

Oh, wait. I think you have learned that these quizzes are all about me. Why else would there have been so many Jens Lehmann guesses (another personal favorite, despite the fact that he kind of scares me) instead of Paul Robinson?

Congrats to Johnny, first to see Paul. Even if it was after my “as seen on dartboards in a certain country” hint.

Player 5

Fabien Barthez, retired

Yet again, it’s all about me, with another former France NT goalkeeper. Several of you guessed Barthez, (the first being Gregorio, again.) “Eros,juve” correctly associated him with Nantes, his last club. I think he’d prefer to forget that part of his life, though,given that he left after being attacked by his own fans. So I’ll choose to associate him with those glory days at Marseille instead.

Player 6

Hugo Lloris, Lyon

What’s this? Another player associated with the France NT? How did that happen?

Here we have the adorable Hugo Lloris. And by “adorable” I mean, “looks like a twelve-year-old.” But he plays like a grown-up and is Lyon’s starter at only 22. I didn’t think the photo I gave you looked a lot like Hugo, so congrats to those who got it, the first being Matt. Here’s another photo for comparision purposes.

Player 7

Ollie Kahn, retired

Yes, another favorite, first recognized by, again, Gregorio. If by “favorite” here we mean, “Scares the hell out of me, but I like him from a distance.” And since I forgot to include Man Jens, I had to have Kahn to meet my scary German goalkeepers quota.

(Funniest part? When I was searching for the photo, there were a LOT of others of him in this pose!)

Player 8

Francesco Toldo, InterMilan

Nobody got Toldo! I’m really surprised by this. (When something like this happens, I always go frantically back to Google images to make sure I’ve got the right guy.) I know he’s no longer the #1 at Inter, but I thought the gazillions of appearances in years past (plus lots of time backing up on the NT) would have made him more recognizable. Maybe it’s just the photo?

Player 9

Victor Valdes, FC Barcelona

My first thought: Picking Valdes, from the highly-visible Barca, is way too easy. My second thought: But nobody’s even seen that half of the pitch this year.

Congrats to Matt, who was also the first to see Victor.

(And yes, this is my token photo for the ladies. You’re welcome.)

Congrats, folks and thanks for playing. (Seeing a lot of responses to these quizzes makes my week.) Tune in again next week for more Weekend Quiz fun and games.