My Science School

On November 17, 2020, Spain hosted Germany in a UEFA Nations League clash. Germany lost the game by a huge margin, but the only solace for their goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was the fact that he reached a personal landmark in the game.

Neuer was appearing as Germany's goalkeeper for a 96th time, the highest for the country.

Manuel Neuer, who has been playing for Bayern Munich at the club level since 2011, has been Germany's first choice goalkeeper since 2009. This means that he has been the custodian of their goal in international fixtures since then, which includes three FIFA World Cups - 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Neuer was an important part of Germany's World Cup winning team in 2014. In fact, he was awarded the Golden Glove in that edition of the FIFA World Cup for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament.

Not the way he'd have wanted to reach the milestone

Neuer became Germany's most-capped goalkeeper by making his 96th appearance in the UEFA Nations League game against Spain.

On the night Neuer broke Maiers appearances record, he let in a goal after just 17 minutes

The floodgates opened after that as Germany conceded five more times in their humiliating 6-0 defeat to Spain.

In fact, this is the first time Neuer has conceded six or more goals in a competitive game in his professional career!

 

Picture Credit : Google

By winning the Turkish Grand Prix held at Istanbul, Turkey on November 15, 2020, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took his tally to 307 points this season. With that, he has an unassailable lead at the top of the drivers’ standings.

This means that Hamilton has won the World Championship title for a seventh time, matching the haul of F1 great Michael Schumacher.

Greatest of all time?

For years, fans and experts alike believed that some of the records that Michael Schumacher held would remain untouched for a long time.

And yet in 2020, Lewis Hamilton has not only matched one of his best records (seven world titles), but has also gone past Schumacher in a number of other records.

This has inevitably led to the greatest of all time debate. While it is always a difficult exercise, Hamilton does have a lot of things going for him already. And with a few more years in the sport, he might well make that debate one sided as well.

Seven world titles

Lewis Hamilton matched Michael Schumacher's record of winning seven F1 World Championship titles this season. Schumacher won his seven world titles in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. While Schumacher won his first two world titles with Benetton, the remaining five came with Ferrari.

Hamilton notched up his seven world titles in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Hamilton's first world title in 2008 was with McLaren. Hamilton won his remaining six world titles with Mercedes.

This makes Hamilton the first driver to win six World Championship titles with the same team.

Schumacher vs Hamilton

By racing from 1991-2006 and then again from 2010 2012, Schumacher's career totally spanned 19 seasons, during which he took part in 306 races. Hamilton, meanwhile, has participated in 14 seasons starting from 2007 so far, taking part in 264 races.

In 306 races, Schumacher started a race in the front row (two cars will be there in the front row of the grid at the start of a race) 116 times, including 68 from pole position. Hamilton has started 157 of his 264 races so far in the front row, and has taken the pole position 97 times.

Schumacher finished on the podium (top three places) 155 times during his career, which includes 91 races wins. Hamilton already has 163 podiums and 94 race victories. Hamilton went past Schumacher's record number of podium finishes and race wins in the 2020 season.

Schumacher, however, still holds the record for having the highest total of fastest laps. He set the fastest lap 77 times in his 306 races. Hamilton is second in the list for now having set the fastest lap in a race 53 times.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The green jacket is among the most coveted prizes in golf. While it is most visible when awarded to the winner of the Masters tournament each year, it has a much longer story and history.

The Augusta National Golf Club, one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the world, opened in 1934. In 1937, the green jacket came to be. Presented to the members of the club, the jackets are kept on club grounds and taking them off the premises is forbidden (though a few have got out and are now owned by wealthy buyers). It was only from 1949 that the custom of awarding these green jackets to the winner of the Masters tournament that takes place at Augusta started. Since then, it has also been awarded retroactively to previous winners as well. One of the traditions at the Masters include having the tournament's defending champion help the current champion slip into the green jacket (unless of course, the same person won the previous year as well). This is why we see Tiger Woods, who won the event in 2019. helping Dustin Johnson put on the jacket after winning this year. Multiple Masters winner, however, receive only one jacket. Winners, unlike members, can take home the jacket, but are expected to return it to the club during the next Masters.

 

Picture Credit : Google