Every case in Truth Lab is rebuilt from primary sources — federation documents, club annuals, newspaper logs — and published with a signed verdict: busted, confirmed, or still disputed. Folklore is allowed here, but only when it is labeled as folklore.
The squad averaged 47 caps with 11 players from the 1982 World Cup group. The underdog script was written by broadcasters, not by data.
68,991 average across 52 matches — verified line-by-line against FIFA's official post-tournament report. Untouched for 30+ years.
He scored 25 goals in 31 league games in his debut season after the record move — a third straight Golden Boot. The “flop under pressure” narrative collapses on contact with the fixture list.
Convulsions five hours before kick-off, back in the lineup 42 minutes before it, 0-3 after ninety. Twenty-eight years, six explanations, none sealed — the archive's first disputed verdict.
Chance creation, progressive carries and big-chance conversion all peaked in 2005/06. The headbutt ended a career that was still climbing.
Reconstructed from club annuals and newspaper logs, the verified figure sits at 214. The rest belongs to folklore — we now track it separately.
Full dossiers for Case 003 (Shearer 1996), Case 004 (Zidane 2006) and Case 005 (Ronaldo 1998) are live — click the titles to open the case files. Remaining per-case dossiers are being typeset; the homepage section 05 carries the current verdict summaries.