On This Day: Happy Birthday to David Villa; Sanchez hat-trick thrashed West Ham

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (December 3rd) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 1981 - Happy Birthday to David Villa

David Villa, who confirmed joining Japanese side Vissel Kobe a few days ago, was born in December 3rd, 1981. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all-time!

David Villa joined Valencia in 2005. At age 28, he registered 28 league goals, and garnered a move to Barca for €40 million in 2010, where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles, and scored in 2011 final. He left the club in 2013 to Atletico Madrid, where he won another La Liga title. After a singular season, Villa departed to join upstart MLS franchise New York City. In 2018, Villa announced his departure from New York to relocate to Japan, in order to join Vissel Kobe.

Villa has since participated in 4 major tournaments for Spain, becoming an integral member of the Spain teams that won UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He scored 3 goals at the 2006 World Cup, was the top scorer at Euro 2008 and earned the Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. He was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI for 2010. He is the 1st Spanish player to ever reach 50 international goals, making him Spain's all-time top goalscorer as well as the country's top scorer in the World Cup, with 9 goals.

On This Day in 2016 - Sanchez's hat-trick Inspires Arsenal 5-1 West Ham

Alexis Sanchez's fine hat-trick secured an emphatic victory over West Ham at London Stadium as Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League table.

Mesut Ozil opened the scoring with Arsenal's first shot on target after Angelo Ogbonna's mistake and Sanchez's cut-back set up a simple finish.

The Hammers threatened to equalise after the break before Sanchez turned, drove into the box and finished brilliantly past Darren Randolph.

The Chilean added a second eight minutes later with a low strike into the corner, before Andy Carroll came on for a first appearance since 18 August and stooped to nod in the rebound from a Dimitri Payet free-kick that hit the bar.

However, any faint hopes of a comeback were extinguished by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's excellent finish from range and Sanchez's masterful dinked chip over the keeper.

On This Day in 1972 - Last One In Before The Doors Close

On 3 December 1972, Juventus beat Fiorentina 2-1, conceding for the last time before a club-record run of 903 scoreless minutes.

Anchored by goalkeeper Dino Zoff, the Juventus defence had given up only eight goals on the season but had kept only two clean sheets. So it was not particularly surprising when Fiorentina striker Saltutti found the back of the net in the 41st minute.

Nobody expected what came later, however, as Juventus went on to keep the opposition scoreless for a club-record 903 minutes covering a span of nine games with seven wins and two draws. The scoreless run ended on 18 February with a 2-2 draw with AC Milan.

For the remainder of the season, those two teams battled for the Scudetto, with Juventus eventually finishing one point clear of Milan to claim their 15th national title.

In March 2016, the club set the current scoreless record of 974 minutes. 

On This Day in 1982 - Essien Gets Going

On 3 December 1982, former Ligue 1 Player of the Year and BBC African Footballer of the Year Michael Essien was born in Accra, Ghana.

An energetic box-to-box midfielder and tenacious defender, Essien began his professional career in 2000 with French club Bastia. Initially used as a reserve back, he switched to midfield in 2001 and flourished. After only three seasons, he drew attention from bigger clubs and signed with Lyon in 2003.

In two seasons at Lyon, Essien won two Ligue 1 championship medals and, after his second season, was named the 2005 Ligue 1 Player of the Year. That success led to a move to Chelsea in the summer of 2005 after an extended negotiation, with the London club paying what was then a club record transfer fee of £26 million. He made 31 league appearances for Chelsea in his first season as the Blues won the 2006 league title. Essien followed that performance by leading Ghana through the group stage of the 2006 World Cup and claiming the 2006 BBC African Footballer of the Year award.

He later added another league title with Chelsea (2010), as well as four FA Cups (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012), one League Cup (2007), and the Champions League (2012). Essien currently plays for Panathinaikos after joining them in June 2015.

On This Day in 1990 - Benteke Was Born

Christian Benteke (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for English club Crystal Palace and the Belgium national team.

He began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in their 2008–09 Belgian First Division triumph. 

Following a season at Genk he was signed for £7 million by Aston Villa. He scored 49 goals in 100 matches for Villa across all competitions, including 19 Premier League goals in his debut season and helping them to the 2015 FA Cup Final, before transferring to Liverpool in 2015 for £32.5 million.

Benteke has earned over 30 caps for Belgium since making his debut in 2010. He missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup through injury, but was part of their team that reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016.

On This Day in 2012 - The Death Of Diego Mendieta

On 3 December 2012, after going unpaid by his club for several months and unable to afford medical care, forward Diego Mendieta died in an Indonesian hospital from a treatable virus. He was 32.

Originally from Paraguay, Mendieta had been playing in Indonesia for several years. Most recently, he had signed with Persis Solo in Surakarta. But the club stopped paying him for several months toward the end of 2012, owing him at least $12,500 according to some reports. The lack of funds prevented him from leaving the country and forced him to rely on friends for even the basic necessities such as food.

In November 2012, he contracted an infection of cytomegalovirus, normally treatable with an anti-viral medication. Although he visited three different hospitals, he was unable to pay for care, so the infection went undiagnosed and untreated until it was too late.

Mendieta's plight did not become common knowledge until after his death, at which point the player's union, FIFPro, got involved. A few days later, they reported that Persis Solo had delivered the back pay to Mendieta's widow and paid to deliver his body to Paraguay.