Early substitution

Vitesse manager Aad De Mos took off fullback Meganishvili* after 5 minutes after he allowed Denneboom to cut inside & score 1-0 for FC Twente. De Mos "I've already told him countless times...".

It seems it woke up his team becuase just after half time they took a 1-2 lead, so I think it was a good move. Unfortunately for Vitesse/De Mos, Twente nearly immediately equalised & thereafter Buttner (who came on for Meganishvili) got sent off & shortly afterwards Twente were 4-2 up...

Can't remember a player been taken off (witout being injured) earlier in a match. Anyone remember an earlier substitution?

* or something like that

Not one that immediately comes to mind, no. God he must of been embarrassed!

Yeah...I remember a Champions League/UEFA Cup match for Liverpool...where Gregory Vignal came on and was subbed off after about 20 minutes...

Dutch managers are substitutional geniuses :

* De Mos taking off a player after 5 minutes

* Mario Been : being 1-2 down against Sparta he brings on Pothuizen ( a CD !!) to play as extra striker.
Pothuizen scores the 2-2 and the 3-2 (his 24th and 25th goal in 350 games, hadn't scored since april 2006 ).
After NEC goes up 4-2, Mario Been then gives Pothuizen an applause substitution : he was taken off after just being on 12 minutes

* Beenhakker with Trinidad and Tobago going a man down against Sweden....brings on an extra striker !!! (thus pulling the 0-0 across the line)

* Gertjan Verbeek substituting Afonso Alves off after he scored 7 goals against Heracles. Problem was he had already made 3 substitutions...so in order to give Alves his applause substitution, Heerenveen voluntarily played with 10 players for the last 5 minutes

....and Advocaat taking Robben off versus the Czechs in 2004