Hypothesize candidate football entities (clubs, players) from constraints, then verify with targeted name-based searches.
When search results surface a candidate player or club name that might be the answer, or when you can infer a likely entity from the constraints before searching.
When a candidate entity appears in search results, immediately construct a verification query using that name combined with other constraints from the question. Do not stop at the first mention — verify systematically.
Steps:
"[entity name] Wikipedia" or "[entity name] [constraint from question]" to pull up the full profile.This also works proactively: if the question describes enough detail (nationality + era + league), hypothesize a candidate from knowledge, then search to verify.
"[player name] Wikipedia birth date career clubs""[club name] [player name] [specific event from question]""first [nationality] player Premier League [other constraints]"Abdisalam Ibrahim: Question described "first player from his birth country to play in the Premier League." Searched "first player from African country to play English Premier League" → found Abdisalam Ibrahim → verified with "Abdisalam Ibrahim Norway brothers birth date".
Finding a club name in results but not following up with a name-based search. Always track and verify every entity that appears — never ignore a lead.