1.
FIFA 06
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FIFA06, also known as FIFA Soccer 06, is a video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts based on the game of football. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows and it was later released for PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance, and mobile phones. This was the last FIFA edition to be released exclusively on six generation consoles, the taglines for the game were You play. They obey. and The total soccer experience, FIFA06 was the thirteenth game in the FIFA series and the tenth in 3D. At the time it was the highest selling game of the FIFA series, in total, FIFA06 has sold more than 3.6 million copies. Ronaldinho and Wayne Rooney graced the cover of the game in the European, Australian, Brazilian, Andy Gray and Clive Tyldesley provide commentary for the games English version. This installment will break with a tradition of commentating from John Motson and Ally McCoist, replaced by ITVs Clive Tyldesley. Career mode in FIFA06 is now a 15-year journey as the manager of a club of the players choice, the user starts by filling in basic details such as their name, date of birth, and country. In a new addition to the players now must manage a minimum budget to build the club around. The budget can be spent on players, upgrading staff and coaches at the club, players must now also use their best managerial skills to negotiate a sponsor to the club. Sponsors, a new addition to career mode, provide a weekly payment to the club as well as extra bonuses through winning cups, if the manager does not meet these expectations, they may risk losing their sponsor at the end of the season. Some sponsors within the game are real organisations while others are made up. Players also have to manage the expectations of the board, player morale, team chemistry, ultimately, the best solution to all of these areas is to win games. Get sacked too much and the career is over. Player morale becomes an issue to the future of the players club. Players must keep their squad happy to maintain them at the club, an unhappy squad can result in players refusing new contracts with the club and eventually leaving, which can be vital to the success of the club. Team chemistry is a result of the morale and how often the current squad plays together. If the team is happy and are playing together, team chemistry will be high
2.
2006 FIFA World Cup (video game)
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2006 FIFA World Cup is the official video game for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, published by EA Sports. 2006 FIFA World Cup was released simultaneously on the GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, in Europe it was simultaneously released on April 28,2006. It was also released on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS handheld systems at the time as the console versions. This was the last game released for the Xbox in Asia, as with some other PlayStation Portable games it was released later on May 22,2006. In Europe, this version was released May 19,2006, there are ten region-specific covers that feature a major player from each region. Microsoft bundled the game with the Xbox 360 in Japan and Europe and it was also bundled with the pre-release order version introduced in India during the days when World Cup fever gripped the nation. In this featured bundle, there was a limited edition faceplate included from Adidas packaged inside, the game allows players to participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany by taking control of one of 127 national teams. Since the release of the game 2002 FIFA World Cup, the menus have been redesigned and have more options and it even includes a satellite map when choosing countries to play in a Friendly. Online support is provided for ranked and unranked matches on PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, the online service provides lobbies, leaderboards and a global challenge mode where the player can play through over forty historical World Cup scenarios, and even change the history. By playing online and in single-player mode, spending points for the store are earned, where players can purchase uniforms, historical players, various footballs, boots. As with the previous World Cup video game, matches in World Cup mode are played in the order as at the World Cup in Germany. In Japan, Famitsu gave the PS2 version a score of two eights, one seven, and one eight, for a total of 31 out of 40. Club gave the game a B and said that it supplies just enough vicarious excitement to bridge the gap between now and early June. However, The Sydney Morning Herald gave the game three-and-a-half stars out of five and called it a fun football simulation for newcomers, even so, competitor Pro Evolution still has the virtual World Cup firmly in its grasp. IGN gave the Mobile version a score of 5.8 out of 10, and thats not necessarily a bad idea -- having the entire tournament set up from the get-go -- but the execution isnt worth your download dollars. FIFA06, Road to FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup video games FIFA World Cup, Germany 2006 at MobyGames
3.
Italy national football team
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The Italian national football team represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is one of the most successful teams in the history of the World Cup, having won four titles. In 1938, they became the first team to defend their previous World Cup tournament victory and they have also won a European Championship, as well as appearing in two other finals, one Olympic football tournament and two Central European International Cups. Italys highest finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup was in 2013, the national football team is known as Gli Azzurri from the traditional colour of Italian national teams and athletes representing Italy. The primary training ground is at the FIGC headquarters in Coverciano, Florence, the teams first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910. Italy defeated France by a score of 6–2, with Italys first goal scored by Pietro Lana, some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, who were the best team in the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators as a prize. The Italian team played with a system and consisted of, De Simoni, Varisco, Calì, Trerè, Fossati, Capello, Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, first captain of the team was Francesco Calì. The first success in a tournament came with the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics. After losing the semi-final against Uruguay, an 11–3 victory against Egypt secured third place in the competition. In the 1927–30 and 1933–35 Central European International Cup, Italy achieved the first place out of five Central European teams, other stars of that era included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Giuseppe Ruffino and Virginio Rosetta. The hosts, Azzurri, defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in extra time in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and they achieved their second title in a 4–2 defeat of Hungary, with two goals by Gino Colaussi and two goals by Silvio Piola in the World Cup that followed. In 1949,10 of the 11 players in the teams initial line-up were killed in the Superga air disaster that affected Torino, Italy did not advance further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, as they were weakened severely due to the air disaster. The team had travelled by boat rather than by plane, fearing another accident, in the World Cup finals of 1954 and the 1962 that followed, Italy failed to progress past the first round, and did not qualify for the 1958 World Cup. Italy did not take part in the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 and their participation in the 1966 World Cup was ended by a 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad included Gianni Rivera, the Italian team was bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-ik was celebrated as the David who killed Goliath. In 1968, the Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, the match holds the distinction of being the only European Championship or World Cup final to go to a replay. After extra time the final ended in a 1–1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, Italy won the replay 2–0 to take the trophy
4.
France national football team
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The France national football team represents France in international football. The teams colours are blue, white and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol, France are colloquially known as Les Bleus. France play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, and they have won one FIFA World Cup, two UEFA European Football Championships, an Olympic tournament, and two FIFA Confederations Cups. France experienced much of its success in three major, in the 1950s, 1980s, and late 1990s/early 2000s respectively, which resulted in numerous major honours. In 1958, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, in 1984, France, led by Ballon dOr winner Michel Platini, won UEFA Euro 1984. Under the leadership of Didier Deschamps and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, two years later, the team triumphed at UEFA Euro 2000. France won the Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003, and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the team also reached the final of UEFA Euro 2016, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time. France, Argentina and Brazil are the national teams that have won the three most important mens titles recognized by FIFA, the World Cup, the Confederations Cup. They have also won their continental championship. The following year, on 12 February 1905, France contested their home match against Switzerland. The match was played at the Parc des Princes in front of 500 supporters, France won the match 1–0 with the only goal coming from Gaston Cyprès. Due to disagreements between FIFA and the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, the sports union. In 1919, the CFI transformed themselves into the French Football Federation, in 1921, the USFSA finally merged with the FFF. In July 1930, France appeared in the inaugural FIFA World Cup, in their first-ever World Cup match, France defeated Mexico 4–1 at the Estadio Pocitos in Montevideo. Lucien Laurent became notable in the match as he scored not only Frances first World Cup goal, conversely, France also became the first team to not score in a match after losing 1–0 to fellow group stage opponents Argentina. Another loss to Chile resulted in the team bowing out in the group stage, the following year saw the first selection of a black player to the national team. Raoul Diagne, who was of Senegalese descent, earned his first cap on 15 February in a 2–1 defeat to Czechoslovakia. Diagne later played with the team at the 1938 World Cup, alongside Larbi Benbarek, at the 1934 World Cup, France suffered elimination in the opening round, losing 3–2 to Austria
5.
Germany national football team
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The Germany national football team is the mens football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900, ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany. Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team, the official name and code Germany FR was shortened to Germany following the reunification in 1990. Germany is one of the most successful teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups. They have also been three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976, Germany is the only nation to have won both the mens and womens World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any football team in history. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas, the current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germanys first championship title was won in Switzerland. At that time the players were selected by the DFB, as there was no dedicated coach, the first manager of the Germany national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher from Mannheim, who served in the role from 1926 to 1936. After a poor showing at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf in recognition of their 8–0 win over Denmark in the then German city of Breslau, Lower Silesia. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this united German team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland and that early exit stands as Germanys worst World Cup result. During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games were suspended, as most players had to join the armed forces. After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until 1950, the DFB was not a full member of FIFA, and none of the three new German states — West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland — entered the 1950 World Cup qualifiers. The Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany, with recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950, West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup. The Saarland, under French control between 1947 and 1956, did not join French organisations, and was barred from participating in pan-German ones and it sent their own team to the 1952 Summer Olympics and to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. In 1957, Saarland acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic was founded
6.
Portugal national football team
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The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in international mens association football competition since 1921. It is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the body for football in Portugal. Portugals first participation in a tournament finals, at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup finals were in 1986 and 2002, going out in the first round both times. Portugal also made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 1984 final tournament, losing 3–2 after extra time to the hosts and eventual winners France. The team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2000, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012, as well as the final of Euro 2004, the latter on home soil. At Euro 2016, Portugal won its first ever trophy, defeating hosts France 1–0 after extra time. With the win, Portugal qualified and will make its first appearance in the FIFA Confederations Cup held the year in Russia. The teams home stadium is the Estádio Nacional, in Oeiras, the current head coach is Fernando Santos and the captain is Cristiano Ronaldo, who holds the team records for most caps and goals. Portugal was not invited to the 1930 World Cup, which featured a final stage. In the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Seleção played one game against Switzerland in a ground, held in Milan, losing 2–1 against the Swiss. Because of the conflict due to the World War II, there was no World Cup held until the 1950 competition and subsequently. On the restart of games, the team was to play a round against Spain. After a 5–1 defeat in Madrid, they managed to draw in the second game 2–2, for the qualification of the 1954 World Cup, the team would play Austria. The Austrians won the first game with a humiliating 9–1 result, the best the national team could do was hold the team to a goalless draw in Lisbon, and the round ended with a 9–1 defeat. In the 1958 qualification, Portugal won a match for the first time. Nevertheless, they finished last in the stage that also featured Northern Ireland, only the first-placed team, Northern Ireland. The year 1960 was the year that UEFA created the European Football Championship, the first edition was a knock-out tournament, the last four teams participating in final stage that only featured one leg while the older stages had two legs
7.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
8.
Miroslav Klose
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Miroslav Josef Klose is a German retired professional footballer who last played as a striker for Italian club Lazio and the German national team. He is currently a member of the German national sides coaching staff, Klose is best known for his performances with the German national team. He was part of the German squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, having finished second and third in the competition. He also scored four times in the 2010 World Cup and twice at the 2014 World Cup, Klose is also the top scorer of all time for Germany, who have never lost a game in which Klose scored. He retired from Germanys national team on 11 August 2014 shortly after Germanys victory at the 2014 World Cup, at club level, Klose has been a less prolific but usually reliable goalscorer. Starting his career at FC08 Homburg, he played in the Bundesliga for Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich and he won two league titles with Bayern, along with cup competitions at Bayern, Werder Bremen and Lazio. Klose was born in the Silesian city of Opole, Poland, both of his parents were professional athletes. His father, Josef Klose, was a footballer who played for Odra Opole. His mother, Barbara Jeż, was a member of the Poland womens national handball team, in 1986, then eight-year-old Miroslav joined his father in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, knowing only two words of German. Klose developed his skill and passion in football from the club, SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf. He was also trained as an apprentice to become a carpenter, Klose and his wife Sylwia have twin sons, Luan and Noah. In a 2007 interview with Der Spiegel, he stated that he and his wife speak Polish to their children at home, Klose has not held Polish citizenship since the age of eighteen, as he then opted for a German passport. In 1998, his career in the game began when he was 20 with a switch to the reserves at former Bundesliga outfit FC Homburg. Twelve months later, he moved to FC Kaiserslautern and he played for the second team, and made his first appearance in Bundesliga in April 2000. He scored 16 goals in 2001–02 season and was shy of two goals to become the top scorer. In March 2004, Klose signed a contract with German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen for a fee of €5 million. He made his debut on 6 August 2004, as a substitute for Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez in a 1–0 home win against Schalke 04. On 29 August 2004, Klose scored his first goal, an equaliser, on 26 June 2007, FC Bayern Munichs club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that his team had reached an agreement with Werder Bremen regarding the transfer of Klose to the Munich team
9.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
10.
Zinedine Zidane
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Zinedine Yazid Zidane, nicknamed Zizou, is a retired French footballer and current manager of Real Madrid. He played as an midfielder for the France national team, Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus. An elite playmaker, renowned for his elegance, vision, ball control and technique and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. His 2001 transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid set a record fee of an equivalent €75 million. His left-foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final is considered to be one of the greatest goals in the competitions history. On the international stage with France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final, the World Cup triumph made him a national hero in France, and he received the Légion dhonneur in 1998. Zidane was named the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, in 1998,2000 and 2003, and won the 1998 Ballon dOr. He was Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001, in 2004 he was named in the FIFA100, a list of the worlds greatest living players compiled by Pelé. Zidane received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup, prior to the World Cup, he announced he would retire at the end of the tournament. After retirement, Zidane became assistant coach at Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti for the 2013–14 season, after a successful year in which the club won the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, Zidane became the coach of Real Madrids B team, Real Madrid Castilla. In 2010, Zidane was an ambassador for Qatars successful bid to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Zidane is currently the manager of Real Madrid, taking over the position in January 2016. In his first season as manager, Zidane won the UEFA Champions League title, Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in Southern France. Zidane is of Algerian Kabyle descent and his parents, Smaïl and Malika, emigrated to Paris from the village of Aguemoune in the Berber-speaking region of Kabylie in northern Algeria in 1953 before the start of the Algerian War. In 1972, Zidane was born there as the youngest of five siblings and his father worked as a warehouseman and nightwatchman at a department store, often on the night shift, while his mother was a housewife. The family lived a comfortable life by the standards of the neighbourhood. In July 2011, Zidane named former Marseille players Blaž Slišković, Enzo Francescoli, at the age of ten, Zidane got his first players licence after joining the junior team of a local club from Castellane by the name of US Saint-Henri. After spending a year and a half at US Saint-Henri, Zidane joined SO Septèmes-les-Vallons when the Septèmes coach Robert Centenero convinced the clubs Director to get Zidane. It was here that Zidane was spotted by AS Cannes scout and former player Jean Varraud, Zidane went to AS Cannes for a six-week stay, but ended up remaining at the club for four years to play at the professional level
11.
Lukas Podolski
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Lukas Josef Podolski is a German footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish club Galatasaray. He is regarded as one of the best German players of his generation, famed for his extremely powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive shot, technique and probing attacks from the left side. He will join the squad of Japanese club Vissel Kobe in mid-2017, FC Köln in 1995 where he broke into the first team in 2003 and made 81 appearances for the club before moving to Bayern Munich. With Bayern, Podolski won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2008 and he later signed for Premier League club Arsenal in 2012, with whom he won the FA Cup in 2014. He then moved on loan to Serie A club Inter Milan in January 2015, although he was eligible to play for Germany and Poland, Podolski chose to play for Germany. Podolski enjoyed great success with the team ultimately becoming a national hero. He was first capped by Germany in 2004 and has part of the squad in all major tournaments since then. He is the third most-capped player in German history, with 130 caps, on 29 May 2013, Podolski scored the fastest goal in German national team history, after just 9 seconds of the 4–2 friendly win over Ecuador. It was at time the second fastest international goal in history. Podolski retired from football on 22 March 2017 after scoring the winner in a friendly against England. Podolski began playing football at the age of six in the team of FC07 Bergheim. FC Köln at the age of ten and it was there that Podolskis talents were first noticed. In 2003, at the age of 18, Podolski was still part of the youth side. At this time the club found itself in dire straits battling to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga, first team boss Marcel Koller, working on a shoestring budget, invited Podolski to train with the senior players and he made his top flight debut shortly afterwards on 22 November 2003. Even though Köln failed to avoid a drop to the 2nd division, Podolski had shown what he could do and this was the best tally by an 18-year-old in the history of the Bundesliga. Though his call up to the German Euro 2004 squad brought along interest from top clubs. With 24 goals, Podolski advanced to become the leagues best scorer, somewhat unusually, Podolski remained part of the Germany squad, even though he did not play in the national top-tier league. After Köln were promoted, the pressure was on Podolski to keep the club in the Bundesliga practically singlehandedly, Podolski managed to score 12 goals in the 2005–06 season, but eventually, Köln were relegated again
12.
Goalkeeper (association football)
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Goalkeeper, often shortened to keeper or goalie, is one of the major positions of association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport, the goalkeepers primary role is to prevent the opposing team from successfully moving the ball over the defended goal-line. This is accomplished by the moving into the path of the ball. Within the penalty area goalkeepers are able to use their hands, goalkeepers usually perform goal kicks, and also give commands to their defence during corner kicks, direct and indirect free kicks, and marking. Goalkeepers play an important role in directing on field strategy as they have a view of the entire pitch. If an attacker on the opposing team obstructs the keeper from catching or saving the ball, for example, in a corner, it will normally be a free kick. If a goalkeeper is injured or sent off, a goalkeeper has to take their place. In order to replace a goalkeeper who is sent off, a team usually substitutes an outfield player for the backup keeper and they then play the remainder of the match with nine outfield players. Goalkeepers often have longer playing careers than players, many not retiring until their late thirties or early forties. This can be explained by noting that goalkeepers play a physically demanding position that requires significantly less running. For example, Peter Shilton played for 31 years between 1966 and 1997 before retiring at the age of 47, the squad number for a first choice goalkeeper is generally number 1. Although this is common, some goalkeepers now wear other numbers when in goal, association football, like many sports, has experienced many changes in tactics resulting in the generation and elimination of different positions. Goalkeeper is the position that is certain to have existed since the codification of the sport. The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes from Richard Mulcaster in 1581, the earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from Cornish Hurling in 1602. One of these is appointed by lots, to the one side, there is assigned for their guard, a couple of their best stopping Hurlers. Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the early 16th century, for example, in John Days play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, Ill play a gole at camp-ball. Similarly, in a 1613 poem, Michael Drayton refers to when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole and it seems inevitable that wherever a game has evolved goals, some form of goalkeeping must also be developed. David Wedderburn refers to what has been translated from Latin as to keep goal in 1633, initially, goalkeepers typically played between the goalposts and had limited mobility, except when trying to save opposition shots
13.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
14.
Gianluigi Buffon
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Gianluigi Gigi Buffon is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He captains both Serie A club Juventus and the Italy national team and he is widely regarded by players, pundits and managers to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, and, by some, to be the greatest ever. Buffon is known for his outstanding shot-stopping and for being an organizer of the defence. He is currently the most expensive goalkeeper in history, following his €53 million transfer from Parma to Juventus in 2001. After joining Juventus in 2001, Buffon immediately won Serie A titles in both of his first two seasons at the club, and established himself as one of the best players in the world in his position. After winning two consecutive league titles in 2005 and 2006, the club were later stripped of these titles. Despite rumours of his departure, Buffon remained with Juventus, contributing to the clubs Serie B title, in total, he has won seven Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, and five Supercoppa Italiana titles with Juventus. He was the goalkeeper of the Italian team that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which saw him keep a record five clean sheets. He has also represented Italy at four European Championships, at the 1996 Olympics, Buffon has also won numerous, prestigious individual and team awards. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA100 list of the worlds greatest living players in 2004 and he has been named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record eleven times. In 2006, Buffon was runner-up for the Ballon dOr and was elected to be part of the FIFPro World XI, an honour which he also achieved in 2007. After reaching the 2015 Champions League final, he was named to the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, and placed fourth in the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. He has been named the IFFHS Worlds Best Goalkeeper four times and was named the best goalkeeper of the 21st century, of the past 25 years. In 2016, he became the first goalkeeper ever to win the Golden Foot Award, despite offers from Bologna and Milan, Buffon began his career with the Parma youth system in 1991, at the age of 13. During his time in the academy, he initially played in several out-field positions, in particular as a midfielder. He quickly adapted to this role, and within two weeks he had promoted to first keeper of the Parma youth team. Ermes Fulgoni, the goalkeeping coach, would soon become a mentor to the young goalkeeper. Buffon made notable saves against Ballon dOr winners Roberto Baggio and George Weah, as well as Marco Simone, throughout the match
15.
2002 FIFA World Cup
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The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup which took place from 31 May to 30 June 2002 in South Korea and Japan. Brazil won the tournament for a fifth time, winning the final against Germany 2–0. The victory meant Brazil qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup for the fifth time, in the third place play-off match against South Korea, Turkey won 3–2 taking third place in only their second ever FIFA World Cup finals. China PR, Ecuador, Senegal and Slovenia made their first appearances at the finals with Turkey making its first appearance since 1954, additionally, Turkey took third place and South Korea managed to reach the semi-finals, beating Spain, Italy and Portugal en route. South Korea in particular, faced scrutiny and allegations of corruption due to their victories over Italy. However, the most potent team at the tournament, Brazil, prevailed, South Korea and Japan were selected as hosts by FIFA on 31 May 1996. Initially, South Korea, Japan, and Mexico presented three rival bids, however, the two Asian countries agreed to unite their bids shortly before the decision was made, and they were chosen unanimously in preference to Mexico. This was the first World Cup to be hosted by two countries, at the time the decision was made, Japan had never qualified for a World Cup finals. The only other countries to have awarded a World Cup without previously having competed in a final tournament are Italy in 1934. The unusual choice of host proved an issue for fans in Europe. With games taking place in the European morning, some schools, a total of 199 teams attempted to qualify for the 2002 World Cup which qualification process began with the preliminary draw held in Tokyo on 7 December 1999. Defending champions France and co-hosts South Korea and Japan qualified automatically and this was the final World Cup in which the defending champions qualified automatically. 14 places were contested by UEFA teams, five by CAF teams, four by CONMEBOL teams, four by AFC teams, the remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and UEFA and between CONMEBOL and OFC. Four nations qualified for the finals for the first time, China, Ecuador, Senegal, as of 2014, this was the last time Turkey, China, Republic of Ireland and Senegal qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. Turkey qualified for the first time since 1954, and both Poland and Portugal for the first time since 1986, all seven previous World Cup-winning nations qualified, the first time so many previous champions had been present at a finals tournament. The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament, the seeds comprised Pot A in the draw. Pot B contained the remaining 11 European sides, Pot C contained five unseeded qualifiers from CONMEBOL, Pot D contained unseeded sides from the CONCACAF region and Africa. This was the last FIFA World Cup with the champion in Group A
16.
2010 FIFA World Cup
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The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010, the matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africas largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points. These 16 teams advanced to the stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, as a result of their win, Spain represented the World in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. Host nation South Africa,2006 champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament and it was the first time that the hosts had been eliminated in the first round. New Zealand, with their three draws, were the undefeated team in the tournament, but they were also eliminated in the first round. Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a policy, abandoned in 2007. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libyas solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements. South Africa, which had failed to win the right to host the 2006 event, was thus awarded the right to host the tournament. Having successfully campaigned for South Africa to be granted host status, during 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africas preparations. Blazer stated, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup. On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had actually won the vote, the qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament, as happened in the previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification. With a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, some controversies arose during the qualifications
17.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
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Decennial
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An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. For example, the first event is the occurrence or, if planned. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event, the word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days and these could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption of a new constitution or form of government. The important dates in a monarchs reign may also be commemorated. Birthdays are the most common type of anniversary, when someones birth date is commemorated each year, the actual celebration is sometimes moved for practical reasons, as in the case of an official birthday. Wedding anniversaries are also celebrated, on the same day of the year as the wedding occurred. In ancient Rome, the Aquilae natalis was the birthday of the eagle, anniversaries of nations are usually marked by the number of years elapsed, expressed with Latin words or Roman numerals. However, when anniversaries relate to fractions of centuries, the situation is not as simple, Roman fractions were based on a duodecimal system. From 1⁄12 to 8⁄12 they were expressed as multiples of twelfths, a whole unit less 3⁄12, 2⁄12 or 1⁄12 respectively. There were also special terms for quarter, half, and three-quarters, dodrans is a Latin contraction of de-quadrans which means a whole unit less a quarter (de means from, quadrans means quarter. Thus for the example of 175 years, the term is a quarter less than the next whole century or 175 =. In Latin it seems that this rule did not apply precisely for 1½, while secundus is Latin for second, and bis for twice, these terms are not used such as in sesqui-secundus. Instead sesqui is used by itself, etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home by Emily Post, published in 1922, contained suggestions for wedding anniversary gifts for 1,5,10,15,20,25,50, and 75 years. Wedding anniversary gift suggestions for other years were added in later editions and publications, generally speaking, the longer the period, the more precious or durable the material associated with it. See wedding anniversary for a general list of the wedding anniversary symbols, however, furthermore, there exist numerous partially overlapping, partially contradictory lists of anniversary gifts, separate from the traditional names. The concepts of a persons birthday stone and zodiac stone, by contrast, are fixed for life according to the day of the week, month, list of historical anniversaries Quinquennial Neronia Wedding anniversary
19.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
20.
FIFA World Cup hosts
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Sixteen countries have been FIFA World Cup hosts in the competitions twenty tournaments since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. The organization was at first awarded to countries at meetings of FIFAs congress, the choice of location was controversial in the earliest tournaments, given the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football at the time. The decision to hold the first cup in Uruguay, for example, the next two World Cups were both held in Europe. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament, the first tournament following World War II, held in Brazil in 1950, had three teams withdrawing due to either financial problems or disagreements with the organization. To avoid any future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternation between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 2002 FIFA World Cup which took place in Asia, the system evolved so that the host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFAs Council. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system, the decision is currently made roughly seven years in advance of the tournament, though the hosts for the 2022 tournament were chosen at the same time as those for the 2018 tournament. Only Mexico, Italy, France, Germany and Brazil have hosted the event on two occasions, Mexico Citys Estadio Azteca and Rio de Janeiros Maracanã are the only venues ever to have hosted two FIFA World Cup finals. Only the 2002 FIFA World Cup had more than one host, the FIFA Congress met in Barcelona, Spain on 18 May 1929 to ratify the decision, and Uruguay was chosen without a vote. For that reason, the stadium built in Montevideo for the World Cup was named Estadio Centenario. Bids, Italy Sweden Sweden decided to withdraw before the vote, the decision was ratified by the FIFA Congress in Stockholm, Sweden and Zürich, Switzerland on 14 May 1932. The Italian Football Federation accepted the duties on 9 October 1932. Electing France took only one ballot, as France had more than half of the votes in the first round. Results, France,19 votes Argentina,4 votes Germany,0 votes Bids for 1942, Argentina Brazil Germany Cancelled election of the host due to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. Bids for 1946, none Bid, Brazil Brazil, Argentina, and Germany had official bid for the 1942 World Cup, but the Cup was cancelled after the outbreak of World War II. Result, Brazil Bid, Switzerland The 1954 World Cup hosting duty was decided on 26 July 1946, on 27 July, the FIFA Congress pushed back the 5th World Cup finals for three years, deciding it should take place in 1954. Result, Switzerland Bid, Sweden Argentina, Chile, Mexico, swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals. Sweden was awarded the 1958 tournament unopposed in on 23 June 1950, result, Sweden Bids, Argentina Chile West Germany West Germany withdrew before the vote, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal on 10 June 1956, leaving two remaining bids. In one round of voting, Chile won over Argentina, again, there was only one round of voting, with England defeating West Germany for the hosting position
21.
List of men's national association football teams
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This is a list of the mens national association football teams in the world. This group includes United Nations member and observer states, as well as states who are not members of the UN and this list excludes other teams, which generally play outside of FIFAs recognition. This section lists the current,211 mens national teams affiliated to FIFA. 12 mens national teams who have membership in one of FIFAs affiliated continental confederations. FIFA members are eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognized as international matches. Based on their results over the previous four-year period, the FIFA World Rankings, published monthly by FIFA. Some national teams who are members of a confederation but not FIFA members compete in confederation-level and these teams, however, are not allowed to participate in the World Cup. All 22 national governing bodies that form UAFA are also members of both FIFA and either the AFC or CAF, national teams from UAFA member countries are noted in the list below. Members of FIFA and its affiliated confederations include a majority of United Nations member states and they also include several constituent countries, autonomous areas, associated states, dependent territories, and two sovereign states who are neither UN members or observers. The team from the Republic of China is designated as Chinese Taipei by both FIFA and its continental confederations. Some national football associations are members of a federation. These teams are noted in each subsection below, due to the geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations, West Asian Football Federation – represents nations at the western extremity of the continent, except Iran. East Asian Football Federation – represents nations in Northeast Asia, plus Guam, Central Asian Football Federation – represents nations in Central Asia, plus Iran. South Asian Football Federation – represents nations in South Asia, ASEAN Football Federation – represents nations in Southeast Asia, plus Australia. Council of Southern Africa Football Associations – represents nations regarded as forming Southern Africa. West African Football Union/Union du Football de lOuest Afrique – represents nations in West Africa, Union of North African Federations – represents nations regarded as forming North Africa. Union des Fédérations du Football de lAfrique Centrale – represents some of the nations that form Central Africa, North American Football Union – represents the teams of Canada, Mexico and the USA. Union Centroamericana de Fútbol – represents the seven nations of Central America, the national football teams included in this section are not members of FIFA, or of any of its affiliated continental confederations
22.
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
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A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition, a total of 194 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 847 qualifying matches were played, and 2464 goals were scored, for the first time ever, the defending champion did not qualify automatically. The hosts retained their automatic spot, in 1934, the defending champions declined to participate and the hosts had to qualify, but in the tournaments between 1938 and 2002, the hosts and the defending champions had automatic berths. This decision was reconsidered in June 2003 and the distribution of places between Oceania and South America was restored. The draw for five of the six qualification tournaments took place on 5 December 2003 in Frankfurt, qualification itself began in January 2004. To see the dates and results of the rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles. Czech Republic advanced to the UEFA play-offs, Turkey advanced to the UEFA play-offs. Slovakia advanced to the UEFA play-offs, Switzerland advanced to the UEFA play-offs. Norway advanced to the UEFA play-offs, poland also qualified with the second best record among the runners-up. Group 7 – Serbia and Montenegro qualified, Spain advanced to the UEFA play-offs. Sweden also qualified with the best record among the runners-up, play-offs – Spain, Switzerland and Czech Republic qualified over Slovakia, Turkey and Norway respectively. South America Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay qualified, uruguay advanced to the CONMEBOL–OFC intercontinental play-off. North, Central America and Caribbean USA, Mexico and Costa Rica qualified, trinidad and Tobago advanced to the AFC–CONCACAF intercontinental play-off. Africa Group A – Togo qualified, Group C – Côte dIvoire qualified. Asia Group A – Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic qualified, Uzbekistan advanced to the AFC play-off. Group B – Japan and Iran qualified, Bahrain advanced to the AFC play-off. Play-off – Bahrain advanced to the AFC–CONCACAF intercontinental play-off over Uzbekistan, Oceania Australia advanced to the CONMEBOL–OFC intercontinental play-off
23.
Penalty shootout (football)
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A penalty shoot-out is a method of determining the winner of an association football match that is drawn after the regulation as well as extra playing time. Although the procedure for taking kicks from the penalty mark resembles that of a penalty kick, most notably, neither the kicker nor any player other than the goalkeeper may play the ball again once it has been kicked. The method of breaking a draw in a match requiring a winner is determined beforehand by the organizing body. Although employed in football commonly since the 1970s, penalty shoot-outs remain unpopular with some, during a shoot-out, coaches, players other than the kicker and the goalkeepers must remain in the centre circle. The kicking teams goalkeeper stands at the intersection of the goal line, goals scored during the shoot-out are not included in the final score, nor are they added to the goalscoring records of the players involved. A tie is a result in football. Exceptionally, a shoot-out after a league or round-robin match may be provided for and this provision appears for occasions where opposing teams in a final-day match finish the group with identical records, which can result in an immediate shoot-out. This happened in Group A of the 2003 UEFA Womens Under-19 Championship, several leagues, such as the J-League, have experimented with penalty shoot-outs immediately following a drawn league match, with the winner being awarded an extra point. A team that loses a penalty shoot-out is eliminated from the tournament but it does not count as a defeat, for instance, the Netherlands are considered to have concluded the 2014 FIFA World Cup undefeated, despite being eliminated at the semi-final stage. The following is a summary of the procedure for kicks from the penalty mark, the procedure is specified in Law 10 of the IFABs Laws of the Game document. The referee tosses a coin to decide the goal at which the kicks will be taken, the choice of goal by the coin toss winner may only be changed by the referee for safety reasons or if the goal or playing surface becomes unusable. The referee tosses the coin a second time to determine which team will take the first kick, all players other than the kicker and the goalkeepers must remain in the pitchs centre circle. Each kick will be taken in the manner of a penalty kick. Each kick will be taken from the penalty mark, which is 12 yards from the line and equidistant from each touch line. Each team is responsible for selecting from the players the order in which they will take the kicks. The referee is not informed of the order, each kicker can kick the ball only once per attempt. Once kicked, the kicker may not play the ball again, no other player on either team, other than the designated kicker and goalkeeper, may touch the ball. The ball may touch the goalkeeper, goal posts, or crossbar any number of times before going into the goal as long as the referee believes the motion is the result of the initial kick
24.
Iran national football team
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The National football team of Iran, also known as Team Melli, represents Iran in international football competitions and is governed by the Iran Football Federation. The national football team of Iran, known as Team Melli, ranks 1st in Asia, Iran is one of the most successful national teams in Asia with three Asian Cup championships. Iran has qualified for the World Cup four times but has never advanced past the group stage, Irans only win in the World Cup has been a 2–1 victory against the United States in 1998. The Iranian Football Federation was founded in 1920, in 1926 Tehran XI traveled across the border to Baku, USSR, this was the first away football match for an Iranian team. This Tehran Select team is the predecessor of Irans national football team. The first match that Team Melli played was on 23 August 1941, away at Kabul in a 1–0 win against British India, while Irans first FIFA international match was on 25 August 1941, away at Afghanistan. Iran won the Asian Cup three consecutive times, to which the team has not been able to add since, Iran lost two of three group stage matches against the Netherlands and Peru. After the 1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside, during the 1980s, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to the Iran–Iraq War and domestic football suffered the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup, the war and political upheavals left Iran without major club competitions until 1989 when the Qods League was established. A year later, the Qods League was renamed the Azadegan League, both games finished undecided, but Iran managed to qualify due to the away goals rule. Iran held Australia to a 1–1 draw at home, and a 2–2 draw in Melbourne, however, since Iran had scored more away goals, they were able to qualify for the Cup. At their first game of the Group F at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Iran played well against Yugoslavia, losing narrowly 1–0, only to a free kick goal by Siniša Mihajlović. Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the game, beating the United States 2–1, with Hamid Estili. The Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement because of each countrys political stance after the Iranian revolution and the Iran hostage crisis. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or politics in sports, following defeat against Iran, the United States was eliminated from the World Cup. Iran played against Germany in the third game, the goals were scored by Oliver Bierhoff and Jürgen Klinsmann. The one win and two losses meant Iran came third in the group standing and failed to make it to the next round. Iran finished first in the stage of the tournament
25.
Netherlands national football team
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The Netherlands national football team represents the Netherlands in international football. It is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association, the body for football in the Netherlands. The team is referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal and Oranje. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes referred to as Holland. The Dutch hold the record for playing the most World Cup finals without winning the tournament. They finished second in the 1974,1978 and 2010 World Cups, losing to West Germany, Argentina and Spain respectively, the Netherlands played their first international match in Antwerp against Belgium on 30 April 1905. The players were selected by a commission from the Dutch football association. After 90 minutes, the score was 1–1, but because the match was for a trophy, the Netherlands made their first appearance at the World Cup final tournament in 1934. After a second appearance in 1938 they did not appear in another World Cup until 1974, the 1970s saw the invention of Total Football, pioneered by Ajax and led by playmaker Johan Cruyff and national team coach Rinus Michels. The Dutch made significant strides, qualifying for two World Cup finals in the decade. The captain of the Brazilian team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Carlos Alberto, went on to say, since then everything looks more or less the same to me. Their carousel style of play was amazing to watch and marvellous for the game, in 1974, the Netherlands beat both Brazil and Argentina in the second group stage, reaching the final for the first time in their history. However, the team lost to West Germany in the final in Munich, however, a converted penalty by Paul Breitner and the winner from Gerd Müller led to a victory for the Germans. By comparison, Euro 76 was a disappointment, the Netherlands lost in the semi-finals to Czechoslovakia, as much because of infighting within the squad and the coach George Knobel, as well as the skill of the eventual winners. In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final of a World Cup, only to be beaten by the hosts and this side played without Johan Cruijff, Willem van Hanegem, and Jan van Beveren, who refused to participate in the World Cup. It still contained Johan Neeskens, Johnny Rep, Arie Haan, Ruud Krol, Wim Jansen, Jan Jongbloed, Wim Suurbier, the Netherlands were less impressive in the group stages. They qualified as runners-up, after a draw with Peru and a loss to Scotland, in the second group phase, however, the Netherlands topped a group including Italy and West Germany, setting up a final with Argentina. However, the Dutch finished as runners up for the second World Cup in a row as they ultimately lost 3–1 after two extra time goals from Argentina, Rensenbrink hit the Argentinian post in the last minute of normal time, with the score 1–1
26.
Serbia and Montenegro
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Serbia and Montenegro, officially the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, was a country in Southeast Europe, created from the two remaining republics of Yugoslavia after its breakup in 1992. The republics of Serbia and Montenegro together established a federation in 1992 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the FRY aspired to be a sole legal successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but those claims were opposed by other former republics. The United Nations also denied its request to continue the membership of the former state. It re-applied for UN membership on 27 October and was admitted on 1 November 2000, the FRY was initially dominated by Slobodan Milošević as President of Serbia and then President of Yugoslavia. Milošević installed and forced the removal of several presidents and prime ministers. However, the Montenegrin government, initially enthusiastic supporters of Milošević, a loose union, Serbia and Montenegro were united only in certain realms, such as defense. The two constituent republics functioned separately throughout the period of the Federal Republic, and continued to operate under separate economic policies, on 21 May 2006, the Montenegrin independence referendum was held, and 55. 5% of voters voted in favor of independence. The state union came to an end after Montenegros formal declaration of independence on 3 June 2006, after the dissolution, Serbia became the legal successor of the union, while Montenegro re-applied for membership in international organizations. With the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe, the new state followed the wave of democratic change, Yugoslavias collapse began in 1991 when Slovenia, Croatia, and the Republic of Macedonia declared independence. On 26 December 1991, Serbia, Montenegro, and the Serb rebel-held territories in Croatia agreed that they would form a new third Yugoslavia. Zulfikarpašić believed that Bosnia could benefit from a union with Serbia, Montenegro, the FRY was suspended from a number of international institutions. This was due to the ongoing Yugoslav wars during the 1990s, the Government of Yugoslavia supported Croatian and Bosnian Serbs in the wars from 1992 to 1995. Because of that, the country was under economic and political sanctions, in this way, every Bosnian Serb was transferred from the Yugoslav army to what became the newly created Bosnian Serb Army. Through this, the Bosnian Serb army also received military equipment and full funding from the FRY. Furthermore, Serbian Radical Party founder and paramilitary Vojislav Šešelj claimed that President Milošević personally asked him to send paramilitaries into Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1995, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević represented the FRY and Bosnian Serbs at peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, US, from 1996, the first public signs of political discord between parts of Montenegrin leadership and the Serbian leadership began to appear. Milošević did not respond to the platform, considering it unconstitutional, by October 2000 Milošević had lost power in Serbia. Subsequent governments of Montenegro carried out policies, and political tensions with Serbia simmered despite political changes in Belgrade
27.
Australia national soccer team
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The Australian national soccer team represents Australia in international mens soccer. The team has represented Australia at the FIFA World Cup tournament on four occasions, the team has also represented Australia at the FIFA Confederations Cup three times. The first Australia national team was constituted in 1922 for a tour of New Zealand, during the tour, Australia suffered two defeats and scraped a draw. For the next 36 years, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa became regular opponents in tour matches, during that period, Australia also competed against Canada and India during their tours of Australia in 1924 and 1938 respectively. Australia recorded their worst ever defeat on 30 June 1951 as they lost 17–0 in a match to a touring England side, Australia had a rare opportunity to compete on the worlds stage during the teams very first major international tournament as hosts of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. However, an inexperienced squad proved to be reason for the disappointing performance. With the advent of air travel, Australia began to diversify its range of opponents. However, its isolation continued to play a role in its destiny for the next 30 years. It would prove to be the appearance for the Australian team until the World Cup tournament returned to Germany more than three decades later in 2006. The teams previously poor record in World Cup competition was not reflected in their performances against strong European. In 1988, Australia defeated reigning world champions Argentina 4–1 in the Australian Bicentennial Gold Cup, in 1997, Australia drew with reigning world champions Brazil 0–0 in the group stage and then defeated Uruguay 1–0 in the semi-finals to reach the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup Final. Many commentators and fans, most notably soccer broadcaster and former Australian captain Johnny Warren, on 13 March, the AFC executive committee made a unanimous decision to invite Australia to join the AFC. After the OFC executive committee unanimously endorsed Australias proposed move, FIFA approved the move on 30 June 2005. Australia joined Asia, with the taking effect on 1 January 2006, though until then. After a successful campaign, the team took the first steps towards qualification for the 2006 World Cup, after coach Frank Farina stood down from the position after Australias dismal performance at the 2005 Confederations Cup, Guus Hiddink was announced as the new national coach. Australia, ranked 49th, would then have to play the 18th ranked Uruguay in a rematch of the 2001 qualification play-off for a spot in the 2006 World Cup. The second leg of the qualifying play-off was played in front of a crowd of 82,698 at Stadium Australia, Australia led Uruguay 1–0 after 90 minutes following a goal by Mark Bresciano in the first half. The aggregate was tied, and extra time was played, neither team scored after two periods of extra time, bringing the game to a penalty shootout
28.
1974 FIFA World Cup
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The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, the previous trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, had been won for the third time by Brazil in 1970 and awarded permanently to the Brazilians. The host nation won the title beating the Netherlands in the final, the victory was the second for West Germany, who had also won in 1954. Australia, East Germany, Haiti and Zaire made their first appearances at the stage. West Germany was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London, hosting rights for the 1978 and 1982 tournaments were awarded at the same time. West Germany agreed a deal with Spain by which Spain would support West Germany for the 1974 tournament, ninety-eight countries took part in the qualifying tournament, and some of footballs most successful nations did not qualify. The USSR was disqualified after the playoff against Chile,16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. Each played a round-robin with two points for a win and one for a draw, and goal difference used to separate teams level on points, the top two teams from each group advanced to the next stage. However, in a change from the used in the previous five competitions, the second round consisted of another group stage. The winners of each played each other in the final. The tournament was held mostly in bad weather, and the stadia had few protected places, few western European nations had qualified, of which most were eliminated early. Fans from the Eastern neighbor states were hindered by political circumstances, carlos Caszely of Chile became the first player to be sent off with a red card in a World Cup match, during their match against West Germany. Red cards were introduced in World Cup play in 1970. Two teams made a powerful impact on the first round. The Dutch marked their first World Cup finals since 1938 by topping their group, with wins over Uruguay and Bulgaria. Sweden joined the Dutch in the group round after beating Uruguay 3–0. Poland, meanwhile, took points from a group containing two of the favourites for the tournament. They beat Argentina 3–2, trounced Haiti 7–0, then beat Italy 2–1 – a result that knocked the Italians out of the Cup, while Haiti didnt do particularly well in their first World Cup finals they did have one moment of glory
29.
1994 FIFA World Cup
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The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, held in nine cities across the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on 4 July 1988. The total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the tournament remains the highest in World Cup history. Brazil beat Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 0–0 after extra time and this made Brazil the first nation to win four World Cup titles. Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia made their appearances in the finals, Norway made its first appearance since 1938. Bulgaria, Morocco and Mexico returned after missing the 1990 tournament, Greece, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. Russia, competing independently for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the defending champions West Germany were united with their East German counterparts, representing the unified Germany for the first time since the 1938 World Cup. As a result of the performances by African teams in 1990. Norway qualified for the first time since 1938, Bolivia for the first time since 1950, the qualification campaigns of both Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were affected by political events. The nation of Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992, and the team completed its qualifying group under the name Representation of Czechs and Slovaks, Yugoslavia was suspended from international competition in 1992 as part of United Nations sanctions against the country as a result of the Yugoslav Wars. The sanctions were not lifted until 1994, by time it was no longer possible for the team to qualify. Chiles suspension from the 1990 FIFA World Cup, following the interruption of their qualification game against Brazil. Japan failed to qualify after the Agony of Doha against Iraq, losing out to Saudi Arabia, among other teams who failed to qualify were Uruguay and England- the latter being semi-finalists, and finishing in fourth place in 1990. Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, and France failed to qualify for the second successive tournament and this was the only World Cup finals since 1938, for which neither England nor Scotland qualified. The Republic of Ireland qualified for a second successive World Cup finals tournament, as of 2016, this was the last time that Bolivia qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. Three nations bid for host duties, United States, Brazil, the vote was held in Zurich on 4 July 1988, and only took one round with the United States bid receiving a little over half of the votes by the Exco members. FIFA hoped that by staging the worlds most prestigious tournament there, one condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional soccer league, Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 and began operating in 1996. Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Italy and the United States were seeded for the draw that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada
30.
1990 FIFA World Cup
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The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, teams representing 116 national football associations entered, and qualification began in April 1988. A total of 22 teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy, the tournament was won by West Germany, their third World Cup title. They beat Argentina 1–0 in the final, a rematch of the final four years earlier. Italy finished third, and England fourth, after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts and this was the last tournament to feature a team from the divided Germany, with the country being reunified later in 1990. Costa Rica, Ireland and the UAE made their first appearances in the finals, the official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico. The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups and it generated an average 2.21 goals per game – a record low that still stands – and a then-record 16 red cards, including the first ever dismissal in a final. This World Cup saw the introduction of the pre-match Fair Play Flag to encourage fair play, negative tactics led to the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992, and three points for a win instead of two at future World Cups. Nonetheless, the 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history and this was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japans NHK. At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, the vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 19 May 1984 in Zürich, Switzerland. Here, the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the rival bid. This awarding made Italy only the nation to host two World Cup tournaments, after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging. Italy had previously had the event in 1934, where they had won their first championship, Austria, England, France, Greece, West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for 31 July 1983 deadline. A month later, only England, Greece, Italy and the Soviet Union remained in the hunt after the other contenders all withdrew, all four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983, with the final decision over-running into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved. In early 1984, England and Greece also withdrew, leading to a race in the final vote. 116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup, including Italy as host nation and Argentina as reigning World Cup champions, thus, the remaining 22 finals places were divided among the continental confederations, with 114 initially entering the qualification competition. Due to rejected entries and withdrawals,103 teams eventually participated in the qualifying stages, thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams, three by CONMEBOL teams, two by CAF teams, two by AFC teams, and two by CONCACAF teams. The remaining place was decided by a play-off between a CONMEBOL team and a team from the OFC, chile were also banned from the 1994 qualifiers for this offence
31.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
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The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, the opening match was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The tournament was won by Brazil, who retained the trophy won in 2005 by defeating the United States 3–2 in the final. The draw for the competition was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Each team was represented in the draw by its competitor in the Miss World 2008 competition, except for Iraq, also as result, Italy and Spain were drawn into different groups. The official match ball for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the Adidas Kopanya, the name means join together in Southern Sesotho, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. The panel configuration of the ball is the same as that of the Teamgeist, the ball is white, accentuated with bold black lines and detailed with typical Ndebele designs in red, yellow, green and blue. Four cities served as the venues for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, originally, Port Elizabeths Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was also chosen as a venue. On 8 July 2008, however, Port Elizabeth withdrew as a host city because its stadium was deemed unlikely to meet the 30 March 2009 deadline for completion, the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium was subsequently completed before the Confederations Cup and was opened on 7 June 2009. It acted as a venue for the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa on 16 June, all of these stadia hosted matches during the Lions tour, but a minimum of nine days was allowed for pitch recovery between a rugby match and a Confederations Cup match. All four venues were used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The referees were announced on 5 May, two referee teams withdrew due to injuries. Replacements from the confederation, led by Benito Archundia and Pablo Pozo, were selected. Luís Fabiano received the Golden Shoe award for scoring five goals, in total,44 goals were scored by 27 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal
32.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
33.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
34.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
35.
Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
36.
Titanic (magazine)
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Titanic is a German monthly satirical magazine based in Frankfurt. It has a circulation of approximately 100,000, Titanic was founded in 1979 by former contributors and editors of Pardon, a satirical monthly, which the group had left after conflicts with its publisher. The founding writers and cartoonists of Titanic were mainly based in Frankfurt, and are often called New Frankfurt School. The heading of Titanics monthly reviews of humorous publications bears the portrait of philosopher Theodor W. Adorno wearing a fake goatee, as of October 2013, the editor-in-chief of Titanic is Tim Wolff, succeeding Leo Fischer. Chancellor Helmut Kohl was a subject of the magazine, appearing on the front page more often than any other person. In the 1980s, Titanic coined his nickname Birne, the German word for pear, one of Titanics most widely known cover pages appeared in November 1989, following the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The East Germans perceived obsession with bananas was spoofed by a Titanic cover depicting Zonen-Gaby in luck, My first banana, zone refers to the GDRs informal name sowjetische Besatzungszone. To make light of the public sentiment that strongly favoured German reunification. This culminated in the founding of the Titanic party Die PARTEI, whose agenda is to revoke reunification. The former editor-in-chief Martin Sonneborn is the party leader, in addition, Titanic changed its mission to The ultimate division of Germany — our commitment. Titanic staff members have engaged in activities that took aim at the media. For example, then editor-in-chief, Bernd Fritz, made an appearance at the game show Wetten. Followed by his revelation of how easy it was for him to cheat on the show, in recent years, the magazine has repeatedly attracted attention, for example by taking the football world cup to Germany by bribing a FIFA delegate. Before the German federal election,2005 Titanic was running a campaign against das Merkel and was searching for a female contender for chancellor with the slogan Frau. Titanic has generated a number of scandals, some of which have resulted in lawsuits against the magazine, up to 2001,40 plaintiffs had brought lawsuits against Titanic. Politician Björn Engholm, for example, received 40,000 Deutsche Mark in compensation, the July 2012 issue of the magazine was banned by a state court in Hamburg due to its front cover being an image of Pope Benedict XVI soiling himself. In July 2000, Martin Sonneborn sent hoax bribery faxes to a number of delegates of the FIFA World championship committee, in these letters, he offered the delegates gifts if they showed their support of the German bid for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Before this incident, it had widely expected that the tournament would take place in South Africa
37.
Cuckoo clocks
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A cuckoo clock is a typically pendulum-regulated clock that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoos call and has an automaton cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings, open/close the beak while leaning forward, the mechanism to produce the cuckoo call has been in use since the middle of the 18th century and has remained almost without variation until the present. It is unknown who invented it and where the first one was made and it is thought that much of its development and evolution was made in the Black Forest area in southwestern Germany, the region where the cuckoo clock was popularized. The cuckoo clocks were exported to the rest of the world from the mid 1850s on, today, the cuckoo clock is one of the favourite souvenirs of travelers in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It has become an icon of Germany. The design of a clock is now conventional. Most are made in the style or chalet to hang on a wall. In the traditional style the wooden case is decorated with carved leaves and they have an automaton of the bird that appears through a small trap door while the clock is striking. The bird is often made to move as the clock strikes, there are two kinds of movements, one-day and eight-day clockworks. Some have musical devices, and play a tune on a Swiss music box after striking the hours and half-hours, usually the melody sounds only at full hours in eight-day clocks and both at full and half hours in the one-day timepieces. Musical cuckoo clocks frequently have other automata which move when the music box plays, todays cuckoo clocks are almost always weight driven, though a very few are spring driven. The weights are made of cast iron in a cone shape. The clocks movement activates the bellows to send a puff of air into each pipe alternately when the timekeeper strikes, in recent years, quartz battery-powered cuckoo clocks have become available. As with their counterparts, the cuckoo bird emerges from its enclosure and moves up and down. During the call the double doors open and the cuckoo emerges as usual, but only on the full hour, instead of the call being reproduced by the traditional bellows, it is a digital recording of a cuckoo calling in the wild. The cuckoo call is accompanied by the sound of a waterfall. In musical quartz clocks, the chime is followed by the replay of one of twelve popular melodies. Some musical quartz clocks also reproduce many of the popular automata found on mechanical musical clocks, such as beer drinkers, wood choppers, uniquely, quartz cuckoo clocks often include a sensor, so that when the lights are turned off at night they automatically silence the hourly chime
38.
Black Forest ham
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Black Forest ham, or Schwarzwälder Schinken in German, is a variety of dry-cured smoked ham, produced in the Black Forest region of Germany. Black Forest ham is the best-selling smoked ham in Europe, in 1959, Hans Adler from Bonndorf pioneered manufacturing and selling Original Black Forest ham by retail and mail order. Black Forest ham can take up to three months to produce, raw ham is salted and seasoned with garlic, coriander, pepper, juniper berries and other spices. After curing for two weeks, the salt is removed and the ham ages an additional two weeks and it is then air-cured for at least two weeks before sale. Black Forest ham is boneless and always contains about one-fifth of fat and it has a very pronounced flavor and is common in German cuisine. It may be fresh, for example on holzofenbrot or rye bread or with fruit. Whole pieces of Black Forest ham can be preserved for months when stored the right way and it should be stored hanging in a cool and dry room, not in the refrigerator, preferably wrapped in linen cover, or else vacuum packed. If the ham is cut into slices, it can be kept for some days packed or wrapped in paper in the refrigerator. For full flavor, the ham needs to have room temperature for a while, both variants are with pork rind. The pork rind is too hard to eat, but it is cooked in some traditional German dishes like Linsen mit Spätzle or Eintopf to add some of its rich flavors to the food. Food Prosciutto List of dried foods List of smoked foods The Black Forest Ham Producers Association The Cooks Thesaurus - Ham Chow. com - Black Forest Ham
39.
Sepp Blatter
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Joseph Sepp Blatter is a Swiss football administrator who was the eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. Blatter was re-elected in 2002,2007,2011, and 2015, like his predecessor Havelange, Blatter sought to increase the influence of African and Asian countries in world football through the expansion of participating teams in various FIFA tournaments. He has persistently been dogged by claims of corruption and financial mismanagement, criminal proceedings were announced against Blatter by the Swiss Attorney Generals office on 25 September 2015, regarding criminal mismanagement. On 24 February 2016, a FIFA appeals committee upheld the suspension, issa Hayatou served as the acting President of FIFA until an extraordinary FIFA Congress was held in late February, electing Gianni Infantino as the 9th president of FIFA. Blatter was born in Visp in the Swiss canton of Valais with the name of Josef. He studied in Saint Maurice, before getting a degree in business, Blatter has had a long and varied career, including posts such as head of public relations for the tourist board of his native canton, as well as general secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. He was Director of Sports Timing and Relations of Longines S. A. and was involved in the organization of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. From 1975 onwards, Blatter worked at FIFA, first as director, then general secretary. He was re-elected as head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected unopposed for four years on 31 May 2007. Blatter and FIFA have often been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption and his tenure has seen controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement and the acceptance of bribes resulting in Qatars successful 2022 World Cup bid. Blatter has attracted criticism from the media, senior figures and players. These include the claim that Latin American countries would applaud John Terry for having an affair. He also drew criticism at the 2014 FIFA World Cup seeding, when he interrupted a one-minute silence for former South-African president Nelson Mandela, who died the day before, after eleven seconds. Michael van Praag, the chairman of the Royal Dutch Football Association, called his behavior preposterous, in order to avoid protest, no speeches were given at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Sepp Blatters 1998 election to the presidency of FIFA over UEFA President Lennart Johansson occurred amidst much controversy and he later claimed to regret his words and promised to officially apologise to Ivanov. However, this apology was never given, and the referee was removed from further officiating, Blatter was criticized in 2007 and 2008 for trying to change European Union employment law regarding the number of foreign players that football clubs could field at any one time. His plans were to set a restriction of five foreign players, Blatter believed this would help the countries national sides by having more national players playing in their leagues. Eleven bids were submitted in March 2009 covering 13 nations, five of the remaining nine bids—South Korea, Qatar, Japan, Australia and the United States—were only for the 2022 World Cup, while all the others were bidding for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups
40.
Chancellor of Germany
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The Chancellor of Germany is the head of government of Germany. The official title in German is Bundeskanzler, sometimes shortened to Kanzler, the term, dating from the early Middle Ages, is derived from the Latin term cancellarius. In German politics, the Chancellor is equivalent to that of a minister in many other countries. German has two equivalent translations of prime minister, Premierminister and Ministerpräsident, while Premierminister usually refers to heads of governments of foreign countries, Ministerpräsident may also refer to the heads of government of most German states. The current Chancellor is Angela Merkel, who is serving her term in office. She is the first female chancellor, thus being known in German as Bundeskanzlerin, the role of the Chancellor has varied greatly throughout Germanys modern history. Today, the Chancellor is the effective leader. The office of Chancellor has a history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire. The title was, at times, used in several states of German-speaking Europe, the modern office of Chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor in 1867. After the Unification of Germany in 1871, the became known in German as Reichskanzler. With Germanys constitution of 1949, the title Bundeskanzler was revived in German, during the various eras, the role of the Chancellor has varied. From 1871 to 1918, the Chancellor was only responsible to the Emperor, with the founding of the republic and the constitutional reform in 1918, the Parliament was granted the right to dismiss the Reichskanzler. According to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the Chancellor was appointed by the President and responsible to Parliament, when the Nazis came to power on 30 January 1933, the Weimar Constitution was de facto set aside. After the death of President Hindenburg in 1934, Adolf Hitler, the 1949 constitution gave the Chancellor much greater powers than during the Weimar Republic, while strongly diminishing the role of the President. Since 1867,33 individuals have served as heads of government of Germany or its predecessor, due to his administrative tasks, the head of the clerics at the chapel of an Imperial palace during the Carolingian Empire was called Chancellor. The chapels college acted as the Emperors chancery issuing deeds and capitularies and these three Prince-Archbishops were also Prince-electors of the Empire electing the King of the Romans. Already in medieval times, the German Chancellor had political power like Archbishop Willigis or Rainald von Dassel under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. In 1559, Emperor Ferdinand I established the agency of an Imperial chancellery at the Vienna Hofburg Palace, upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, Emperor Ferdinand II created the office of an Austrian Court Chancellor in charge of the internal and foreign affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy
41.
Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
42.
Daimler AG
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Daimler AG is a German multinational automotive corporation. Daimler AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the luxury Maybach brand was terminated at the end of 2012, but revived in April 2015 as Mercedes-Maybach versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and G-Class. In 2016 Daimler sold 3.0 million vehicles, by unit sales, Daimler is the thirteenth-largest car manufacturer and is the largest truck manufacturer in the world. In addition to automobiles, Daimler manufactures buses and provides services through its Daimler Financial Services arm. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, Daimler AG is a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines, which dates back more than a century. An Agreement of Mutual Interest was signed on 1 May 1924 between Benz & Cie and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, in 1998, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation announced the worlds largest cross-border deal ever, valued at US$38billion, and the resulting change in company name to DaimlerChrysler AG. In 2007, when the Chrysler group was sold off to Cerberus Capital Management, in November 2014, Daimler announced it would acquire 25 percent of Italian motorcycle producer MV Agusta for an undisclosed fee. The terms of the merger allowed Daimler-Benzs non-automotive businesses such as Daimler-Benz InterServices AG, debis AG for short, debis AG reported revenues of $8.6 bn in 1997. A class action lawsuit was settled in August 2003 for US$300 million while a suit by billionaire investor activist Kirk Kerkorian was dismissed on 7 April 2005. The transaction claimed the job of its architect, Chairman Jürgen E. Schrempp, the merger was also the subject of a book Taken for a Ride, How Daimler-Benz Drove Off With Chrysler, by Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Stertz. Another issue of contention is whether the merger delivered promised synergies, martin H. Wiggers concept of a platform strategy like the VW Group, was implemented only for a few models, so the synergy effects in development and production were too low. As late as 2002, DaimlerChrysler appeared to run two independent product lines. 2L V6, and the Dodge Sprinter/Freightliner Sprinter, a re-badged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, Daimler agreed to sell the Chrysler unit to Cerberus Capital Management in May 2007 for US$6 billion. Chrysler reported losses of US$1.5 billion in 2006 and it then announced plans to lay off 13,000 employees in mid-February 2007, close a major assembly plant and reduce production at other plants in order to restore profitability by 2008. DaimlerChrysler had reportedly approached other carmakers and investment groups to sell Chrysler in early 2007, general Motors was reported to be a suitor, but on 3 August 2007, DaimlerChrysler completed the sale of Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management. The original agreement stated that Cerberus would take an 80.1 percent stake in the new company, DaimlerChrysler changed its name to Daimler AG and retained the remaining 19. 9% stake in the separated Chrysler. The terms saw Daimler pay Cerberus US$650 million to take Chrysler, of the US$7.4 billion purchase price, Cerberus Capital Management was to invest US$5 billion in Chrysler Holdings and US$1.05 billion in Chryslers financial unit. The de-merged Daimler AG received US$1.35 billion directly from Cerberus, interestingly, despite the fact it had been nearly a decade since the Daimler/Chrysler split, the fourth-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee shares a platform with the Mercedes-Benz M-Class. This also includes the Chrysler LX platform vehicles which initially used Mercedes-Benz components since its 2005 introduction
43.
Volkswagen
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Volkswagen, shortened to VW, is a German automaker founded on May 28,1937 by the German Labour Front and headquartered in Wolfsburg. It is the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group and is the largest automaker worldwide, Volkswagen is German for peoples car, and the companys current international advertising slogan is just Volkswagen. American English pronunciation is approximately volks wagon, for vehicle timeline tables, see, Volkswagen. Volkswagen was originally established in 1937 by the German Labour Front, in the early 1930s, the German auto industry was still largely composed of luxury models, and the average German could rarely afford anything more than a motorcycle. As a result, only one German out of 50 owned a car, seeking a potential new market, some car makers began independent peoples car projects – the Mercedes 170H, Adler AutoBahn, Steyr 55, and Hanomag 1. 3L, among others. The trend was not new, as Béla Barényi is credited with having conceived the design in the mid-1920s. Josef Ganz developed the Standard Superior, in Germany, the company Hanomag mass-produced the 2/10 PS Komissbrot, a small, cheap rear engined car, from 1925 to 1928. Also, in Czechoslovakia, the Hans Ledwinkas penned Tatra T77, Ferdinand Porsche, a well-known designer for high-end vehicles and race cars, had been trying for years to get a manufacturer interested in a small car suitable for a family. He felt the cars at the time were just stripped down big cars. He wanted his German citizens to have the access to a car as the Americans. The Peoples Car would be available to citizens of the Third Reich through a plan at 990 Reichsmark —about the price of a small motorcycle. Despite heavy lobbying in favor of one of the existing projects, thus, Hitler chose to sponsor an all-new, state-owned factory using Ferdinand Porsches design. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme, however, the entire project was financially unsound, and only the corruption and lack of accountability of the Nazi regime made it possible. Prototypes of the car called the KdF-Wagen, appeared from 1938 onwards, the car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. The VW car was just one of many KdF programs, which included such as tours. The prefix Volks— was not just applied to cars, but also to products in Germany. On May 28,1937, Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH, more than a year later, on September 16,1938, it was renamed to Volkswagenwerk GmbH. Erwin Komenda, the longstanding Auto Union chief designer, part of Ferdinand Porsches hand-picked team, developed the car body of the prototype and it was one of the first cars designed with the aid of a wind tunnel—a method used for German aircraft design since the early 1920s
44.
Bayer
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Bayer AG, German pronunciation, ) is a German multinational chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, where its sign is a landmark. Bayers primary areas of business include human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, consumer products, agricultural chemicals and biotechnology products. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, the companys motto is science for a better life. Bayers first and best known product was aspirin, there is a dispute about what scientist at Bayer made the most important contributions to it, Bayer trademarked the name heroin for the drug diacetylmorphine and marketed it as a cough suppressant and non-addictive substitute for morphine from 1898 to 1910. Bayer also introduced phenobarbital, prontosil, the first widely used antibiotic and the subject of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Medicine, the antibiotic Cipro, in 2014 Bayer bought MSDs consumer business, with brands such as Claritin, Coppertone and Dr. Scholls. Its BayerCropscience business develops genetically modified crops and pesticides and its materials science division makes polymers like polyurethanes and polycarbonate. Bayer was founded in Barmen in 1863 and it was part of IG Farben, the worlds largest chemical and pharmaceutical company, from 1925 to 1952, and then again became an independent company. The company played a key role in the Wirtschaftswunder during the early Cold War, Bayer acquired Schering in 2006 and announced its acquisition of Monsanto in 2016, the merger is still pending approval. Bayer AG was founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and his partner, the companys corporate logo, the Bayer cross, was introduced in 1904. It consists of the horizontal word BAYER crossed with the vertical word BAYER, an illuminated version of the logo is a landmark in Leverkusen, the location of Bayer AGs headquarters. Bayers first major product was acetylsalicylic acid, a modification of salicylic acid or salicin and it is now widely used in the US, UK, and France for all brands of the drug. However, it is still a trademark of Bayer in more than 80 other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany. As of 2011, approximately 40 thousand tons of aspirin are produced each year and 10 to 20 billion tablets are taken in the U. S. alone each year for prevention of cardiovascular events. It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a health system. There has been controversy over the roles played by Bayer scientists in the development of aspirin, Arthur Eichengrün, a Bayer chemist, claimed to be the first to discover an aspirin formulation which did not have the unpleasant side effects of nausea and gastric pain. Eichengrün also claimed that he invented the name aspirin and was the first person to use the new formulation to test its safety, Bayer contends that aspirin was discovered by Felix Hoffmann to alleviate the sufferings of his father, who had arthritis. Various sources support the conflicting claims, most mainstream historians attribute the invention of aspirin to Felix Hoffmann and/or Arthur Eichengrün
45.
Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
46.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
Italy (4th title)
France
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Ecuador
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Brazil
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Togo
Spain
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Milevskiy
80'
Flávio
Roberto Ayala
John Aloisi
Fred
Rónald Gómez
Niko Kovač
Jan Koller
Iván Kaviedes
David Beckham
Franck Ribéry
Torsten Frings
Stephen Appiah
Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh
Alessandro Del Piero
Didier Drogba
Shunsuke Nakamura
Francisco Fonseca
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Nelson Cuevas
Cristiano Ronaldo
Sami Al-Jaber
Saša Ilić
Ahn Jung-hwan
Xabi Alonso
Marcus Allbäck
Tranquillo Barnetta
Mohamed Kader
Radhi Jaïdi
Maksym Kalynychenko
Clint Dempsey
Brent Sancho (against Paraguay)
