1.
Heerenveen
–
Heerenveen is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands. The town was established in 1551 by three lords as a location for the purpose of digging peat which was used for fuel, Heerenveen was not one of the traditional eleven cities in Friesland as it did not have so-called city rights. However, it is now one of the municipalities of the province. The windmill Welgelegen or Tjepkemas Molen is the survivor of seventeen which have stood in Heerenveen. Museum Belvédère, modern art and contemporary art Railway station, Heerenveen Heerenveen is famous for its sporting accomplishments, thialf is also home to the citys ice hockey team, the Heerenveen Flyers. In 2006, the Sportstad project was completed, which included a hall, swimming pool. The Abe Lenstra stadium is unusual because its capacity is larger than the number of inhabitants of the town. One of the few venues that shares this distinction is Stade Félix Bollaert in Lens. Several American football venues, mostly college football venues, also share this distinction
2.
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
3.
Association football
–
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
4.
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
–
Willem-Alexander is the King of the Netherlands. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht and is the oldest child of Beatrix of the Netherlands and he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mothers accession on 30 April 1980, and succeeded her following her abdication on 30 April 2013. He went to primary and secondary schools, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy. He married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002 and they have three daughters, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane, Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues. At the age of 49, he is currently the second youngest monarch in Europe after Felipe VI of Spain, Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born on 27 April 1967 in the University Hospital Utrecht, Now is University Medical Center Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands. He is the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and he was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexanders death in 1884. From birth, Willem-Alexander has held the titles Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau and he was baptised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on 2 September 1967 in Saint Jacobs Church in The Hague. He had two brothers, Prince Friso and Prince Constantijn. He lived with his family at the castle Drakensteyn in the hamlet Lage Vuursche near Baarn from his birth until 1981 and his mother Beatrix became Queen of the Netherlands in 1980, after his grandmother Juliana abdicated. He then received the title of Prince of Orange as heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander attended Nieuwe Baarnse Elementary School in Baarn from 1973 to 1979. After his military service from 1985 to 1987, Willem-Alexander studied History at Leiden University from 1987 onwards and his final thesis was on the Dutch response to Frances decision under President Charles de Gaulle to leave the NATOs integrated command structure. Willem-Alexander speaks English, Spanish and German in addition to his native Dutch, between secondary school and his university education, Willem-Alexander performed military service in the Royal Netherlands Navy from August 1985 until January 1987. He received his training at the Royal Netherlands Naval College and the frigates HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, in 1988 he received additional training at the ship HNLMS Van Kinsbergen and became a lieutenant. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Navy, Willem-Alexander was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1995, Commander in 1997, Captain at Sea in 2001, and Commodore in 2005. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Army, he was made a Major in 1995, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1997, Colonel in 2001, and Brigadier General in 2005. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, he was made Squadron Leader in 1995, as a reservist for the Royal Marechaussee, he was made Brigadier General in 2005. Before his investiture as king in 2013, Willem-Alexander was honorably discharged from the armed forces, the government declared that the head of state cannot be a serving member of the armed forces, since the government itself holds supreme command over the armed forces. As king, Willem-Alexander may choose to wear a uniform with royal insignia
5.
PSV Eindhoven
–
The Philips Sport Vereniging, abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven is a sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its football department, which plays in the Eredivisie. Along with Ajax and Feyenoord, PSV is one of the big three clubs that have dominated the Eredivisie. The club was founded in 1913 as a team for Philips employees, PSVs history contains two golden eras revolving around the UEFA Cup victory in 1978 and the 1987–88 European Cup victory as part of the seasonal treble in 1988. The team has won the Eredivisie 23 times, the KNVB Cup nine times, currently, PSV is 28th on the UEFA club coefficients ranking. Since its foundation, it has played in the Philips Stadion and has upheld its club colours and its elaborate connection with Philips can be witnessed in its sponsoring, shared technology and board member ties. Fans have named themselves boeren, taking pride in Eindhovens status of being a provincial city, to serve the need for activities with Philips employees, the company founded its own football team in 1910, the Philips Elftal. Its ground was the Philips Sportpark, located on the location as the present day stadium. Financial turmoil and worker strikes led to a demise of the team and in 1913, its successor emerged, Philips Sport Vereniging. It was the day that Philips organized celebrations and sports competitions in light of the defeat of the French in the Napoleonic Wars. It was not until 1916, however, that the department switched its name from Philips Elftal to PSV. Because of World War I, the first possibility to enter a league was in the 1915–16 season, the clubs first ever match was a 3–2 defeat against Willem II Reserves on 19 September 1915. The team did achieve promotion that season to a newly created Third Division of the Brabantian FA, under the guidance of coach Wout Buitenweg, PSV were promoted in 1918 and 1921 as well, eventually reaching the Eerste Klasse. The team was relegated in 1925, but its stint in the Second Division only lasted one year when PSV were promoted again, since 1926, PSV has always played in the highest possible domestic league. That year, defender Sjef van Run was brought in and a year later Jan van den Broek joined PSV, behind the scenes, Frans Otten became chairman of the entire PSV sports union. He was responsible for bringing the club to a new level with new accommodations, after winning the district league in 1929, PSV entered the championship play-offs. In that competition, it won six out of eight matches, a 5–1 win against Velocitas from the city of Groningen meant that PSV was crowned league champions for the first time. In the following three years, PSV won the league every year, but it could not win the play-offs until 1935
6.
Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer)
–
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Popularly dubbed The Phenomenon, he is considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time. A three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and two-time Ballon dOr recipient, Ronaldo, in his 1990s prime, was known for his dribbling at speed, feints and clinical finishing. He was named in the FIFA100, a list of the greatest living players compiled in 2004, and was inducted into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame and the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, at age 17, Ronaldo was the youngest member of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament in helping Brazil reach the final where he suffered a convulsive fit hours before the defeat to France. He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he starred in a front three with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, Ronaldo scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as tournaments top goalscorer. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal, at age 23 he had scored over 200 goals for club and country. After almost three years of inactivity due to knee injuries and recuperation, Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2002. Having suffered further injuries, Ronaldo retired from football in 2011. Post-retirement, he has continued his work as a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador and he served as an ambassador for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In 1993, Ronaldo began his career playing for Cruzeiro. Aged 16, he made his debut on 25 May 1993 against Caldense in the Minas Gerais State Championship. Ronaldo came to public attention on 7 November 1993, scoring five goals in the game against Bahia. Ronaldo scored 44 goals in 47 games with Cruzeiro, leading them to their first Copa do Brasil in 1993, and the Minas Gerais State Championship in 1994. Before joining Cruzeiro, he was turned down by his favourite team Flamengo. Ronaldo chose to join PSV after the 1994 World Cup, for which he was selected despite being just 17 and it was Romário who advised Ronaldo to start his European career at PSV, Romário being a former striker of the team from 1988 to 1993. Ronaldo scored 30 league goals in his first season in the Netherlands and his second season was marred by a knee injury which kept him out of most of the campaign, but he still averaged nearly a goal a game in the league, scoring 12 goals in 13 appearances
7.
FIFA World Cup
–
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
8.
Amsterdam
–
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
9.
Johan Cruyff Arena
–
Amsterdam Arena is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is the largest stadium in the country and it was built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost of €140 million and it has been used for association football, American football, concerts and other events. The stadium has a retractable roof combined with a grass surface and it held UEFA five-star stadium status which was superseded by a new system of classification. The stadium is the home of the football club AFC Ajax and was the home of the now-defunct American football club Amsterdam Admirals. It was one of the stadiums used during Euro 2000, the stadium will also host three group stage matches and one match in the 1/8 final of the Euro 2020. The dance event Sensation is held in the every year. Amsterdam was one of six cities that bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, in 1986, a new Olympic stadium was designed, with a football field and an athletics track. It was to be built in the area of Strandvliet in Amsterdam Zuidoost, after Amsterdam lost the bid to Barcelona in October 1986, the plans for the new stadium were abandoned. In 1987, the Stichting Amsterdam Sportstad was established, which made new plans for a stadium with an all-seated capacity of 55,000. In 1990, a new design was based on both previous designs, with a football field, an athletics track, and completely covered by a roof. By this time, AFC Ajax needed a new stadium, Their old stadium, for several years, Ajax had moved its more important games to Olympisch Stadion. Once more, the design was altered – the athletics track was removed, the capacity was reduced to 50,000 seats, and the fixed roof was replaced by a retractable roof. In 1992, the Government of Amsterdam authorised the plans for the stadium with a Transferium where people could transfer from their car to various forms of public transportation. In 1993, the Government of Amsterdam changed the development plan of the location, the first pile of the deep foundation of the stadium was placed on 26 November 1993. The construction work, undertaken by Ballast Nedam and Royal BAM Group, the highest point of the building was reached on 24 February 1995, after the roof construction was raised. The fly-over from the road to the parking facilities was opened on 13 March 1996. The Amsterdam Arena received 180,000 visitors during the construction work, the Amsterdam Arena was officially opened on 14 August 1996 by Queen Beatrix. The Queen opened the Amsterdam Arena by making a curtain fall inside the stadium and this revealed the worlds largest painting De Zee of 80 by 126 metres
10.
Olympic Stadium (Amsterdam)
–
The Olympic Stadium was built as the main stadium for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. The first event at the stadium was the start of the 1928 Olympic hockey tournament on 17 May 1928, the venue is currently used mostly for football, athletics and music events. When completed, the stadium had a capacity of 31,600, following the completion of the rival De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam in 1937, the Amsterdam authorities increased the capacity of the Olympic Stadium to 64,000 by adding a second ring to the stadium. AFC Ajax used the Olympic Stadium for international games until 1996, in 1987 the stadium was listed as a national monument. Renovation started in 1996, and the stadium was refurbished into the construction of 1928. The second ring of 1937 was removed, reducing capacity to 22,288, since 2005, the stadium is home to a sports museum, the Olympic Experience Amsterdam. The Olympic Stadium was designed by architect Jan Wils, and is one of the finest examples of Amsterdamse School architecture, the design won the Olympic gold medal in the architecture competition at the 1928 Olympics. The concrete second ring that was added in 1937 to the north and south wing of the stadium was designed by Jan Wils. The original plan of Jan Wils consisted of an extension of the Harry Elte stadium that was situated next to the current Olympic Stadium. This plan was rejected as the government of Amsterdam had planned an important urban development programme in that area. The second plan was almost fully executed, and consisted of a new Olympic Stadium that was situated more westward, starting in January 1926, the area in which the stadium was to be built was elevated by means of 750,000 cubic metres of sand. This phase was completed in October of that year and in the month the construction of the pile foundation began. On 18 May 1927, the ceremonial first stone was placed by Prince Hendrik, some two million stones would follow. The football pitch measures 114 by 75 metres, the athletics track around it is eight metres wide and has a perimeter of 400 metres. The cycle track around the track was nine metres wide had a perimeter of 500 metres. It also hosted the equestrian jumping, field hockey, gymnastics and it is said that two configurations could be set up in the stadium, one with 21,537 seats and 12,618 standing rooms and one with 16,197 seats and 25,236 standing rooms. After the Games the NOC admitted that the capacity of the stadium was somewhere near 31,600, additional seats could be added on the cycle track, which would increase the capacity with 5,900. The 1928 Olympics introduced the idea of the Olympic Flame, the flame burned for the first time ever in a tall tower, known as the Marathon tower, adjacent to the Olympic Stadium
11.
Rotterdam
–
Rotterdam is a city in the Netherlands, located in South Holland, within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt river delta at the North Sea. Its history goes back to 1270 when a dam was constructed in the Rotte river by people settled around it for safety, in 1340 Rotterdam was granted city rights by the Count of Holland and slowly grew into a major logistic and economic centre. Nowadays it is home to Europes largest port and has a population of 633,471, ranking second in the Netherlands, just behind Amsterdam. The Greater Rijnmond area is home to approximately 1.4 million people, Rotterdam is part of the yet larger Randstad conurbation with a total population of 7,100,000. The city of Rotterdam is known for the Erasmus University, riverside setting, lively cultural life, the near-complete destruction of Rotterdams city centre during World War II has resulted in a varied architectural landscape including sky-scrapers, which are an uncommon sight in other Dutch cities. Rotterdam is home to some world-famous architecture from renowned architects like Rem Koolhaas, Piet Blom, Ben van Berkel and others. Recently Rotterdam was listed eighth in The Rough Guide Top 10 Cities to Visit, the port of Rotterdam is the largest cargo port in Europe and the 10th largest in the world. Rotterdams logistic success is based on its location on the North Sea. The rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, the extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nickname Gateway to Europe, and, conversely, Gateway to the World in Europe. The settlement at the end of the fen stream Rotte dates from at least 900 CE. A dam on the Rotte or Rotterdam was built in the 1260s and was located at the present-day Hoogstraat, on 7 July 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted city rights to Rotterdam, which then had approximately 2,000 inhabitants. The port of Rotterdam grew slowly but steadily into a port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six chambers of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbor started to expand on the bank of the river. The Witte Huis or White House skyscraper, inspired by American office buildings and built in 1898 in the French Château-style, is evidence of Rotterdams rapid growth, when completed, it was the tallest office building in Europe, with a height of 45 m. During World War I the city was the worlds largest spy centre because of Dutch neutrality, many spies who were arrested and executed in Britain were led by German secret agents operating from Rotterdam. MI6 had its main European office on de Boompjes, from there the British coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium. In WWI an average of 25,000 Belgian refugees lived in the city, as well as hundreds of German deserters, during World War II, the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Adolf Hitler had hoped to conquer the country in just one day, the Dutch army was finally forced to capitulate on 15 May 1940, following Hitlers bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May and threatening to bomb other Dutch cities
12.
De Kuip
–
Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip, is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands that was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the area Feijenoord in Rotterdam, the stadiums original capacity was 64,000. In 1949 it was expanded to 69,000, and in 1994 it was renovated again for a capacity of 51,117. In 1999, a significant amount of restoration and interior work took place at the prior to its use as a venue in the Euro 2000 tournament. Contemporary examples were Highbury, where the West and East stands had been built as a double deck. In fact, de Kuip acted as an example for many of the greatest stadia we know today, the stadium was co-financed by the billionaire Daniël George van Beuningen, who made his fortune in World War I, exporting coal from Germany to Britain through neutral Netherlands. In World War II, the stadium was torn down for scrap by German occupiers. After the war the stadiums capacity was expanded and stadium lights were added, on 29 October 1991 De Kuip was named as being one of Rotterdams monuments. In 1994 the stadium was renovated to its present form, It became an all seater. An extra building was constructed for use by Feyenoord, it also houses a restaurant. As of January 2007, the stadium can be found in 3D format on Google Earth, next to De Kuip and Feyenoords training ground there is another, but smaller sports arena, the Topsportcentrum Rotterdam. This arena hosts events in sports and in various levels of competition. Some examples of sports that can be seen in the topsportcentrum are judo, De Kuip is currently the home stadium of football club Feyenoord, one of the traditional top teams in the Netherlands. It has also long been one of the grounds of the Dutch national team, having hosted over 150 international matches. In 1963 De Kuip staged the final of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, in 2000, the Feijenoord stadium hosted the final of Euro 2000, played in the Netherlands and Belgium, where France defeated Italy 2–1 in extra time. The stadium has hosted concerts since 1978, among the first performers at De Kuip were Andy Ha, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. David Bowie held his dress rehearsals and subsequently opened his 1987 Glass Spider Tour at the stadium, michael Jackson performed at the stadium 5 times,3 during the Bad World Tour and 2 during the Dangerous World Tour, performing to a combined crowd of 270,000. Fewer concerts have been held at this venue since the opening of Amsterdam ArenA in 1996, pink Floyd held a few concerts there as well
