1.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
2.
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. Because only one player can play in goal and the position is so specialised many professional teams on average especially at the highest level have one player as first-choice for many years, for example Gianlugi Buffon has played as first choice keeper for Juventus for more than 15 years. Petr Cech prior to his move to Aresnal was first choice keeper for Chelsea between 2004 and 2015, 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
3.
Lille OSC
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LOSC Lille is a French association football club based in Lille. The club was founded in 1944 as a result of a merger and currently play in Ligue 1, Lille has played its home matches since 2012 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in nearby Villeneuve dAscq, which replaced the clubs previous home of Stade Lille-Metropole in the same community. The team is captained by French international Rio Mavuba, Lille was founded as a result of a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives. Both clubs were founding members of the French Division 1 and Lillois was the inaugural champions. Under the Lille emblem, the club has won three titles in 1946,1954, and 2011 and six Coupe de France titles. Lille and Red Star FC are the only French clubs in the history to win the Coupe de France in three consecutive seasons. Lilles most successful period was the decade from 1946 to 1956 when the team was led by managers George Berry, Lille have a long-standing rivalry with its neighbours RC Lens. The two clubs regularly contest the Derby du Nord, Lille is presided over by Gérard Lopez, an entrepreneur-investor and an active Luxembourgish-Spanish businessman that invests in the sports industry. Before the Second World War, the city of Lille had two clubs in Ligue 1, Olympique Lillois and Sporting Club Fivois, weakened by the war, the two clubs decided to merge in the autumn of 1944, giving birth to Lille Olympique Sporting Club. Within its first decade of existence, the new club won two titles and reached the second place for four consecutive seasons. In the Coupe de France the club accumulated five wins in seven finals, the final of the Latin Cup was also reached. Lille was relegated for the first time in 1956, the club became a mid-table side and in the late 1960s, after a long period of anonymity, and weighed down by a lack of facilities and resources, Lille abandoned its professional status. It was feared that the club might disappear, however, some young leaders, such as Max Pommerolle, came and gave new impetus to the club. Nevertheless, the results remained erratic and the titles that ignited the fans passions were won in the Second Division. In July 1980, Lille was the first French club to opt for the status of a Mixed Economy Company, the team of presidents Amyot, Deschot and Dewailly all struggled to compete with the top teams in the country. Jacques Amyots resignation in 1990 led to three more years for the club which compromised its very existence. It took Bernard Lecomtes arrival in 1993 to set the club finances on the road to recovery, after a final relegation in 1997, the team trained by Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodžić was soon promoted back to the elite, in the same year the French Football League was privatised. In just its first season back in the top flight 2000–01 French Division 1, Lille qualified for Europe for the first time in the clubs history, booking its place in the 2000–01 Champions League
4.
FC Spartak Trnava
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FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. The clubs official anthem is Il Silenzio, the club was founded on 30 May 1923 by the merger of Šk Čechie and ČšŠk into TSS Trnava. After a communist takeover it became affiliated with the industry and was renamed to TJ Kovosmalt. In 1952, the club gained its current name, the Golden era of Spartak began in the 1966–67 season. The team of legendary coach Anton Malatinský was top of the league by the autumn, great success was achieved in the Mitropa Cup. Spartak beat teams like Budapest Honvéd, Lazio and Fiorentina and in the final they defeated Újpest of Hungary, in the following season Spartak gained their most memorable European results. They reached the semi-final of the European Cup to face Ajax and it is their greatest success to date. Under the management of Ján Hucko, the also won a second championship. In 1970–71 and 1971–72, Trnava won their third and fourth titles under coaches Valér Švec. The team also reached the quarter-final of the European Cup in 1973 and 1974, the fifth and the last league title in 1972–73 beckoned the end of Spartaks golden era. In 1976, Karol Dobiaš was in the squad won the UEFA Euro 1976. Although Spartak finished 16th in the last unified Czechoslovak league season in 1992–93, in the 1995–96 season, Spartak finished third and its popularity grew. The 1996–97 season was a memorable on for the fans of Spartak, Karol Pecze almost led the team to its first Slovakian league title but got beaten to it by Košice in the final week of competition. The following season, under new coach Dušan Galis the team achieved second place. Since the 1993–94 Slovak League Top scorer, the main ultras group is called Ultras Spartak. They are universally considered to be the best fans in Slovakia, Trnava has had the highest average attendances in the republic for a long period of time. Between 1988 and 2006, Spartak ultras had a friendship with Baník Ostrava fans, good relations. Traditionally, the club has great support in the city and its districts, the greatest rival is Slovan Bratislava
5.
Slovakia national football team
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The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association, the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakias home stadium from 2016 is reconstructed Štadión Antona Malatinského in Trnava, Slovakia is one of the youngest national football teams in the world, having split from the Czechoslovakia national team after the dissolution of the unified state in 1993. Slovakia maintains its own national side competes in all major professional tournaments since. Slovakia qualified for two national tournaments, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016. The team have achieved some results, however, such as the aforementioned win over the then title holders Italy at the 2010 World Cup. They also only scored seven goals in the group, only more than minnows Andorra, in these two meetings, the teams drew 2–2 in Bratislava with the Slovaks winning 2–1 in Prague. But before that, they also playing each other in Euro 2008 qualifying, the first official match of the first Slovak Republic was played in Bratislava against Germany on 27 August 1939, and ended in a 2–0 victory for Slovakia. After the Second World War, the football team was subsumed into the team of Czechoslovakia. During this period, they contributed several key players to the Czechoslovak team, Slovakias first official international after regaining independence was a 1–0 victory in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates on 2 February 1994. Their match back on Slovak soil was the 4–1 win over Croatia in Bratislava on 20 April 1994, Slovakia suffered their biggest defeat since independence on 22 June 1995, in Mendoza, against Argentina. Their biggest wins have come against Liechtenstein in 2004 and San Marino in 2007, in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, Slovakia finished fourth in their six-team group with five wins, one draw and four defeats. Their first four games in this were all wins, with one of these against their Czech neighbors, on 14 October 2009, they clinched qualification with a 1–0 away win against Poland. The result led Slovakia to the stage and eliminated Italy. The result of this meant that for the first time in World Cup history, both finalists from the previous tournament had been eliminated from the first round, champion Italy. For Euro 2012 qualification, Slovakia was drawn against Russia, the Republic of Ireland, Armenia, Macedonia and Andorra. In October, however, the nations form slipped steadily, as Repre was easily beaten in Armenia, at that point, Russia topped the group charts with nine points, with Slovakia, Armenia and Ireland all within a two-point gap of the leaders. Playing in Ireland in a six-point match, despite creating better chances, in the final two group matches, Slovakia was beaten at home by Russia and drew 1–1 in Macedonia, finishing in a mediocre fourth-place position and scoring only seven goals in the entire process. Also, for the first time since Euro 1996 qualifying, Slovakia finished a campaign with a negative goal differential
6.
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
7.
Abu Dhabi
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Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, and also capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAEs seven emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014, Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabis rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large. Today the city is the center of political and industrial activities. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy, Abu Dhabi is the fourth most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and in 2014 was the 68th most expensive big city in the world. Abu Dhabi is full of evidence that points to civilizations, such as the Umm an-Nar Culture. Settlements were also found farther outside the city of Abu Dhabi. There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet and this location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain, so it would have great visibility. It also contains a lot of moisture in its springs and lakes, origin of the name Abu Dhabi The origin of the name Abu Dhabi is uncertain. Meaning Father of the Gazelle, when translated from Arabic. According to Bilal al-Budoor, assistant under-secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, The area had a lot of dhibaa, an old story tells about a man who used to chase deer and was named the father of the animal. Abu Dhabis original name was Milh salt, possibly referring to the salty water of the Persian Gulf, some Bedouins called the city Umm Dhabi, while British records refer to the place as Abu Dhabi. According to some accounts, the name Abu Dhabi was first used more than 300 years ago. The first word of Abu Dhabi is pronounced Bu by inhabitants on the western coast. In the eastern part of the city, the pronunciation is Abu, origins of the Al Nahyan family The Bani Yas bedouin were originally centered on the Liwa Oasis. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections, in 1793, the Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the Persian Gulf due to the discovery of fresh water there. One family within this section was the Al Nahyan family and this family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today
8.
Uganda national football team
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The Uganda national football team, nicknamed The Cranes, is the national team of Uganda and is controlled by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations. Their best finish in the Africa Cup of Nations was second in 1978, serbian Milutin Sredojević is their manager. Caps and goals updated as of 25 January 2017 after the match with Mali, the following players have been called up for Uganda in the last 12 months. Notes INJ Player withdrew from the due to injury. RET Player has retired from international football, DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up. SUS Suspended from the national team
9.
Sweden national football team
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The Sweden national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for football in Sweden. Swedens home ground is Friends Arena in the Stockholm urban area, Sweden made their first World Cup appearance in 1934. Sweden has made eleven World Cup appearances and five appearances in the European Championships and they finished second in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and third in both 1950 and 1994. Swedens accomplishments also include a medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics. They reached the semi-finals in UEFA Euro 1992, Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with 11 World Cup appearances and 3 medals in the Olympics. The Swedish team finished second in the 1958 World Cup, when it was the host team, Sweden has also finished third twice, in 1950 and 1994. Sweden played its first international game against Norway on 12 July 1908, other matches in 1908 were played agaisnt England, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, Sweden lost all five matches. In the same year, Sweden competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for the first time, Sweden, however, lost a game in the Olympics against the Great Britain 1–12, the biggest loss in the Swedish national teams history. In 1916, Sweden defeated Denmark for the first time, Sweden played in the 1912 Olympics, the 1920 Olympics, and in the 1924 Olympics, where Sweden took the bronze and their first medal ever. The 1938 World Cup was Swedens second qualification for the World Cup, in the first round, they were scheduled to play against Austria, but after Germanys occupation of Austria, the Austrian team could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the match against Cuba. They beat Cuba 8–0 with both Harry Andersson and Gustav Wetterström scoring hat-tricks, in the semi-final match against Hungary, Sweden lost 1–5. Swedens next match was the match against Brazil. In that game the Swedes lost 2–4, and ended in fourth place for the first, in the first round, Sweden played against Austria. The Austrian team had qualified without their professional players, which was a surprise since the Austrian league had many players who were allowed to play in the tournament. The match was played at White Hart Lane in London and Sweden won 3–0, in the second game, Sweden played against Korea and won 12–0, one of the two largest margin wins Sweden has ever had. In the semi-final Sweden met their archrivals from Denmark beating them 4–2, the final was played at legendary Wembley Stadium in London. The attendance was around 40,000 people which was high for a game in those days
10.
Anwar El Ghazi
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Anwar El Ghazi, officialy written as Anwar el-Ghazi, is a Dutch-Moroccan professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Lille and the Netherlands national team as a winger. El Ghazi began his career in the youth ranks of his local club BVV Barendrecht. He then joined the ranks of Spartaan 20, before getting recruited to Sparta Rotterdam where he progressed through the academy, in 2013 he joined the Ajax Youth Academy, playing for the A1 selection, competing in the UEFA Youth League for Ajax. El Ghazi was signed by AFC Ajax in July 2013, during the 2014–15 pre-season, El Ghazi scored eight goals in 150 minutes. The match ended in a 4–1 home victory, with El Ghazi providing the assist for the goal by Lasse Schöne in the 87th minute. On 17 August 2014 he scored his first Eredivisie goal against AZ in the 90th minute of the 3–1 win in Alkmaar. He scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League on 22 October 2014 at Camp Nou and he was the first player to score at Camp Nou since the beginning of the 2014–15 season, when Barcelona went five matches at home without conceding a goal. On 31 January 2017 it was announced, that El Ghazi had been sold to French Ligue 1 side Lille OSC for a fee of €8 million. Having dual citizenship, El Ghazi is eligible to represent both the Netherlands as well as Morocco at senior level and he made his international debut playing for the Netherlands under-18 side in a friendly match against Austria U-18 on 15 October 2012, which ended in a 2–0 loss. El Ghazi met Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid during the summer break, Ronaldo advised him to choose for the Netherlands since he has a higher chance to participate at an international tournament based on their history. As a result, El Ghazi mentioned that he choose to represent the Netherlands and was called up for two UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying games in October 2015. El Ghazi directly made his way into the starting line-up for the Netherlands in those two matches, though it was not enough to qualify for EURO2016, as of match played 4 April 20171. ^ Includes KNVB Cup and Coupe de France. 2. ^ Includes Coupe de la Ligue,3. ^ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. AFC Ajax Talent of the Year,2015 Netherlands U17 stats at OnsOranje Netherlands U18 stats at OnsOranje
11.
Yassine Benzia
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Yassine Benzia is an Algerian footballer who plays for the French club Lille in Ligue 1 as a striker. Benzia is a France youth international having represented his nation at under-16, under-17, under-18 and he played with the under-17 team at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In March 2016, FIFA approved his request to change his allegiance to Algeria. Following the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup Benzia signed his first professional contract with Lyon agreeing to a deal on 27 October 2011. He was subsequently promoted to the team by manager Rémi Garde. Benzia made his debut on 20 May 2012 in a league match against Nice appearing as a substitute. In January 2016, Algerian Football Federation president Mohamed Raouraoua announced that Benzia had opted to switch his allegiance to Algeria. In March 2016, FIFA approved his request to change his allegiance to Algeria. On 26 March 2016, he played his first game for Algeria, as of match played 2 June 2016. Algeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Benzia goal, at the age of 17, Benzia was dubbed the new Karim Benzema
12.
Christophe Galtier
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Christophe Galtier is a French former football defender, who is currently the Head Coach of Ligue 1 club AS Saint-Étienne. Galtier spent most of his career in France before ending his career with stints in Italy, Galtier worked with coach Alain Perrin for some years, first at Olympique de Marseille, but also at Al Ain FC, Portsmouth F. C. and FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. He also worked with Richard Tardy, when the latter coached Aris Thessaloniki F. C. before becoming coach of Saint-Étienne, as of 19 March 2017 Saint-Étienne Couple de la Ligue, 2012–13 Playing career
