Pär Zetterberg
Pär Zetterberg is a Swedish former football midfielder, who played most of his career for R. S. C. Anderlecht. Zetterberg started his career at his local club, Falkenbergs FF, but after only seven games at senior level he became professional, joining the Belgian team RSC Anderlecht, he has remained loyal to Anderlecht, except for spells at Charleroi and Olympiacos F. C.. He has twice been football player of the year in Belgium and won the Guldbollen as the Swedish Footballer of the Year in 1997, he has won the Belgian as well as the Greek championships three times. Zetterberg has been capped 30 times for Sweden. In Belgium, he has won the Fair player of the year prize 6 times, he was one of the most respected players because of his positive attitude on as well as off the field. He excelled in creativity, which led to the many beautiful goals and assists he made, he quit football after the season 2005–2006 and has continued to work at RSC Anderlecht, as youth scout. He was regarded as one of the most talented footballers in Sweden in his time but due to getting into a serious argument with Tommy Söderberg, the new coach of the Swedish national team, he said he won't play for the national team as long as Söderberg coach and only played a total of 30 games for his country.
Zetterberg suffers from diabetes type 1. Anderlecht Jupiler League: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2005–06 Belgian Cup: 1993–94Olympiacos Alpha Ethniki: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03
R.S.C. Anderlecht
Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht known as Anderlecht or RSCA, is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions, with five trophies, as well as in the Belgian domestic league, with 34 championship wins, they have won nine Belgian Cups and hold the record for most consecutive Belgian championship titles, winning five between the 1963–64 and 1967–68 seasons. Founded in 1908, the club first reached the highest level in Belgian football in 1921–22 and have been playing in the first division continuously since 1935–36 and in Europe since 1964-65, they won their first major trophy after World War II with a championship win in 1946–47. Since they have never finished outside the top six of the Belgian first division, they are ranked 12th amongst all-time UEFA club competition winners, tenth in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics continental Clubs of the 20th Century European ranking and were 41st in the 2012 UEFA team rankings.
In 1986, they achieved their best UEFA ranking with a joint first place with Juventus. Anderlecht have been playing their matches in the Astrid Park in the municipality of Anderlecht since 1917, their current stadium, Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, was first opened in 1983, replaced the former Emile Versé Stadium. They play in white outfits, they have long-standing rivalries with Standard Liège. Founded as Sporting Club Anderlechtois on 27 May 1908 by a dozen football lovers at the Concordia café, the club beat Institut Saint-Georges in their first match, 11–8, they joined the official competition in 1909–10, starting at the lowest level in the Belgian football league system the third provincial division. In 1912–13, they gained promotion to the second-higher level of football named the Promotion. After only one season at that level, the championships were suspended due to World War I, resumed in 1919–20. With the popularity of the team increasing, Anderlecht had moved to a new stadium in the Astrid Park in 1917.
They baptized the stadium Stade Emile Versé in honor of the club's first major patron, the industrialist Emile Versé. At the end of the 1920–21 season, Anderlecht were promoted to the first division for the first time in their history. In the next 14 seasons, Anderlecht were relegated four times and promoted four times, earning themselves the mockery of local rival clubs Union Saint-Gilloise and Daring Club de Bruxelles, who nicknamed them the "lift club". In 1933, 25 years after their formation, the club changed their name to Royal Sporting Club Anderlechtois. Since their promotion in 1935, Anderlecht has remained at the top level of football. With Jef Mermans, a striker signed from K Tubantia FC in 1942 for a record fee of 125,000 Belgian francs, Anderlecht won their first league title in 1947, their success increased in the following years as they won six more titles between 1949–50 and 1955–56 and two more in 1958–59 and 1961–62. In the 1960s, under the coaching of Pierre Sinibaldi and of Andreas Beres, the club won five titles in a row, still a Belgian league record.
The star of this team was Paul Van Himst, topscorer in 1965, 1967 and 1969 and Belgian Golden Shoe winner in 1960, 1961, 1965 and 1974. Anderlecht played in the first European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1955–56, lost both legs of their tie against Vörös Lobogo, they had to wait until the 1962–63 season to win their first European tie, with a 1–0 victory over Real Madrid, which followed a 3–3 draw in Spain. For the first time, they advanced to the second round, where they beat CSKA Sofia before losing to Dundee in the quarter-finals. In the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Anderlecht lost in the final against Arsenal. Between 1975 and 1984, Anderlecht only won one championship but they achieved considerable European success: they won the 1975–76 and 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cups against West Ham United and Austria Wien as well as the two subsequent European Super Cups; the 1982–83 season was a noteworthy season for the club for numerous reasons: former Anderlecht favourite Paul Van Himst was named the new coach, they won the 1982–83 UEFA Cup and the rebuilding of the club stadium began.
But in the domestic league, Anderlecht had to settle for second place behind Standard. Their bid to retain the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 failed at the final hurdle against English side Tottenham Hotspur. Anderlecht reached the final controversially by beating another English side, Nottingham Forest, with a debatable extra time penalty to win 3–2 on aggregate, it was found Anderlecht had bribed the referee the equivalent of £27,000 to ensure passage to the final. After three second-place finishes in a row, the Purple and Whites secured an easy 18th title in 1984–85, 11 points ahead of Club Brugge. In 1985–86, Anderlecht won the championship again, but this time after a two-legged play-off against Club Brugge. Anderlecht won their 20th championship on the last matchday of the 1986–87 season, they lost key players Franky Vercauteren, Enzo Scifo and Juan Lozano. A weakened team coached by Raymond Goethals finished only fourth in 1988 behind Club Brugge, KV Mechelen and Royal Antwerp, but they nonetheless managed to lift the Belgian Cup for the sixth time in cl
Guinea
Guinea the Republic of Guinea, is a west-coastal country in West Africa. Known as French Guinea, the modern country is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry in order to distinguish it from other countries with "Guinea" in the name and the eponymous region, such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has an area of 245,860 square kilometres; the sovereign state of Guinea is a republic with a president, directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the legislative body of the country, its members are directly elected by the people; the judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest and final court of appeal in the country. The country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a traditional name for the region of Africa, it ends at the Sahel. The English term Guinea comes directly from the Portuguese word Guiné, which emerged in the mid-15th century to refer to the lands inhabited by the Guineus, a generic term for the black African peoples below the Senegal River, as opposed to the'tawny' Zenaga Berbers, above it, whom they called Azenegues or Moors.
Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population. Guinea's people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the official language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, the media, but more than twenty-four indigenous languages are spoken. Guinea's economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production, it is the world's second largest producer of bauxite, has rich deposits of diamonds and gold. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, abuse of women and children were ongoing abuses of human rights; the land, now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958. From independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers.
For the origin of the name "Guinea" see Guinea § Etymology. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires; the earliest, the Ghana Empire, grew on trade but fell after repeated incursions of the Almoravids. It was in this period; the Sosso kingdom flourished in the resulting void but the Mali Empire came to prominence when Soundiata Kéïta defeated the Sosso ruler Soumangourou Kanté at the Battle of Kirina in c. 1235. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, who made a famous hajj to Mecca in 1324. Shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century; the most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and surpassed the Mali Empire in both territory and wealth. It continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582; the weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later.
The Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom however, it split into many small kingdoms. After the fall of the major West African empires, various kingdoms existed in. Fulani Muslims migrated to Futa Jallon in Central Guinea and established an Islamic state from 1735 to 1898 with a written constitution and alternate rulers; the Wassoulou or Wassulu empire was a short-lived empire, led by Samori Toure in the predominantly Malinké area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali. It moved to Ivory Coast before being conquered by the French; the slave trade came to the coastal region of Guinea with European traders in the 16th century. Slaves were exported to work elsewhere in the triangular trade. Guinea's colonial period began with French military penetration into the area in the mid-19th century. French domination was assured by the defeat in 1898 of the armies of Samori Touré, Mansa of the Ouassoulou state and leader of Malinké descent, which gave France control of what today is Guinea and adjacent areas.
France negotiated Guinea's present boundaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the British for Sierra Leone, the Portuguese for their Guinea colony, Liberia. Under the French, the country formed the Territory of Guinea within French West Africa, administered by a governor general resident in Dakar. Lieutenant governors administered the individual colonies, including Guinea. In 1958, the French Fourth Republic collapsed due to political instability and its failures in dealing with its colonies Indochina and Algeria; the founding of a Fifth Republic was supported by the French people, while French President Charles de Gaulle made it clear on 8 August 1958 that France's colonies were to be given a stark choice between more autonomy in a new French Community or immediate independence in the referendum to be held on 28 September 1958. The other colonies chose the former but Guinea—under the leadership of Ahmed Sékou Touré whose Democratic Party of Guinea had won 56 of 60 seats in 1957 territorial elections — voted overwhelmingly for independence.
The French withdrew and
Philippe Albert
Philippe Julien Albert is a former Belgian footballer who played as a defender. He played for Charleroi, KV Mechelen and Anderlecht in his native Belgium, for English clubs Newcastle United and Fulham, it was at Newcastle that he became known as an attack-minded centre-back for his forward runs from defence in the team dubbed as "the Entertainers". Albert made 41 appearances for the Belgium national team from 1987 to 1997, represented his country at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Albert started his career with Charleroi before moving to KV Mechelen where his performances won him Belgian Golden Shoe and a move to Anderlecht. While playing at Anderlecht, he won the Belgian League twice and helped his national side qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Albert's exploits at the World Cup earned him a £2.6 million transfer to Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United. He claimed he turned down moves to Italian clubs Juventus and Fiorentina the year before as he did not like the hot climate or having to play on Sundays, moved to Newcastle as he was a fan of Keegan and the team he played for, Liverpool, in his youth.
He was an immediate success in the side as he helped them win their first six league games of the 1994–95 season, but missed the stages of the season through injury and Newcastle finished sixth – not enough for a UEFA Cup place. He became a cult hero at Newcastle United due to his less-than-defensive tendencies in "the Entertainers'" central defence, would make runs forward and be found roaming on the edge of the opposition box, his most famous moment arguably came when he scored an audacious chip from 20 yards over Peter Schmeichel in a 5–0 win over Manchester United on 20 October 1996. Fans at Newcastle created a terrace chant for the player, singing "Phillipe, Phillipe Albert, everyone knows his name" to the words of the theme song of 1970s children's TV series The Adventures of Rupert Bear. Injuries towards the end of the decade limited his first-team chances and he spent 13 games on loan to third-tier club Fulham, scoring twice during the 1998–99 season as they were promoted from Division Two as champions.
On leaving Newcastle in 1999, Albert returned to Belgium, rejoining Charleroi for £600,000. He spent one season with the club before retiring from football. Albert made 41 appearances for the Belgium national team, making his debut in 1987, but came to worldwide prominence at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. There he played in four of Belgium's matches, scoring against the Netherlands in his first game and against Germany in the second round match, which Belgium lost 3–2. Albert is now working as a pundit for Belgian TV, runs a successful fruit and vegetable company. KV MechelenBelgian First Division: 1988-89AnderlechtBelgian First Division: 1992-93, 1993-94 Belgian Cup: 1994 Belgian Super Cup: 1993IndividualBelgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 1991–92 Belgian Golden Shoe: 1992 Philippe Albert at National-Football-Teams.com Philippe Albert at Soccerbase Premier League profile Belgium Stats at Belgian FA
Club Brugge KV
Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging referred to as just Club Brugge, is a football club based in Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062. One of the most decorated clubs in Belgian football, it has been Belgian league champion on 15 occasions, second only to major rivals Anderlecht, it shares the Jan Breydel Stadium with city rival Cercle Brugge, with whom they contest the Bruges derby. Throughout its long history, Club Brugge has enjoyed much European football success, reaching two European finals and two European semi-finals. Club Brugge is the only Belgian club to have played the final of the European Cup so far, losing to Liverpool in the final of the 1978 season, they lost in the 1976 UEFA Cup Final to the same opponents. Club Brugge holds the European record number of consecutive participations in the UEFA Europa League, the record number of Belgian cups and the record number of Belgian Supercups. 1890: Brugsche Football ClubClub created by old students of the Catholic school Broeders Xaverianen and the neutral school Koninklijk Atheneum.
13 November 1891: Club recreatedThe club was recreated. This has since been adopted as the official date of foundation. 1892: First boardAn official board was installed in the club. 1894: Football Club Brugeois Club created by 16 old members of Brugsche FC. 1895: Vlaamsche Football Club de Bruges Club created in the city. 1895–96: the UBSSA set up in 1895. and they went to the UBSSA and took part of the first Belgian national league. 1896: Leaving the UBSSAFinancially it was difficult for FC Brugeois and so after only one year they had to leave the UBSSA. 1897: Fusion FC Brugeois joined Brugsche FC but they continued under the name Football Club Brugeois. 1902: New fusion Vlaamsche FC joined FC Brugeois. 1912: De KlokkeThey moved to a new stadium named "De Klokke". 1913–14: First cup finalFC Brugeois reached their first Belgian Cup final but they lost 2–1 from Union SG. 1920: First time league championsThe club became for the first time champions of the first division. 1926: Royal Football Club Brugeois The club get number 3 as their matricule number and in the same year they get the royal title.
1928: First relegationA first low when the club was relegated to the second division. 1930: New statutePresident Albert Dyserynck changed the club's statute into a non-profit association. 1931: Albert DyserynckstadionWhen president Albert Dyserynck died they honoured him by changing the stadium's name into Albert Dyserynckstadion. 1959: Permanent to the first divisionRFC Brugeois promoted to the first division and never relegated again in the future. 1968: First time cup winnersThey won the Belgian Cup for the first time against Beerschot AC. 1972: Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging The club changed their name into the Flemisch name Club Brugge KV 1975: OlympiastadionThey moved from Albert Dyserynckstadion to Olympiastadion. 1976: Highest position in UEFA CupUnder Austrian coach Ernst Happel, Club Brugge reached the finals of the UEFA Cup and lost against Liverpool. 1978: Only Belgian European Cup 1 finalistsStill under Ernst Happel, the club faced Liverpool again of a European final.
This time it was in the European Champions Clubs' Cup final. And again they lost. Club Brugge is the only Belgian club that has reached the finals of the European biggest competition. 1992: First goal scorer in the Champions LeagueDaniel Amokachi is the first goal scorer in the Champions League. He scored against CSKA Moscow. 1998: Jan BreydelstadionOlympiastadion had to be expanded for the EURO 2000 organisation. They changed the name into Jan Breydelstadion. 2006: CLUBtvClub Brugge was the first Belgian club to create its own TV channel. The club don a blue home kit as has been traditional through their history. Away from home they wear a red strip; the clubs kit supplier is Macron. Club Brugge is the most supported club in Belgium, it has fans all over the country. Attendances are high; the Jan Breydel Stadium is sold out at every home game. Some of these fans are part of 62 supporter clubs in Belgium; the "Supportersfederatie Club Brugge KV", founded in 1967, is recognized as the official supporters club of Club Brugge.
In tribute the fans dubbed the twelfth man in football, Club Brugge no longer assigns the number 12 to players. Club Brugge has a TV show, CLUBtv, on the Telenet network since 21 July 2006; this twice weekly show features exclusive interviews with players and managers. The official mascot of Club Bruges is symbol of the city of Bruges; the history of the bear is related to a legend of the first Count of Flanders, Baldwin I of Flanders, who had fought and defeated a bear in his youth. Since the end of 2000, a second mascot, always a bear, travels along the edge of the field during home games for fans to call and encourage both their favorites; these two bears are called Bene. In 2010, a third bear named Bibi, made its appearance, he is described as the child of the first two mascots, is oriented towards the young supporters. Like many historic clubs, Club Brugge contests rivalries with other Belgian clubs, whether at local or regional level. At regional level, Club Brugge has maintained rivalry with a team in the neighboring province.
The successes achieved by Club Bruges in the early 1970s, combined with poor season performances by Gent in the same period, attracted many fans. Since the late 1990s, Gent again played a somewhat more leading role in Belgium, matches against Club Brug
R. Charleroi S.C.
Royal Charleroi Sporting Club is a Belgian football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their current spell at the highest level in Belgian football has started in the 2012–13 season. Charleroi was founded in 1904 and they first reached the first division in 1947–48, their highest finish was runner-up in the 1968–69 season. They have twice reached the Belgian Cup final, losing in 1977–78 to Beveren and in 1992–93 to Standard Liège. Sporting Charleroi have a long-standing rivalry with city other club ROC de Charleroi-Marchienne playing in the third division. Charleroi play their home matches at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, refurbished for the UEFA Euro 2000; the stadium hosted 3 group stage games in the Euro 2000 among which the 1–0 victory of England against Germany. Charleroi have been recruiting several French players in recent years, including Michaël Ciani, Cyril Théréau and goalkeeper Bertrand Laquait. Charleroi Sporting Club was founded in 1904 and they received the matricule n°22.
Twenty years after their foundation, they qualified to play in the Promotion and in 1929, the club changed its name to Royal Charleroi Sporting Club. Rivals from Olympic Charleroi were playing in the first division in the late 1930s and the 1940s, while Sporting Charleroi was playing one level down, until they promoted in 1947. In 1949, Sporting Charleroi finished 4th, but Olympic took the lead again until their relegation to the second division. At the end of the 1956–57 season, Olympic Charleroi had promoted to the first division but Sporting Charleroi finished last in the first division and was thus relegated to the second division. A spell of 9 seasons in the second division followed and in 1966–67 Sporting Charleroi was back at the top level, they finished at the second place in 1968–69 5 points behind Standard Liège but within two years they were relegated again. In 1974 the first division was changing from 16 to 20 teams and Sporting Charleroi was chosen to play at the top level. Olympic Charleroi promoted too as they had won the second division right before but they remained at the top level for just one season.
Sporting was back five years later. Their best result since in the first division is a 4th place in 1993–94. In September 2005, the G-14 took FIFA to court over the eight-month injury incurred by Abdelmajid Oulmers whilst on international duty with Morocco; the colours of Charleroi are black and white with a shirt striped, which led to the team being nicknamed The Zebras. The actual ground was baptized in 1939 with a match Sporting-Union du Centre and it was located near the coal mine named Mambourg. In 1985 the stadium was modernized as the club had qualified for the first division, it was heavily renewed in the late 1990s in view of the 2000 European Football Championship. The name changed on 24 May 1999 from Stade du Mambourg to Stade du Pays de Charleroi. During the tournament, the full capacity of the stadium was up to 30,000 seats; the Stade du Pays de Charleroi hosted notably the match between England. The highest stand was reduced and the capacity is now 15,000. Belgian First Division: Runners-up: 1968–69 Belgian Second Division: Winners: 1946–47, 2011–12 Runners-up: 1965–66 Belgian Second Division Final Round: Winners: 1985 Belgian Cup: Runners-up: 1977–78, 1992–93 Correct as of May 2016 Updated 31 January, 2019.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Official Website Charleroi SC at UEFA.com Charleroi SC at EUFO. DE Charleroi SC at Weltfussball.de Charleroi SC at National Football Teams.com Charleroi SC at Football-Lineups.com
Wesley Sonck
Wesley Sonck is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a striker for Molenbeek, Germinal Ekeren, Germinal Beerschot, Ajax, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Club Brugge. He has been capped by Belgium at international level. During his time with Genk, he was the top goalscorer in the Belgian First Division in the 2001–02 season with 30 goals, joint top in the following campaign with 22 – sharing the award with Cédric Roussel. Sonck moved to Ajax in the summer of 2003, he made his debut on the 12 August against Grazer AK. He scored his first goal for the club 13 September against RKC Waalwijk. Sonck never made it in Amsterdam because he was playing on the right wing a lot under coach Ronald Koeman, he moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the winter of 2004. Sonck's time with Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga was hampered by injuries. Mönchengladbach signed him on a permanent contract, a deal arranged at the start of his loan. In the summer of 2005, Sonck had three of his ribs broken after a horrific tackle by Wilfred Bouma in a goalless, meaningless friendly between Borussia Mönchengladbach and PSV Eindhoven.
Sonck took six months to recover, marking his return to competitive football with a goal in a 3–1 defeat by Bayern Munich. He scored three more in 13 further Bundesliga games for Mönchengladbach until he was forced out for three months with an injury in the hollow of his knee at the start of the 2006–07 season, he left Gladbach at the end of the 2006–07 season, joining Club Brugge on a year-long loan deal while Borussia Mönchengladbach began playing in the second tier of the Bundesliga. Following the 2007–08 season, Sonck joined Brugge permanently for an undisclosed fee. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Sonck left Brugge to join Lierse S. K. on a free transfer having fallen out with manager Adrie Koster over contract negotiations and lack of first team action. Amongst his first goals for the club was an excellent overhead kick. Sonck was released in the summer of 2012 and spent a few months unemployed before joining newly promoted Waasland-Beveren near the end of October 2012. In January 2014 signed with 1ste Provincial Oost-Vlaanderen club KE Appelterre-Eichem, before retired just three months later.
Sonck was called for the national team during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. In the match versus Spain he scored Belgium's only goal in that match, thus ending Casillas and Reina's undefeated streak of 710 minutes. K. R. C. Genk Belgian First Division: 2001–02AFC Ajax Eredivisie: 2003–04 Belgian Golden Shoe: 2001 Belgian Footballer of the Year: 2001–02 Wesley Sonck at Soccerbase Belgium Stats at Belgian FA
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France
South Africa