1.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
2.
Forward (association football)
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Forwards are the players on an association football team who play nearest to the opposing teams goal, and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals. Their advanced position and limited defensive responsibilities mean forwards normally score more goals on behalf of their team than other players, modern team formations generally include one to three forwards, for example, the common 4–2–3–1 formation includes one forward. Unconventional formations may include more than three forwards, or none, the centre-forward is often a tall player, typically known as a target man, whose main function is to score the majority of goals on behalf of the team. Most modern centre-forwards operate in front of the strikers or central attacking midfielders. The present role of centre-forward is sometimes interchangeable with that of an attacking midfielder, a centre-forward usually must be strong, to win key headers and outmuscle defenders. The term centre-forward is taken from the football playing formation in which there were five forward players. The number would become synonymous with the centre-forward position. Strikers are known for their ability to peel off defenders and to run into space via the side of the defender and to receive the ball in a good goalscoring position. They are typically fast players with ball control and dribbling abilities. More agile strikers like Michael Owen have an advantage over taller defenders due to their short burst speed, a good striker should be able to shoot confidently with either foot, possess great power and accuracy, and have the ability to pass the ball under pressure in breakaway situations. Deep-lying forwards have a history in the game, but the terminology to describe their playing activity has varied over the years. Originally such players were termed inside forwards, creative or deep-lying centre-forwards, in fact, a coined term, the nine-and-a-half, has been an attempt to become a standard in defining the position. In Italy, this role is known as a rifinitore or seconda punta, whereas in Brazil, it is known as segundo atacante. An outside forward plays as the forward on the right or left wing – as an outside right or outside left. As football tactics have largely developed, and wingers have dropped back to become midfielders, many commentators and football analysts still refer to the wing positions as outside right and outside left. However, in the British game they are counted as part of the midfield. It is a duty to beat opposing full-backs, deliver cut-backs or crosses from wide positions and, to a lesser extent, to beat defenders. They are usually some of the quickest players in the team, in their Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese usage, the defensive duties of the winger have been usually confined to pressing the opposition fullbacks when they have the ball
3.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy
4.
California Golden Bears
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The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Over the course of the history, California has won team national titles in 13 mens and 3 womens sports and 104 team titles overall. Cal athletes have competed in the Olympics for a host of different countries. Notable facilities used by the Bears include California Memorial Stadium and Haas Pavilion, Cal finished the 2010–11 athletic season with 1,219.50 points, earning third place in the Directors Cup standings, the Golden Bears highest finish ever. Cal did not receive any points for its national championships in rugby, Cal finished 12th in the 2014-15 standings. In 2014, Cal instituted a strict standard for an athletes admission to the university. Cal Berkeley sponsors varsity teams in 14 mens and 16 womens sports, Notes As of December 4,2016, the program has also produced numerous NFL stars, including Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Longwell, Marshawn Lynch, DeSean Jackson, Desmond Bishop, and Jahvid Best. Tony Gonzalez, the NFLs all-time receptions leader among tight ends, head coach Justin Wilcox began his tenure in 2017. The California mens basketball team has represented the University of California intercollegiately since 1907, Cal basketballs home court is Haas Pavilion, which was constructed atop of the old Harmon Gymnasium using money donated in the late 1990s in part by the owners of Levi-Strauss. The program has seen throughout the years culminating in a national championship in 1959 under legendary coach Pete Newell and have reached the final four two other times in 1946 and 1960. The 1926–27 team finished the season with a 17–0 record and was named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. The current head coach of the California mens basketball program is Cuonzo Martin, some notable NBA players that spent time playing in Berkeley include Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, and Darrall Imhoff. The Cal baseball team plays at Evans Diamond, located between Haas Pavilion, the Recreational Sports Facility, and Edwards Track Stadium. Cal has appeared in the post-season a total of nine times, including five times in the College World Series, shortstop Geoff Blum of Cals 1992 College World Series team hit the game-winning home run in the 14th inning of a 2005 World Series game for the Chicago White Sox. In September 2010, the university announced that baseball would be one of five sports cut as a cost-cutting measure, however, in April 2011, after receiving more than $9 million in pledges from supporters of the program, the program was reinstated. Mens bowling was an intercollegiate sport at the University of California in the 1970s and won a national championship in 1979. The first significant coach in Cal mens crew was Carroll Ky Ebright, during his tenure, Cal crew became known for success on both the collegiate and the international levels. Cal would represent the United States at two other Olympic games and winning the gold each time, the 1932 and 1948 Summer Games
5.
Orange County Blue Star
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Orange County Blue Star was an American soccer team based in Irvine, California, United States. Founded in 1997, the played in the USL Premier Development League. The team played its games at Eagle Stadium on the campus of Concordia University. The teams colors are white and black, Blue Star began life as Orange County Zodiac in the USISL A-League in 1997, finishing fifth in the Pacific Conference in their inaugural season, with Gustavo Leal leading the scoring charts. The team suffered three years of middling results, only advancing to the post season in 1999, where they lost to the Seattle Sounders in the Round of 16, the Zodiac played some of their games at Santa Ana Stadium. The club dropped down to the PDL in 2001 and changed their name again, and they finished their first year in the fourth tier as Champions of the Southwest division, but were defeated by eventual championship runners-up, Calgary Storm, in the Conference semi-finals. The year 2003 was a season due to the participation of a certain German player named Jay Göppingen. Klinsmann was born in the city of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg, Blue Star enjoyed a number of free-scoring victories, putting five past Nevada Wonders in mid May, and topping rivals Southern California Seahorses 4-2 in June. The playoffs saw them take care of Spokane Shadow in the opening game, Blue Stars impressive early season form also took them to the US Open Cup for the first time since 1999, but they were beaten 3-1 in the first round by El Paso Patriots. Blue Star finished 2005 with the best regular season record in the country, winning 15 out of their 16 games, suffering just one loss, and finishing with a +39 goal difference. With their conference expanding to 9 teams, Blue Star did not find life in 2006 quite as easy, anthony Hamilton and Sal Zizzo were the seasons top scorers with 8 and 4 goals respectively, while Sem Lopez contributed 3 assists. The 2007 season, however, marked the first season when things did not go Blue Stars way, Blue Star started 2008 brightly, hoping to put the misery of the dismal 2007 season behind them. Two wins in their first four games - 4-1 over old rivals Southern California Seahorses and 3-1 over Lancaster Rattlers - initially kept spirits high, nevertheless, Blue Star finished 8th of 10 in the division, twelve points behind divisional champions San Fernando Valley Quakes. Jeffrey Clark was the top scorer, with seven goals. Even their cup run ended quickly with a 5-2 loss at the hands of NPSL side Sonoma County Sol, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. uslsoccer. com/history/index_E. html,2005,1092006,952007,3142008,792009,1142010,93 Official Site Official PDL site
6.
Chicago Fire Soccer Club
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Chicago Fire Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Illinois. The team competes in Major League Soccer as a member of the leagues Eastern Conference, the franchise is named after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and was founded on October 8,1997, the events 126th anniversary. The team began play in 1998 as one of the leagues first expansion teams, the Fire won the MLS Cup as well as the U. S. Open Cup on their first season. They have also won U. S. Open Cups in 2000,2003, the Fire maintains an extensive development system, consisting of the Chicago Fire U-23, the Chicago Fire Development Academy, and the Chicago Fire Juniors youth organization. They also operate the Chicago Fire Foundation, the teams community-based charitable division, Toyota Park is the Fires home stadium. Founded on October 8,1997, the club was based at Soldier Field. Since 2006, they reside at Toyota Park at 71st and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, the owners of the Fire are Andell Holdings, who purchased the club in 2007. Andell Holdings chairman Andrew Hauptman acts as chairman, while the general manager is Nelson Rodriguez. The Fire are historically most successful in the U. S. Open Cup, winning championships in 1998,2000,2003, the Fire keeps a close connection with the Chicago Sting by holding frequent commemorative events, reunions, and wearing Sting-inspired shirts. Some of the other notable American professional players include C. J. Brown, Jesse Marsch, Chris Rolfe. The Chicago Fire were named after The Great Chicago Fire that happened in 1871, founded in 1997 at Navy Pier, on the anniversary of the Great Fire, the Fire immediately tapped into the diverse ethnic makeup of the city. The team brought in Polish players Piotr Nowak, Jerzy Podbrozny, and Roman Kosecki, the Mexican Jorge Campos, while all showed their talent while playing for Chicago that first year, American players proved most integral to the Fires continued success. Under the clubs first head coach, Bob Bradley—and against all expectation—the team completed the double in its first competitive year, United in the 1998 MLS Cup Final, and defeating the Columbus Crew in Chicago to win the 1998 U. S. Open Cup a week later. The teams momentum continued, reaching the 2000 MLS Cup final, internationally experienced players such as Hristo Stoitchkov joined the Fire, while young American talents such as DaMarcus Beasley developed. The Fire quickly became cemented as one of the preeminent teams. With Soldier Field undergoing massive renovations, the Fire moved to the western Chicago suburb of Naperville and that same year, Bob Bradley abruptly departed the team to lead the MetroStars, from his home state of New Jersey. The Fire then selected the U. S. mens national teams top assistant, Dave Sarachan, Chicago qualified for the league final while also capturing the Supporters Shield and 2003 U. S. Open Cup along the way. The team returned to Chicago and the renovated Soldier Field midway through the 2003 season, after that season, longtime captain Piotr Nowak retired to take a position in the front office
7.
Houston Dynamo
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The Houston Dynamo is an American professional soccer club based in Houston, Texas. The franchise competes in Major League Soccer, as a member of the Western Conference, the Dynamo had first played their home games at Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus until 2011. Since 2012, the Dynamo plays their matches in their. The teams head coach is Wilmer Cabrera, the club would then be an expansion team of the league, which began play in 2006. The Dynamo is owned by Gabriel Brener, Jake Silverstein, Ben Guill, Houston Dynamos domestic success consists of winning the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups being in their first two seasons. In 2008, Houston became the first American club to secure a point on Mexican soil in the CONCACAF Champions League era during the 2008-2017 format of the tornament. Houston returned to the soccer scene with two clubs, both operating from 1978-80, the Houston Hurricane, and the Houston Summit. Professional soccer returned to Houston again from 1984-91 with the Dynamos, who competed in the United Soccer League, the Hotshots was the last professional soccer franchise in Houston before todays Dynamo, operating from 1994-2000 in the Continental Indoor Soccer League and the World Indoor Soccer League. Houston did not field a team from 2000 to 2005. Houston Texans Chief Development Officer Steve Patterson spearheaded efforts to host a USA vs, Mexico friendly in May 2003, a rematch of the two nations historic round of 16 encounter at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, as the first soccer match at Reliant Stadium. The 69,582 attendance set a new record for a match in Texas. This is the market theyve got their sights set on and this is a market that weve got investor interest, weve got sponsor interest, weve got media interest. This is a market thats going to be terrific for us and we will have a team in Houston in due time. The question is whether we have one as early as 2006 as part of a move, well get a team here, theres no doubt in our mind. On December 15,2005, Major League Soccer announced the relocation of the San Jose franchise, along with all players and coaches under contract, the Earthquakes name, colors and competition records were retained by the league for a possible expansion team. According to MLS, AEG had invested more than $20 million in the Earthquakes since purchasing the team in 2003, AEG had previously considered Houston as a site to relocate to and entered positive discussions about finding a soccer stadium in Houston. A ceremony was held outside Houston City Hall on December 16,2005 to officially announce the franchises arrival, in an immediate effort to plant roots in the community, AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke announced former Houston Oilers quarterback Oliver Luck as the teams president and general manager. The Dynamo played their first MLS league game on April 2,2006 at Robertson Stadium in front of a crowd of 25,462, the Dynamo beat the Colorado Rapids 5–2, with Brian Ching scoring four goals, with all four assisted by Dwayne De Rosario
8.
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
9.
Major League Soccer
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Major League Soccer is a mens professional soccer league, sanctioned by U. S. Soccer, that represents the sports highest level in both the United States and Canada. MLS constitutes one of the professional sports leagues of the United States. The league comprises 22 teams—19 in the U. S. and 3 in Canada, the MLS regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 games, the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters Shield. The postseason includes twelve teams competing in the MLS Cup Playoffs through November and December, culminating in the championship game, MLS teams also play in other domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in the U. S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship. MLS teams also compete against continental rivals in the CONCACAF Champions League, Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 with ten teams, MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, The league lost millions of dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and two teams folded in 2002. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is an entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the leagues investors. The investor-operators control their teams as owners control teams in other leagues, MLS headquarters is located in New York City. Major League Soccers regular season runs from March to October, teams are divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games in a schedule,23 matches against teams within their conference. Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, at the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters Shield. While MLS has looked into changing to a format, there are no current plans to do so. If the league were to change its schedule, a break would be needed, especially with several teams in colder climates. It would also have to compete with the more popular National Football League, National Hockey League, MLS teams also play in other competitions. Every year, up to five MLS teams play in the CONCACAF Champions League against other clubs from the CONCACAF region, two U. S. -based MLS teams qualify based on MLS regular-season results, the winner of the Western conference and the winner of the Eastern conference. The third U. S. team to qualify is the winner of the MLS Cup. A fourth U. S. -based MLS team can qualify via the U. S. Open Cup, Canadian MLS clubs play against lower division Canadian clubs in the Canadian Championship for the one Champions League spot allocated to Canada. MLSs 22 teams are divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences, each club is allowed up to 28 players on its first team roster
