1.
Estadio Ciudad de La Plata
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The Estadio Ciudad de La Plata is a multi-purpose stadium located in the city of La Plata, Argentina. Opened on June 7,2003, the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata is one of the most modern of Latin America and its tenants include Estudiantes LP and Gimnasia y Esgrima LP. Gimnasia returned to their stadium in mid-2008. It is located between 32nd and 526th avenues,25 Street and 21 and these fields also contain a small rugby stadium and a center for Physical Education, which tend to be intercollegiate events with schools in the area, such as the school No. 31, better known as the Saint Martin Commercial, besides the planned placement of the cover to the third stage, which will begin in 2009, by virtue of being made the first two stages. The idea of the began in 1947 when Governor Domingo Mercante expropriated the property located at the junction of Roads 32 and 25. In 1972, La Plata was to be a candidate to host matches in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, thus, after reviewing several alternatives, the construction of the stadium was proposed to take place in the area of the Center for Physical Education No.2. This determined as the most accessible area for a stadium in La Plata, in January 1992 it was signed into law 11118, which established the construction site. On April 21,1992, the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata Foundation was established, the College of Architects and Engineers held a meeting in April 1993 to choose an architectural proposal. It was awarded to Roberto Ferreira & Associates, in 1996 a permit was given by the Executive Branch that awarded the provincial administration the right to begin construction the following year. The Executive Unit called for tenders for the job. A year later they began building the supports for the roof, and in 1998, the governor Eduardo Duhalde and the Mayor of La Plata, Julio Alak, laid the first stone to begin the construction of the stadium. The stadium opened on June 7,2003, the stadium was temporarily closed to convert it into an all-seater stadium, and to install a new roof intended to cover all seats. Work had gone ahead of schedule and the roof was finished before the end of February, the stadium was officially reopened on February 17,2011, and its first match was played six days later between Estudiantes and Deportes Tolima for the Group 7 of the 2011 Copa Libertadores. The stadium has become a significant venue for musicians on tour. Over 300,000 tickets to events at the stadium were sold in 2011. The stadium has hosted at least two matches featuring the national team. The stadium was confirmed as one of seven venues to host the 2011 Copa América in Argentina including the opening game, La Plata ended up hosting a total of six matches
2.
Argentine Football Association
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The Argentine Football Association is the governing body of football in Argentina. It organises the Primera División and lower divisions, the Argentine Cup, Supercopa Argentina, the association is based in the city of Buenos Aires. Secondly, it organizes the amateur leagues for women, children, youth, Futsal. The Argentine Association Football League was founded on 21 February 1893 by Alexander Watson Hutton, the Argentine Association is the oldest in South America and one of the oldest to be formed outside Europe. In 1906 Florencio Martínez de Hoz became the first Argentine-born President of the Association, some teams moved to the FAF were Gimnasia y Esgrima, Independiente, Estudiantes de La Plata and Atlanta. The league lasted until 1914 when rejoining Asociación Argentina de Football forming a league for the 1915 season. The second dissident league was formed in 1919 and named Asociacion Amateurs de Football, the first round of the recently created professional championship was on 31 May 1931. With 75 presidents of different Argentine clubs voting, the day of the elections something went wrong when the final count resulted in a draw of 38 to 38, the explanation given was that one of the electors put a double vote and that mistake was not reported. As a result, the committee decided to postpone the election. After some meetings to put an end to the conflict, both agreed to have another election in June 2016. In June 2016, AFA president Luis Segura was charged with aggravated administrative fraud, Segura has been replaced on an interim basis by the AFAs executive secretary, Damián Dupiellet. The body has been renamed several times since its establishment in 1893,3 Expelled by the Argentine military dictatorship. 5 Then translated into Spanish as Asociación del Fútbol Argentino in 1946, official site Argentina at FIFA site
3.
Argentina national football team
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The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentinas home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their final appearance in 1978, beating the Netherlands at extra time. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany and they again made the World Cup finals in 1990, and lost 1–0 to West Germany following a controversial penalty call in the 87th minute. Argentina made their appearance in a World Cup final in 2014, again losing to Germany. Argentinas World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times and also winning the extra South American Championships in 1941,1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and the Argentine olympic team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Argentina, Brazil and France are the national teams that have won the three most important mens titles recognized by FIFA, the World Cup, the Confederations Cup. They have also won their continental championship. Argentina is known for having rivalries with Brazil, Uruguay, England, the first match ever recorded by Argentina was against Uruguay. The game was held in Montevideo on 16 May 1901 and Argentina won 3–2, during the first years of its existence, the Argentina national team only played friendly matches against other South American teams. The reasons for this varied, including long travel times between countries and World War I, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost, 4–2, to Uruguay. Argentina won in their final in 1978, beating the Netherlands. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany and their most recent World Cup final was in 2014, which they lost 1–0 to Germany. Previous to this their last World Cup final was in 1990, argentinas World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986. Argentina has been successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and an Argentina team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Argentina also won six of the 14 football competitions at the Pan American Games, in March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time
4.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
5.
FIFA Confederations Cup
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The FIFA Confederations Cup is an international association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the holders of each of the six championships, along with the FIFA World Cup holder. Since 2005, the tournament has been held in the nation that will host the FIFA World Cup in the following year, acting as a rehearsal for the larger tournament. However,2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar will not host 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup as announced by FIFA in 2015 due to Qatars high temperatures during the summer period. This is the first edition, since the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, the reigning Champion is Brazil who won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, by defeating Spain 3–0 in the final for a record fourth title. They will not be able to defend their title, as they were eliminated by Paraguay in a penalty shoot-out in the Quarter-Finals of the 2015 Copa América. The tournament was organized by and held in Saudi Arabia and called the King Fahd Cup, contested in 1992 and 1995 by the Saudi national side. In 1997, FIFA took over the organization of the tournament, named it the FIFA Confederations Cup, since 2005, it has been held every four years, in the year prior to each World Cup in the host country of the forthcoming World Cup. At the same time, participation was optional for the South American and European champions. Generally, the host nation, the World Cup holders, in those cases where a team meets more than one of the qualification criteria, another team is invited to participate, often the runner-up in a competition that the extra-qualified team won. On four occasions teams have not to participate in the tournament. In 1997, Germany were replaced by 1996 runners-up Czech Republic, and in 2003 they were replaced by Turkey, france,1998 World Cup winners, declined their place in the 1999 Confederations Cup, and were replaced by Brazil, the 1998 World Cup runners-up. Italy, UEFA Euro 2000 runners up, declined their place in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, an earlier tournament existed that invited former World Cup winners, the Mundialito, or Copa de Oro which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the first World Cup. Both of these are considered by some to be a form of a precursor to the Confederations Cup. The 8 qualified teams are drawn into two groups, two teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in a group, except if there are three teams from the same confederation. Every team plays all teams in their group once, for a total three matches. The top two teams of each advance to the semi-finals, with the winners of each group playing the runners-up of the other group. For the knockout stage if the score is drawn at the end of time, extra time is played and followed, if necessary
6.
Primera B Nacional
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Primera B Nacional is the second division of the Argentine football league system, made up of 23 teams in the 2016–17 season. It is played by teams all over the country. In the league system of Argentine football, Nacional B is the second-highest league, Primera B Nacional games are often transmitted to Argentina and abroad on television by TyC Sports. It was created in 1985 to integrate unaffiliated clubs into the Argentine football structure and it brought together teams from the old Primera B and regional leagues from several Argentine provinces. For the 2016-17 season, the participating teams will play each other twice for a total of forty-six matches. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss, teams are ranked by total points. The Champion and the team are automatically promoted to the Primera División. Four teams will be relegated at the end of the season, since the first season held in 1986-87, the following teams have crowned champions of the division, Official webpage
7.
Copa Argentina
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The tournament was re-launched in 2011, with teams of all divisions that form the Argentine football league system taking part of the championship. The winner of Copa Argentina qualifies for the Supercopa Argentina against the champions of Primera División. Boca Juniors is the most successful team with three titles, a new international competition, Copa Ganadores de Copa, would be held by CONMEBOL in 1970 as the South American equivalence of UEFA Cup Winners Cup. AFA thus started a cup competition, the Copa Argentina, in 1969, the competition was contested by 32 teams using a two-legged elimination format. Two points were awarded for winning a leg, one for a draw, the teams having more points would qualify to the next round. If both teams had numbers of point, it would be determined by the total number of goals, total number of goals conceded. Boca Juniors and Atlanta entered the final, Boca won the tournament by defeating Atlanta 3-2 on aggregate after two matches were played. However, as Boca later won the 1969 Nacional and qualified to the 1970 Copa Libertadores, the champions of Primera B, Ferro, also took part in the tournament, along with 13 top clubs from regional leagues. 32 teams played the competition and San Lorenzo and Vélez Sársfield entered the final, the tournament had been lasting for a long period in that year. Starting in March 1970, the first leg of the final was played in March 1971, at that time, the Copa Ganadores de Copa, which the winner of Copa Argentina would be qualifying for, had already started. Therefore, after the first leg of the Copa Argentina final was held, which the teams drew 2-2, no Argentine teams participated in the Copa Ganadores de Copa 1971. The reschedule of the Copa Argentina -officialized in 2011- includes 186 teams of 7 divisions of the Argentine football league system in a knock-out system competition, all the matches are disputed in neutral locations. The teams of the first division are included in rounds of 32, the champion of the tournament will qualify for the next edition of Copa Sudamericana. For the relaunching of the tournament, a new trophy was designed, the cup, made of aluminium, was manufactured at the Norberto Ambrosetti factory of Lobos, Buenos Aires. The 2012 final between Boca and Racing was scheduled many times due to fixture congestion, the match was finally played on August 8,2012, at the Estadio del Bicentenario in San Juan. Boca Juniors won its second trophy after defeating Racing Club by 2-1, the 2012–13 Copa Argentina was scheduled to begin October 23,2012 in a new two-phase knock-out competition. Arsenal defeated San Lorenzo and won its first trophy of this competition, the 2013–14 Copa Argentina began in October 30,2013 The following is the list with the finals played, Notes,1 San Lorenzo and Vélez Sarsfield qualified to play the finals. The first match ended 2–2, and the leg was never played so there was not a champion
8.
FIFA Club World Cup
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The FIFA Club World Cup is an international mens association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the sports global governing body. The competition was first contested in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship and it was not held between 2001 and 2004 due to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFAs marketing partner International Sport and Leisure. Since 2005, the competition has been every year, and has been hosted by Brazil, Japan. The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000, in 2005, after the Intercontinental Cups last edition, that competition was merged with the Club World Cups pilot edition and renamed the FIFA Club World Championship. In 2006, the tournament took its current name, the host nations national champions dispute a play-off against the Oceania champions, from which the winner joins the champions of Asia, Africa and North America at the quarter-finals. The quarter-final winners go on to face the European and South American champions, the current champions are Spains Real Madrid, who defeated Japans Kashima Antlers 4–2 in the final of the 2016 edition, to win a second title in the competition. European teams have been the most successful, with nine titles, the first club tournament to be billed as the Football World Championship was held in 1887, in which Scottish Cup champions Hibernian defeated English FA Cup semi-finalists Preston North End. According to FIFA, the first attempt at creating a club football tournament was in 1909,21 years before the first FIFA World Cup. The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was held in Italy in 1909 and 1911 and it was won by English amateur side West Auckland on both occasions. The idea that FIFA should organise international club competitions dates from the beginning of the 1950s, the competition was succeeded by another tournament, named Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer, which was won by Vasco da Gama. This tournament had five Brazilian sides, and three clubs, thus, losing half of its intercontinental aspect. In December 2007, FIFA turned down Palmeiras request to recognise the tournament as a Club World Cup since the participants were limited to two continents, although the competition was discontinued, it was held in high regard. FIFA board members Stanley Rous and Ottorino Barassi participated personally, albeit not in their capacity as FIFA members, Rous role was attributed to the negotiations with European clubs, whereas Barassi helped form the framework of the competition. Commenting on Juventus acceptance to participate in the tournament, the Italian press stated that an Italian club could not be missing in such an important and worldwide-reaching event. Because of the difficulty the CBF found in bringing European clubs to the competition, the Pequeña Copa del Mundo was a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, with a two short revivals in 1963 and in 1965. It was usually played by eight participants, half from Europe, after the late 1950s, the tournament rapidly lost status as the pedigree of its participants decreased. This competition, along with the creation of the European Cup, FIFA failed to authorise the competition in the 1960s. FIFA stated that they would prohibit the 1961 edition to be played out unless the organisers regarded the competition as a friendly or a match between two organisations
9.
Copa Libertadores
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The CONMEBOL Libertadores, named as Copa Libertadores de América, is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the tournament is currently sponsored by Bridgestone and is thus known as the CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone. The competition has had different formats over its lifetime. At the beginning, only the champions of the South American leagues participated, in 1966, the runners-up of the South American leagues began to join. In 1998, Mexican teams were invited to compete, and have contested regularly since 2000, today at least three clubs per country compete in the tournament, while Argentina and Brazil each have five clubs participating. Traditionally, a stage has always been used but the number of teams per group has varied several times. In the present format, the tournament consists of six stages, the six surviving teams from the first stage join 26 teams in the second stage, in which there are eight groups consisting of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the four stages, better known as the knockout stages. The winner of the Copa Libertadores becomes eligible to play in the FIFA Club World Cup, Independiente of Argentina are the most successful club in the cups history, having won the tournament seven times. Argentine clubs have accumulated the most victories with 24 wins, while Brazil has the largest number of different winning teams, the cup has been won by 24 different clubs,13 of which have won the title more than once, and won consecutively by six clubs. The clashes for the Copa Río de La Plata between the champions of Argentina and Uruguay kindled the idea of a competition in the 1930s. In 1948, the South American Championship of Champions, the most direct precursor to the Copa Libertadores, was played and organized by Chilean club Colo-Colo after years of planning, held in Santiago, it brought together the champions of each nations top national leagues. The tournament was won by Vasco da Gama of Brazil, in 1958, the basis and format of the competition was created by Peñarols board leaders. On March 5,1959, at the 24th South American Congress held in Buenos Aires, the competition was approved by the International Affairs Committee. In 1966, it was named in honor of the heroes of South American liberation, such as José Gervasio Artigas, Bernardo OHiggins, José de San Martín, Pedro I, the first edition of the Copa Libertadores took place in 1960. Seven teams participated, Bahia of Brazil, Jorge Wilstermann of Bolivia, Millonarios of Colombia, Olimpia of Paraguay, Peñarol of Uruguay, San Lorenzo of Argentina, all these teams were domestic champions of their respective leagues in 1959. The first Copa Libertadores match took place on April 19,1960 and it was won by Peñarol, who defeated Jorge Wilstermann 7–1. The first goal in Copa Libertadores history was scored by Carlos Borges of Peñarol, the Uruguayans won the first ever edition, defeating Olimpia in the finals, and successfully defended the title in 1961
10.
Copa Sudamericana
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The CONMEBOL Sudamericana is an annual international club football competition organized by the CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American football, CONCACAF clubs were invited between 2004 and 2008. The CONMEBOL Sudamericana began in 2002, replacing the separate competitions Copa Merconorte, since its introduction, the competition has been a pure elimination tournament with the number of rounds and teams varying from year to year. The CONMEBOL Sudamericana is considered a merger of defunct tournaments such as the Copa CONMEBOL, Copa Mercosur, the winner of the Copa Sudamericana becomes eligible to play in the Recopa Sudamericana. They gain entry onto the next edition of the Copa Libertadores and they also contest in the Supercopa Euroamericana and the Suruga Bank Championship. Argentine club Boca Juniors is the most successful club in the cup history, argentine clubs have accumulated the most victories with seven while containing the largest number of different winning teams, with a total of six clubs having won the title. The cup has been won by 11 different clubs and won consecutively once, in 1992, the Copa CONMEBOL was an international football tournament created for South American clubs that did not qualify for the Copa Libertadores and Supercopa Sudamericana. This tournament was discontinued in 1999 and replaced by the Copa Merconorte and these tournaments started in 1998 but were discontinued in 2001. In 2016, Brazilian team Chapecoense were travelling to the final when the plane carrying them crashed in Colombia, the opponents, Atlético Nacional, asked CONMEBOL to award the trophy to the Chapecoense. As of 2015 the tournament comprised 48 teams in a knockout format, the tournament shares its name with the trophy, also called the Copa Sudamericana or simply la Sudamericana, which is awarded to the Copa Sudamericana winner. La Otra Mitad de La Gloria is a promotional Spanish phrase used in the context of winning or attempting on winning the Copa Sudamericana and it is a term widely used by Latin American media. The tournament itself has become highly regarded among its participants since its inception, in 2004, Ciencianos conquest of the trophy ignited a party across Peru. The Mexican football federation regards Pachucas victory in 2006 as the most important title won by any Mexican club, sports Illustrated qualified Arsenal, unlikely contenders for the 2007 edition, as the underdog that couldnt be stopped. Like the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana was sponsored by a group of multinational corporations, like the premier South American club football tournament forementioned, the competition used a single, main sponsor. The first major sponsor was Nissan Motors, who signed an 8-year contract with CONMEBOL in 2003, however, the competition has had many secondary sponsors that invest in the tournament as well. Many of these sponsors are nationally based but have expanded to other nations, nike supplies the official match ball, as they do for all other CONMEBOL competitions. Embratel, a brand of Telmex, is the only sponsor of the tournament. Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Copa Sudamericana, clubs in the Copa Sudamericana receive $400,000 for qualifying for the competition
11.
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
12.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
13.
Culture
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Culture can be defined in numerous ways. In the words of anthropologist E. B, Tylor, it is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is the way of life, especially the customs and beliefs. As a defining aspect of what it means to be human, culture is a concept in anthropology. The word is used in a sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols. The level of cultural sophistication has also sometimes seen to distinguish civilizations from less complex societies. Mass culture refers to the mass-produced and mass mediated forms of culture that emerged in the 20th century. When used as a count noun, a culture is the set of customs, traditions, in this sense, multiculturalism is a concept that values the peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between different cultures inhabiting the same planet. Sometimes culture is used to describe specific practices within a subgroup of a society. Samuel Pufendorf took over this metaphor in a context, meaning something similar. His use, and that of many writers after him, refers to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human. To be cultural, to have a culture, is to inhabit a place sufficiently intensive to cultivate it—to be responsible for it, to respond to it, thus a contrast between culture and civilization is usually implied in these authors, even when not expressed as such. Cultural invention has come to any innovation that is new and found to be useful to a group of people and expressed in their behavior. Humanity is in a global accelerating culture change period, driven by the expansion of commerce, the mass media, and above all. Culture repositioning means the reconstruction of the concept of a society. Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change, Social conflict and the development of technologies can produce changes within a society by altering social dynamics and promoting new cultural models, and spurring or enabling generative action. These social shifts may accompany ideological shifts and other types of cultural change, for example, the U. S. feminist movement involved new practices that produced a shift in gender relations, altering both gender and economic structures. Environmental conditions may also enter as factors, Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices
14.
FIFA
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The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer. FIFA is responsible for the organisation of major international tournaments, notably the World Cup which commenced in 1930. FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden. Headquartered in Zürich, its membership now comprises 211 national associations, although FIFA does not control the rules of football, it is responsible for both the organization of a number of tournaments and their promotion, which generate revenue from sponsorship. In 2013, FIFA had revenues of over 1.3 billion U. S. dollars, for a net profit of 72 million and those among these officials who were also indicted in the U. S. are expected to be extradited to face charges there as well. Many officials were suspended by FIFAs ethics committee including Sepp Blatter, in early 2017 reports became public about FIFA president Gianni Infantino attempting to prevent the re-elections of both chairmen of the ethics committee during the FIFA congress in May 2017. The need for a body to oversee association football became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The French name and acronym are used even outside French-speaking countries, the founding members were the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Also, that day, the German Association declared its intention of affiliating through a telegram. The first president of FIFA was Robert Guérin, Guérin was replaced in 1906 by Daniel Burley Woolfall from England, by then a member of the association. Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina in 1912, Canada and Chile in 1913, and the United States in 1914. During World War I, with players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation was run by Dutchman Carl Hirschmann and it was saved from extinction, but at the cost of the withdrawal of the Home Nations, who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent World War enemies. The Home Nations later resumed their membership, the FIFA collection is held by the National Football Museum at Urbis in Manchester, England. The first World Cup in the world was in 1930 in Montevideo, FIFA is headquartered in Zürich, and is an association established under the Law of Switzerland. FIFAs supreme body is the FIFA Congress, a made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. Each national football association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength, the Congress assembles in ordinary session once every year, and extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. The congress makes decisions relating to FIFAs governing statutes and their method of implementation and application, only the Congress can pass changes to FIFAs statutes
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English Argentines
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English Argentines are citizens of Argentina, or the children of Argentine citizens brought up in Argentina, who can claim ancestry originating in England. The English settlement in Argentina, took place in the period after Argentinas independence from Spain through the 19th century, the United Kingdom had a strong economic influence in Argentina during the Victorian period. As the 19th century progressed more English families arrived, and many bought land to develop the potential of the Argentine pampas for the growing of crops. The English founded banks, developed the trade in crops and animal products. As well as those who went to Argentina as industrialists and major landowners, others went as railway engineers, civil engineers and to work in banking, others went to become whalers, missionaries and simply to seek out a future. English families sent second and younger sons, or what were described as the sheep of the family, to Argentina to make their fortunes in cattle. English settlers introduced football to Argentina, some English families owned sugar plantations. In a treaty of 1825, the United Kingdom became one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Argentina, at one point in the 19th century, ten per cent of British foreign investment was in Argentina, despite not being a colony. In 1939, 39% of investment in Argentina was British, English culture, or a version of it as perceived from outside, had a noted effect on the culture of Argentina, mainly in the middle classes. In 1888 local Anglo-Argentines established the Hurlingham Club, based on its namesake in London, the city of Hurlingham, Buenos Aires and Hurlingham Partido in Buenos Aires Province later grew up around the club and took their names from it. The Córdoba Athletic Club, one of the oldest sports clubs in Argentina, was founded in 1882 by English men that lived in Córdoba working in the railroads, in 1912 Harrods opened a department store in Buenos Aires, the only Harrods ever opened outside London. Harrods Buenos Aires became independent of Harrods in the 1940s but still traded under the Harrods name, the Richmond café on Florida Street is a notable tea venue near the Harrods department store, now turned into an exhibition hall. Belgrano R, within the Belgrano district, is another train station known for the British neighbourhood around it originated by the railway, an Anglican church from 1896 and the Buenos Aires English High School founded by Alexander Watson Hutton in 1884 are both located in this area. Also important are the railway terminals Retiro in the homonymous neighbourhood, there are numerous countryside stations in the Pampas. Around 100,000 Anglo-Argentines are the descendants of English immigrants to Argentina and they are one of the most successful immigrant groups of Argentina, gaining prominence in commerce, industry, and the professions. Many are noted by their ability to speak English in family circles with an undistinguishable English accent, an English-language newspaper, the Buenos Aires Herald, continues to be published daily in Buenos Aires. Anglo-Argentines have traditionally differed from their fellow Argentines by largely retaining strong ties with their country, including education. Many of the schools in Argentina are bilingual offering both English language and Spanish language, including Northlands School, St, marks College, Balmoral College, St. Albans College, St. Georges College, Belgrano Day School and Washington School
16.
Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata. The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Provinces capital, rather, in 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores, the 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996, previously, Buenos Aires is considered an alpha city by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires quality of life was ranked 81st in the world and one of the best in Latin America in 2012 and it is the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, and is known for its preserved Spanish/European-style architecture, Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires will host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 G20 summit, Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple ethnic and religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture, the hill was known to them as Buen Ayre, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, which is adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Aragonese built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill, in 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors, especially Andalusians, venerated this image and frequently invoked the Fair Winds to aid them in their navigation, a sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be later erected in Seville. Pedro de Mendoza called the city Holy Mary of the Fair Winds, mendoza’s settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, and was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, a second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción. Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form Buenos Aires became the common usage during the 17th century, the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As. It is common as well to refer to it as B. A. or BA /ˌbiːˈeɪ/ bee-AY), while BA is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more often use the abbreviation Baires, in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516 and his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay
17.
1978 FIFA World Cup
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The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, quadrennial international football world championship tournament, was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 at River Plates home stadium Estadio Monumental in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team, Argentina, the Netherlands and Brazil were the gold, silver and bronze medalists respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the finals, the official match ball was the Adidas Tango. Argentina was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London, Mexico withdrew from the bidding process after having been awarded the 1970 competition two years earlier. The logo is based on Juan Peróns signature gesture, a salute to the crowd with both arms extended above his head and this was one of the most famous, populist images of Perón. The design was created in 1974 two years prior to the coup in 1976. The military leadership were aware that the World Cups logo symbolized Peróns gesture, England failed to qualify for the second World Cup in succession, losing out to Italy. European champions Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union also failed to qualify for the finals, uruguay failed to qualify for the first time since 1958. Newcomers to the finals were Iran and Tunisia, Austria qualified for the first time since 1958, while France, Spain, for the first time, more than 100 nations entered the competition. A controversial fact surrounding the 1978 World Cup was that Argentina had suffered a military coup only two years before the cup, a known as the National Reorganization Process. Less than a year before the World Cup, in September 1977, Interior Minister General Albano Harguindeguy, because of the political turmoil, some countries, most notably the Netherlands, considered publicly whether they should participate in the event. Despite this, all teams eventually took part without restrictions, allegations that Dutch star Johan Cruyff refused to participate because of political convictions were denied by him 30 years later. More controversy surrounded the host, Argentina, as all of their games in the first round kicked off at night, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group. This issue would arise again in Spain 1982, which prompted FIFA to change the rules so that the two group games in subsequent World Cups would be played simultaneously. Further accusations surround the game Argentina and Peru played in the round of the tournament. Argentina needed to win by a margin of four goals to proceed to the final, however, claims that the Argentine military dictatorship interfered to ensure Argentina would defeat Peru, were denied by the Peruvian captain and several Peruvian players. Some accusations originated in the Brazilian media and pointed to the fact that the Peruvian goalkeeper had been born in Argentina, another alleged deal, published by a Colombian drug lord in a controversial book, involved the Peruvian team being bribed without any political implications
18.
1986 FIFA World Cup
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The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format, Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983. This was the third FIFA World Cup tournament in succession that was hosted by a Hispanophonic country, in addition to Spain hosting in 1982, Argentina was captained by the 25-year old Diego Maradona, who played a large part in his teams success. Maradona scored the Hand of God goal, as well as another voted Goal of the Century and these were two of the five goals that Maradona scored during the tournament, and he also created another five for his team-mates. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final at Mexico Citys Estadio Azteca, total attendance was 2,394,031, an average per match of 46,039. Canada, Denmark and Iraq made their first appearances at the final stage, the 1986 World Cup saw the appearance of the phenomenon dubbed the Mexican wave, which was popularised worldwide after featuring during the tournament. The format of the changed from 1982, with the second round being played on a knock-out basis rather than groups. The 24 teams qualified were divided into six groups of four, the top two teams and the four best third-place finishers from the six groups advanced to the knockout round of 16 teams. Colombia was originally chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1974, however, the Colombian authorities eventually declared in November 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup under the terms that FIFA demanded because of economic concerns. Mexico was selected on 20 May 1983 as the replacement hosts, beating the bids of Canada and the United States and this second World Cup in Mexico came 16 years after the first one in 1970. For the design of the logo an unofficial motto was adopted, the official mascot of the 1986 World Cup was Pique, a jalapeño pepper, characteristic of Mexican cuisine, with a moustache, a Colimote sombrero, and Mexican football team colours. Its name comes from picante, Spanish for spicy peppers and sauces, the character caused a degree of controversy within Mexico for its ethnic stereotypes. Three teams qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Canada, Denmark, Canada clinched its spot after winning the final match against Honduras 2–1 in St. Johns, Newfoundland. Iraq played all their matches on neutral ground because of the Iran–Iraq War. South Korea qualified for the first time since 1954, Paraguay for the first time since 1958, as of 2016, this was the last time that Hungary, Canada, Iraq and Northern Ireland qualified for the finals. The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the largest stadium used for the tournament, hosted 9 matches, Mexico City hosted 13 total matches, the Olimpico Universitario Stadium hosted 4 matches. The Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara hosted 7 matches, and the Cuauhtémoc Stadium in Puebla hosted 5 matches, all of the venues listed hosted knockout round matches except the ones in Nezahualcoyotl, Irapuato, Zapopan, Toluca and the Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey. Morocco and Portugal played in Guadalajara while Spain and Algeria played in Monterrey, for a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1986 FIFA World Cup squads
19.
1930 FIFA World Cup
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The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930, all matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America, the teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the United States, Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while American goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first official clean sheet in the tournament. Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Yugoslavia each won their groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Hungary and Uruguay all lodged applications to host the event. Uruguays bid became the clear selection after all the other countries withdrew their bids, the first World Cup was the only one without qualification. Every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to compete, and given a deadline of 28 February 1930 to accept, plenty of interest was shown by nations in the Americas, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the United States all entered. A total of seven South American teams participated, more than in any subsequent World Cup Finals. However, because of the long and costly trip by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, some refused to countenance travel to South America in any circumstances, and no European entries were received before the February deadline. This was rejected by the FA Committee on 18 November 1929, two months before the start of the tournament, no team from Europe had officially entered. FIFA president Jules Rimet intervened, and eventually four European teams made the trip by sea, Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The Romanians, managed by Constantin Rădulescu and coached by their captain Rudolf Wetzer and Octav Luchide and he selected the squad personally, and negotiated with employers to ensure that the players would still have jobs upon their return. The French entered at the intervention of Rimet, but neither Frances star defender Manuel Anatol nor the teams regular coach Gaston Barreau could be persuaded to make the trip. The Belgians participated at the instigation of German-Belgian FIFA vice-president Rodolphe Seeldrayers, the Romanians boarded the SS Conte Verde at Genoa, the French were picked up at Villefranche-sur-Mer on 21 June 1930, and the Belgians embarked at Barcelona. The Conte Verde carried Rimet, the trophy and the three designated European referees, the Belgians Jean Langenus and Henri Christophe, along with Thomas Balway, a Parisian who may have been English. The Brazilian team were picked up when the boat docked in Rio de Janeiro on 29 June before arriving in Uruguay on 4 July, Yugoslavia travelled via the mail steamship Florida from Marseille. In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia there were doubts about their participation at first, since the Croatians decided to boycott the national team, King Alexander I did not want to finance the whole idea, but in the end they found a solution
20.
1990 FIFA World Cup
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The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, teams representing 116 national football associations entered, and qualification began in April 1988. A total of 22 teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy, the tournament was won by West Germany, their third World Cup title. They beat Argentina 1–0 in the final, a rematch of the final four years earlier. Italy finished third, and England fourth, after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts and this was the last tournament to feature a team from the divided Germany, with the country being reunified later in 1990. Costa Rica, Ireland and the UAE made their first appearances in the finals, the official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico. The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups and it generated an average 2.21 goals per game – a record low that still stands – and a then-record 16 red cards, including the first ever dismissal in a final. This World Cup saw the introduction of the pre-match Fair Play Flag to encourage fair play, negative tactics led to the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992, and three points for a win instead of two at future World Cups. Nonetheless, the 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history and this was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japans NHK. At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, the vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 19 May 1984 in Zürich, Switzerland. Here, the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the rival bid. This awarding made Italy only the nation to host two World Cup tournaments, after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging. Italy had previously had the event in 1934, where they had won their first championship, Austria, England, France, Greece, West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for 31 July 1983 deadline. A month later, only England, Greece, Italy and the Soviet Union remained in the hunt after the other contenders all withdrew, all four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983, with the final decision over-running into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved. In early 1984, England and Greece also withdrew, leading to a race in the final vote. 116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup, including Italy as host nation and Argentina as reigning World Cup champions, thus, the remaining 22 finals places were divided among the continental confederations, with 114 initially entering the qualification competition. Due to rejected entries and withdrawals,103 teams eventually participated in the qualifying stages, thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams, three by CONMEBOL teams, two by CAF teams, two by AFC teams, and two by CONCACAF teams. The remaining place was decided by a play-off between a CONMEBOL team and a team from the OFC, chile were also banned from the 1994 qualifiers for this offence
21.
2014 FIFA World Cup
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The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for mens national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014 and it was the second time that Brazil staged the competition, and the fifth time that it was held in South America. Thirty-one national teams advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final tournament, a total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, FIFA Fan Fests in each host city gathered a total of 5 million people, and the country received 1 million visitors from 202 countries. Every World Cup-winning team since the first edition in 1930 – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Spain, the title holders, were eliminated at the group stage, along with England and Italy. Uruguay were eliminated in the round of 16, and France exited in the quarter-finals, Brazil, who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7–1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place. Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas, as the winners, Germany qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. With 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa, it would be the second consecutive World Cup outside of Europe and it was also second in the Southern Hemisphere. Only Brazil and Colombia formally declared their candidacy but, after the withdrawal of the latter from the process, following qualification matches played between June 2011 and November 2013, the following 32 teams – shown with their last pre-tournament FIFA world ranking – qualified for the final tournament. Twenty-four of these teams were returning participants from the 2010 World Cup, Bosnia and Herzegovina were the only team with no previous appearance at the World Cup finals. Colombia qualified for the World Cup after 16 years of absence, while Russia, the highest ranked team to not qualify was Ukraine, while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was Australia. The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight groups, in preparation for this, the teams were organised into four pots with the seven highest-ranked teams joining host nation Brazil in the seeded pot. As with the tournaments, FIFA aimed to create groups which maximised geographic separation. The draw took place on 6 December 2013 at the Costa do Sauípe resort in Bahia, under the draw procedure, one randomly drawn team – Italy – was firstly relocated from Pot 4 to Pot 2 to create four equal pots of eight teams. In March 2013, FIFA published a list of 52 prospective referees, each paired, on the basis of nationality, on 14 January 2014, the FIFA Referees Committee appointed 25 referee trios and eight support duos representing 43 different countries for the tournament. Yuichi Nishimura from Japan acted as referee in the opening match whereas Nicola Rizzoli from Italy acted as referee in the final, as with the 2010 tournament, each teams squad consists of 23 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad no later than 10 days before the start of the tournament, teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game. During a match, all remaining squad members not named in the team are available to be one of the three permitted substitutions
22.
1992 King Fahd Cup
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The 1992 King Fahd Cup, named after Fahd of Saudi Arabia, was the first association football tournament of the competition that would later be known as the FIFA Confederations Cup. It was hosted by Saudi Arabia in October 1992, and was won by Argentina, the 1992 tournament was the only one not to feature a group stage and only featured four nations. All matches were played at the 67, 000-capacity King Fahd II Stadium in Riyadh, in total,18 goals were scored by 16 different players, with none of them credited as own goal. 2 goals Gabriel Batistuta Bruce Murray 1 goal RSSSF Intercontinental Champions Cup Saudi Arabia 1992, FIFA. com
23.
Argentina national under-23 football team
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The Argentina Olympic football team represents Argentina in international football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, the team is controlled by the Argentine Football Association. Argentina took part for the first time in 1928 Summer Olympics held in the Netherlands, the team advanced to the final after defeating United States with a thrashing 11–2 in the first round, and Belgium in the second. In the semi-finals, the team smashed Egypt by 6–0 to qualify for the final against Uruguay. The first match ended in a 1–1 tie so a game had to be played three days later. In the decisive match, Uruguay won the tournament after defeating Argentina 2–1, the Argentine line-up was Bossio, Bidoglio, Paternóster, Médice, Monti, Evaristo, Carricaberri, Tarasconi, Ferreira, Perduca, Orsi. In 1932 no football tournament was held, restarting the activities in 1936, because of an agreement between FIFA and IOC, only amateur players were allowed to play the football tournaments from then on. Argentina returned to competition in the 1960 games held in Rome. The squad was eliminated in the first round after a 3–2 loss to Denmark, although the team won its games against Tunisia. Argentinas next participation was in the 1964 Summer Olympics organized by Tokyo, where the finished in the last position of the groupd after a 1–1 draw with Ghana. Since then, Argentina had an absence of the games. The national team returned for the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, in the group stage, Argentina tied 1–1 to the United States then defeated South Korea 2–1, finishing second to the Soviet Union and qualifying to the next stage. In the quarter-finals, Argentina lost to Brazil 2–1, being eliminated from the competition, since 1992, male competitors must be under 23 years old, then since 199623 years old players with three over-23 players allowed per squad. Nevertheless, Argentina did not qualify to play that edition, Argentina came back to the competition in the 1996 edition held in Atlanta, United States. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the IOC allowed football representatives to register a maximum of three above-23 players, the Argentine players registered under that condition were Diego Simeone, José Chamot and Roberto Sensini. Former senior team captain Daniel Passarella was the manager, the national team debuted with a 3–1 victory over the United States, then tied to Portugal and Tunisia, both 1–1, to finish first the group and qualify for the second round. In the quarter-finals, Argentina trashed Spain 4–0 which allowed the team to pass to the semi-finals, after 66 years since the first final played in Amsterdam, Argentina reached its second Olympic final. The match was played on 3 August 1996 and Argentina lost to Nigeria 2–3
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Argentina national under-20 football team
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The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA World Youth Championship, the team has participated in 14 of the 20 World Championship events, since the 1979 edition, which they won. Argentina has also won five South American Youth Championships, Argentina did not participate of the first youth championship held in Tunisia. The first appearance of a team in an under-20 competition was two years later at the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Tokyo. Diego Maradona and Ramón Díaz were the leaders and most notable players of the squad. The tournament was also the first official championship played by Maradona in a national team, Argentina debuted in Group B thrashing Indonesia 5–0 in the first match, beating Yugoslavia 1–0 in the second and defeating Poland in the third match, 4–1. The youth squad finished first in the group with ten goals scored, en route to the final, Argentina hammered Algeria 5–0, then defeated arch-rival Uruguay 2–0. In the final against the Soviet Union on 7 September, the team won 3–1, Ramón Díaz won the Golden Shoe as the topscorer, with eight goals, while Maradona was awarded the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament. Apart from Maradona and Díaz, other players of the team were Juan Simón, Hugo Alves, Gabriel Calderón, Juan Barbas. That team is regarded as one of the best Argentine national squads ever. Argentina attended the tournament, hosted by Australia in 1981. The squad was defeated by the local host, then achieving a draw with England, Argentina did not qualify to the next stage, however, earning only three points after three matches played. The national team made a better performance at the 1983 championship hosted by Mexico. On the first round, Argentina thrashed China 5–0, then widely defeated Austria and beat Czechoslovakia in the last game, the team finished first in the group with zero goals conceded. In the quarter-finals, Argentina defeated Netherlands 2–1 and Poland 1–0 in the semi-finals, on 19 June 1983, Argentina played the final against Brazil, falling 1–0 at the Estadio Azteca. The team was coached by Carlos Pachamé, designated by the Senior team coach, Carlos Bilardo, to work with youth players. Argentina did not qualify to play the 1985 and 1987 championships, Argentina was defeated by Spain in the first match. The team recovered winning the game to Norway 2–0, but although it lost the last match to Iraq
25.
FIFA U-20 World Cup
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The Championship has been awarded every two years since the first tournament in 1977 held in Tunisia. In the nineteen tournaments held, only nine nations have won the title, argentina is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Brazil with five titles. Portugal and Serbia won two titles, while Ghana, Germany, Spain, France and Russia have won the title once each. A corresponding event for teams, the FIFA U-20 Womens World Cup, began in 2002 with the name FIFA U-19 Womens World Championship. FIFA Coca-Cola Cup until 1997, features 24 teams in the final tournament,23 countries, including the defending champions, have to qualify in the six confederations Youth Championships. Key, a. e. t. – after extra time PSO – match won on penalty shootout Below are the 34 nations that have reached at least the semifinal in the U-20 World Cup finals. All continental confederations except for the OFC have made an appearance in the match of the tournament. To date, CONMEBOL leads with eleven titles, followed by UEFA with eight titles, teams from the AFC and CONCACAF have made the tournament final three times, but were defeated by CONMEBOL or UEFA sides. No current OFC member has made the semifinals. Australia reached the semifinals as an OFC member in 1993, finishing fourth,1 =1 as Yugoslavia 2 = as part of OFC. The Adidas Golden Ball award is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament and it is selected by the media poll. Since the 2007 tournament, those who finish as runners-up in the vote receive the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards as the second, the Adidas Golden Shoe is awarded to the topscorer of the tournament. If more than one players are equal by same goals, the players will be selected based by the most assists during the tournament, the Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. FIFA Fair Play Award is given to the team who has the best fair play record during the tournament with the set by FIFA Fair Play Committee. Most World Cup appearances 18, Brazil, most consecutive finals tournaments 15, Brazil
26.
Intercontinental Cup (football)
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The competition has since been replaced by the FIFA Club World Cup. From its formation in 1960 to 1979, the competition was contested over a two legged tie, with a playoff if necessary until 1968, and penalty kicks later. During the 1970s, European participation in the Intercontinental Cup became a question due to controversial events in the 1969 final. From 1980 until 2004, the competition was contested over a match held in Japan and sponsored by multinational automaker Toyota, which offered a secondary trophy. All the winning teams are regarded by mass media and footballs community as world champions. The first winner of the cup was Spanish side Real Madrid, the last winner was Portuguese side Porto, defeating Colombian side Once Caldas in a penalty shoot-out in 2004. The aforementioned final match of the 1957 Tournoi de Paris, as well as a Real Madrid C. F and it was the brainchild of UEFA president Henri Delaunay, who also helped Jules Rimet in the realization of the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930. Initially played over two legs, with a match if required in the early years, the competition had a rather turbulent existence. The first winners of the competition were Spanish club Real Madrid, Real Madrid managed to hold Uruguayan side Peñarol 0-0 in Montevideo and trounce the South Americans 5-1 in Madrid to win. In 1962 the tournament grew more in worldwide attention after it was swept through the football of a Santos team led by Pelé. Santos would successfully defend the title in 1963 after being pushed all the way by Milan, after each side won 4-2 at their respective home legs, a playoff match at the Maracanã saw Santos keep the title after a tight 1-0 victory. The competition had attracted the interest of other continents, the North and Central America condeferation, CONCACAF, had asked, unsuccessfully, to participate. Milans fierce rivals, Inter Milan, would go on to win the 1964 and 1965 editions, Peñarol gain revenge for their loss in 1960 by crushing Real Madrid 4-0 in aggregate in 1966. During this time, the competition became dogged by foul play, calendar problems, acts of brutality, even on the pitch, and boycotts tarnished its image, to the point of bringing into question the wisdom of organizing it at all. A fourth Celtic player was dismissed, but amid the chaos he got away with staying on. The following season, Argentine side Estudiantes de La Plata faced Englands Manchester United in which the return leg saw Estudiantes come out on top of a bad-tempered series, but it was the events of 1969 which damaged the competitions integrity. After a 3-0 win at San Siro, Milan went to Buenos Aires to play Estudiantes at La Bombonera, Estudiantes players booted balls at the Milan team as they warmed up and hot coffee was poured on the Italians as they emerged from the tunnel by Estudiantes fans. Estudiantes resorted to inflicting elbows and allegedly even needles at the Milanese team in order to intimidate them, pierino Prati was knocked unconscious and continued for a further 20 minutes despite suffering from a mild concussion
27.
Women's association football
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Womens association football, also commonly known as womens soccer, is the most prominent team sport played by women around the globe. It is played at the level in numerous countries throughout the world and 176 national teams participate internationally. The history of football has seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels. Womens football has faced many struggles throughout its history, the ban stayed in effect until July 1971. Women may have been playing football for as long as the game has existed, evidence shows that an ancient version of the game was played by women during the Han Dynasty. Two female figures are depicted in Han Dynasty frescoes, playing Tsu Chu, there are, however, a number of opinions about the accuracy of dates, the earliest estimates at 5000 BCE. Reports of a match being played in Scotland are reported as early as the 1790s. The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow, in England, the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895. Association football, the game, also has documented early involvement of women. In Europe, it is possible that 12th-century French women played football as part of that eras folk games, an annual competition in Mid-Lothian, Scotland during the 1790s is reported, too. In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardized rules to prohibit violence on the pitch, the most well-documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. It was named the British Ladies Football Club, Honeyball and those like her paved the way for womens football. However the womens game was frowned upon by the British football associations and it has been suggested that this was motivated by a perceived threat to the masculinity of the game. Womens football became popular on a scale at the time of the First World War. The most successful team of the era was Dick, Kerrs Ladies of Preston, some speculated that this may have also been to envy of the large crowds that womens matches attracted. This led to the formation of the English Ladies Football Association, in August 1917, a tournament was launched for female munition workers teams in northeast England. Officially titled the Tyne Wear & Tees Alfred Wood Munition Girls Cup, the first winners of the trophy were Blyth Spartans, who defeated Bolckow Vaughan 5–0 in a replayed final tie at Middlesbrough on 18 May 1918. Following the FA ban on womens teams on 5 December 1921, a silver cup was donated by the first president of the association, Len Bridgett
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Argentina women's national football team
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The Argentina womens national football team represents Argentina in international womens football. Since there is no league in Argentina, almost all its members were amateur players until 1991. Nevertheless, Argentina follows Brazil in the CONMEBOL standings, on November 26,2006, in the finals of the 2006 Sudamericano Femenino, Argentina beat Brazil to take the title. At the final, they win the medal by a 2–1 victory against Chile. Despite a lack of investment, Argentina still managed to qualify for their first two Womens World Cup in USA2003 and China 2007, though they were eliminated in the Group Stage of both tournaments. Roster for the 2014 Copa América Femenina Head coach, Luis Nicosia Argentina national football team Argentina and Brazil football rivalry Official website FIFA profile
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FIFA Women's World Cup
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The competition has been held every four years since 1991, when the inaugural tournament, then called the Womens World Championship, was held in China. Under the tournaments current format, national teams vie for 23 slots in a qualification phase. The tournament proper, alternatively called the World Cup Finals, is contested at venues within the host nation over a period of one month. The seven FIFA Womens World Cup tournaments have been won by four different national teams, including the United States, the current champion is the United States, after winning their third title in the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup. Twelve national teams took part in the competition – four from UEFA, the tournament saw European champion Norway defeat Sweden 1–0 in the final to win the tournament, while Brazil clinched third place by beating the hosts in a penalty shootout. The competition was deemed a success and on 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup, again, twelve teams competed, this time culminating in the United States beating Norway in the final 2-1. In the 1999 edition, one of the most famous moments of the tournament was American defender Brandi Chastains victory celebration after scoring the Cup-winning penalty kick against China. She took off her jersey and waved it over her head, showing her muscular torso, the 1999 final in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California had an attendance of 90,185, a world record for a womens sporting event. The 1999 and 2003 Womens World Cups were both held in the United States, in 2003 China was supposed to host it, but the tournament was moved because of SARS. As compensation, China retained its automatic qualification to the 2003 tournament as host nation, germany hosted the 2011 FIFA Womens World Cup, as decided by vote in October 2007. In March 2011, FIFA awarded Canada the right to host the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup, the 2015 edition saw the field expand from 16 to 24 teams. Christie Rampone is the oldest player to play in a Womens World Cup match. In March 2015, FIFA awarded France the right to host the 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup over South Korea, the final tournament has featured between twelve and twenty-four national teams competing over about one month in the host nation. There are two stages, the stage followed by the knockout stage. In the group stage, teams are drawn into groups of four teams each, each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round of matches of group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. In the 2015 24-team format, the two teams finishing first and second in group and the four best teams among those ranked third qualify for the round of 16. Points are used to rank the teams within a group, since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss
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2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
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Originally, China was to host the 2003 Womens World Cup, but the outbreak of SARS in that country forced that event to be moved to the United States. FIFA immediately granted the 2007 event to China, which means no new host nation was chosen competitively until the voting was held for the 2011 Womens World Cup. The tournament opened with a match in Shanghai, as Germany beat Argentina 11–0 to register the biggest win. The tournament ended with Germany defeating Brazil 2–0 in the final, the Germans became the first national team in FIFA Womens World Cup history to obtain two consecutive titles. The venues selected to host the competition are, Numerous TV stations across the world provide coverage of the tournament, one notable example is the Chinese-language channel CCTV-5 which is available as a free internet feed through TVUnetworks. The best three performing UEFA teams will qualify for the Olympics, originally it was thought that, should England make the top three European teams, they would compete under the United Kingdom banner. However, on 6 September 2007, FIFA issued a press release indicating that England are ineligible to participate in the 2008 Olympics as England does not have its own Olympic Committee. For the determination of the only first through fourth place. If there is a need to make a distinction between teams eliminated in the quarterfinal or between teams eliminated in the group phase these teams meet in a play-off match. In no case will the points or goals count for teams eliminated before the semi-final, Germany and Norway qualified for the Olympics at the World Cup, whereas Denmark and Sweden had to enter a play-off for the third Olympics spot. Sweden won both legs of the playoffs with a total of 7−3 agg. to qualify for the Olympics, the group draw took place on 22 April 2007 in Wuhan after the completion of the qualifying rounds. FIFA automatically seeded the host and defending champions, slotting China and Germany into Group D and Group A, the FIFA Womens World Ranking for March 2007 was used to determine the teams to occupy the other seeded positions, B1 and C1. United States were ranked first, Germany second and Norway third, so the United States and Norway were also seeded. Also, no two teams from the confederation could draw each other, except for those from UEFA. The same four teams were drawn together in Group A in the 2003 FIFA Womens World Cup, on occasion the USA. Also in 2015 The United States and Sweden would meet in the group of death again and this time it was with Nigeria and Australia as group mates. The four teams were paired in the same group in 2003. The following awards were given for the tournament, Marta of Brazil won the Golden Shoe award for scoring seven goals, in total,111 goals were scored by 64 different players, with three of them credited as own goals. com FIFA Technical Report
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Campeonato Sudamericano Femenino
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The Copa América Femenina is the main competition in womens association football between national teams of the CONMEBOL. It was first held in 1991, in the first two editions of the tournament only one team qualified for the FIFA Womens World Cup. In the third edition the champions qualified automatically, while the runner-up of the tournament faced a team from the CONCACAF in a match to reach the World Cup. In the fourth edition two automatic spots were given for the 2003 World Cup, to the champions and the second placed team respectively, there are also Under-20 and Under-17 Copa América Femenina versions. Note, represents that the tournament was held as Round-robin tournament. So far only Bolivia has not yet reached a top four position in a tournament
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Futsal
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Futsal, or futsala, is a variant of association football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It can be considered a version of five-a-side football, Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is the goalkeeper. Unlike some other forms of football, the game is played on a hard court surface delimited by lines. Futsal is also played with a smaller ball, the surface, ball and rules create an emphasis on improvisation, creativity, and technique as well as ball control and passing in small spaces. Futsal comes from Spanish fútbol sala or fútbol de salón and from Portuguese futebol de salão, the term is commonly translated as indoor football but a more literal translation is hall/lounge football. During the sports world championships held in Madrid in 1985. Since then, all names have been officially and internationally changed to futsal. The naming was due to a dispute between FIFUSA and FIFA over the name of fútbol, FIFUSA has registered the word fut-sal in 1985, since then FIFA has also started using the term futsal. The name has been translated into Italian as calcio a 5 or football sala, Futsal started in 1930 when Juan Carlos Ceriani, a teacher in Montevideo, Uruguay, created a version of indoor football for recreation in YMCAs. This new sport was developed for playing on basketball courts. The YMCA spread the game immediately throughout South America and it was easily played by everyone, everywhere, and in any weather condition, even in winter, without any difficulty, helping players to stay in shape all year round. These reasons convinced João Lotufo, a Brazilian, to bring this game to his country, initially, the rules were not uniform. In 1956, the rules were modified by Habib Maphuz and Luiz Gonzaga de Oliveira Fernandes within the YMCA of São Paulo Brazil to allow seniors to compete, Luiz de Oliveira wrote the Book of Rules of Fuitsal in 1956, then adopted also at the international level. In 1965 the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol de Salón was formed, consisting of Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina, shortly after, a unique tournament was organized. It attracted some interest in South American media, which began to follow futsal. The sport began to spread across South America, and its popularity ensured the formation of a body in São Paulo in 1971. FIFUSA initially comprised Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the new institution counted 32 participating countries and its first President was João Havelange joined by the secretary Luiz Gonzaga de Oliveira. In 1975, the Federation’s chief passed to FIFA, and in 1980, the Federation then began to work to bring the big event to Europe
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FIFUSA/AMF Futsal World Cup
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The AMF Futsal World Championships is the international championships for futsal, the indoor version of football organized by FIFUSA and AMF. The world championship tournament was held three years until 2003, and now is played every four years. The first event was held in 1982 in Brazil, the South American teams have won most of the championships, with Colombia and Paraguay as the most successful teams with 3 titles each. Since 2008, a tournament is also held. As of 2016, only two tournaments has been played, the 2008 edition in Catalonia and the 2013 edition in Colombia. com FIFUSA World Championship
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FIFA Futsal World Cup
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The FIFA Futsal World Cup is the international championship for futsal, the indoor version of association football organized by FIFA. The world championship tournament is held four years, on the even year between two football World Cups. The first event was held in 1989, the year FIFA became the governing body of futsal. It was held in the Netherlands to commemorate the popularity of the game there, up until the 2016 World Cup, only two countries have taken the Futsal World Cup, Brazil winning five, and Spain winning two. In 2008 Brazil became the first host country to win the Championship beating Spain in a penalty shootout, Brazil also won the 2012 competition, defeating Spain. All events prior to the 2008 World Cup has been 16-team events, the first event featured 6 from Europe,3 from South America,2 from Africa,2 from Asia,2 from North and Central America, and 1 from Oceania. The 2012 event included 24 teams, making it the largest group and this edition featured a six group round-robin tournament, with four teams in each group. The top two teams in group, together with the 4 highest-ranked third-place finishers, advanced to a sixteen team knockout final series. The adidas Golden Ball award is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament and it is selected by the media poll. The adidas Golden Shoe is awarded to the topscorer of the tournament, if more than one players are equal by same goals, the players will be selected based by the most assists during the tournament. The Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament, goal of the Tournament is awarded to the best goal of the tournament. FIFA Fair Play Award is given to the team who has the best fair play record during the tournament with the set by FIFA Fair Play Committee. AMF Futsal World Cup Futsal Confederations Cup Womens Futsal World Tournament FIFA Futsal World Cup, FIFA. com RSSSF archive
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Paralympic association football
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Paralympic football consists of adaptations of the sport of association football for athletes with a physical disability. The two most prominent versions of Paralympic football are 5-a-side football for athletes with visual impairments, 5-a-side football, also known as futsal and blind football, is an adaptation of football for athletes with visual impairments including blindness. The sport, governed by the International football Sports Federation, is played with modified FIFA rules, the field of play is smaller, and is surrounded by boards. Teams are reduced to five players, including the goalkeeper, per team, teams may also use one guide, who is positioned off the field of play, to assist in directing players. The ball is equipped with a device to allow players to locate it by sound. Matches consist of two 25-minute halves, with a break at half-time. B2 - Partially sighted, able to recognise the shape of a hand up to an acuity of 2/60 or a visual field of less than 5 degrees. For Class B1 games, only athletes with sport class B1 are permitted as players, with the exception of the goalkeepers and the guides, who may be class B2, B3, or sighted. For Class B2/B3 games, teams can field players in sport classes B2 and B3, 5-a-side football in Europe was developed in Spain. The first Spanish national championships took place in Spain in 1986, in South America, there are records of a Brazilian Tournament organized in 1980. European and American Championships took place in 1997, followed by the first World Championships in 1998, the sport was added to the Summer Paralympic Games in 2004. Brazil was champion of the tournaments in 1998,2000,2010 and 2014. 7-a-side football is an adaptation of football for athletes with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, including stroke. The sport is governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association, the sport is played with modified FIFA rules. Among the modifications are a field of play, a reduction in the number of players, elimination of the offside rule. Matches consist of two halves, with a fifteen-minute half-time break. Players competing in 7-a-side football are given a class based on their level of disability. Eligible classes are, C5, Athletes with difficulties walking and running
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Beach football
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Beach soccer, also known as beach football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. The game emphasises skill, agility and shooting at goal, whilst football has been played informally on beaches for many years, the introduction of beach soccer was an attempt to codify rules for the game. This was done in 1992 by the founders of Beach Soccer Worldwide and this was a major foundation for what is now known as beach soccer and what has led to the sport rapidly growing in popularity. The irregularity of the playing surface leads to a totally different style of play than is used in football. The compact field, much smaller than a football field, allows players to score from anywhere on the sand. With an average of scoring rate of one every three or four minutes, around eleven goals are scored in total during an average game. Beach soccer started in Brazil, more precisely at Leme beach, Rio de Janeiro, Beach soccer had been played recreationally all over the world for many years and in many different formats. In 1992 the laws of the game were envisioned and an event was staged by the founding partners of BSWW in Los Angeles. By 1993, the first professional beach soccer competition was organized at Miami Beach, with teams from the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Italy taking part. In April 1994 the first event to be covered by network television transmissions was held on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, the competition was won by the host nation, making Brazil the first ever World Champions of Beach Soccer. The success of the tournament saw commercial interest begin to match developments on the field and growing demand for the sport around the world gave rise to the Pro Beach Soccer Tour in 1996. The first Pro Beach Soccer Tour included a total of 60 games in two years across South America, Europe, Asia and the United States, attracting major names both on and off the field. The EPBSL, now known as the Euro BS League, brought together from across the continent and satisfied the demands of the media, sponsors. Only four years on from its creation, the successful first step in the building of a worldwide competition structure for the sport of pro beach soccer had been taken. L. in April 2000. The EPBSL was also flourishing, a nail-biting 2000 season was decided in the match of the final tournament when Spain beat Portugal in an intense encounter. In August 2011, Olympic news outlet Around the Rings reported that beach soccer could be vying for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics, FIFA President Sepp Blatter reportedly spoke recently with Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman about including beach soccer on the Olympic agenda. The next four years would see this growth consolidated by further progress both on and off the field, with the EPBSL emerging as the strongest pro beach soccer competition in the world. By 2004, some seventeen nations had entered teams, with this number expected to rise to over stage events, france won the first world cup and the next year Brazil won it at the same venue
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FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
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The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the mens national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sports global governing body. The tournament was established in 1995 as the Beach Soccer World Championship, taking place every year for the decade under the supervision of Beach Soccer Worldwide. Since 2009, the tournament has taken every two years to allow continental tournaments to flourish without the burden of the World Cup qualifiers crowding the schedule every 12 months. The first edition held outside Brazil was in 2008 in Marseille, the current tournament format lasts over 10 days and involves 16 teams competing initially in four groups of four teams. The group winners and runners-up advance to a series of stages until the champion is crowned. The losing semi-finalists play each other in a match to determine the third. The most recent edition was held in Espinho, Portugal, eight teams were selected to take part, without going through a qualification process. However Brazil, the hosts, dominated and easily won the cup without losing a game, the tournament was successful and BSWW announced that the competition would take place every year. By 1997, more teams had already stated their interest in participating, Brazil continued to dominate, despite this change. Immediately, BSWW extended to 12 teams for 1999, spreading their selection across five continents, however, with all these changes it still took until the 2001 World Cup for Brazil to lose the title after winning the competition six years on the run since the establishment. It was Portugal who won the tournament, with Brazil finishing in a fourth place. With this change of champions, more countries thought there was a chance for themselves to win the tournament, not surprisingly, Brazil reclaimed their title in 2002, when BSWW reduced the number of contestants back to eight. The last Beach Soccer World Championship to be organised purely by BSWW was in 2004 when twelve teams played, in 2005, FIFA paired up with BSWW to co-organise the World Cup, although FIFA seem to have the most control. They kept the tradition of holding the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and continued to allow 12 teams to participate and it was Eric Cantonas France that won the competition, after beating Portugal on penalties in the final. The tournament was deemed a success and therefore FIFA took advantage. For the 2006 competition and beyond, FIFA decided to standardise the participants to 16 countries and it was then that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifiers were also established, that would take place throughout the year. Again this decision was a one and more countries became interested in a now standard FIFA competition. Since the World Cup had become a worldwide, FIFA decided to have a change of venue
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Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground
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Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground was a cricket ground in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The ground, located in the Palermo district, gained historic relevance because the first football and rugby union matches in Argentina were played there. The football match disputed in the BACC was such a success that some members would go on to found the Buenos Aires Football Club, for years to come both clubs would share installations and members with BACC playing cricket in summer and BAFC playing football in winter. The first recorded match on the ground came in 1891 when the North of Argentina played the South of Argentina. The ground later held its first first-class match in 1912 when Argentina national team played the touring Marylebone Cricket Club, the second first-class match held on the ground came in 1927 in a repeat of the 1912 fixture, which this time resulted in an Argentine victory by 29 runs. The last recorded match came in March 1947 between the Argentine Cricket Association Colts North and Argentine Cricket Association Colts South, stadiums at Argentina Cricket Association website Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground at CricketArchive
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Palermo, Buenos Aires
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Palermo is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. With a total area of 17.4 km2, Palermo is the largest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, as of 1991 it had a population of 256,927 inhabitants. It is the only barrio within the division of Comuna 14. The name of the district is derived from the still-existing Franciscan abbey of Saint Benedict of Palermo, Saint Benedict the Moor lived from 1526 to 1589 and is a complementary patron saint of Palermo, the capital city of Sicily. Juan Manuel de Rosas built a residence there which was confiscated after his fall in 1852. The most upmarket part of Palermo, Palermo Chico, is on Palermos north-eastern edge, across Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, once a quarter full of splendid mansions set in broad private parks, many have unfortunately since been demolished by developers. The area nevertheless remains one of the wealthiest in the city, home to luxury condominium and apartment developments, MALBA, is located next door between Barrio Parque and the Paseo Alcorta shopping centre. Alto Palermo is downtown Palermo, the shopping area and transport hub around Santa Fe Avenue. Centered on Las Heras Park and the Alto Palermo Shopping Center, Palermo Norte is located along Libertador Avenue to the northwest of Palermo Chico, and the site of landmarks such as the Argentine Automobile Club and the National Museum of Decorative Arts. Villa Freud, based around Plaza Güemes, is an area known for its high concentration of psychoanalysts and psychiatrists. The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center was built in the 1990s just east of the Polo fields, the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers headquarters and other military installations, such as the Central Military Hospital and the Military Geographic Institute, are located to the south. La Imprenta, west of Las Cañitas, borders the Belgrano ward, one of its best-known landmarks is the Parish of San Benito Abad and the neighboring Solar de la Abadía shopping gallery. Palermo Viejo is, as its name implies, the oldest part and it runs from Santa Fe Avenue south to Córdoba Avenue, and from Avenida Dorrego east to Coronel Díaz Street. The neighborhood is centred on Plaza Palermo Viejo, and reflects an older Spanish Colonial Revival style in architecture, the new headquarters of the National Research Council, opened in 2011 in the refurbished former GIOL winery, is a notable recent example of this trend. Such well-known figures as Jorge Luis Borges and Che Guevara once lived in this ward, borgess poem Fundacion mitica de Buenos Aires names a typical square adjacent to his childhood home, a popular tourist landmark. Palermo Soho is an area of Palermo Viejo around Plaza Serrano on Serrano near Palermos south-western edge. It is a fashionable area for fashion, design, restaurants, bars. The atmosphere in many cafés and restaurants strives to be alternative, the traditional low houses have been adapted into boutiques and bars, creating a bohemian feel
