UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues, previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, in 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase, the 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner enters at least at the round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used. The title has been won by 27 different clubs,12 of which have won the more than once.
The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971, the competition grew from 11 teams during the first cup to 64 teams by the last cup which was played in 1970–71. It had become so important on the European football scene that in the end it was taken over by UEFA, the UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool in 1973, Borussia would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reach the final again in 1980. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 1976, beating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg and Real Madrid won the competition twice each,1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs domination, when Maradonas Napoli beat Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule.
Juventus won the competition for a time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the following year. 1995 saw a third final, with Parma proving their consistency. The only final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996, Parma won the cup in 1999, which ended the Italian club era. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 2001 and Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, either side of Sevillas success, two Russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and yet another former Soviet club, Ukraines Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final, in 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year
Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas Fernández is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club Porto and the Spain national team as a goalkeeper. Casillas began his career with Real Madrid in 1990. After gaining promotion to the team in 1999, he remained with the club for 16 seasons. With 725 appearances for the club, Casillas is Madrids second most capped player of all-time after Raúl, Casillas debuted for the Spain national team in June 2000 at the age of 19. He became the nations first-choice goalkeeper at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and went on to play at UEFA Euro 2004, in 2008, he was made captain of the Spanish team, leading them to their first European Championship in 44 years by winning Euro 2008. Under Casillass captaincy, Spain went on to win its first ever World Cup in 2010, at the 2014 World Cup and teammate Xavi joined Andoni Zubizarreta and Fernando Hierro in representing Spain at four World Cups. Nicknamed San Iker for his ability to produce spectacular saves, in his prime he was a goalkeeper, known for his quick reactions.
Casillas was nominated for the European Footballer of the Year award in 2008, ranking fourth overall. At the end of 2012, he was voted into the UEFA Team of the Year for a sixth consecutive time. As of 2011, Casillas is one of a select group of players who have won all major club. On 19 October 2010, he became the goalkeeper with most appearances of all time in the Champions League and in November 2011, in September 2015, he became the player with the most appearances in the UEFA Champions League. Casillas was born on 20 May 1981 in Móstoles, Community of Madrid, to José Luis Casillas, a servant in the Ministry of Education, and María del Carmen Fernández González. Both his parents had moved from their home of Navalacruz, Ávila, when Iker was a child, he lived for some years in the Basque Country, but he has always considered Madrid to be his hometown. Casillas has a brother, seven years younger, named Unai, Casillas began his career in Real Madrids youth system, known as La Fábrica, during the 1990–91 season.
On 27 November 1997, at age 16, he was first called up to the first team to face Rosenborg in the UEFA Champions League. In 2000, he became the youngest ever goalkeeper to play in a Champions League final when Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3–0, Casillas came on and pulled off several key saves to deny a rampant Bayer Leverkusen the Champions League crown. The 2007–08 season was a season for Casillas, as he helped Real Madrid reclaim their 31st La Liga title. His performances earned him a spot in the UEFA Team of the Year for the second time
Baniyas Club
Baniyas Sports and Cultural Club is an Emirati Sports Club, based in Al Shamkha, in the Baniyas area of Abu Dhabi. They play in the UAE Pro League, the Board of Directors of the club is headed by Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, H. E. Mubarak Awad bin Mehairoom as a vice chairman, Mohammed Suhail Al Kathiri, Mr. Mohammed Ghanem Al Mansouri, Mr. Abdul Rahman Al Majed Al-Ali, and Mr. Ahmed Salem Al Rashidi
Al Ain FC
Al-Ain Football Club or Al-Ain FC or simply Al-Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many sections of the multi-sports club Al Ain Sports. The club was founded in 1968 by players from Al Ain, members of a Bahraini group of exchange students, Al Ain is by far the most successful club in the UAE. The team quickly gained popularity and recognition throughout the country, being the team with the most tournament titles, the club is the first and only UAE side so far to win the AFC Champions League. In 1971, a group of young men learned the rules of the game by watching British soldiers playing football, the first pitch was very simple and small, taking the shape of a square sandy plot of land on the main street near the Clock Roundabout in Al Ain. In August 1971, the club was established, taking its name from that of the city. The founders thought it was necessary to have a permanent headquarters for the club, the clubs founders took responsibility for all the clubs affairs, from planning the stadium to cleaning the club headquarters and washing the kit.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan was approached for assistance and he provided the club with a permanent headquarters in the Al Jahili district and a Land Rover to serve the club and the team. Al Ain made a debut by beating a team made up of British soldiers. In 1971, the team played their first match against international opposition when they were defeated 7–1 by the Egyptian club Ismaily in a match for the war effort. In 1971, a members of the club broke away. In 1971, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan provided the club with new headquarters with modern specifications, in 1972, Al Ain a friendly in the UAE against the leading Brazilian team São Paulo ended in a 13–0 win for the South American visitors. In 1974 Al Ain combined with the breakaway Al Tadhamun, to form the Al Ain Sports Club, the first board of directors of the club was formed after the merger under the chairmanship Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri. In February 1974, the club won its first title, the Abu Dhabi League, on 13 November 1974, Sheikh Khalifa was named honorary president of Al Ain, in recognition of his continuing support for the club.
On 21 May 1975, Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected Chairman of Board of Directors, in 1975–76 season, the team participated for the first time in the UAE Football League, finishing runners-up behind Al Ahli. Al Ain won its first League title in the 1976–77 season, in the following season, they finished runners-up to Al Nasr, Mohieddine Habita was the top scorer with 20 goals. In the 1978–79 season, Al Ain secure third place with 27 points in the league, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan became president of Al Ain on 19 January 1979. Al Ain won the League again in the 1980–81 season and lost the President Cup final to Al Shabab of Dubai
El Mundo (Spain)
El Mundo is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain. The paper is considered one of the newspapers of record along with El País. El Mundo was first published on 23 October 1989, perhaps the best known of its founders was Pedro J. Ramírez, who served as editor until 2014. Ramirez had risen to prominence as a journalist during the Spanish transition to democracy, the other founders, Alfonso de Salas, Balbino Fraga and Juan González, shared with Ramírez a background in Grupo 16, the publishers of the newspaper Diario 16. Alfonso de Salas, Juan Gonzales and Gregorio Pena launched El Economista in 2006, El Mundo, along with Marca and Expansión, is controlled by the Italian publishing company RCS MediaGroup through its Spanish subsidiary company Unidad Editorial S. L. Its former owner was Unedisa which merged with Grupo Recoletos in 2007 to form Unidad Editorial, the paper has its headquarters in Madrid, but maintains several news bureaus in other cities. The daily has an edition and ten different regional editions, including those for Andalusia, Castile and León.
It is published in tabloid format, in 2005 El Mundo started a supplement for women, Yo Donna, which was modelled on IO Donna, a supplement of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. In January 2014 Pedro J. Ramírez, editor of the paper, was fired from his post and he argued that reporting on corruption scandals involving Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy led to his sacking. Casimiro García-Abadillo served as editor until April 2015, when he was replaced in turn by David Jiménez, editorially, El Mundo often expresses the mainstream views of the centre-right with independent and liberal overtones. Other Spanish media, such as El País, ABC and the Cadena SER radio network, accused El Mundo, the bombings and the results of the subsequent judicial inquiry are still debated in Spain today. The circulation of El Mundo rose in the 1990s and it was 209,992 copies in 1993268,748 copies in 1994 In 2001 El Mundo had a circulation of 291,000 copies and it was 312,366 copies next year. The paper had a circulation of 300,000 copies in 2003, based on the findings of the European Business Readership Survey El Mundo had 11,591 readers per issue in 2006.
Its circulation between June 2006 and July 2007 was 337,172 copies, the 2007 circulation of the paper was 337,000 copies. It was 338,286 copies in 2008 and had 200,000 readers for the edition in 2009. The circulation of the paper was 266,294 copies in 2011, El Mundo is currently the second digital newspaper in Spanish. It was previously in the lead after El País introduced a payment system for access to the contents of its electronic version and it had 24 million unique web visitors per month in 2009. Many online readers are in Latin America, and the website has an edition for the Americas, digital expansion has done little to offset the decline in revenues from Spanish advertisers since 2008
Penalty card
A penalty card is used in many sports as a means of warning, reprimanding or penalising a player, coach or team official. Penalty cards are most commonly used by referees or umpires to indicate that a player has committed an offense, the referee will hold the card above his or her head while looking or pointing towards the player that has committed the offense. The colour and/or shape of the used by the official indicates the type or seriousness of the offence. By analogy the term is used in non-sporting contexts. For example, the UK Radio Authority spoke of issuing a yellow card to those who broke its rules, the idea of using language-neutral coloured cards to communicate a referees intentions originated in association football, with British referee Ken Aston. Aston had been appointed to the FIFA Referees Committee and was responsible for all referees at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, in the quarter finals, England met Argentina at Wembley Stadium. After the match, newspaper stated that referee Rudolf Kreitlein had cautioned both Bobby and Jack Charlton, as well as sending off Argentinian Antonio Rattin.
The referee had not made his decision clear during the game and this incident started Aston thinking about ways to make a referees decisions clearer to both players and spectators. Aston realised that a scheme based on the same principle as used on traffic lights would transcend language barriers. As a result, yellow cards to indicate a caution and red cards to indicate an expulsion were used for the first time in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. The use of penalty cards has since been adopted and expanded by several sporting codes, a yellow card is used in many different sporting codes. Its meaning differs among sports, however, it most commonly indicates a given to a player regarding his or her conduct. Examples include, Association football, A yellow card is shown by the referee to indicate that a player has been officially cautioned, the players details are recorded by the referee in a small notebook, hence a caution is known as a booking. The player may not be replaced by a substitute, Law 12 of the Laws of the Game lists the types of offences and misconduct that may result in a caution or is cautionary.
It states that only a player, substitute or substituted player can be cautioned, for more details, see Yellow card Athletics, In track events, a yellow card used to indicate that the next false start would result in a disqualification. IAAF rules have since abolished false start warnings, false starts now result in immediate disqualification. However, as of 2012, the false start rule is that an athletes hands must leave the track or their feet must leave the starting blocks before the gunshot in order for a start to be given. Therefore, if an athlete makes a twitch, while being in their final set position, Australian rules football, A yellow card is issued against a player for committing any reportable offence, except those listed as serious reportable offences
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in mens International association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Julen Lopetegui after Vicente del Bosque stepped down following Euro 2016, the Spanish side is commonly referred to as La Roja, La Furia Roja, La Furia Española or simply La Furia. Spain became a member of FIFA in 1904 even though the Spanish Football Federation was first established in 1909, Spains national team debuted in 1920. Since then, the Spanish national team has participated in a total of 14 of 20 FIFA World Cups and 9 of 14 UEFA European Championships. These three successive titles make them the national team so far with three consecutive wins of either the applicable continental championship or the World Cup. From 2008 to 2013, a span, the national team won FIFA Team of the Year. Between November 2006 and June 2009 Spain went undefeated for a record-equalling 35 consecutive matches before their loss to the United States.
The teams achievements have led many commentators and former players to consider the 2010 and 2012 Spanish sides among the best ever international sides in world football. The first Spain national football team was constituted in 1920, with the objective of finding a team that would represent Spain at the Summer Olympics held in Belgium in that same year. Spain made their debut at the tournament on 28 August 1920 against Denmark, the Spanish managed to win that match by a scoreline of 1–0, eventually finishing with the silver medal. Spain qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1934, defeating Brazil in their first game and losing in a replay to the hosts, the Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented Spain from playing any competitive matches between the 1934 World Cup and the 1950 editions qualifiers. At the 1950 finals in Brazil, they topped their group to progress to the final round, until 2010, this had been Spains highest finish in a FIFA World Cup finals, which had given them the name of the underachievers.
Spain won its first major title when hosting the 1964 European Championship held in Spain. The victory would stand as Spains lone major title for 44 years, Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, reaching the second round, and four years they reached the quarter-finals before a penalty shootout defeat to Belgium. Javier Clemente was appointed as Spains coach in 1992, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup, had the official acknowledged the foul, Spain would have merited a penalty kick. In the 2002 World Cup, Spain won its three group matches, defeated the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round. They faced co-hosts South Korea in the quarter-finals, losing in a shootout after having two goals called back for alleged infractions during regular and extra time, at UEFA Euro 2008, Spain won all their games in Group D. Italy were the opponents in the match, which Spain won 4–2 on penalties
