1.
Treviso
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Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. The city is home to the headquarters of clothing retailer Benetton, Sisley, Stefanel, Geox, Diadora and Lotto Sport Italia, appliance maker DeLonghi, and bicycle maker Pinarello. Treviso is also known for being the production area of Prosecco wine. For some scholars, the ancient city of Tarvisium derived its name from a settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Taurusci, others have attributed the name instead to the Greek root tarvos, meaning bull. Tarvisium, then a city of the Veneti, became a municipium in 89 BCE after the Romans added Cisalpine Gaul to their dominions, citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe of Claudia. The city lay in proximity of the Via Postumia, which connected Opitergium to Aquileia, Treviso is rarely mentioned by ancient writers, although Pliny writes of the Silis, that is the Sile River, as flowing ex montibus Tarvisanis. During the Roman Period, Christianity spread to Treviso, tradition records that St. Prosdocimus, a Greek who had been ordained bishop by St. Peter, brought the Catholic faith to Treviso and surrounding areas. By the 4th century, the Christian population grew sufficient to merit a resident bishop, the first documented bishop was John the Pius who began his epsicopacy in 396 AD. According to tradition, Treviso was the birthplace of Totila, the leader of Ostrogoths during the Gothic Wars, the latter was especially important during the reign of the last Lombard king, Desiderius, and continued to churn out coins when northern Italy was annexed to the Frankish Empire. People from the city played a role in the founding of Venice. Charlemagne made it the capital of a march, i. e. the Marca Trevigiana. Treviso joined the Lombard League, and gained independence after the Peace of Constance and this lasted until the rise of seignories in northern Italy. Among the various families who ruled over Treviso, the Da Romano reigned from 1237 to 1260, Treviso and its satellite cities, including Castelfranco Veneto, had become attractive to neighbouring powers, including the da Carrara and Scaligeri. After the fall of the last Caminesi lord, Rizzardo IV, Treviso notary and physician, Oliviero Forzetta, was an avid collector of antiquities and drawings, the collection was published in a catalog in 1369, the earliest such catalog to exist to this day. After a Scaliger domination in 1329–1339, the city itself to the Republic of Venice. From 1318 it was also, for a time, the seat of a university. Venetian rule brought innumerable benefits, however, Treviso necessarily became involved in the wars of Venice, from 1381–1384, the city was captured and ruled by the duke of Austria, and then by the Carraresi until 1388. The many waterways were exploited with several waterwheels which powered mills for milling grain produced locally
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Ferrara
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Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 kilometres north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, the town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance it has qualified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity, Ferrara is on the main rail line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna, Poggio Rusco and Codigoro. Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, Desiderius pledged a Lombard ducatus ferrariae in 757 to Pope Stephen II. Obizzo II dEste was proclaimed ruler of Ferrara five hundred years later. He also became seignior of nearby Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289, in 1452 the Este rulers were created Dukes of Modena and Reggio, and in 1471 Ferrara also became a duchy. In 1597, when Alfonso II died without heirs, the House of Este lost Ferrara to the Papal States. Ferrara remained a part of the Papal States from 1598 to 1859, with an interruption during the Napoleonic period, in 1859 it became part of the Kingdom of Italy. A fortress was constructed by Pope Paul V on the site of the castle called Castel Tedaldo, at the south-west angle of the town, all of the fortress was dismantled following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and the bricks used for new constructions all over the town. On August 23,1944, the Ferrara synthetic rubber plant was a target of Strategic bombing during World War II, the town is still surrounded by more than 9 kilometres of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th-centuries. Along with those of Lucca, they are the best preserved Renaissance walls in Italy, the imposing brick Castello Estense sited in the very centre of the town is iconic of Ferrara. The castle, erected in 1385, is surrounded by a moat, the pavilions on the top of the towers date from the 16th-century refurbishment. The City Hall, renovated in the 18th century, was the residence of the Este family. Close by it is the former Cathedral of San Giorgio, The Romanesque lower part of the main façade, according to a now lost inscription the church had been commissioned by Guglielmo I of Adelardi. The sculpture of the portal was signed by a Nicholaus. The upper part of the main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century, the recumbent lions guarding the entrance are copies of the originals, now in the narthex of the church. An elaborate 13th-century relief depicting the Last Judgement is found in the story of the porch
4.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy
5.
A.C.D. Treviso
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Associazione Calcio Dilettanti Treviso is an Italian football club based in Treviso. The club was formed in 1909, the club currently plays in Eccellenza. In 1993 the club was shut down because of financial troubles, in summer 1993 a new club was admitted to Serie D, as F. B. C. Treviso was relegated to Serie C1 in 2001, but returned to Serie B in 2003, in 2005, Pillon returned to Treviso and the team gained a respectable fifth place and a spot in the promotion playoffs but lost out to Perugia. In 2005–06, Treviso played in Italian Serie A for the first and, as so far, the team was coached by Ezio Rossi, then replaced by Alberto Cavasin. However, a legal dispensation was approved by the Italian parliament to allow Treviso to play at their home ground. Unfortunately, Trevisos Serie A stay was short-lived, in bottom place for nearly the entire 2005–06 season, they were officially relegated to Serie B for the 06–07 campaign following a 3–1 loss to Messina on 9 April 2006. S. Lazio and ACF Fiorentinas penalties were reduced by the Italian appeals court, back to Serie B Treviso started to face financial problem, with a net loss of €4.17 million in 2006–07 season. The club had re-capitalized for over €7.5 million, financial irregularities also made FIGC penalized Treviso for 4 points in total, but 3 of them were removed by CONI. Furthermore, rising star Leonardo Bonucci left Treviso in January 2009, the only deal that received cash from selling was Alessio Sestu. The club ultimately went bankrupt in summer 2009, after it suffered relegation from Serie B that same year, Treviso 2009 was founded as a successor club, and was admitted to play in the Eccellenza Veneto which is the 6th tier of Italian football, in summer 2009. It in the season 2010–11, from Serie D group C was promoted to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione and was renamed Football Club Treviso, in the next it was promoted to Lega Pro Prima Divisione. In the 2012–13 season the club was relegated to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, the club was refounded with the current name in the summer 2013 restarting from Promozione. Trevisos official colours are blue and white
6.
Inter Milan
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date
7.
S.S. Lazio
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Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia six times, the club had their first major success in 1958, winning the domestic cup. In 1974, they won their first Serie A title, Lazios traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and white shorts with white socks, the colours are reminiscent of Romes ancient Hellenic legacy. Sky blue socks have also been used as home colours. Their home is the 70,634 capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Roma until the year 2018, when the latter will leave for the Stadio della Roma. Lazio have a rivalry with Roma, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale since 1929. Lazio is also a club that participate in 40 sports disciplines in total. Società Podistica Lazio was founded on 9 January 1900 in the Prati district of Rome, in 1927, Lazio was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regimes attempts to merge all the citys teams into what would become A. S. The club played in the first organised Serie A in 1929 and, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola, the 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results with a Coppa Italia win in 1958. Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to the Serie B, after a number of mid-table placements, another relegation followed in 1970–71. Lazio improved such successes the following season, ensuring its first title in 1973–74, however, tragic deaths of Re Cecconi and Scudetto trainer Maestrelli, as well as the departure of Chinaglia, would be a triple blow for Lazio. The emergence of Bruno Giordano during this period provided some relief as he finished League top scorer in 1979, Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a remarkable scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with Milan. They remained in Italys second division for three seasons in what would mark the darkest period in Lazios history and they would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season. The 1984–85 season would prove harrowing, with a pitiful 15 points, in 1986, Lazio was hit with a nine-point deduction for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani. The arrival of Sergio Cragnotti in 1992 changed the clubs due to his long-term investments in new players to make the team a Scudetto competitor. A notable early transfer during his tenure was the capture of English midfielder Paul Gascoigne from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million, gascoignes transfer to Lazio is credited with the increase of interest in Serie A in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. Lazio had two more Coppa Italia triumphs in 1998 and 2004, as well as the last ever UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1999 and they also reached the UEFA Cup, but lost 0–3 against Internazionale
8.
A.S. Livorno Calcio
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Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio is an Italian football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. The club was formed in 1915 and currently plays in Lega Pro, the teams colours are dark red or maroon. The best placement in Italian Serie A was second place in 1942–43 season, Livorno Calcio play their home matches at the 19,238 seater Stadio Armando Picchi. Founded February 15,1915 as US Livorno, the club ended the Italian Football Championship 1919–20 in second place, one year later, they were defeated in the semi-final by arch-rivals Pisa. In 1933, the moved to the current stadium, originally named after Edda Ciano Mussolini. Livorno was one of original Serie A teams and she played in top level during periods of 1929–31, 1933–35 and 1937–39. Successively, Livorno ended as Serie A runners-up in the 1942–43 season, Livorno left Serie A in 1949 after seven consecutive seasons. They relegated to Serie C soon after, making a return to Serie B in 1955 for a single season and they relegated to Serie C2 in 1982–83 and played again in third level between 1984 and 1989. The club was cancelled in 1991, being forced to start from Eccellenza. The club was promoted to Serie C1 in 1997 and was acquired by Aldo Spinelli two years later, under the new property, Livorno returned to Serie B in 2001. Livorno were promoted to Serie A after finishing third in the Serie B 2003–04 and it had been 55 years since Livornos last season in the top flight, and as a result of this, most were predicting an instant return to Serie B for the club. The first match in the league was attended by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The Serie A 2005–06 saw Livorno in sixth place after the first half of the season the team, however, shortly after Roberto Donadoni announced his resignations after having been criticised by clubs chairman Aldo Spinelli. Donadoni was replaced by veteran coach Carlo Mazzone, who was able to save a UEFA Cup place due to the expulsion of three teams from Europe in the 2006 Serie A match fixing scandal. Mazzone then saw his team suffer a run of seven straight defeats, in May 2006, Daniele Arrigoni was appointed new coach for the next season. In the Serie A 2006–07 season, Livorno took part to the UEFA Cup for their first time ever, the Tuscan side were drawn to face Austrian team SV Pasching in the first round, beating them comfortably 3–0 on aggregate. They thus qualified for the stages being drawn in Group A, along with Rangers, Auxerre, FK Partizan. However, Spanish team Espanyol knocked out Livorno from the UEFA Cup by winning 4–1 on aggregate, after day 19 of the Italian Serie A, Arrigoni was sacked by chairman Spinelli, but his position was kept due to the strong opposition by the team
9.
Juventus F.C.
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Juventus Football Club S. p. A. colloquially known as Juve, is a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The clubs fan base is larger than any other Italian football club and is one of the largest worldwide, support for Juventus is widespread throughout the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant presence of Italian immigrants. Juventus is the most successful club in Italian football and one of the most awarded globally, Juventus were founded as Sport-Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo DAzeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900, during this period the team wore a pink and black kit. Juventus first won the championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodrome Umberto I ground. By this time the colours had changed to black and white stripes. There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin, President Alfred Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole. Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli gained control of the club in 1923, and built a new stadium. This helped the club to its second scudetto in the 1925–26 season beating Alba Roma with a score of 12–1. With star players such as Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari, Juventus moved to the Stadio Comunale, but for the rest of the 1930s and the majority of the 1940s they were unable to recapture championship dominance. After the Second World War, Gianni Agnelli was appointed honorary president, the club added two more league championships to its name in the 1949–50 and 1951–52 seasons, the latter of which was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver. Two new strikers were signed during 1957–58, Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sívori and that season saw Juventus awarded with the Golden Star for Sport Excellence to wear on their shirts after becoming the first Italian side to win ten league titles. In the same season, Sívori became the first ever player at the club to win the European Footballer of the Year, the following season they beat Fiorentina to complete their first league and cup double, winning Serie A and Coppa Italia. Boniperti retired in 1961 as the top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions. During the rest of the decade, the won the league just once more in 1966–67, The 1970s, however. Under former player Čestmír Vycpálek, they won the scudetto in 1971–72 and 1972–73, with such as Roberto Bettega, Franco Causio. During the rest of the decade, they won the league twice more, the Trapattoni era was highly successful in the 1980s, the club started the decade off well, winning the league title three more times by 1984. This meant Juventus had won 20 Italian league titles and were allowed to add a golden star to their shirt
10.
Benevento Calcio
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Benevento Calcio is an Italian association football club based in Benevento, Campania. The club was founded in 1929 and refounded in 2005, currently it plays in Serie B. The club was founded as Associazione Calcio Benevento in 1929, their home was the Meomartini which was built by Ciccio Minocchia. After working their way up lower divisions in their earliest years, Benevento reached Prima Divisione, here it finished above clubs such as Reggina in its first season within the league. Although it did not win promotion to Serie B, the team did qualify to remain in the tier of Italian football for the 1935–36 season. At the same time Benevento Calcio S. p. A. was found, in the 2007–08 Serie C2 regular season the team finished first in Girone C, winning direct promotion to the now called Lega Pro Prima Divisione for the 2008–09 season. In the 2008–09 season, Beneventos first season in Lega Pro Prima Divisione and this meant Benevento would be in a 2 leg play-off. They won their first 2 legged play-off, but lost to Crotone 1–0 on aggregate in the final, gaetano Auteri was appointed as the head manager for the 2015–16 season. In this season, Benevento won its league and reached the Serie B for the first time in its history, the mathematical certainty arrived on April 30,2016, after defeating Lecce 3–0. The teams colors are yellow and red, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality
