1.
Czech Republic national football team
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The national team was founded in 1901, existing under the previously mentioned names before the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1992. Their first international competition as the Czech Republic was the UEFA Euro 1996, where they finished runners-up, following the separation, however, they have only featured in one FIFA World Cup, the 2006 tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round of the competition. Bohemia also played a match against Yugoslavia, Ostmark and Germany in 1939 while being the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, when the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, the national team had runner-up finishes in World Cups and a European Championship win in 1976. The newly formed team played their first home game in Ostrava, against Lithuania, in which registered their first home win. Their first competitive match was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, in the final tournament, hosted by England, the Czechs progressed from the group stage, despite a 2–0 opening game defeat to Germany. They continued their form, and progressed to the UEFA Euro 1996 final. Given their success at Euro 1996, the Czechs were expected to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and they finished third in their qualifying group, however, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament. The Czech Republic qualified for Euro 2000, winning all ten of their group games, in the finals the team were drawn in Group D, alongside 1998 FIFA World Cup winners France, co-hosts the Netherlands and UEFA Euro 1992 winners Denmark. This was considered to be the most difficult group to advance from in the tournament, the team were unlucky in the first match against the Netherlands as they hit the woodwork multiple times before losing 1–0 to a last-minute penalty. The Czechs lost their match against eventual champions France 2–1 which eliminated them from advancing to the knockout round. Czech Republic managed a 2–0 win against Denmark in their final game courtesy of two goals from Vladimír Šmicer, the team were unbeaten in 2002 and 2003, scoring 53 goals in 19 games and easily qualifying for Euro 2004 in the process. The Czech Republic went on a 20-game unbeaten streak, finally ended in Dublin on 31 March 2004 in a match against the Republic of Ireland. The Czechs entered the Euro finals in Group D, dubbed the tournaments Group of Death alongside the Netherlands, Germany, despite going behind in all three group games, the team won them all. This included trailing 2–0 to the Netherlands in a classic 3–2 win, the Czechs convincingly beat Denmark in the quarter-finals meaning a semi-final against Greece awaited them. It was not to be as the 90 minutes finished goalless, Greece would go on to win the tournament. The Czech Republic recorded their record win during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the same match, Jan Koller became the all-time top scorer for the national team with his 35th international goal. At the end of the campaign, after finishing in place in Group 1 then defeating Norway in a playoff. The team was boosted prior to the matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd
2.
Cheb
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Cheb, is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře, at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny, from 1850 it was given the twin official names of Eger and Cheb. From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland, the twin towns of Cheb are Hof in Germany, Rheden in the Netherlands, Nizhny Tagil in Russia and Bắc Ninh in Vietnam. The earliest settlement excavated in the area was a Slavic stronghold at what is now called Jánský Vrch, north of the town-centre. In 807 the district of todays Cheb was included in the new margraviate of East Franconia, which belonged at first to the Babenbergs, depold II of Vohburg built the castle about which the town then grew. In 1179 town status was achieved, in 1265 it was taken by the king Ottokar II of Bohemia, who retained it for eleven years. Several imperial privileges, however, continued to be enjoyed by the town until 1849 and it suffered severely during the Hussite Wars, during the Swedish invasion in 1631 and 1647, and in the War of the Austrian Succession in 1742. In 1634, during the Thirty Years War, Albrecht von Wallenstein was killed here, married his daughter and fathered two sons in the city. From the Middle Ages until 1945, the lands around the town were known by the German name Egerland, in 1723, Cheb became a free royal town. The northern quarter of the town was devastated by a fire in 1809. Until 1851, the renowned spa-town of Františkovy Lázně belonged to the Magistrate of Cheb, the carbonated mineral water coming from these springs was delivered to spa visitors residing in Cheb. Geographers of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy proclaimed the nearby 939m high Tillen as the centre of Europe. This claim was documented on a plaque mounted at the summit. Austrian National Socialism and hence German National Socialism can trace its origins to Cheb when Franko Stein transferred a small newspaper from Vienna to Cheb in 1897, there he organized a German workers congress called the Deutschvölkischer Arbeitertag, which published the 25-point program. The terms of the 1919 Treaty of St. Germain triggered civil unrest between the Sudeten German population and the new Czechoslovak administration, just as in the rest of the Sudetenland, as elsewhere, protests in the town – now officially named Cheb – were eventually suppressed by force. On 3 October 1938, the town was visited by Adolf Hitler, shortly afterwards German troops marched into the Sudetenland, from 1938 until 1945 the town was annexed to Germany. The administrative seat of the Regierungspräsident lay in Karlsbad, however, Cheb was liberated by the 97th Infantry Division of the US Army on 25 April,1945. After the end of World War II the region was returned to Czechoslovakia, under the Beneš decrees of the same year, the German-speaking majority of the town was dispossessed of their homes and property, and was forcibly expelled from the country
3.
Czechoslovakia
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From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. From 1948 to 1990, Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc with a command economy and its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949, and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955. A period of liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Form of state 1918–1938, A democratic republic, 1938–1939, After annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary, 1939–1945, The region was split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies, after the German invasion of Russia, Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations. 1946–1948, The country was governed by a government with communist ministers, including the prime minister. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union, 1948–1989, The country became a socialist state under Soviet domination with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a state of the Soviet Union. 1989–1990, The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic, 1990–1992, Following the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Neighbours Austria 1918–1938, 1945–1992 Germany Hungary Poland Romania 1918–1938 Soviet Union 1945–1991 Ukraine 1991–1992 Topography The country was of irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands, the eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin. Climate The weather is mild winters and mild summers, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, the new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his ally, Edvard Beneš. The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century
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.
Dukla Prague
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Dukla Prague was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. As late as 1985–86 they reached the UEFA Cup Winners Cup semi-final, between the start of the competition in 1955 and 1991, Dukla played more matches in the European Cup than any other team in Czechoslovakia. Dukla Prague football club was connected to clubs of other sports, separate athletics, rowing, handball, modern pentathlon, cycling etc. clubs named Dukla Praha however still nurture world class athletes in their respective sports. In contrast to the clubs, these are still under patronage of the Czech Army. Dukla Prague was formed in 1948 as Armádní tělovýchovný klub Praha, the Dukla organisation, as it later became known, was run by the Czechoslovak Army and included seven sports teams. The club changed its name to Ústřední dům armády Praha in 1953, the club went on to win the 1956 league title, changing their name to Dukla Praha the same year in honour of those had fallen at the Battle of Dukla Pass in 1944. The subsequent 1957–58 season brought the club a second league title for the club. The 1960–61 season marked the season of the Czechoslovak Cup. That season, Dukla completed a double as they defeated Dynamo Žilina in the cup final to add to their league title. The club was on the verge of another double in 1962, winning the league,1962 was also a World Cup year. Dukla were represented by seven players on the Czechoslovakia national football team, Dukla star Josef Masopust scored in the final as Brazil won 3–1 and was later named as the winner of the 1962 Ballon dOr. Dukla spent the two seasons winning the league again, making a total of four titles in a row. The 1964–65 season yielded just the Cup before Dukla completed their second double in 1965–66, the clubs final trophy of the decade came in the 1968–69 cup. In the first nine seasons of the cup competition, therefore, Dukla had reached six finals, in the 1985–86 season, the club recorded its record win, a 10–0 victory against Dynamo České Budějovice. Between the start of the competition in 1955 and 1991, Dukla played more matches in the European Cup than any team in Czechoslovakia. Czech writer and sports journalist Ota Pavel wrote a book about Duklas first victory in the American Challenge Cup. Dukla won three American Challenge Cups, over Brazils America-RJ in 1962, over West Ham United in 1963, fans of the band have created considerable demand for replica Dukla Prague shirts and made the team a favourite among hipster football fans
6.
AC Sparta Prague
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AC Sparta Prague is a Czech football club based in Prague. Sparta have also successful on the international stage, winning the Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes. Sparta have won 36 domestic league titles, the Czech Cup 27 times, also a record, and the Czech Supercup twice. Sparta was long the main source for the Czech Republic national football team, however lately this has ceased to be the case, Sparta play at Pragues Generali Arena, also known as Letná Stadium. At the close of 1893, a group of young people based around three brothers – Václav, Bohumil and Rudolf Rudl – had the idea of setting up a sports club. On 16 November, the meeting approved the clubs articles of association and one month later, on 17 December. Soon after that, the Athletic Club Sparta came up with its tricolour, in which blue symbolises Europe, red is the symbol of the royal city, though the reason for the yellow is not known any more. At the very beginning of the football history, the players used to wear black jerseys with a big S on the front. They then played for two years in black-and-white striped jerseys, which returned to, wearing them as a reserve strip. In 1906, club president Dr. Petřík was in England where he saw the famous Arsenal play with their red jerseys, at that time, he did not realise he was setting up one of the clubs greatest traditions. Together with the red jerseys, Sparta players wear white shorts, shortly after World War I, a team was put together that triggered off the famous period of the 1920s and 30s referred to as Iron Sparta. A football league in Czechoslovakia was established in the mid-twenties and the collected title after title. To this day, the fans still recall the names of the players of that period with admiration, Peyer, Hojer, Perner, Káďa, Kolenatý, Červený. A few years later, some no less famous names appeared, such as Hochman, Burgr, Hajný, Šíma, Silný, Čtyřoký, Košťálek and in particular Oldřich Nejedlý, the top scorer at the 1934 FIFA World Cup. Shortly before this most famous era kicked off, Vlasta Burian, the milestones of the first golden period of the clubs history are two Central European Cup titles, which in the 20 and the 30s enjoyed the same recognition as that of todays Champions League. Spartas three titles are important milestones in the cups history, after two triumphs in 1927 and 1935, the third came in 1964, at a time when the cups importance was gradually falling behind that of other European cups. In 1946, AC Sparta toured Great Britain opening with a 2–2 draw against Arsenal on 2 October, on Thursday 16 February 2017, They suffered a humiliating defeat to Russian Minnows Rostov. Golden periods alternated with years when Sparta fans only nostalgically remembered the old times
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.
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
9.
Czechoslovakia national under-21 football team
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Despite the end of the country in January 1993, the team played until March 1994, fulfilling its fixtures in the UEFA U-21 Championship as a combined team. Since the under-21 competition rules state that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, Czechoslovakias record for the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown. In its twelve U-23 and U-21 competitions, the team had a decent record, winning the first competition in 1972, the team failed to qualify for the final eight on four occasions. Czechoslovakia were randomly chosen to play holders Bulgaria for the title, the competition was abandoned in summer 1970 for a larger competition, Czechoslovakias next competitive match was in qualification for that competition, which ended in 1972 with them as champions. November 15,1967, Bulgaria 2-1 Czechoslovakia 1972, Champions, finished 3rd of 3 in qualification group. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group, finished 2nd of 4 in qualification group. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group, european Under-21 Football Championship UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive The Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships
10.
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
11.
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
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The UEFA Cup Winners Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA, the first competition was held in the 1960–61 season — but not recognised by the governing body of European football until two years later. The final tournament was held in 1998–99, after which it was absorbed into the UEFA Cup, in the 1985–86 season, English clubs were banned from European competition. Consequently, Manchester United, Everton, Coventry City, Wimbledon, from 1972 onwards, the winner of the tournament progressed to play the winner of the European Cup in the UEFA Super Cup. Since the abolition of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, the UEFA Super Cup place previously reserved for the Cup Winners Cup winner has been taken by the winner of the UEFA Cup, now UEFA Europa League. The competitions official name was originally the European Cup Winners Cup, in common with other UEFA club tournaments, the away goal applied when aggregate scores was parity. Following the influx of new UEFA member nations during the 1990s, however, if this team also qualified for the European Champions Cup then they would default on their place in the Cup Winners Cup and no other team would replace them. In 1998–99, the final year, Heerenveen of the Netherlands entered the Cup Winners Cup despite only reaching the semi-final of the previous seasons Dutch Cup. This was due to both Dutch Cup finalists Ajax and PSV Eindhoven qualifying for the recently expanded Champions League. The European Cup had proven to be a success and the Fairs Cup had also proven popular – as a result. One proposal was for a tournament based upon the format of the European Cup, but with national cup winners rather than league champions taking part, the inaugural Cup Winners Cup was held in the 1960–61 season and was basically a semi-official pilot tournament. It was essentially only in England, Scotland and to a lesser extent Germany, for the tournaments second season in 1961–62, UEFA took over the running of all aspects of the competition and this time all the clubs eligible to enter accepted the opportunity. By 1968, all UEFA member nations had set up domestic cup competitions due to the success of the Cup Winners Cup, UEFA regarded it as the second most prestigious competition, behind the European Cup and ahead of the Fairs Cup. Nevertheless, many commentators and fans regarded the Cup Winners Cup as weaker than the UEFA Cup, no club managed to retain the Cup Winners Cup, although eight times a winning side followed up their victories with a losing appearance in the following seasons final. After the establishment of the UEFA Champions League in the early 1990s, with the expansion of the Champions League in 1997 to allow more than one team from the highest-ranked member associations to enter, the Cup Winners Cup began to look noticeably inferior. Since then, domestic cup winners who do not otherwise qualify for the Champions League are given a place in the Europa League, the Cup Winners Cup trophy itself is a property of UEFA and it is not assigned to any club. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation UEFA website
12.
2003 UEFA Champions League Final
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The 2003 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by two Italian teams, Juventus and Milan, the match made history as it was the first time two clubs from Italy had faced each other in the final. It was also the second final of the competition, following the all-Spanish 2000 UEFA Champions League Final three years earlier. Milan won the match via a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 0–0 after extra time and it gave Milan their sixth success in the European Cup. Juventus entered the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as Serie A champions and so qualified for the group phase, Juventus went into the Champions League final as champions of Italy for the 27th time. Milan came third in the league, finishing with fewer points than Juventus. In the Serie A games between the two sides in 2002–03, Juventus won 2–1 on 10 November at the Stadio delle Alpi while Milan won the fixture by the same scoreline at the San Siro. Milan won Group G of the first group round, a group also included Bayern Munich, Lens and Deportivo La Coruña. They defeated Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lokomotiv Moscow and they lost only two matches, and advanced to the quarter-finals where they met Ajax. The first leg was a draw so the match was the one at the San Siro which Milan won. In the semi-finals, they met local rivals Internazionale, both matches finished equal, but Milan advanced on the away goals rule, despite both teams technically playing at home. Juventus won Group E of the first group round, in which the teams were Newcastle United, Dynamo Kyiv. In the semi-final, Juventus met Real Madrid, they lost the first match and it was selected ahead of the likes of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, the Stade de France in Saint-Denis near Paris, and the Amsterdam Arena. This was followed by the addition of second tiers to the East and West Stands, as has taken place for every Champions League final since 1997, a ceremonial handover of the European Champion Clubs Cup from the holders to the host city took place on 3 April 2003. Also in April 2003, a 24-hour football match – named the Starball Match in reference to the logo of the UEFA Champions League – was played in Manchesters Albert Square. It was the second Starball Match, after the match was held in Glasgow ahead of the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final at Hampden Park. Over 1,000 players participated in the match, playing for sides named Internazionale Manchester and Real Mancunian, in reference to Italian club Internazionale, Internazionale Manchester won the match 252–162. Antonio Conte nearly scored for Juventus after coming on as a substitute in the second half, andrea Pirlo also hit the bar for Milan
13.
UEFA Euro 1996
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It took place in England from 8 to 30 June 1996. It was the first European Championship to feature 16 finalists, following UEFAs decision to expand the tournament from eight teams. Germany won the tournament, beating the Czech Republic 2–1 in the final with a goal during extra time. This was also Germanys first major title won as a unified nation, at the time of the bidding process, it had not yet been confirmed that sixteen teams would be participating. Instead, the bids were largely prepared as if hosting an eight-team tournament, all candidates had to submit their plans by 10 December 1991. The hosting of the event was contested by five bids, Austria, England, Greece, the English bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Lisbon on 5 May 1992. In the year preceding the decision, the English FA had dropped out plans to bid for the 1998 World Cup in order to gain the support of other UEFA members who were planning to bid for that event. The hosts, England, drew 1–1 with Switzerland in the match of Group A when Alan Shearers 23rd-minute goal was equalled by a late Kubilay Türkyilmaz penalty kick. England defeated rivals Scotland 2–0 in their game, and then produced one of their finest performances ever with a 4–1 win over the Netherlands. Patrick Kluiverts late goal for the Netherlands secured his second place in the group. Group B had Western European France and Spain, along with Balkan World Cup participants Romania and Bulgaria. France and Spain dominated the group, with France avenging Bulgaria for the 1994 qualification debacle, groups C and D saw the Czech Republic and Croatia, whose national teams had only recently come into existence, qualify for the knockout stages. The Czechs lost to Germany, the group winners, in their opener. Italys defeat meant they had to beat Germany in their game to progress. In Group D, Croatia qualified for the quarter-finals, with wins over Turkey, the loss to the Croats ultimately sent the Danes, the surprise champions of 1992, home. Turkey became the first team since the introduction of a stage to be eliminated without gaining a point or scoring a goal. The other three quarter-finalists were Portugal, Spain, and a France team featuring a young Zinedine Zidane. The knockout stages were characterised by negative, defensive play, as a result, only nine goals were scored in the seven games, the first quarter-final between the hosts and Spain ended goalless, after Spain had two goals disallowed and two claims for a penalty denied
14.
UEFA Euro 2004
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The final tournament was hosted for the first time in Portugal, from 12 June to 4 July 2004, after their bid was selected on 12 October 1999, over those of Spain and Austria/Hungary. A total of thirty-one matches were played in ten venues across eight cities – Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon and Porto. As in the 1996 and 2000 editions, the tournament was contested by 16 teams – the hosts plus the 15 teams that successfully overcame the qualification round. Latvia secured their first participation in a tournament after overcoming Turkey in the play-offs. The tournament was rich in surprises and upsets, Germany, Spain and Italy were eliminated in the stage, while France. The Portuguese team recovered from a defeat against Greece to reach the final, eliminating England. For the first time in a football tournament, the last match featured the same teams as the opening match. Portugal was defeated by Greece with a goal from Angelos Charisteas, Greeces triumph was unexpected, considering that they had only qualified for two other major tournaments, the UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they failed to win a single match. In the closing ceremony, Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado performed her single and official tournament theme song, Group A opened with a shock as Greece, ranked outsiders from start, defeated the hosts 2–1. Giorgos Karagounis put the Greeks ahead after only seven minutes, an injury time goal from Cristiano Ronaldo proved no more than a consolation. Greece then drew with Spain, before losing to Russia in their last group stage game, Portugal, meanwhile, recovered from their opening defeat by defeating Russia 2–0, who had their keeper Sergei Ovchinnikov sent off. Nuno Gomes scored the goal against Spain, which ensured Portugal finished first place in Group A. Greece advanced to the quarter-finals as runners-up, ahead Spain on goals scored, France, the holders, and England ended their Group B encounter in furious fashion as the French scored twice in injury time to go from 1–0 down to 2–1 winners. Zinedine Zidane scored in the first minute of time and two minutes later, an error by the English defence gave a France penalty and Zidane fired in the winner. Englands other two games were memorable for the performances of their young star Wayne Rooney, only 18 at the time, Rooneys goal-scoring ability proved instrumental in victories over Switzerland and Croatia. France and England qualified from the group as winners and runners-up, Group C featured a three-way tie between Sweden, Denmark and Italy for first spot. All matches between the three sides had ended in draws and all three had beaten Bulgaria, Italy were ultimately eliminated on the number of goals scored between the three sides, after Sweden and Denmark drew 2–2 and qualified to the quarter-finals as group winners and runners-up. The Italians went so far as to accuse Sweden and Denmark of fixing their match, the Czech Republic took the first place in Group D after becoming the only team to win all three of their group matches
15.
Greece national football team
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The Greek national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greeces home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece is one of only ten national teams to have been crowned UEFA European Champions. The UEFA Euro 2004 marked a point in Greeces football history when they were crowned European champions, in only their second participation in the tournament. Their triumph also gave them a qualification for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, the first appearance of a Greek national football team was at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens. Later, the Greek team participated in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris, following the end of World War I, a notable figure during these years was Giorgos Kalafatis, player and later manager of the team. During the next decades, the Greek team did not manage to have any success, the countrys economical and social problems, before and after World War II, did not allow successful preparation of the national team. In the final tournament, Greece was drawn into group A with West Germany, the Netherlands, in their first game, Greece held the Dutch until the only goal of the game was scored with a penalty kick by Kist, in the 65th minute. Three days later Greece played Czechoslovakia in Rome, after holding the Czechoslovakians 1–1 at the end the first half, Greece eventually lost 3–1. The teams success in qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Greece finished first and undefeated in their qualifying group, surpassing Russia in the final game. In the final tournament Greece were drawn into Group D with Nigeria, Bulgaria, after the successful qualifying campaign, expectations back in Greece were high as no one could imagine the oncoming astounding failure. It is worth mentioning that all players of the squad, including the three goalkeepers, took part in three games, something very rare. This tournament was humiliating for the Greek squad, in their first game against Argentina at Foxboro Stadium just outside Boston, they lost 4–0. Four days later Greece suffered another 4–0 blow from Bulgaria at Soldier Field in Chicago, in the end, Greece were eliminated in the first round by losing all three games, scoring no goals and conceding ten. Greece failed to qualify for the Euro 1996 finishing third in the group behind Russia, in their 1998 World Cup qualifying tournament the team finished only one point shy of second-placed Croatia after a 0–0 draw by the eventual Group winners, the Danish. Greece started the process for the Euro 2004 in poor fashion losing at home to Spain and away to Ukraine. Greece were the second-least favorite in the competition to win, with Latvia being the least favorite, Greece were also considered as outsiders and underdogs and were given odds of 150–1 of winning before the tournament. Very few people expected Greece to proceed to the quarter-finals, let alone win the tournament, Greece won with a 25-yard strike from Giorgos Karagounis and a penalty from Angelos Basinas. Four days later, Greece stunned Spain in front of a largely Spanish crowd with a 1–1 draw after being down 1–0 at half time, Greece fell behind from a defensive lapse, which allowed Fernando Morientes to score
16.
2006 FIFA World Cup
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The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, Germany and it was the second time that Germany staged the competition, and the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title and they defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers. The final attracted an audience of 715.1 million people. The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994,2002, as the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich and it involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier, Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco. Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the least votes, the first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000, and the final round was held on 7 July 2000, which Germany won over South Africa. Accusations of bribery and corruption have marred the success of Germanys bid from the very beginning, on the very day of the vote, a hoax bribery affair was made public, leading to calls for a re-vote. Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey, who had initially backed England, had then been instructed to support South Africa following Englands elimination and he abstained, citing intolerable pressure on the eve of the vote. Just a week before the vote, the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, daimlerChrysler invested several hundred million Euro in Hyundai, while one of the sons of the companys founders was a member of FIFAs executive committee. Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea, whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi, the sum of 6.7 million Euro was later demanded back by Dreyfus. In order to retrieve the money, the Organizing Committee paid an aquivalent sum to the FIFA, allegedly as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony, the DFB announced they would consider seeking legal action against Der Spiegel. During a press conference on 22 October 2015, Nierbach repeated his stance, according to Niersbach, the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter, with the money being provided by Dreyfus. On the same day, FIFA contradicted Niersbachs statement, saying, By our current state of knowledge, the following day, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying, saying, It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application. According to Zwanziger, the 6.7 million Euros went to Mohamed Bin Hammam, on 22 March 2016 it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid
17.
Ballon d'Or
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The Ballon dOr, is an annual association football award presented by France Football. Conceived by sports writer Gabriel Hanot, the Ballon dOr award honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year. Originally, only European players were in contention for the Ballon dOr, in 1995 the award was expanded to all players at European clubs. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool was the winner of the Ballon dOr. Prior to 1995, the award was known in English language media as the European Footballer of the Year award. Milans George Weah, the only African recipient, became the first non-European to win the award in the year the rules of eligibility were changed, ronaldo of Internazionale became the first South American winner two years later. Three players have won the three times each, Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus and Marco van Basten of Milan. With seven awards each, Dutch and German players won the most Ballons dOr, spanish club Barcelona had the most winners. After 2011, UEFA created the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award to maintain the format of the original Ballon dOr, one-time winners are only included if they have also finished 2nd or 3rd in another year. A special Ban dOr, under the name Super Ballon dOr, was awarded to Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1989, after he surpassed Johan Cruyff, a decade later, France Football elected Pelé the Football Player of the Century after consulting their former Ballon dOr recipients. Among the 34 previous winners,30 cast their votes, Stanley Matthews, Omar Sívori and George Best abstained, and Lev Yashin had died. Each voter was allotted five votes worth up to five points, however, Di Stéfano only chose a first place, Platini a first and second place, and George Weah two players for fifth place. Pelé was named the greatest by 17 voters, receiving almost double the number of points earned by the runner-up, the original recipients, however, remain unchanged. Maradona and Pelé received honorary Ballons dOr for their services to football in 1996 and 2013, FIFA World Player of the Year FIFA Ballon dOr The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI European Footballer of the Year. La liste complête des lauréats du Ballon dor, de 1956 à nos jours
18.
Golden Foot
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The Golden Foot award is an international football award, given to players who stand out for their athletic achievements and for their personality. The award is given to active players of at least 28 years of age. Ten nominees are chosen by a panel of journalists based on the criteria that they are at least 28 years of age. Out of this list, the winner is selected by an online poll, the winner of the award leaves a permanent mould of his footprints on The Champions Promenade, on the seafront of the Principality of Monaco. Since 2009, there has been a charity auction accompanying the Golden Foot event, the auction is held during the gala evening at the Hôtel de Paris, and raises funds for fighting AIDS
19.
Czech Footballer of the Year
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The Czech Footballer of the Year is awarded in the Czech Republic by the Football Association of the Czech Republic. Eligibility extends to Czech players in the Czech Republic and abroad, awards for young player, coach and Czech First League personality of the year are also awarded. The award was first presented in 1965, as an award for the whole of Czechoslovakia and it was won by Ján Popluhár. Petr Čech won the award for a sixth time in the 2012 ceremony. Viktor had previously won the more times than any other player. The other football award in the Czech Republic is the Golden Ball, the award has been made every year since the first award in 1965. In 1996 two players shared the award, historie ankety Fotbalista roku at ČMFS website
20.
FIFA 100
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The FIFA100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelés choice of the greatest living footballers. The list contains 123 professional male and 2 female players, at the time the FIFA100 was selected,50 of the players were still active, with the remaining 75 retired from the game. Some football observers have questioned the methodology of the list. David Mellor, politician turned football pundit, wrote in his column in the Evening Standard that he felt the selections were politically motivated rather than made on purely footballing grounds and he suggested that the selections looked as if they came from the pen of Sepp Blatter rather than Pelé. As evidence for this, Mellor noted the geographical spread of the selected players. Such assertions were also forwarded by BBC columnist Tim Vickery, one of Pelés old team-mates, the former Brazil midfielder Gérson, reacted to his omission from the FIFA100 by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme. Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to part in the project on a point of principle. Following is the list of the FIFA100 greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé, Players active at the time of announcement are marked by. Players who are active are in italics. World Soccers Greatest Players of the 20th Century World Team of the 20th Century The FIFA100
21.
Cap (sport)
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In British sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a players appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in a match of association football. An early illustration of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. These to be termed International Caps, the act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Thus, a cap is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, the practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded prior to a debut or, particularly for national teams. As an example, the England mens association football teams still awards physical caps, Players are awarded one cap for every match they play — unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given a cap for the competition — with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. In mens association football, the record belongs to former player Ahmed Hassan of Egypt, the first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of Englands Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England,90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain, however, it is a players choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team. In cricket, there are two types of caps, firstly, there is the international type, as described above. Some countries also award a domestic type generally known as a county cap, the latter system is most commonly applied in English county cricket. Most counties do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance, instead, indeed, one can play at the highest domestic level for several years, and have a quite significant career in first-class cricket, without ever winning a cap. The world record for the number of caps in Test cricket is held by Sachin Tendulkar of India, Tendulkar also holds the record for One Day Internationals, with 463 caps. In rugby union,35 players have reached 100 international caps as of 5 June 2012, Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded, the Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, the record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player & captain Darren Lockyer with 59 games and second place is former New Zealand Kiwis player & captain Ruben Wiki with 55 games. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, mens Records and Facts FIFA Players with 100+ Caps RSSSF Picture of International Football Cap National Museum of Scotland Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps
22.
Czechoslovak Army
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Czechoslovak Army was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakias independence from Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovak Army took part in the brief Polish-Czechoslovak War in which Czechoslovakia annexed the Zaolzie region from Poland. In the interbellum the force was fairly modern by standards, with the core of the force formed by LT vz.38 and LT vz.35 tanks. Mobilised during the Munich Conference, the force did not take part in any organised defence of the country against invading Germans due to isolation of Czechoslovakia. The army was disbanded following the German takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1939, after the war Czechoslovak units fighting alongside the Allies returned to Czechoslovakia and formed the core of the new, recreated Czechoslovak Army. However, with the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, it was being increasingly Sovietised and in 1954 was formally renamed to Czechoslovak Peoples Army
23.
Military service
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Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft. Some nations require an amount of military service from every citizen. A nation with a volunteer military does not normally require mandatory military service from its citizens. In this summary,195 countries are included, Compulsory military service has declined considerably since 1970. Albanias armed forces announced an objective to create an army by the end of 2010. Argentina suspended military conscription in 1995 and replaced it with a military service. It should be noted that military conscription has not been abolished, Conscription was known in Argentina as la colimba. Conscripts themselves were known and referred to as colimbas, voluntary service in the Boer War was initially from a number of the separate colonies before federation in 1901 and later volunteers were deployed as an Australian force. Two conscription referendums were defeated during World War 1, Military service during WW1 was voluntary as was service in WW2. The Vietnam War was lost on 1 May 1975 over three years after the ADF withdrew in late 1971, all forms of conscription were abolished by the Whitlam Government in later 1972. The country has set the age for voluntary recruitment into the Barbados Defence Force at 18. Younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent, belgium suspended conscription on 31 December 1992 by amending the 1962 Law on Conscription, which became applicable only to conscripts drafted in 1993 and earlier. In practice this meant that the law no longer applied to those born in 1975, since 1 March 1995 the Belgian armed forces consist of professional volunteers only. Belize has set minimum age for recruitment into the Armed Forces at 18. Conscription has never been prescribed in the Defense Act, but is at the Governor General’s discretion, bosnia and Herzegovina abolished compulsory military service as of 1 January 2007. The last conscripts were sent home on 25 November 2007, previously there was mandatory military service for male citizens from eighteen to twenty-seven years of age. Duration of the depended on the degree of education. For citizens studying for or holding a degree or higher the service was six months
24.
Czech First League
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The Czech First League, currently known as the ePojisteni. cz liga, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Czech National Football League, seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each. The league is currently ranked 13th in Europe in the UEFA league rankings, the history of the Czech football league began at the end of the 20th century. It was reorganised for the 1993–1994 season, after the dissolution of former Czechoslovakia, having won more than half of league titles, Sparta Prague are the most successful team in Czech First League history. Other clubs who have won the title are Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec, Baník Ostrava, there are 16 clubs in the league. During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. In the inaugural season, two points were awarded for a win, before switching to three points for a win in 1994, teams receive one point for a draw and no points are awarded for a loss. The two lowest placed teams are relegated to the second tier Czech National Football League, the following 16 clubs are competing in the 2015–16 Czech First League. In 1997 the league started a deal with Plzeňský Prazdroj. In 2008, the sponsorship was extended until the end of the 2013–14 season, in May 2014, the league announced a four-year sponsorship deal with betting firm Synot, becoming the Synot liga. However, in January 2016 the company announced that their deal would conclude at the end of the 2015–16 season, in July 2016 a new two-year sponsorship deal has been announced with an online insurance company ePojisteni. cz, the league is officially called ePojisteni. cz liga. In October 2016 FAČR, LFA and Czech betting company Fortuna signed a 6-year partnership deal, according to this deal the Czech First League will be called Fortuna liga from the 2018–19 season. Last update,17 September 2016 1993–94 – 2012–13 Point reductions, Czech Republic – List of Champions, RSSSF. com
25.
Czech Cup
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The Czech Cup, officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major mens football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association, the Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner would face the winner of the Slovak Cup in the Czechoslovak Cup final. This competition was discontinued in 1993, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two independent states, the winner gains entry to the following seasons UEFA Europa League. com - National cup results. Czechoslovak Cup Czech Womens Cup Czech Republic - List of Cup Finals, RSSSF. com
26.
Italy national football team
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The Italian national football team represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is one of the most successful teams in the history of the World Cup, having won four titles. In 1938, they became the first team to defend their previous World Cup tournament victory and they have also won a European Championship, as well as appearing in two other finals, one Olympic football tournament and two Central European International Cups. Italys highest finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup was in 2013, the national football team is known as Gli Azzurri from the traditional colour of Italian national teams and athletes representing Italy. The primary training ground is at the FIGC headquarters in Coverciano, Florence, the teams first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910. Italy defeated France by a score of 6–2, with Italys first goal scored by Pietro Lana, some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, who were the best team in the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators as a prize. The Italian team played with a system and consisted of, De Simoni, Varisco, Calì, Trerè, Fossati, Capello, Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, first captain of the team was Francesco Calì. The first success in a tournament came with the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics. After losing the semi-final against Uruguay, an 11–3 victory against Egypt secured third place in the competition. In the 1927–30 and 1933–35 Central European International Cup, Italy achieved the first place out of five Central European teams, other stars of that era included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Giuseppe Ruffino and Virginio Rosetta. The hosts, Azzurri, defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in extra time in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and they achieved their second title in a 4–2 defeat of Hungary, with two goals by Gino Colaussi and two goals by Silvio Piola in the World Cup that followed. In 1949,10 of the 11 players in the teams initial line-up were killed in the Superga air disaster that affected Torino, Italy did not advance further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, as they were weakened severely due to the air disaster. The team had travelled by boat rather than by plane, fearing another accident, in the World Cup finals of 1954 and the 1962 that followed, Italy failed to progress past the first round, and did not qualify for the 1958 World Cup. Italy did not take part in the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 and their participation in the 1966 World Cup was ended by a 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad included Gianni Rivera, the Italian team was bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-ik was celebrated as the David who killed Goliath. In 1968, the Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, the match holds the distinction of being the only European Championship or World Cup final to go to a replay. After extra time the final ended in a 1–1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, Italy won the replay 2–0 to take the trophy
27.
PSV Eindhoven
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The Philips Sport Vereniging, abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven is a sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its football department, which plays in the Eredivisie. Along with Ajax and Feyenoord, PSV is one of the big three clubs that have dominated the Eredivisie. The club was founded in 1913 as a team for Philips employees, PSVs history contains two golden eras revolving around the UEFA Cup victory in 1978 and the 1987–88 European Cup victory as part of the seasonal treble in 1988. The team has won the Eredivisie 23 times, the KNVB Cup nine times, currently, PSV is 28th on the UEFA club coefficients ranking. Since its foundation, it has played in the Philips Stadion and has upheld its club colours and its elaborate connection with Philips can be witnessed in its sponsoring, shared technology and board member ties. Fans have named themselves boeren, taking pride in Eindhovens status of being a provincial city, to serve the need for activities with Philips employees, the company founded its own football team in 1910, the Philips Elftal. Its ground was the Philips Sportpark, located on the location as the present day stadium. Financial turmoil and worker strikes led to a demise of the team and in 1913, its successor emerged, Philips Sport Vereniging. It was the day that Philips organized celebrations and sports competitions in light of the defeat of the French in the Napoleonic Wars. It was not until 1916, however, that the department switched its name from Philips Elftal to PSV. Because of World War I, the first possibility to enter a league was in the 1915–16 season, the clubs first ever match was a 3–2 defeat against Willem II Reserves on 19 September 1915. The team did achieve promotion that season to a newly created Third Division of the Brabantian FA, under the guidance of coach Wout Buitenweg, PSV were promoted in 1918 and 1921 as well, eventually reaching the Eerste Klasse. The team was relegated in 1925, but its stint in the Second Division only lasted one year when PSV were promoted again, since 1926, PSV has always played in the highest possible domestic league. That year, defender Sjef van Run was brought in and a year later Jan van den Broek joined PSV, behind the scenes, Frans Otten became chairman of the entire PSV sports union. He was responsible for bringing the club to a new level with new accommodations, after winning the district league in 1929, PSV entered the championship play-offs. In that competition, it won six out of eight matches, a 5–1 win against Velocitas from the city of Groningen meant that PSV was crowned league champions for the first time. In the following three years, PSV won the league every year, but it could not win the play-offs until 1935
28.
Serie A
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It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world, Serie A led the UEFA ranking from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999. In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, the championship titles won prior to 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC with the same weighting as titles that were subsequently awarded. However, the 1945–46 season, when the league was played over two groups due to the ravages of WWII, is not statistically considered, even if its title is fully official. All the winning teams are recognised with the title of Campione dItalia, Juventus, Italys most successful club of the 20th century and the most successful Italian team, is tied for fourth in Europe and eighth in the world with the most official international titles. The club is also the one in the world to have won all possible official continental competitions. Milan is joint third club for international titles won in the world. Internazionale, following their achievements in the 2009–10 season, became the first Italian team to have achieved a treble, Juventus, Milan and Inter, along with Roma, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli, are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football. For most of Serie As history, there were 16 or 18 clubs competing at the top level, since 2004–05, however, there have been 20 clubs altogether. One season was played with 21 teams for political reasons, thus, in Italian football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the andata, each team plays once against each league opponent, since the 1994–95 season, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. Since Italy is currently rated fourth in Europe in terms of club football ratings, teams finishing fourth and fifth qualify for the UEFA Europa League tournament. A third UEFA Europa League spot is reserved for the winner of the Coppa Italia, if both Coppa Italia finalists finish among the top five teams in Serie A, the sixth-ranked team in Serie A is awarded the UEFA Europa League spot. The three lowest-placed teams are relegated to Serie B, any play-off was held after the end of regular season. The last championship playoff occurred in the 1963-64 season when Bologna, below is a list of Serie A clubs who have competed in the competition when it has been a league format. There are 66 teams that have taken part in 85 Serie A championships in a round that was played from the 1929–30 season until the 2016–17 season. The teams in bold compete in Serie A currently, Internazionale is the only team that has played Serie A football in every season. Serie A, as it is structured today, began during the 1929–1930 season, from 1898 to 1922, the competition was organised into regional groups
29.
Czech koruna
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The koruna is the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993, and in English it is sometimes referred to as Czech crown. The koruna is one of European Unions 11 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the currency in the future. The official name in Czech is koruna česká, the ISO4217 code is CZK and the local acronym is Kč, which is placed after the numeric value. One koruna equals 100 haléřů, but haléře have been withdrawn, in 1892, the Austro-Hungarian krone replaced the Gulden, at the rate 1 Gulden =2 crowns. The name Krone was invented by the emperor, Franz Joseph I of Austria, after Austria-Hungary dissolved in 1918, the only successor state that kept the name of the currency, the crown, was Czechoslovakia. In the late 1920s, the Czechoslovak crown was the hardest currency in Europe, during the Second World War, the currency on the occupied Czech territory was artificially weakened. The Czechoslovak crown was restored after the war and it underwent a highly controversial monetary reform in 1953. The Czech koruna replaced the Czechoslovak koruna when it was introduced in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and it first consisted of overstamped 20,50,100,500, and 1000 Czechoslovak koruna banknotes, but a new series was properly introduced in 1993. In November 2013, the Czech National Bank has intervened to weaken the exchange rate of the koruna through a monetary stimulus in order to stop the currency from excessive strengthening, in late 2016, the CNB stated that the return to conventional monetary policy was planned for mid-2017. After high-than-expected inflation and other figures, the bank removed the floor on a special monetary meeting on April 6th,2017. Avoiding significant volatility, the koruna gradually strengthened 1. 55% on that day, the Czech Republic planned to adopt the euro in 2010, but its government suspended that plan indefinitely in 2005. Although the country is well positioned to adopt the euro. According to a survey conducted in April 2014, only 16% of the Czech population was in favour of replacing the koruna with euro. In 1993, coins were introduced in denominations of 10,20 and 50 haléřů,1,2,5,10,20 and 50 korun, in 2000, the 10 and 20 korun coins were minted with different obverses to commemorate the Millennium. In 1993 &1994 coins were minted in Winnipeg and Hamburg, all circulation coins were designed by Ladislav Kozak. Since 1997, sets for collectors are also issued yearly with proof quality coins, theres also a tradition of issuing commemorative coins – including silver and gold coins – for numismatic purposes. For a complete listing see, Commemorative coins of the Czech Republic, the first Czech banknotes issued on 8 February 1993 consisted of Czechoslovak notes with adhesive stamps affixed to them. Only the 100,500 and 1000 korun denominations were overstamped, each stamp bears a Roman and Arabic number identifying the denomination of the banknote to which it is affixed
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Football Association of the Czech Republic
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The Football Association of the Czech Republic or colloquially the Czech Football Association is the governing body of football in the Czech Republic, based in Prague. It organizes the league competitions in the country, the Czech Cup. First predecessor were established as Bohemian Football Union in 1901 in Austro-Hungarian constituency Kingdom of Bohemia, from 1922 to 1993, during the existence of Czechoslovakia, the association was known as the Czechoslovak Football Association and controlled the Czechoslovakia national football team. After the partition of Czechoslovakia the association took the name Bohemian-Moravian Football Union until June 2011
31.
Italian lira
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The lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002 and of the Albanian Kingdom between 1941 and 1943. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a national subunit of the euro, however, cash payments could be made in lira only, as euro coins or notes were not yet available. The lira was also the currency of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy between 1807 and 1814, L, sometimes in a double-crossed script form, was the symbol most often used. Until the Second World War, it was subdivided into 100 centesimi, the lira was established at 4.5 grams of silver or 290.322 milligrams of gold. This was a continuation of the Sardinian lira. Other currencies replaced by the Italian lira included the Lombardy-Venetia pound, the Two Sicilies piastra, the Tuscan fiorino, the Papal States scudo and this practice has obviously ended with the introduction of the euro in 2002. World War I broke the Latin Monetary Union and resulted in prices rising severalfold in Italy, in 1927, the lira was pegged to the U. S. dollar at a rate of 1 dollar =19 lire. This rate lasted until 1934, with a separate tourist rate of US$1 =24.89 lire being established in 1936, in 1939, the official rate was 19.8 lire. After the Allied invasion of Italy, a rate was set at US$1 =120 lire in June 1943. In German occupied areas, the rate was set at 1 Reichsmark =10 lire. After the war, the value of the lira fluctuated, before Italy set a peg of US$1 =575 lire within the Bretton Woods System in November 1947, following the devaluation of the pound, Italy devalued to US$1 =625 lire on 21 September 1949. This rate was maintained until the end of the Bretton Woods System in the early 1970s, several episodes of high inflation followed until the lira was replaced by the euro. The lira was the unit of currency in Italy until January 1,1999. Old lira denominated currency ceased to be legal tender on February 28,2002, the conversion rate is 1,936.27 lire to the euro. All lira banknotes in use immediately before the introduction of the euro, originally Italys central bank pledged to redeem Italian coins and banknotes until 29 February 2012, but this was brought forward to 6 December 2011. Italys Constitutional Court has now declared the law that shortening the period of Italian Lira unlawful. Currently, studies are being conducted by the Banca dItalia and the Ministry of Economy, in 1863, silver coins below 5 lire were debased from 90% to 83. 5% and silver 20 centesimi coins were introduced. Minting switched to Rome in the 1870s, apart from the introduction in 1894 of cupro-nickel 20 centesimi coins and of nickel 25 centesimi pieces in 1902, the coinage remained essentially unaltered until the First World War
32.
Bologna F.C. 1909
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Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1909. The club are nicknamed the rossoblu due to the striped shirts which they wear. Bologna were founding members of Serie A in 1929, during its history, the club has won the Italian league championship seven times, making them the sixth most successful team in the history of the league. Bologna Football Clubs formation was orchestrated by Emilio Arnstein, an Austrian who became interested in football at university in Vienna and he and his brother had previously founded another football club, Black Star, in Austria. The club was founded on 3 October 1909, in the Northern Italian city of Bologna, on 20 March 1910, Bologna played their first ever game, against Virtus, who wore white shirts. Bologna outclassed their opponents, winning 9–1, the first football squad featured, Koch, Chiara, Pessarelli, Bragaglia, Guido Della Valle, Nanni, Donati, Rauch, Bernabeu, Mezzano, and Gradi. Their formative season was spent in the league under Arrigo Gradi as captain. They spent four seasons in league, never finishing lower than fifth. Bologna were entered into the Northern League before all football leagues were postponed for World War I, after the first war, Bologna began to become more successful. First reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Italian competition in 1919–20, they went one better the season by reaching the Northern League finals. They would equal this again in 1923–24, coming runner up to national champions Genoa. Bologna became Northern and National League champions for the first time during 1924–25, the finals against the Ligurian giants were marred by heavy crowd troubles. The Scudetto was won by Bologna four more times before World War II, after World War II, the club was less successful. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the club generally floated between fourth, fifth and sixth position in the league, until they took the title back in 1963–64. To date this remains their last Serie A championship, bringing the total to seven. This qualified Bologna to the 1964–65 European Cup, but they were eliminated in the round against Anderlecht. It was not all doom and gloom for the club, however, in the 1970s, they won the Italian Cup twice, the game was tense and finished 1–1 before going to a penalty shootout, where Bologna won 4–3. Beginning in the 1981–82 season, the club began to slide, first, they were relegated from Serie A after battling it out for survival with Cagliari and Genoa
33.
Cagliari Calcio
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Cagliari Calcio, before,1970 US Cagliari is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. The club currently plays in Serie A and they won their only Scudetto in 1969–70, when they were led by the Italy national teams all-time leading scorer, Luigi Riva. The triumph was also the first by a club south of Rome. Cagliaris colours are blue and red, the clubs stadium is the 16,000 seat Stadio SantElia in Cagliari. During the 2012–13 season, however, the team played their home games at the Stadio Is Arenas. The clubs best European performance was in the 1993–94 UEFA Cup, Cagliari became the first ever out-right champions of Serie C during the 1951–52 season, prior to that in the league, the championship was shared amongst more than one team. They spent the 1950s from then on in Serie B, losing a promotion play-off in 1954, after descending to Serie C in the early 1960s, Cagliaris rise would be meteoric, eventually achieving promotion to Serie A in 1964. The squad for the Rossoblus debut season in Serie A featured players like defender Mario Martiradonna, midfielders Pierluigi Cera, Nené and Ricciotti Greatti, a poor first half of the season, however, saw Cagliari in last place with nine points at the halfway mark. An astonishing second half of the season saw Cagliari defeat the likes of Juventus and Milan, two seasons later, Riva finished as Serie As top scorer for the first time while Cagliari finished with the leagues best defensive record. During the summer of 1967, Cagliari played a season in North America as part of a league called the United Soccer Association. This league from Europe and South America to play in American and Canadian cities, Cagliari played as the Chicago Mustangs, and finished joint second in the leagues Western Division with 13 points, two behind the division champion and eventual league champion Los Angeles Wolves. The leagues leading scorer was Chicago/Cagliaris Roberto Boninsegna, who scored ten goals while playing in 9 of the teams 12 games, Cagliari first emerged as serious Serie A title contenders in 1968–69 with a three-horse race involving them, Fiorentina and Milan. Fiorentina would win the league, but the season would bring ultimate glory. With Angelo Domenghini joining the side, Cagliari would win the title in 1970 with only two games lost,11 goals conceded and Riva as league top scorer once more. Players like Albertosi, Niccolai, Boninsegna, Gori, Cera, Domenghini, the 1970s would see a gradual decline. Cagliari were finally relegated in 1976, with Rivas career having effectively ended during that season, after relegation, Cagliari lost a play-off for promotion the following season and would return to Serie A in 1979. Players like Franco Selvaggi, Mario Brugnera and Alberto Marchetti ensured a respectable four-year stay in the top flight before a relegation in 1983. The 1980s would then prove to be a time compared to the previous two decades with relegation to Serie C1 in 1987
34.
Supercoppa Italiana
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The Supercoppa Italiana is an annual football competition usually held the week before the season begins in Italy, but it has been played as late as December. Since 2009, the venue chosen has mostly been outside of Italy and this has happened so far six times,1995,2015, and 2016,2000,2006 and 2010. Juventus and Milan jointly hold the record for winning the cup the most times, on 23 December 2016, Milan became the first Coppa Italia runner-up to win Supercoppa Italiana after defeating Juventus on penalties. *Finished as Coppa Italia runners-up Alessandro Del Piero Samuel Etoo Andriy Shevchenko Carlos Tevez Supercoppa Italiana on RSSSF
35.
FC Lausanne-Sport
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FC Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne. The club was founded in 1896 under the name of Montriond Lausanne, however, the Lausanne Football and Cricket Club was established in 1860, believed to be the oldest football club on the European continent by some historians. The club took the name Lausanne-Sports FC in 1920 after the football section merged with the Club Hygiénique de Lausanne, the club plays at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, a 15,850 all-seater stadium used for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. They played in Swiss First Division between 1906–1931 and 1932–2002, after the 2001–02 season, Lausanne-Sports were relegated because the club did not obtain a first level license for the 2002–03 season. Following the 2002–03 season in the division, Lausanne-Sports FC were again relegated due to bankruptcy. They were reformed as FC Lausanne-Sport for the 2003–04 season and had to play at the fourth tier. The team was promoted in consecutive seasons from the division after the 2003–04 season. After an additional six years in the tier of Swiss football. Lausanne-Sport qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after they reached the 2010 Swiss Cup final against Champions League-qualified Basel. In the 2010–11 Europa League, while playing in the second tier Challenge League. Lausanne-Sport were relegated to the Swiss Challenge League at the end of the 2013-14 Swiss Super League season, two years later, they finished first in the 2015-16 Swiss Challenge League, which promoted them back to the top tier of Swiss football for the 2016-17 season. Lausanne-Sport has won the Swiss First Division seven times and the Swiss Cup nine times, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Recent season-by-season performance of the club, Key Lausanne-Sports Aviron is the club of Lausanne-Sport. Football department Athletics department Roller hockey department Rowing department
36.
Panionios F.C.
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FC, or with its full name Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis is a Greek association football club based in Nea Smyrni suburb of Athens, part of Panionios G. S. S. Founded in 1890 in Smyrna as Orpheus Smyrni, it is the oldest, in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, Panionios was transferred to Athens. They have won two Greek Cups, while they were runners-up in the Greek Championship during the 1950–51 and 1970–71 seasons and they have won also the 1971 Balkans Cup and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1998–99 season. The team currently competes in the Super League Greece and they play their home games in Nea Smyrni Stadium with a capacity of 11.700 seats. The club was founded in 1890 in Smyrna currently İzmir, under the name of Orpheus Music, in 1893 some Orpheus members keen on sports formed a separate organization, the Gymnasion Club, and started holding yearly sports competitions. In 1898, Orpheus and Gymnasion merged again to form Panionios GSS, members of the Panionios sports club represented Greece in all international track & field games until these developed in the modern Olympic Games. After the Greek military defeat in 1922 the club was forced to transfer firstly in Athens, the club has a tradition of cultivating all major sports and was the first Greek club to establish a track and field division for women, in 1925. Another major example of the contribution to Greek sports rests in the fact that it was Panionios that introduced Basketball and Volleyball in Greek sports society. To date, Panionios remains the only club in Greece that was awarded the Golden Cross from the Athens Academy as a recognition of the clubs rich. Panionios has spent nearly its entire history in the Greek First Division, within this, Panionios rose quite often to high levels, with top achievement in terms of the league being the 2nd position that the club reached in 1971, losing the title to AEK Athens. Panionios has produced all three major Greek strikers of the 1980s, namely Nikos Anastopoulos, Thomas Mavros, and Dimitris Saravakos. Other notable players coming out of the club in the 1990s include Nikos Tsiantakis and Takis Fyssas, later of Panathinaikos, Benfica and member of Greek national team. Within the 2000s another five Greek national team came out from the club, namely Alexandros Tziolis, Evangelos Mantzios, Nikos Spiropoulos, Grigoris Makos. The club had faced financial difficulties which triggered the transfer of the ownership to the municipality of Nea Smyrni in 1992 and those difficulties remained all through the 1990s forcing the teams league performance to drop. Yet, it remained in a level and managed to win the Greek Football Cup competition in 1998 and participate successfully in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup the year after. In 2004, shipowner Constantinos Tsakiris was elected president of the amateur sports Panionios GSS, Panionios won the womens Basketball Championship in 2006, the clubs first in a team sport, and the womens volleyball team advanced to the first division. In 2006, Tsakiris acquired 85% of Neos Panionios FC stock, Tsakiris has also unveiled an ambitious plan to have the aging football ground and athletics track demolished, and build a modern multi-sport arena in its place. Apart from a 12,000 capacity football stadium, the complex would include facilities for basketball, volleyball, aquatic sports, track & field, boxing, gymnastics, wrestling
37.
RCD Mallorca
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Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S. A. D. is a Spanish football team based in Palma, in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916 it currently plays in Segunda División, team colours are red shirts with black shorts and black socks. The oldest club in the Balearic Islands, Mallorca was founded in 1916 by Adolfo Vázquez, a republican engineer, the first stadium, called Buenos Aires, was inaugurated on March 25,1916, with a 0–8 loss against Barcelona. And, on June 28,1916, Spanish king Alfonso XIII de Borbón honored the team with the title Real Sociedad, in 1917, the Catalan Federation admitted Real Sociedad Alfonso XIII into the Catalan Championship tournament. The Mallorcan team reached the final in Barcelona, where played against FC Palafrugell. And so, the Mallorcan club tried to broaden its sporting repertoire by incorporating a cycling team in 1919 and this coupled with the influence of the Second Spanish Republic caused the club to change its name to Club Deportivo Mallorca. Still with that name in 1945, the club inaugurated Es Fortínas the new stadium of the Balearic club. But, during that season and in honor of the man who had started working and preparing that ground three years prior, the club changed the name of the stadium Lluís Sitjar. In 1960, RCD Mallorca earned its first promotion to the División de Honor under the tutelage of coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo, in 1964, RCD Mallorca again earned promotion, this time to the Primera Division, under coach Cesar Rodriguez and president Baron de Vidal. Then, in 1969, RCD Mallorca earned its promotion to the Primera Division, with coach Juancho Forneris. This decade produced three promotions to the Primera Division, including the first in Club history, however, it also produced the same number of relegations. The scorer of the first goal for RCD Mallorca in the Primera Division was Joan Forteza and he was the only player to survive the roster changes from the previous season after President Jaime Roselló Pascual dismissed all other members of the roster. Meanwhile, the coach of that 1960´s squad was Argentine Juan Carlos Lorenzo and he led the team into the Primera Division all the way from the depths of the third division, for the first time on April 17,1960. It was a mere 44 years since the club was founded under the name of Alfonso XIII FBC, RCD Mallorca was one of only 16 professional teams to compete in this top division. And the team reinforced by picking up players from FC Barcelona, among others, in the following season, the team finished eleventh. And so, with ups and downs, RCD Mallorca did not last more than three years in the top echelon of Spanish soccer. The team dropped into the division until 1964-65, when it rose up again. But, in day in age, the only direct promotion came via winning the Segunda Division
listen); born 30 August 1972) is a Czech retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Described as one of the best footballers of his generation, he is also regarded as one of the most successful players to emerge from the Czech Republic,[1] winning domestic and European accolades with Italian clubs Lazio, including the last Cup Winners' Cup, and Juventus, whom he led to the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final.
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