1.
FC Bayern Munich
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Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. commonly known as FC Bayern München, FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by Franz John, although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, overall, Bayern has reached ten European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their fifth title in 2013 as part of a continental treble. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 26 titles and has won 8 of the last 12 titles and they have traditional local rivalries with 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with Borussia Dortmund since the mid-1990s, since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Bayern has played its home games at the Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played at Munichs Olympiastadion for 33 years, the team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the white and blue flag of Bavaria. In terms of revenue, Bayern Munich is the biggest sports club in Germany, as of November 2016, Bayern has over 284,000 members. There are more than 4,000 officially-registered fan clubs with over 314,000 members, the club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis and senior football with more than 1,100 active members. FC Bayern is ranked second in the current UEFA club coefficient rankings, FC Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all rivals, including a 15–0 win against FC Nordstern. In the following years, the club won some trophies and in 1910–11 Bayern joined the newly founded Kreisliga. The club won league in its first year, but did not win it again until the beginning of World War I in 1914. In the years after the war, Bayern won several regional competitions before winning its first South German championship in 1926, an achievement repeated two years later. Its first national title was gained in 1932, when coach Richard Little Dombi Kohn led the team to the German championship by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final, the advent of Nazism put an abrupt end to Bayerns development. Club president Kurt Landauer and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country, many others in the club were also purged. Bayern was taunted as the Jews club, while local rival 1860 Munich gained much support, josef Sauter, who was inaugurated 1943, was the only NSDAP member as president. As some Bayern players greeted Landauer, who was watching a friendly in Switzerland lead to continued discrimination, Bayern was also affected by the ruling that football players had to be full amateurs again. In the following years, Bayern could not sustain its role of contender for the national title, after the war, Bayern became a member of the Oberliga Süd, the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time
2.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
3.
Defender (association football)
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In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals. There are four types of defenders, centre-back, sweeper, full-back, the centre-back and full-back positions are essential in most modern formations. The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised for certain formations, a centre-back defends in the area directly in front of the goal, and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring. Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots, tackling, intercepting passes, contesting headers, with the ball, centre-backs are generally expected to make long and pinpoint passes to their teammates, or to kick unaimed long balls down the field. For example, a clearance is a long unaimed kick intended to move the ball as far as possible from the defenders goal, during normal play, centre-backs are unlikely to score goals. In this case, other defenders or midfielders will temporarily move into the centre-back positions, in the modern game, most teams employ two or three centre-backs in front of the goalkeeper. The 4–2–3–1, 4–3–3, and 4–4–2 formations all use two centre-backs, the sweeper is a more versatile centre-back who sweeps up the ball if an opponent manages to breach the defensive line. This position is more fluid than that of other defenders who man-mark their designated opponents. Because of this, it is referred to as libero. For example, the system of play, used in Italian football in the 1960s. The more modern libero possesses the qualities of the typical libero while being able to expose the opposition during counterattacks. The Fundell-libero has become popular in recent time with the sweeper transitioning to the most advanced forward in an attack. This variation on the position requires great pace and fitness, while rarely seen in professional football, the position has been extensively used in lower leagues. Modern libero sit behind centre-backs as a sweeper before charging through the team to join in the attack, some sweepers move forward and distribute the ball up-field, while others intercept passes and get the ball off the opposition without needing to hurl themselves into tackles. If the sweeper does move up the field to distribute the ball, they will need to make a speedy recovery, in modern football, its usage has been fairly restricted, with few clubs in the biggest leagues using the position. Though it is used in modern football, it remains a highly respected. A recent and successful use of the sweeper was made by Otto Rehhagel, Greeces manager, Rehhagel utilized Traianos Dellas as Greeces sweeper to great success, as Greece surprisingly became European champions. The full-backs take up the wide positions and traditionally stayed in defence at all times
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.
FC Bayern Munich II
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Bayern Munich II are the reserve team of German association football club Bayern Munich. In 2010–11 they played in the 3 and they have generally achieved at least mid-table finishes at this level, and won the Regionalliga Süd title in 2004. In 2010–11 Bayern II finished last in the 3, liga and was thus relegated to the Regionalliga. Bayern II has made appearances in the DFB-Pokal, even facing the senior Bayern side in a fourth round tie in 1977 losing 5–3. Their last appearance in the cup was the 2004–05 season, when reached the quarter final. In 1983 and 1987, Bayern II advanced to the national cup final where they lost 0–2 to FC Homburg. After finishing its first season in league in mid-table, it ended 1957–58 as runners-up. It repeated this achievement in 1960–61, this time coming second to TSV1860 Munich II, Bayern Amateure had to finish seventh to qualify but came only 14th and found itself grouped in the new tier-four Landesliga Bayern-Süd. It took the four seasons in this league to work its way back up, improving year by year and, in 1966–67, it finished first. Bayern started well in the league, coming fourth in the first year and it only took two seasons this time for the team to return to the third division and another league win in 1973 moved the team back up. For the next 21 season, the team was to be a member of the Bayernliga without interruption, however, in all the 21 seasons there, the team could never win the league either, being ineligible for promotion from there to professional football anyway. The team had few bad seasons in this time, coming close to relegation only once. It managed three runners-up finishes in the league, in 1983,1984 and 1987 and generally existed as an upper-table side, in 1994, with the introduction of the new tier-three Regionalliga Süd, the team qualified comfortably. It was to be a member of this league, too, belonging to it until 2008. After mostly finishing in mid-table in the league, Bayern earned its first league title in over 30 years when it won the Regionalliga in 2004. Being already a member of the highest league in which teams are permitted. In 2005, all sides of clubs in the first and second Bundesliga changed their name from Amateure to II. In 2008, the team earned promotion to the new 3, liga, finishing eighth when a top-ten finish was needed
6.
VfB Stuttgart
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Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its team which is part of Germanys second division 2. VfB Stuttgart has won the championship five times, most recently in 2006–07. The football team plays its games at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Second team side VfB Stuttgart II currently plays in the Regionalliga Südwest, the clubs junior teams have won the national U19 championships a record ten times and the Under 17 Bundesliga six times. A membership-based club with over 50,0000 members, VfB is the largest sports club in Baden-Württemberg and it has departments for fistball, hockey, track and field, table-tennis and football referees, all of which compete only at the amateur level. The club also maintains a department, the VfB-Garde. Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart was formed through 2 April 1912 merger of predecessor sides Stuttgarter FV, Stuttgarter Fußballverein was founded at the Zum Becher hotel in Stuttgart on 9 September 1893. FV were initially a rugby club, playing games at Stöckach-Eisbahn before moving to Cannstatter Wasen in 1894, the rugby club established a football section in 1908. Rugby was soon replaced by football within the club, as found the game too complicated to follow. In 1909, FV joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband, playing in the second tier B-Klasse and they eventually advanced to the senior Südkreis-Liga in 1912. Cannstatter Fußballklub was formed as a club in 1890 and also quickly established a football team. This club was dissolved after just a few years of play, the new team joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband as a second division club and won promotion in 1904. Krone possessed their own ground, which exists today as the home of TSV Münster. The club also made appearances in the final rounds of the SFV in the late 1920s. In 1933, VfB moved to Neckar Stadium, the site of its current ground, German football was re-organized that same year under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions called Gauligen. The club had a rivalry with Stuttgarter Kickers throughout this period. After a third-place result at the level in 1937, Stuttgart was not able to advance out of the preliminary rounds in subsequent appearances
7.
Germany national youth football team
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This article includes current squads of Germany U-20, U-19, U-18, U-17, U-16 and U-15 national football teams. Caps and goals as of 27 March 2015, on 18 June 2015, Germany named their squad for the 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Head coach, Marcus Sorg On 15 June 2016, Germany announced a 23-man preliminary list for the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Head coach, Guido Streichsbier Caps, the following players were selected to take part in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Head coach, Christian Wück Caps and goals as of 9 September 2014, Caps and goals as of 9 September 2014
8.
Germany national under-21 football team
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Before the reunification of Germany, East Germany and West Germany played as separate entities — the two teams played separately until summer 1990. Following the realignment of UEFAs youth competitions in 1976, international football in Europe began. A West German team, however, did not compete in the U-21 European Championship until the round of the 1982 competition. West Germany competed in the first two competitions, which finished in 1972 and 1974. In effect, the West German team absorbed the East German team to become the Germany national under-21 football team, for these reasons, the record of West Germany for the U-23 and U-21 competitions is shown below. For the East Germany team record, look here, included players from Germany, Goal, Manuel Neuer Defence, Mats Hummels Midfield, Mesut Özil Players born in or after 1994 are eligible for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The following players were called up for the matches against England. Note, Names in italics denote players that have called up to the senior team. Caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2017
9.
Germany national football team
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The Germany national football team is the mens football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900, ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany. Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team, the official name and code Germany FR was shortened to Germany following the reunification in 1990. Germany is one of the most successful teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups. They have also been three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976, Germany is the only nation to have won both the mens and womens World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any football team in history. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas, the current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germanys first championship title was won in Switzerland. At that time the players were selected by the DFB, as there was no dedicated coach, the first manager of the Germany national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher from Mannheim, who served in the role from 1926 to 1936. After a poor showing at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf in recognition of their 8–0 win over Denmark in the then German city of Breslau, Lower Silesia. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this united German team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland and that early exit stands as Germanys worst World Cup result. During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games were suspended, as most players had to join the armed forces. After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until 1950, the DFB was not a full member of FIFA, and none of the three new German states — West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland — entered the 1950 World Cup qualifiers. The Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany, with recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950, West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup. The Saarland, under French control between 1947 and 1956, did not join French organisations, and was barred from participating in pan-German ones and it sent their own team to the 1952 Summer Olympics and to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. In 1957, Saarland acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic was founded
10.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
11.
2014 FIFA World Cup
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The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for mens national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014 and it was the second time that Brazil staged the competition, and the fifth time that it was held in South America. Thirty-one national teams advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final tournament, a total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, FIFA Fan Fests in each host city gathered a total of 5 million people, and the country received 1 million visitors from 202 countries. Every World Cup-winning team since the first edition in 1930 – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Spain, the title holders, were eliminated at the group stage, along with England and Italy. Uruguay were eliminated in the round of 16, and France exited in the quarter-finals, Brazil, who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7–1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place. Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas, as the winners, Germany qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. With 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa, it would be the second consecutive World Cup outside of Europe and it was also second in the Southern Hemisphere. Only Brazil and Colombia formally declared their candidacy but, after the withdrawal of the latter from the process, following qualification matches played between June 2011 and November 2013, the following 32 teams – shown with their last pre-tournament FIFA world ranking – qualified for the final tournament. Twenty-four of these teams were returning participants from the 2010 World Cup, Bosnia and Herzegovina were the only team with no previous appearance at the World Cup finals. Colombia qualified for the World Cup after 16 years of absence, while Russia, the highest ranked team to not qualify was Ukraine, while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was Australia. The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight groups, in preparation for this, the teams were organised into four pots with the seven highest-ranked teams joining host nation Brazil in the seeded pot. As with the tournaments, FIFA aimed to create groups which maximised geographic separation. The draw took place on 6 December 2013 at the Costa do Sauípe resort in Bahia, under the draw procedure, one randomly drawn team – Italy – was firstly relocated from Pot 4 to Pot 2 to create four equal pots of eight teams. In March 2013, FIFA published a list of 52 prospective referees, each paired, on the basis of nationality, on 14 January 2014, the FIFA Referees Committee appointed 25 referee trios and eight support duos representing 43 different countries for the tournament. Yuichi Nishimura from Japan acted as referee in the opening match whereas Nicola Rizzoli from Italy acted as referee in the final, as with the 2010 tournament, each teams squad consists of 23 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad no later than 10 days before the start of the tournament, teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game. During a match, all remaining squad members not named in the team are available to be one of the three permitted substitutions
12.
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
13.
2010 FIFA World Cup
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The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010, the matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africas largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points. These 16 teams advanced to the stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, as a result of their win, Spain represented the World in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. Host nation South Africa,2006 champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament and it was the first time that the hosts had been eliminated in the first round. New Zealand, with their three draws, were the undefeated team in the tournament, but they were also eliminated in the first round. Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a policy, abandoned in 2007. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libyas solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements. South Africa, which had failed to win the right to host the 2006 event, was thus awarded the right to host the tournament. Having successfully campaigned for South Africa to be granted host status, during 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africas preparations. Blazer stated, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup. On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had actually won the vote, the qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament, as happened in the previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification. With a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, some controversies arose during the qualifications
14.
UEFA European Championship
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Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form UEFA Euro, prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations compete in a qualifying process. The championship winners earn the opportunity to compete in the following FIFA Confederations Cup, to date, Spain is the only team in history to have won consecutive titles, doing so in 2008 and 2012. It is the second most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup, the Euro 2012 final was watched by a global audience of around 300 million. The most recent championship, hosted by France in 2016, was won by Portugal, in honour of Delaunay, the trophy awarded to the champions is named after him. The 1960 tournament, held in France, had four competing in the finals out of 17 that entered the competition. It was won by the Soviet Union, beating Yugoslavia 2–1 in a final in Paris. Spain withdrew from its quarter-final match against the USSR because of two political protests, of the 17 teams that entered the qualifying tournament, notable absentees were England, the Netherlands, West Germany and Italy. The hosts beat the holders, the Soviet Union, 2–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. The tournament format stayed the same for the 1968 tournament, hosted, for the first and only time a match was decided on a coin toss and the final went to a replay, after the match against Yugoslavia finished 1–1. More teams entered this tournament, a testament to its burgeoning popularity, Belgium hosted the 1972 tournament, which West Germany won, beating the USSR 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. This tournament would provide a taste of things to come, as the German side contained many of the key members of the 1974 FIFA World Cup Champions. The 1976 tournament in Yugoslavia was the last in which four teams took part in the final tournament. Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in the newly introduced penalty shootout, after seven successful conversions, Uli Hoeneß missed, leaving Czechoslovakian Antonín Panenka with the opportunity to score and win the tournament. An audacious chipped shot, described by UEFA as perhaps the most famous spot kick of all time secured the victory as Czechoslovakia won 5–3 on penalties, the competition was expanded to eight teams in the 1980 tournament, again hosted by Italy. It involved a stage, with the winners of the groups going on to contest the final. West Germany won their second European title by beating Belgium 2–1, Horst Hrubesch scored early in the first half before René Vandereycken equalised for Belgium with a penalty in the second half. With two minutes remaining, Hrubesch headed the winner for West Germany from a Karl-Heinz Rummenigge corner, the format also changed, with the top two teams in each group going through to a semi-final stage, instead of the winners of each group going straight into the final
15.
UEFA Euro 2008
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It took place in Austria and Switzerland from 7 to 29 June 2008. The tournament was won by Spain, who defeated Germany 1–0 in the final, Spain were only the second nation to win all their group stage fixtures and then the European Championship itself - an accomplishment matched by France in 1984. Spain were also the first team since Germany in 1996 to win the tournament undefeated, Greece were the defending champions going into the tournament, having won UEFA Euro 2004. They recorded the worst finish in Euro 2008, losing their three fixtures and collecting the least amount of prize money. Throughout 31 matches, the participating nations totalled 77 goals, the same as the previous tournament, Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified as hosts, the remaining 14 teams were determined through qualifying matches, which began in August 2006. As European champions, Spain earned the right to compete for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, Austria had previously bid to host Euro 2004 with Hungary, but they eventually lost out to Portugal. Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote, Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win. The Austria/Switzerland bid is the successful joint bid in the competitions history, following the UEFA Euro 2000 hosted by Belgium. The following tournament, held in Poland and Ukraine, became the third jointly hosted tournament, qualification for Euro 2008 started in August 2006, just over a month after the end of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. England was the only seeded team not to qualify for the tournament proper, in contrast, Germany and Portugal were deemed to have an easy draw, as the tournament structure meant they could not meet Italy, France, the Netherlands or Spain until the final. In the group stage, Croatia, Spain and the Netherlands all qualified with maximum points, Austria and Switzerland were not expected to progress, despite the advantage of being the hosts. In Group A, the Swiss lost their captain, Alexander Frei, to injury in their first game and became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament, Switzerland managed to beat the group winner Portugal in their last game. In Group B, Austria managed to set up a final game against Germany. However, they lost by one goal, making Euro 2008 the first European Championship not to have one of the host nations present in the knockout phase, in the same game, goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was shown a red card for pushing Czech striker Jan Koller to the ground. The Turks joined Portugal as the qualifiers from Group A, France were the high-profile victims of Group C, recording just one point from a goalless draw against Romania in their opening game. Italy beat the French, on the day, to finish on four points. Finally, in Group D, Greece failed to reproduce the form of their shock 2004 win, Russia qualified at the expense of Sweden, after beating them in a final game decider, joining Spain in the knockout phase. Turkey continued their streak of wins, equalising at the end of extra-time against Croatia
16.
UEFA Euro 2012
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The 2012 UEFA European Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for mens national football teams organised by UEFA. Poland and Ukraines bid was chosen by UEFAs Executive Committee on 18 April 2007, the two host teams qualified automatically while the remaining 14 finalists were decided through a qualifying competition, featuring 51 teams, from August 2010 to November 2011. This was the last European Championship to employ the 16-team finals format in use since 1996, from Euro 2016 onward, Euro 2012 was played at eight venues, four in each host country. Five new stadiums were built for the tournament, and the hosts invested heavily in improving infrastructure such as railways, Euro 2012 set attendance records for the 16-team format, for the highest aggregate attendance and average per game. Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships, and also three major tournaments. Spain had already gained entry to the 2013 Confederations Cup by winning the 2010 World Cup, as at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, both 2012 host nations were eliminated in the group stage. The hosting of the event was contested by five bids representing seven countries, Croatia–Hungary, Greece, Italy, Poland–Ukraine. In November 2005, after a consideration of the bid data by UEFA. In May 2006, this was followed by a round of the selection process. The final decision was due to be announced on 8 December 2006 in Nyon, on 18 April 2007, the Poland–Ukraine bid was chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee, at a meeting in Cardiff. Poland–Ukraine became the successful joint bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium–Netherlands. Their bid received a majority of votes, and was therefore announced the winner. There were some alterations from the initial bid plan, regarding the venues. The draw for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying competition took place in Warsaw on 7 February 2010, fifty-one teams entered to compete for the fourteen remaining places in the finals, alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine. The teams were divided into nine groups, with the using the new UEFA national team coefficient for the first time in order to determine the seedings. As defending champions, Spain was automatically top seeded, the qualifying process began in August 2010 and concluded in November 2011. At the conclusion of the group stage in October 2011. The remaining eight-second placed teams contested two-legged play-offs, and the four qualified for the finals
17.
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
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The UEFA European Under-19 Championship is an annual football competition organised by the sports European governing body, UEFA. The competition has been held since 1948 and it was originally called the FIFA junior tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1955. The contest has been every year since its inauguration in 1948. The tournament has played in a number of different formats during its existence. Currently it consists of two stages, similarly to UEFAs other European championship competitions, the qualifying stage is open to all UEFA members, and the final stage is contested between eight teams. During even years, the best finishing teams qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in the next year. Currently, five teams can qualify for the World Cup, consisting of the top two of their groups plus the winner of a match between the third-placed teams of each group. The age limit of the event was under-18 at the beginning of the qualification but co-current with the new name, thus, the age limit never changed as the qualification always began a year before the final tournament. Note,1966 Title Shared between Italy and Soviet Union, the Golden Player award is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament. The Top goalscorer award is awarded to the player who scores the most goals during the tournament, UEFA European Championship UEFA European Under-21 Championship UEFA European Under-17 Championship UEFA European U-19 Cship at uefa. com Tournament details at rsssf. com
18.
2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
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The 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the first edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, after the previous Under-18 competition was reclassified. The tournament was held in Norway, between 21 July and 28 July 2002, the top three teams from each group qualified for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. Players born on or after 1 January 1983 were eligible to participate in this competition, the final tournament took place in seven venues located in seven cities — Bærum, Drammen, Hønefoss, Kongsvinger, Lillestrøm, Moss and Oslo. The winners were Spain, who beat Germany to secure their title. The qualification format consisted of two rounds, in the preliminary round, which took place between August and November 2001,50 national teams were drawn into 14 groups contested as round-robin mini-tournaments hosted by one of the group teams. The group winners progressed to the intermediary round, where they were paired and played two-legged ties between March and May 2002. The winners secured qualification for the tournament, joining Norway who qualified automatically as hosts. The following eight teams qualified to the tournament, The final tournament was held in seven stadiums located in seven Norwegian cities. com Match list at rsssf. com
19.
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
20.
Captain (association football)
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The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the toss prior to kick-off. Contrary to what is said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the captain of a side about the general behaviour when necessary. At an award-giving ceremony after a fixture like a cup competition final, any trophy won by a team will be received by the captain who will also be the first one to hoist it. The captain also generally leads the teams out of the room at the start of the match. The captain generally provides a point for the team, if morale is low. Captains may join the manager in deciding the first team for a certain game, in youth or recreational football, the captain often takes on duties, that would, at a higher level, be delegated to the manager. A club captain is usually appointed for a season, if he is unavailable or not selected for a particular game, then the club vice-captain will be appointed to perform a similar role. The match captain is the first player to lift a trophy should the team win one, a good example of this was in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final when match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United as club captain Roy Keane was suspended. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard jointly lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry, a club may appoint two distinct roles, a club captain to represent the players in a public relations role, and correspondent on the pitch. After Neville retired in 2011, regular starter Nemanja Vidić was named as club captain, são Paulos Rogério Ceni is the player who has worn the captains armband the most times. A vice-captain is a player that is expected to captain the side when the captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game. Examples include Manuel Neuer succeeding Philipp Lahm at Bayern Munich, Marcelo attaining from Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid C. F, gary Cahill being the understudy of John Terry at Chelsea FC and Lionel Messi taking over from Andrés Iniesta at FC Barcelona. Similarly, some clubs also name a 3rd captain to take the role of captain when both the captain and vice-captain are unavailable, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three captains. Michael Ballack had skippered the team since 2004, including the successful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Lahm ended up becoming the permanent captain of Germany, as Ballack was never called up for the national team
21.
FC Bayern Munich Junior Team
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The FC Bayern Munich Junior Team is the youth academy for German football club Bayern Munich. The Junior Team was created in 1902 and restructured in 1995 and it has educated many players who have become regulars in the Bundesliga and Germany. Bayern Munich have to test before the school will accept and you can study free until you graduate if you have a talent, rosters remain unchanged while players train for their position. Bayern Munich Junior Team uses a 4–3–3 formation good system, Bayern Munich has scouts all over the world. Bayern Munich has developed a Talent Day, in 2003, Bayern Munich started partnering with other football clubs. The penultimate stage for youngsters at Bayern is Bayern Munich II, the Junior Team was created in 1902 and restructured in 1995. In 2006 FC Bayern purchased land near the Allianz Arena with the purpose of building a new youth academy, in 2015 the project, estimated to cost €70 million, was started, after overcoming internal resistance. The new facility is scheduled to open in the 2017–18 season, there are 165 players,16 instructors and managers,1 physiotherapist and 1 masseur. Rosters remain unchanged while the kids learn their trade whether it be for goalkeeper, defence and they are trained for no more than 1 or 2 positions. Bayern Munich Junior Team uses a 4–3–3 formation system from D Juniors, players from overseas are offered accommodation in a youth apartment block with 13 single rooms inside the club grounds on Säbener Straße. The facility arrangement at different to many other clubs, in that both the first team and the youth teams train at the same location. Bayern Munich has a building for players who are between 15 and 18 and live too far away from the training ground. Up to 14 youth team players can live there and they have an employee in the residence building where in the morning waking up and prepares a breakfast buffet and also takes care of small and large problems of youth players. There are up to eight teachers are available to support the youth players to compensate for the educational gaps. The ground floor of the center is also the office of the junior team. Bayern Munich has scouts all over the world, though most of the scouting happens within a few hours drive of Munich. As part of the restructuring and to find players for the Junior Team. The Talent Days are done over Saturday and Sunday, the format used is 3 twenty-minute 5-a-side matches on reduced-sized football fields
22.
Bundesliga
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The Bundesliga, is a professional association football league in Germany and the football league with the highest average stadium attendance worldwide. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germanys primary football competition, the Bundesliga is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Seasons run from August to May, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played on weekdays. All of the Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup. A total of 54 clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding, FC Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga the most, winning the title 25 times. However, the Bundesliga has seen other champions with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries. The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963, the structure and organisation of the Bundesliga along with Germanys other football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga, the Bundesliga is composed of two divisions, the 1. Bundesliga, and, below that, the 2, Bundesliga, which has been the second tier of German football since 1974. Below the level of the 3, Liga, leagues are generally subdivided on a regional basis. For example, the Regionalligen are currently made up of Nord, Nordost, Süd, below this are thirteen parallel divisions, most of which are called Oberligen which represent federal states or large urban and geographical areas. The levels below the Oberligen differ between the local areas, the league structure has changed frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 1990s, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany, every team in the two Bundesligen must have a licence to play in the league, or else they are relegated into the regional leagues. To obtain a licence, teams must be healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations. As in other leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division. Bundesliga teams draw significantly greater levels of fan support, average attendance in the first league is 42,673 per game — more than twice the average of the 2. Greater exposure through television and higher attendance levels helps 1, Bundesliga teams attract the most lucrative sponsorships. Bundesliga teams develop substantial financial muscle through the combination of television and gate revenues, sponsorships and this allows them to attract and retain skilled players from domestic and international sources and to construct first-class stadium facilities
23.
Hermann Gerland
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Hermann Gerland is a former German football player and manager. He is assistant manager of the German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich, Gerland spent his entire professional career from 1972 to 1984 playing at VfL Bochum. He played as a striker until 1975, when he switched to defence and he made 204 Bundesliga appearances and scored four goals. Gerlands career as manager began in 1985 as the assistant manager at VfL Bochum, in 1986 Gerland took over as manager from Rolf Schafstall at VfL Bochum. The tenure lasted from 1 July 1986 to 30 June 1988, Bochum finished in 11th place in the 1986–87 season. They were eliminated in the first round of the German Cup, Bochum finished in 12th place during the 1987–88 season. They also got to the final of the German Cup where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt 1–0, in 1988, he made a switch within the Bundesliga and became coach of 1. FC Nürnberg, where he stayed until 1990, Nürnberg finished the 1988–89 season in 14th place. They were eliminated by Karlsruher SC in the German Cup second round, Nürnberg won the first leg 2–1 and lost the second leg 3–1. He left Nürnberg on 9 April 1990 and had his last match, were in ninth place at the time he left the club. He finished with a record of 19 wins,21 draws, beginning with the 1990–91 season, he concurrently coached Bayern Munich Amateure as well as Bayern Munich Juniors. In 1991, he quit the Juniors and he continued coaching the amateurs until 1995. In addition, Gerland was the assistant manager of FC Bayern during the 1991–92 season, in the 1995–96 season, he again coached Nürnberg, who were playing in the 2. Gerland left the on 30 April 1996 and his final match was a 2–2 draw against Hannover 96 on 29 April 1996. He finished with a record of nine wins,12 draws and he managed Tennis Borussia Berlin from 22 October 1996 to 18 November 1998. When Gerland took over Tennis Borussia Berlin, they were in seventh place and they finished the 1996–97 season in sixth place. Tennis Borussia Berlin were promoted to the 2, Bundesliga after the 1997–98 season after they finished in first place. They went undefeated through the 1997–98 season with a record of 29 wins and he left the club during the 1998–99 season and had his final match on 13 November 1998, a 3–1 loss to SpVgg Unterhaching
24.
RC Lens
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Racing Club de Lens is a French football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, sang et or, comes from its traditional colours of red and their primary rivals are their northern neighbours Lille, with whom they contest the Derby du Nord. The clubs origins date back to 1905 in Lens and lie with students playing football on the Place Verte, the name Racing Club de Lens was a reference to Racing Club de Roubaix and Racing Club de France, both popular at the time. The club originally played in green and black to represent the founding location and they wore green to represent the name, Verte, which means green in French, and black to represent the omnipresence of coal mines in the surrounding area. Between 1907 and 1912, the players were forced to change sports grounds twice before settling at the actual Parc des Glissoires, during World War I, the clubs activities were stopped, only restarting in 1919. Lens was then playing in sky blue and it was in 1924 that the red and gold colours appeared. People also say that the colours come from the mines, the red for the blood of the miners. It was also in 1924 that the club was authorised to play at the newly built municipal stadium Raoul Briquet, the first match with the new colours was played for the inauguration of the stadium. In 1926, British footballer Kid Fenton was the first star who played for Lens and it was also the year the first supporters group was formed, and – finally – Lens first capture of the Championnat dArtois. In the Artois League, the club gained prestige, and in 1932, in 1937, Lens gained access to the first division after finishing first in the second division, led by such players as Stefan Dembicki and Spechtl. Lens even managed to reach the last 16 of the Coupe de France, although the team was eliminated by the Red Star. In 1943, Lens won the first division of the Northern Zone thanks to Dembicki, a year earlier, in a Coupe de France match, he scored 17 goals, still the world record today. After World War II, Lens finished in place in the 1945–46 season. In 1948, the club played its first Coupe de France final, a year later, Lens was promoted to the first division, and Maryan Wisnieski was recruited, in 1953. Problems with the board, however, made him quit the club, he joined Italian club UC Sampdoria Genoa, in 1962, the city of Lens mines were shut down and the club was at stake given that most of the players were miners. Between 1956 and 1968, survival was hard, nevertheless, in 1964, Lens finished third, with Ahmed Oudjani the top scorer with 30 goals. Another famous player, Georges Lech, joined Lens, although the club was relegated in 1968, the following year, the mines administrators rescinded their ownership of Lens, and it was the end of professional football at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Lens was once again a club, one year after its relegation
25.
Willy Sagnol
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Willy Sagnol is a former French international footballer who played as a defender and current manager. He spent much of his career playing for Bayern Munich in Germanys Bundesliga. He was also part of the French squad at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship,2002 World Cup, Euro 2004,2006 World Cup, from there he progressed, eventually joining the regions flagship club AS Saint-Étienne. An impressive two-year spell saw him earn a transfer to AS Monaco in 1997 and he experienced his first taste of success, winning Ligue 1 in 2000. Sagnol also played in Jean Tiganas talented Monaco side which famously put Manchester United out of the Champions League in 1998 on away goals after a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford. His excellent form saw him pressing for a call up to represent Les Bleus, the summer of 2000 saw Sagnols career take on a completely different dimension. Transferred to the prestigious German club Bayern Munich, he did not take long to break into the first team, at Bayern, Sagnol consolidated his reputation as one of the best full backs of his generation. A solid defender but also equally comfortable operating in attacking positions, Sagnols superb crossing ability marked him out as a key player in Bayerns attacking play. With the Bavarian club, he won the Bundesliga in 2001,2003,2005,2006, and 2008, as well as the Champions League in 2001 and the DFB-Pokal in 2003,2005,2006, and 2008. At international level, he had success, often finding himself on the bench playing second fiddle to Lilian Thuram on the right-hand side of the French defense. Because of continuing problems with his Achilles tendon, Sagnol quit his career on 1 February 2009. Sagnol was part of Frances squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and his competent performances, aided by Frances progression to the final led to him being named as one of the outstanding defensive performers in the tournament. Indeed, Sagnols name could have been immortalized had his effort on goal not been successfully repelled by Gianluigi Buffon. Sagnol also took the spot kick for France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In the qualification campaign for Euro 2008, fans saw a new side of Sagnol. On several occasions, Willy had good efforts on goal as well as still supplying his trademark crosses for teammates like Thierry Henry against Scotland at Hampden Park on 7 October 2006, the following match, against the Faroe Islands in Paris, was his 50th for his country. His displays in that qualification campaign once more provided proof that Sagnol could be counted on for his consistent defensive play, Sagnol was head coach of the French U–21 team until he was appointed head coach of Girondins de Bordeaux on 23 May 2014. He signed a contract which expires on 30 June 2016
26.
Bixente Lizarazu
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Bixente Lizarazu, initially registered as Vincent Lizarazu, is a retired Basque-French footballer who played for Bordeaux and Bayern Munich, among other teams, as a left-back. He also had 97 caps for the French national team, in a twelve-year international career from 1992 to 2004, Lizarazu played in three European championships and two World Cups for France, winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. Before moving to the German Bundesliga, Lizarazu played for Girondins de Bordeaux, where he played in the 1996 UEFA Cup Final against Bayern, and Athletic Bilbao. He has won six Bundesliga championships with Bayern Munich, as well as five times the DFB-Pokal, the Champions League, on winning the Intercontinental Cup in 2001, he became the first player to be a current European and World champion in club and international football. Lizarazu said that he would leave Bayern in the Summer of 2004, however, six months after signing with Marseille, he returned to Bayern Munich in January 2005. During his second spell with Bayern Munich, ending in 2006, clarifying that it was not a lewd gesture, he said this was because he was born in 1969, his height is 1.69 m and he weighed 69 kg. Lizarazu was capped 97 times for France, scoring two goals, and helped win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. After retirement, Lizarazu got involved in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and he competed in a Jiu-Jitsu competition in Europe in 2009, where he became European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division. He is also a surfer and works as a football pundit for French television. Lizarazu is a French Basque and became the first Frenchman to represent Athletic Club of Bilbao, Lizarazu is able to speak French, Spanish, and English. During his time at FC Bayern Munich, he communicated with teammates in English and Spanish, after retirement, he expressed regret at not learning the German language whilst living in Bavaria
27.
Andreas Hinkel
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Andreas Hinkel is a retired German footballer. He played as a back and played 21 caps for Germany. Hinkel was known for his play on the flanks and defensive solidity. He is now the manager of VfB Stuttgart II and he started his career with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in 2000, before moving to La Liga club Sevilla in 2006. In January 2008, he signed for Scottish Premier League club Celtic for £1.9 million and he left Celtic and joined Bundesliga side Freiburg after his contract expired in summer 2011. He had spent the entire 2010–11 season out due to a ligament injury. Hinkel played 21 matches for Germany between 2003 and 2009, and was in their squad for Euro 2004, after finishing second with Stuttgart in the 2002–03 season, and already established as first-choice, Hinkel took part in Champions League for the first time in his career. In March 2004, however, he suffered a ligament injury. On 23 June 2006, Hinkel signed a contract with Sevilla, where he won the UEFA Cup. The transfer fee was estimated to be around €4 million, however, he found himself unable to dislodge Sevillas regular right-back Daniel Alves. On 4 January 2008, Hinkel was confirmed as a Celtic player, for a fee of £1.9 million. Hinkel played his first Celtic game in a 3–0 Scottish Cup win over Stirling Albion eight days later, Celtic won the SPL title on a dramatic last day of the season and earned Hinkel his first league title medal. The following season, Hinkel won a Scottish League Cup winners medal after a 2–0 win over Rangers in the final, Hinkel played a vital part in Celtics Champions League third qualifying round second-leg victory over Russian outfit Dinamo Moscow on 5 August 2009. The German also cleared two goal-bound Dinamo strikes off the line, Hinkel was seen as an inherent and important part of the team and his performances were not put into question, as shown by his 29 SPL matches. For the first match of the 2010–11 season on 14 August, the following week, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and was ruled out for nine months. He resumed training the following January, on 1 July 2011, Hinkel left Celtic after his contract expired. On 6 October 2011, SC Freiburg signed Hinkel on a free transfer, on 10 September 2012, Hinkel announced his immediate retirement. Hinkel has represented Germany on 21 occasions at senior level, making his debut in 2003 against Serbia and he was part of the German squad during Euro 2004, but missed the 2006 World Cup
28.
Felix Magath
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Wolfgang-Felix Magath is a German football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. He also gained 43 international caps for the West Germany national team, winning UEFA Euro 1980, as a manager, Magaths honours include two consecutive Doubles with Bayern Munich, and a further Bundesliga title with VfL Wolfsburg in 2009. He has a reputation of demanding strong discipline and thorough training, in 2014, Magath coached English club Fulham, becoming the first German to manage in the Premier League. Born near Aschaffenburg, Magath started his playing for local club Viktoria Aschaffenburg. From 1974–76, he played for 1, FC Saarbrücken, at that time in the second division, before moving to Hamburger SV in the top flight. He spent the ten seasons with Hamburg, and from his debut in 1976 to his retirement he scored 46 goals in 306 games in the West German top flight. Magath also represented the West German national team at international events, including the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups. He was also part of the squad won the 1980 UEFA European Championships. Magath made his debut on 30 April 1977, in a 2–1 friendly win with Yugoslavia, having suffered a career-ending knee injury, Magath retired shortly after the 1986 World Cup and became general manager for his former club Hamburg. He left Hamburg in June 1988 after moderate success and his next stints as general manager included then 2. FC Saarbrücken as well as Bayer Uerdingen who were relegated from the first tier during Magaths time at the club, Magath took up coaching in 1992 as a player-coach for the fourth-tier club FC Bremerhaven which he led to division championship. He then rejoined Hamburger SV as reserves coach in 1993 and became manager Benno Möhlmanns assistant soon after, Magath succeeded Möhlmann as manager after the latter was sacked in October 1995. His first match was a 2–2 draw against 1860 Munich, having reached the UEFA Cup during his first season, Hamburg finished in fifth place. The following season as disappointing 15th at the time Magath was sacked and his final match was a 4–0 loss to 1. He finished with a record of 28 wins,19 draws, in the following years, Magath acquired a reputation as the fireman, coming in at difficult times at a club and leading it to salvation. In September 1997, he took over 1, FC Nürnberg who were newly promoted to the 2. His first match was a 0–0 draw against KFC Uerdingen 05, der Club finished the season in third–place, meaning promotion to the Bundesliga, but Magath left due to differences in opinion with the club president Michael A. Roth. He finished with a record of 16 wins, eight draws and he has nine wins, seven draws, and 10 losses
29.
F.C. Hansa Rostock
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F. C. Hansa Rostock is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the former East Germany and have made appearances in the top-flight Bundesliga. After being in the Bundesliga for ten years, from 1995 to 2005, in 2012, the club was relegated to the 3. Liga for the time and is now playing there for the fifth consecutive season. The club was established on 1 November 1954 as the multi-sport Sportclub Empor Rostock, the wholesale transfer of the Lauterers to Rostock part way through the 1954–55 season led to the disappearance of that association from play. A new club was formed in 1956 as BSG Motor Lauter and on 1 August 1990, newly formed SC Empor Rostock took the place of the former Lauter-based club in first division play in November 1954. They finished second the season, but in 1956 plunged to 14th place and were relegated. The new clubs name acknowledged Rostocks history as one of the trading centres of northern Europes Hanseatic League. This is their top flight title to date in play in East Germany or the unified Germany. They also captured the last ever East German Cup with a 1–0 win over FC Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt, Hansa, however, was unable to stay up and was relegated after falling just a single point shy of SG Wattenscheid 09. Three seasons of tempering in the 2, Bundesliga would return the club to the top flight for the 1995–96 season. In ten years spent in the Bundesliga, the teams best results were a pair of sixth-place finishes. In spite of frequent placings in the bottom-half of the league table, on 1 December 2002, Rostock became the first club to field six foreigners from the same country in a Bundesliga match. Rostock had a poor first half in the 2004–05 season. After two years in the 2, Bundesliga, the club returned to the top-flight for the 2007–08 season, but was again relegated. The clubs poor form continued in 2009–10 and they finished third-last, with this season, a new promotion/relegation format accompanied the introduction of the 3. Liga and Rostock found itself in a playoff versus the third place third division club FC Ingolstadt, Hansa lost both legs of the contest and was sent down to the 3. Liga, while Ingolstadt won promotion to the 2, Bundesliga alongside the top two third tier teams which advanced automatically by virtue of their finishes
30.
Borussia Dortmund
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Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund, BVB, or simply Dortmund, is a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. The football team is part of a large membership-based sports club more than 145,000 members. Dortmund plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, Dortmund is one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund was founded in 1909 by eighteen football players from Dortmund, Borussia Dortmund have won eight German championships, three DFB-Pokals, five DFL-Supercups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup Winners Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup. Their Cup Winners Cup win in 1966 made them the first German club to win a European title, since 1974, Dortmund have played their home games at Westfalenstadion, named after its home region of Westphalia. The stadium is the largest in Germany and Dortmund has the highest average attendance of any football club in the world. Borussia Dortmunds colours are black and yellow, giving the club its nickname die Schwarzgelben, Dortmund holds a long-standing rivalry with Ruhr neighbours Schalke 04, known as the Revierderby. In terms of Deloittes annual Football Money League, Dortmund is the second biggest sports club in Germany, father Dewald was blocked at the door when he tried to break up the organizing meeting being held in a room of the local pub, Zum Wildschütz. The name Borussia is Latin for Prussia but was taken from Borussia beer from the nearby Borussia brewery in Dortmund, the team began playing in blue and white striped shirts with a red sash, and black shorts. In 1913, they donned the black and yellow stripes so familiar today, over the next decades the club enjoyed only modest success playing in local leagues. They had a brush with bankruptcy in 1929 when an attempt to boost the clubs fortunes by signing some paid professional footballers failed miserably and they survived only through the generosity of a local supporter who covered the teams shortfall out of his own pocket. The 1930s saw the rise of the Third Reich, which restructured sports, the club did have greater success in the newly established Gauliga Westfalen, but would have to wait until after World War II to make a breakthrough. It was during this time that Borussia developed its intense rivalry with Schalke 04 of suburban Gelsenkirchen, like every other organisation in Germany, Borussia was dissolved by the Allied occupation authorities after the war in an attempt to distance the countrys institutions from its so-recent Nazi past. Between 1946 and 1963, Borussia featured in the Oberliga West, in 1949, Borussia reached the final in Stuttgart against VfR Mannheim, which they lost 2–3 after extra time. The club claimed its first national title in 1956 with a 4–2 win against Karlsruher SC, one year later, Borussia defeated Hamburger SV 4–1 to win their second national title. After this coup, the three Alfredos were legends in Dortmund, in 1963, Borussia won the last edition of the German Football Championship to secure their third national title. In 1962, the DFB met in Dortmund and voted to establish a professional football league in Germany. Borussia Dortmund earned its place among the first sixteen clubs to play in the new league by winning the last pre-Bundesliga national championship, FC Köln also earned an automatic berth
31.
UEFA Champions League
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, the pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations top-level league. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition. In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, the eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competitions history, having won the tournament 11 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, followed by England, the competition has been won by 22 different clubs,12 of which have won it more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, Milan were the last holders to defend their title. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their title in the competition after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2016 final. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations, the first attempt to create a cup for national clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent, the tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949 and it was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season, the first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP, the inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid
32.
Manchester United F.C.
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Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910. Manchester United have won a record 20 League Titles, a joint-record 12 FA Cups,5 League Cups, the club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the became the first in the history of English football to achieve the treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup. The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players, in 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United became the first English football club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles,5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, José Mourinho is the clubs current manager, having been appointed on 27 May 2016. As of June 2015, it is the worlds most valuable football brand and it is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world. In August 2012, Manchester United made a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The club holds several rivalries, most notably with Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United, Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. By 1888, the club had become a member of The Combination. Following the leagues dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance and this resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the railway company and dropped the LYR from its name. After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division, in January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £260,000 in 2017 – the club was served with a winding-up order. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield, Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City. In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000, in the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947,1948 and 1949, in 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the title winning side of 1956 were labelled the Busby Babes by the media. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season
33.
VfL Wolfsburg
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Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V. commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg or Wolfsburg, is a German sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. It is best known for its department, but other departments include badminton, handball. The mens professional football play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, the DFB-Pokal in 2015, professional football is run by the spin-off organization VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. Since 2002, Wolfsburgs stadium is the Volkswagen Arena, the city of Wolfsburg was founded in 1938 as Stadt des KdF-Wagen to house autoworkers building the car that would later become famous as the Volkswagen Beetle. The first football club affiliated with the autoworks was known as BSG Volkswagenwerk Stadt des KdF-Wagen and this team played in the first division Gauliga Osthannover in the 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons. On 12 September 1945, in the aftermath of World War II, on 15 December 1945, the club went through a crisis that almost ended its existence when all but one of its players left to join 1. The only player remaining, Josef Meyer, worked with Willi Hilbert to rebuild the side by signing new players, the new group adopted the moniker VfL Wolfsburg, VfL standing for Verein für Leibesübungen. This can be translated as club for gymnastics or club for exercises, within a year they captured the local Gifhorn title. The club made slow but steady progress in the following seasons, Wolfsburg, however, struggled in the top flight, narrowly missing relegation each season until finally being sent down in 1959. Wolfsburg remained a second division fixture over the dozen years with their best performance being a second-place finish in 1970. That finish earned the entry to the promotion round playoffs for the Bundesliga. From the mid-1970s through to the early 1990s, Die Wölfe played as a third side in the Amateur Oberliga Nord. Consecutive first-place finishes in 1991 and 1992, followed by success in the promotion playoffs, Wolfsburg continued to enjoy some success through the 1990s. Early predictions were that the club would immediately be sent back down, but instead, losing 6–1 away to MSV Duisburg in the final fixture, the Wolves finished in sixth place with 55 points and qualified for next seasons UEFA Cup. They also qualified for the Intertoto Cup in 2000,2001,2003,2004 and 2005 and this was followed by a couple of seasons of little success for the club, just narrowly avoiding relegation with two 15th-place finishes in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. This also enabled the Wolves to qualify for the UEFA Cup for only the time in their history
34.
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
35.
Matthias Sammer
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Matthias Sammer is a retired German footballer and coach who last worked as sporting director of Bayern Munich. He played as a midfielder, and later in his career as a sweeper. With Germany as a player, Sammer won the UEFA Euro 1996, where he was named the tournaments best player, Sammer retired with 74 total caps,23 for East Germany and 51 for the unified side. With Sammer as a manager, Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga in 2002, Sammer started his career at Dynamo Dresden when he joined the clubs youth team as a nine-year-old in 1976. He made his debut for the team under the management of his father, Klaus Sammer. Playing as a striker, he scored eight goals in his first season as Dynamo finished fifth in the DDR-Oberliga, after being moved to the left wing the following season by new manager Eduard Geyer, he eventually found his place in central midfield during the 1987–88 season. In the 1988–89 season, Sammer was part of the Dynamo Dresden team which won the East German championship, the same season the club also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup where they were knocked out by West German club VfB Stuttgart. The following year Dynamo won the league and cup double, defending the DDR-Oberliga title, in the summer of 1990, Sammer joined VfB Stuttgart of the Bundesliga. Sammer scored 11 times in his season as Stuttgart finished sixth in the Bundesliga. The following year Sammer scored nine goals, helping Stuttgart to become the first champions of the reunified Germany, after two seasons at Stuttgart, Sammer joined Italian club Internazionale for the 1992–93 Serie A season. In the winter break of the 1992–93 season, Sammer signed for Borussia Dortmund and he made 17 Bundesliga appearances in the second half of the season, scoring ten times. The following season, Sammer was moved from midfield into the position by Dortmund coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. Soon after winning the Champions League, Sammers career was cut short by injury and he made only three further Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund before suffering a serious knee injury which he failed to recover from and retired in 1998. In addition to the two Bundesliga titles and one Champions League, Sammer also led Dortmund to two DFB-Supercups, in 1995 and 1996, Sammer represented the GDR at every age group. He was part of the East German squads which won the 1986 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship, in November 1986, he made his debut for the full East Germany national football team in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifier against France at Zentralstadion in Leipzig. On 12 September 1990, Sammer captained East Germany in its final match and he scored both goals as the GDR beat Belgium 2–0 in Brussels. On 19 December 1990, Sammer debuted for the newly formed unified Germany national football team, the match was played at his home stadium in Stuttgart and Germany ran out 4–0 winners against Switzerland. Sammer was a member of the German squad for UEFA Euro 1992 and he was also selected for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as Germany was surprisingly knocked out by the underdog Bulgaria at the quarter final stage
36.
FC Schalke 04
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The 04 in the clubs name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, as of December 2015, the club has 140,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the sixth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports, founded in 1904, Schalke has won seven German championships, five DFB-Pokals, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup. Since 2001, Schalkes stadium is the Veltins-Arena, Schalke was ranked as the seventh-best football team in Europe by UEFAs 2015 UEFA club rankings. In terms of operating income, Schalke possesses the seventh-highest operating income of any club at $64.4 million or £38.2 million. Schalke also generates the 14th-highest revenue of any club, at $265.6 million or £157.8 million. In May 2014, Schalke 04 were ranked by Forbes magazine as the 14th-most valuable football club, at £355 million or $599 million, the club was founded on 4 May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students and first wore the colours red and yellow. The team was unable to gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband, in 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league, they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry. This arrangement held up until 1915 when SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club, the separation proved short-lived and the two came together again in 1919 as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club won its first honours in 1923 as champions of the Schalke Kreisliga, in 1924, the football team parted ways with the gymnasts again, this time taking the club chairman along with them. They took the name FC Schalke 04 and adopted the now familiar blue, the following year, the club became the dominant local side, based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball. This system would become famous as the Schalker Kreisel. In 1927, it carried them into the top-flight Gauliga Ruhr, onto the league championship, the popular club built a new stadium, the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the citys support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. However, the ban had little impact on the popularity, in their first game after the ban against Fortuna Düsseldorf, in June 1931. The clubs fortunes begun to rise from 1931 and they made a appearance in the 1932 German championship. The year after, the club went all the way to the final and this league saw Schalkes most successful decade in their history, from 1933 to 1942, the club would appear in 14 of 18 national finals and win their league in every one of its eleven seasons. Schalkes first national title came in 1934 with a 2–1 victory over favourites 1, the next year, they successfully defended their title against VfB Stuttgart with a 6–4 win. The club missed the 1936 final, but would make appearances in the match in each of the next six years
37.
Cruciate ligament
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Cruciate ligaments are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in joints of the body, such as the knee. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacobs ladder, cruciate ligaments occur in the knee of humans and other bipedal animals and the corresponding stifle of quadrupedal animals, and in the neck, fingers, and foot. The cruciate ligaments of the knee are the anterior cruciate ligament and these ligaments are two strong, rounded bands that extend from the head of the tibia to the intercondyloid notch of the femur. The ACL is lateral and the PCL is medial and they cross each other like the limbs of an X. They are named for their insertion into the tibia, the ACL attaches to the aspect of the intercondylar area. The ACL and PCL remain distinct throughout and each has its own partial synovial sheath, relative to the femur, the ACL keeps the tibia from slipping forward and the PCL keeps the tibia from slipping backward. In the fingers, the deep and superficial flexor tendons pass through a tunnel system – the flexor mechanism – of annular. The cruciate pulleys tether the long flexor tendons, the number and extent of these cruciate and annular ligaments varies among individuals, but three cruciate and four or five annular ligaments are normally found in each finger. The thumb has a system for its long flexor tendon. The human foot has a cruciate ligament, also known as inferior extensor retinaculum of foot. The equine foot has a pair of cruciate distal sesamoidean ligaments in the metacarpophalangeal joint and these ligaments can be seen using computed tomography. Cruciate ligament injuries are common in animals, and in 2005 a study estimated that $1.32 billion was spent in the United States in treating the cranial cruciate ligament of dogs. In animals the two cruciate ligaments that cross the inside of the joint are referred to as the cranial cruciate. The cranial cruciate ligament prevents the tibia from slipping forward out from under the femur, stifle injuries are one of the most common causes of lameness in rear limbs in dogs, and cruciate ligament injuries are the most common lesion in the stifle joint. A rupture of the cruciate ligament usually involves a rear leg to suddenly become so sore that the dog can bear weight on it. How a rupture can occur, There are several ways a dog can tear or rupture the cruciate ligament, young athletic dogs can be seen with this rupture if they take a bad step while playing too rough and injure their knee. Older dogs, especially if overweight, can have weakened ligaments that can be stretched or torn by simply stepping down off the bed or jumping, large overweight dogs are at more risk for ruptures of the cruciate ligament
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Romania
Costa Rica
Turkey
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Greece
