1.
ACF Fiorentina
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ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Fiorentina has won two Italian Championships, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as six Coppa Italia trophies, on the European stage, Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1960–61 and lost the final one year later. Since 1931, the club have played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, the stadium has used several names over the years and has undergone several renovations. Fiorentina are known widely by the nickname Viola, a reference to their distinctive purple colours, the aim of the merger was to give Florence a strong club to rival those of the more dominant Italian Football Championship sides of the time from Northwest Italy. Also influential was the revival and rediscovery of Calcio Fiorentino. After a rough start and three seasons in lower leagues, Fiorentina reached the Serie A in 1931 and that same year saw the opening of the new stadium, originally named after Giovanni Berta, after a prominent fascist, but now known as Stadio Artemio Franchi. At the time, the stadium was a masterpiece of engineering, to be able to compete with the best teams in Italy, Fiorentina strengthened their team with some new players, notably the Uruguayan Pedro Petrone, nicknamed el Artillero. Despite enjoying a season and finishing in fourth place, Fiorentina were relegated the following year. In 1941, they won their first Coppa Italia, but the team were unable to build on their success during the 1940s because of World War II, in 1950, Fiorentina started to achieve consistent top-five finishes in the domestic league. This team won Fiorentinas first scudetto in 1955–56,12 points ahead of second-place Milan, Fiorentina were runners-up again in the three subsequent seasons. In the 1960–61 season, the won the Coppa Italia again and was also successful in Europe. After several years of runner-up finishes, Fiorentina dropped away slightly in the 1960s, bouncing from fourth to sixth place, although the club won the Coppa Italia and the Mitropa Cup in 1966. While the 1960s did result in some trophies and good Serie A finishes for Fiorentina, the 1968–69 season started with Milan as frontrunners, but on matchday 7, they lost to Bologna and were overtaken by Gigi Rivas Cagliari. Fiorentina, after a start, then moved to the top of the Serie A. The second half of the season was a battle between the three contending teams, Milan, Cagliari and Fiorentina. Milan fell away, instead focusing their efforts on the European Cup, after Cagliari lost against Juventus, however, Fiorentina took over at the top. The team then won all of their matches, beating rivals Juve in Turin on the penultimate matchday to seal their second. Viola players began the 1970s decade with Scudetto sewed on their breast, after a fifth-place finish in 1971, they finished in mid-table almost every year, even flirting with relegation in 1972 and 1978
2.
Vukovar
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Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia. It has Croatias largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka River, Vukovar is the seat of Vukovar-Syrmia County. The citys registered population was 26,468 in the 2011 census, the name Vukovar means town on the Vuka River. The name of the Vuka River itself originates from the Slavic word vuk, in other languages, the city in German is known as Wukowar and in Hungarian as Vukovár or Valkóvár. In the late 17th century, the medieval Croatian name Vukovo was supplanted by the Hungarian Vukovár, historically, Vukovar was divided into the Old Vukovar, New Vukovar and former workers Bata village with Bata Shoes factory, today known as the Vukovar suburb Borovo Naselje. Vukovar is located 20 km northeast of Vinkovci and 36 km southeast of Osijek, Vukovar is located on the main road D2 Osijek—Vukovar—Ilok and on the Vinkovci—Vukovar railway. The city is out along the Danube River. Vukovar proper is in the southeast while Borovo Naselje forms a unit in the northwest. Slavic tribes settled in area in the 6th century. In the 11th–12th century, the region was part of the Kingdom of Croatia, from the 13th to 16th century part of the Kingdom of Hungary, Vukovar was mentioned first in the 13th century as Volko, Walk, Wolkov. In 1231, Vukovo obtained its first privileges and later the right to taxes on passages along the Danube. At the end of the 17th century, the population numbered about 3,000 inhabitants. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Vukovar was the seat of Syrmia County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, in 1918, Vukovar became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Between 1918 and 1922, Vukovar was the seat of the county of Syrmia. After 1929, Vukovar was part of the Sava Banovina, between 1941 and 1944, Vukovar was part of the Independent State of Croatia. During World War II the city was bombed by the Allies, in 2008 an unexploded bomb was found in the city from this period. From 1945, it was part of the Peoples Republic of Croatia within the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Vukovar was heavily damaged during the Croatian War of Independence. Approximately 2,000 self-organised defenders defended the city for 87 days against approximately 36,000 JNA troops supplemented with 110 vehicles and tanks, the city suffered heavy damage during the siege and was eventually overrun
3.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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Covering an area of 255,804 km², the SFRY was bordered with Italy to the west, Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east and Albania and Greece to the south. In addition, it included two autonomous provinces within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina, the SFRY traces back to 29 June 1943 when the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed during World War II. On 29 November 1945, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed after the deposal of King Peter II thus ending the monarchy. Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980, rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to dissidence among the multiple ethnicities within the constituent republics. This led to the federation collapsing along the borders, followed by the final downfall and breakup of the federation on 27 April 1992. The term former Yugoslavia is now commonly used retrospectively, the name Yugoslavia, an Anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a composite word made-up of jug and slavija. The Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian word jug means south, while slavija denotes a land of the Slavs, thus, a translation of Jugoslavija would be South-Slavia or Land of the South Slavs. The term is intended to denote the lands occupied by the six South Slavic nations, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Slovenes, the full official name of the federation varied significantly between 1945 and 1992. Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, the name deliberately left the republic-or-kingdom question open. In 1963, amid pervasive liberal constitutional reforms, the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced, the state is most commonly referred to by the latter name, which it held for the longest period of all. The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though SFR Yugoslavia was also used in an official capacity, particularly by the media. On 6 April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers led by Nazi Germany, by 17 April 1941, Yugoslav resistance was soon established in two forms, the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The Partisan supreme commander was Josip Broz Tito, and under his command the movement soon began establishing liberated territories which attracted the attentions of the occupying forces. The coalition of parties, factions, and prominent individuals behind the movement was the Peoples Liberation Front. The Front formed a political body, the Anti-Fascist Council for the Peoples Liberation of Yugoslavia. The AVNOJ, which met for the first time in Partisan-liberated Bihać on 26 November 1942, during 1943, the Yugoslav Partisans began attracting serious attention from the Germans. In two major operations of Fall Weiss and Fall Schwartz, the Axis attempted to stamp-out the Yugoslav resistance once, on both occasions, despite heavy casualties, the Group succeeded in evading the trap and retreating to safety. The Partisans emerged stronger than before and now occupied a significant portion of Yugoslavia
4.
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
5.
FK Vojvodina
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Vojvodina were also runners-up in the Yugoslav Cup in 1951. They won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1976, the Mitropa Cup in 1977 and were also runners-up of the Mitropa Cup in 1957 and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1998. From 1993 to 1997, Vojvodina achieved in the national championship 3rd place five times in a row and were runners-up in the cup in 1997. They were runners-up in the Serbian SuperLiga in 2008–09 Serbian SuperLiga, Vojvodina were also runners-up of the Serbian Cup in 2007,2010,2011 and 2013. The first cup trophy Vojvodina won in 2014, the club was founded in secrecy, because the former Austro-Hungarian authorities banned larger organized gatherings of juveniles in the Vojvodina region which was inhabited mostly by Serbs. The name Vojvodina means in Serbian a type of duchy, more specifically and it derives from the word vojvoda, and means one who leads warriors or war leader. The new club played its first match in the village of Kovilj against local club FK Šajkaš, Vojvodina played in bright blue colours and white shorts and won by 5–0. The players were mainly pupils and students, who came from Prague in the holidays and played only that one match. The strict hand of the Austro-Hungarian authorities stopped all Serbian organizations in Novi Sad, after the liberation, Vojvodina resumed the work thanks to the enthusiasm of Serbian students from Prague. The club financed solely by membership fees and by generous contributions as by Maks Grin, Daka Popović, the Novaković brothers, Ilija Balabušić, part of the Vojvodina players and management who studied in Prague, were also members of football club Slavia Prague. The Czech club supported the Vojvodina members during the times before and during the World War I. In 1920, was brought from Prague the first set of red, at the club meeting held on 23 July 1922, it was decided that in honour of Slavia Prague the red and white colors adorn the jerseys of Vojvodina. The first coach, technical director and chief organizer оf Vojvodina was the lawyer Dr. Kosta Hadži, one of the founder of Vojvodina. Under his leadership, Vojvodina won the Novi Sad Subassociation league in 1926, Vojvodina played with following players, Mihajlović, Živić, Kričkov, Popović, Vajs, Aleksić, Grgarov, Marjanović, Šević, Petrović, Dudás and Saraz. The club provided the first professional contracts to its players, and also brought professional players from abroad such as Czech Josef Čapek and Hungarians Sándor Dudás and Abraham Saraz. One of the best and most influential Vojvodina players at that time was Dušan Marković, an effective striker who played for Vojvodina from 1921 to 1935. End of the 1930s, Vojvodina brought many players into the team, which was later known as the Millionaires team and one of the best was Jožef Velker. In 1932,1934,1935, 1937–1940, Vojvodina won the Novi Sad Football Subassociation league, since then, Vojvodina begun having serious pretensions to gain promotion to the Yugoslav First League
6.
Red Star Belgrade
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They are the only Serbian and ex-Yugoslav club to have won the European Cup, having done so in 1991, and the only team from Eastern Europe to have won the Intercontinental Cup, also in 1991. However, since the 1991–92 season, Red Star has failed to qualify in the stages of UEFA Champions League. According to 2008 polls, Red Star Belgrade is the most popular club in Serbia. They have many supporters in all other former Yugoslavian republics and in the Serbian diaspora and their main rivals are fellow Belgrade side Partizan. The championship matches between two clubs are known as The Eternal derby. In September 2009, British Daily Mail ranked the Red Star – Partizan derby fourth among the 10 greatest football rivalries of all time. They got dissolved, because during the German occupation, there was an attempt to organize the league so all the clubs were labelled collaborators by Marshal Titos communist regime, two of the most popular clubs from Belgrade were SK Jugoslavija and BSK Belgrade. The entire BSK Belgrade roster also joined along with other players from Belgrade. The name Red Star was assigned after a long discussion, the initial vice presidents of the Sport Society, Zoran Žujović and Slobodan Ćosić, were the ones who assigned it. Red Star was soon adopted as a symbol of Serbian reactionary element within Yugoslavia, on that day, Red Star played the first football match in the clubs history against the First Battalion of the Second Brigade of KNOJ and won, 3–0. Red Stars first successes involved small steps to recognition, the club won its first championship in 1951. It was a team of players consisting of Stanković, Popović, Mitić, Kostić and those football players, whose names are still remembered, won four Yugoslav championships and two Cups, not missing the opportunity to win every Yugoslav Trophy for five straight seasons. The second leg is notable for being the last game played by the Busby Babes, on the return flight to England the following day, the plane crashed in Munich, West Germany, resulting in the deaths of 23 people including eight Manchester United players. After the Miljanić era, it was the time of Gojko Zec, whose reign as coach was to last four years. In the following season, Red Star finished second in the league, after eliminating teams like Arsenal, West Bromwich and Hertha BSC, Red Star made for the first time the Cup final. And there, Red Star met Borussia Mönchengladbach, who played five European finals from 1973–80. The Germans, who were backed by about 100,000 fiery supporters, fell behind today a goal from Miloš Šestić, but Jurišić’s own goal gave Gladbach a psychological advantage before the rematch. This game was played at the Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, where the Italian referee gave a penalty to the Germans
7.
A.S. Roma
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Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence except for 1951–52, for their 65th season in a row, Roma are competing in Serie A for the 2016–17 season. Roma have won Serie A three times, first in 1941–42 then in 1982–83 and again in 2000–01, as well as winning nine Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. On the European stage Roma won an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, coming close to European Cup victory in 1983–84, therefore, Roma is the fourth Italian club by major honours won, behind Juventus, Milan and Inter. Home games are played at the Stadio Olimpico, a venue they share with city rivals Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,000, it is the second largest of its kind in Italy, in September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a Stadio della Roma in the western suburbs of Rome. Its design was modelled after English football stadiums with the objective being to give fans a view of the pitch. In September 2011, it was announced that the new president, Thomas R. DiBenedetto, had reached an agreement with the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, to have the new stadium completed by 2016. The purpose of the merger was to give the Italian capital a strong club to rival that of the more dominant Northern Italian clubs of the time. The only major Roman club to resist the merger was S. S. Lazio because of the intervention of the army General Vaccaro, member of the club and executive of Italian Football Federation. An early season in which Roma made a mark was the 1930–31 championship. Captain Attilio Ferraris along with Guido Masetti, Fulvio Bernardini and Rodolfo Volk were highly important players during this period, after a slump in league form and the departure of high key players, Roma eventually rebuilt their squad adding goalscorers such as the Argentine Enrique Guaita. Under the management of Luigi Barbesino, the Roman club came close to their first title in 1935–36, Roma returned to form after being inconsistent for much of the late 1930s, Roma recorded an unexpected title triumph in the 1941–42 season by winning their first ever scudetto title. The eighteen goals scored by local player Amedeo Amadei were essential to the Alfréd Schaffer coached Roma side winning the title, at the time Italy was involved in World War II and Roma were playing at the Stadio del Partito Nazionale Fascista. In the years just after the war, Roma were unable to recapture their league stature from the early 1940s, under future national team manager Giuseppe Viani, promotion straight back up was achieved. After returning to the Serie A, Roma managed to stabilise themselves as a top half club again with such as Egisto Pandolfini, Dino Da Costa. Although Roma were unable to break into the top four during the following decade and their first honour outside of Italy was recorded in 1960–61 when Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by beating Birmingham City 4–2 in the finals. A few years later Roma won their first Coppa Italia trophy in 1963–64, supporters kept the club going with a fundraiser at the Sistine Theatre and bankruptcy was avoided with the election of a new club president Franco Evangelisti
8.
U.C. Sampdoria
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Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly known as Sampdoria, is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria, Sampdoria currently compete in Serie A. Both the team name and jersey do reflect this, the first being a combination of the former names, the teams colours are blue with white, red and black hoops, hence the nickname blucerchiati. Sampdoria play at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, capacity 36,536, the derby between the two teams is commonly known as the Derby della Lanterna. Sampdoria have won the Scudetto only once in their history, in 1990–91, the club has also won the Coppa Italia four times and one Supercoppa Italiana. Their biggest European success came when they won the Cup Winners Cup in 1989–90 and they also reached the European Cup final in 1991–92, losing the final 1–0 to Barcelona after extra time. The Ginnastica Sampierdarenese was founded in 1891, opening its section in 1899. Also around this time, a club named Society Andrea Doria was founded in 1895, the club eventually joined the competition for the 1903 Italian Football Championship, but did not win a game in the tournament until 1907, when they beat local rivals Genoa 3–1. It was not until 1910–11 that the club began to show promise, during that seasons tournament, they finished above Juventus, Internazionale and Genoa in the Piedmont-Lombardy-Liguria section. After World War I, Sampierdarenese finally began to compete in the Italian Championship, after they bought a club of Genoa province. With the 1921–22 season, the Italian top league was split into two competitions, both of the clubs in Sampdorias history were in competitions that year too. Sampierdarenese played in the FIGC-run competition, whereas Andrea Doria played in the CCI variation, Sampierdarenese won the Ligura section and then went on to the semi-finals, finishing top out of three clubs, this lead them to the final against Novese. Both legs of the final ended in 0–0 draws, thus a repetition match was played in Cremona on 21 May 1922, still intensely difficult to separate, the match went into extra time with Novese eventually winning the tie 2–1. After the league system in Italy was brought back into one item, at the end of the 1926–27 season, the clubs merged by fascist authorities under the name La Dominante. Wearing green and black striped shirts, La Dominante Genova were admitted to the first ever season of Serie B, the next season, under the name Liguria, they had a disastrous year, finishing bottom of the table and suffering relegation. Because of this, both Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria reverted to their previous names as separate clubs, Sampierdarenese were back in Serie B for the 1932–33 season and finished in the upper part. The following year, they were crowned champions and were promoted into Serie A for the first time, in the early 1940s, the club was relegated, but bounced straight back up as Serie B champions in 1941. After World War II, both clubs were competing in Serie A, in a reverse of pre-war situations, Andrea Doria were now the top out of the two
9.
S.S. Lazio
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Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia six times, the club had their first major success in 1958, winning the domestic cup. In 1974, they won their first Serie A title, Lazios traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and white shorts with white socks, the colours are reminiscent of Romes ancient Hellenic legacy. Sky blue socks have also been used as home colours. Their home is the 70,634 capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Roma until the year 2018, when the latter will leave for the Stadio della Roma. Lazio have a rivalry with Roma, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale since 1929. Lazio is also a club that participate in 40 sports disciplines in total. Società Podistica Lazio was founded on 9 January 1900 in the Prati district of Rome, in 1927, Lazio was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regimes attempts to merge all the citys teams into what would become A. S. The club played in the first organised Serie A in 1929 and, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola, the 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results with a Coppa Italia win in 1958. Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to the Serie B, after a number of mid-table placements, another relegation followed in 1970–71. Lazio improved such successes the following season, ensuring its first title in 1973–74, however, tragic deaths of Re Cecconi and Scudetto trainer Maestrelli, as well as the departure of Chinaglia, would be a triple blow for Lazio. The emergence of Bruno Giordano during this period provided some relief as he finished League top scorer in 1979, Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a remarkable scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with Milan. They remained in Italys second division for three seasons in what would mark the darkest period in Lazios history and they would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season. The 1984–85 season would prove harrowing, with a pitiful 15 points, in 1986, Lazio was hit with a nine-point deduction for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani. The arrival of Sergio Cragnotti in 1992 changed the clubs due to his long-term investments in new players to make the team a Scudetto competitor. A notable early transfer during his tenure was the capture of English midfielder Paul Gascoigne from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million, gascoignes transfer to Lazio is credited with the increase of interest in Serie A in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. Lazio had two more Coppa Italia triumphs in 1998 and 2004, as well as the last ever UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1999 and they also reached the UEFA Cup, but lost 0–3 against Internazionale
10.
Inter Milan
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date
11.
Serbia national football team
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The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. With the national team nicknamed the Orlovi, football has a history in both Serbia and neighbouring countries. Serbia competed under the forms of Yugoslav national teams, where it achieved considerable success, finish 4th at the 1930 and 1962 World Cups. Following the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia has played as an independent nation since 2006, the teams greatest success could be described as the 1–0 win over Germany at the 2010 World Cup, a campaign which eventually led to the teams elimination in the group stage. The home ground of the team is the Rajko Mitić Stadium of Red Star Belgrade. The first national team was in the kingdom existed between the two world wars. They lost by a huge margin 0–7, but nonetheless got their names in the history books, in 1929, the country was renamed to Yugoslavia and the football association became Fudbalski Savez Jugoslavije and moved its headquarters to Belgrade. The national team participated at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, finishing in fourth place, the federation and football overall was disrupted by World War II. After the war, a socialist federation was formed and the football federation reconstituted, Yugoslavia begin their football campaign by defeating Luxembourg 6–1, with five different players scoring the goals. In the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, they would take out Turkey, in the final though, they would lose to Sweden. Having a team with players from the 1948 generation, Yugoslavia was a formidable side at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Against the USSR, Yugoslavia was 5–1 up with 15 minutes of their first round match to go, the Yugoslavs, understandably, put their feet up. Arthur Ellis, the referee, recorded what happened next in his book, The Final Whistle. Bobrov, their captain, scored a magnificent hat-trick, after the USSR had reduced the lead to 5–2, he, almost single-handed, took the score to 5–5, scoring his third in the last minute. For once, use of the word sensational was justified, although Bobrovs early goal in their replay presaged a miraculous recovery, Yugoslavia recovered sufficiently to put out their opponents easily in the second half. Yugoslavia organized the 1976 European Championship played in Belgrade and Zagreb, the national team participated in eight World Cups, four Euros, and won the Olympic football tournament in 1960 at the Summer Games. With the end of the Cold War, democratic principles were introduced to the country brought about the end of Titoist rule. In the subsequent atmosphere, national tensions were heightened, at the Yugoslavia-Netherlands friendly in preparation for the 1990 World Cup, the Croatian crowd in Zagreb jeered the Yugoslav team and anthem and waved Dutch flags
12.
Bologna F.C. 1909
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Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1909. The club are nicknamed the rossoblu due to the striped shirts which they wear. Bologna were founding members of Serie A in 1929, during its history, the club has won the Italian league championship seven times, making them the sixth most successful team in the history of the league. Bologna Football Clubs formation was orchestrated by Emilio Arnstein, an Austrian who became interested in football at university in Vienna and he and his brother had previously founded another football club, Black Star, in Austria. The club was founded on 3 October 1909, in the Northern Italian city of Bologna, on 20 March 1910, Bologna played their first ever game, against Virtus, who wore white shirts. Bologna outclassed their opponents, winning 9–1, the first football squad featured, Koch, Chiara, Pessarelli, Bragaglia, Guido Della Valle, Nanni, Donati, Rauch, Bernabeu, Mezzano, and Gradi. Their formative season was spent in the league under Arrigo Gradi as captain. They spent four seasons in league, never finishing lower than fifth. Bologna were entered into the Northern League before all football leagues were postponed for World War I, after the first war, Bologna began to become more successful. First reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Italian competition in 1919–20, they went one better the season by reaching the Northern League finals. They would equal this again in 1923–24, coming runner up to national champions Genoa. Bologna became Northern and National League champions for the first time during 1924–25, the finals against the Ligurian giants were marred by heavy crowd troubles. The Scudetto was won by Bologna four more times before World War II, after World War II, the club was less successful. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the club generally floated between fourth, fifth and sixth position in the league, until they took the title back in 1963–64. To date this remains their last Serie A championship, bringing the total to seven. This qualified Bologna to the 1964–65 European Cup, but they were eliminated in the round against Anderlecht. It was not all doom and gloom for the club, however, in the 1970s, they won the Italian Cup twice, the game was tense and finished 1–1 before going to a penalty shootout, where Bologna won 4–3. Beginning in the 1981–82 season, the club began to slide, first, they were relegated from Serie A after battling it out for survival with Cagliari and Genoa
13.
Calcio Catania
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Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. They compete in Lega Pro, the tier of the Italian football league system. The club has achieved success in the top league, with the highest position ever reached by the club is eighth in Serie A, done four times, during the early 1960s. The furthest Catania have progressed in cup competitions is the final of the Coppa delle Alpi, Catania have a long-standing rivalry with fellow islanders Palermo, with whom they have contested the Derby di Sicilia since 1936. The origins of football being played by representatives of the Province of Catania can be traced back to English cargo ships, early on, they would always play against sailors visiting the port of Catania, particularly from foreign ships. Just two years later, they changed the name to Unione Sportiva Catanese, US Catanese survived World War I and just after played in the local Coppa Federale Siciliana. Seven seasons later, in 1927, they were entered into the Campionato Catanese, as they gained promotion, the club entered the Second Division, changing their name first to Società Sportiva Catania. They first competed in Serie B in the 1934–35 season, where finished fourth. Catania played in the league for three seasons during this period before ultimately being relegated, down in Serie C, Catania were crowned champions in the 1938–39 season, finishing above Sicilian rivals Siracusa and Messina, who came in second- and third-place respectively. Their return to Serie B was not a pleasant one, the finished bottom of the league. The clubs name was changed to Associazione Calcio Fascista Catania during the 1942–43 season in Serie C. After World War II ended, a competition was organised. US Catanese were back, at the end of that season, the merged club kept the Catanese name and competed in Serie C during the 1945–46 season, but finished last. In the same league season, a team called Virtus Catania were also present. At the end of the season, Catanese and Virtus merged to form Club Calcio Catania, with the clubs first president as Santi Manganaro-Passanisi and they were entered into Serie C, where they spent three seasons. After an epic duel with Reggina for first place in the league, Catania prevailed with stars such as Goffi, Messora, Ardesi and Prevosti, thereby gaining promotion to Serie B for the 1948–49 season. The late 1950s through 1960s are considered the years for the Catanian club. Their first promotion from Serie B came when, during the 1953–54 season, they beat Cagliari and their first season in Serie A saw the club achieve a respectable 12th-place finish, but the club were forcibly relegated due to financial scandal
14.
A.C. Milan
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Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A. C. Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30. With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the fourth most successful club in the world, with 18 league titles, Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A, along with local rivals Internazionale. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, and the Supercoppa Italiana seven, Milans home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, inter are considered their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called Derby della Madonnina, which is one of the most followed derbies in football. The owner of the club is former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the club is one of the wealthiest in Italian and world football. It was a member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs as well as its replacement. A. C. Milan was founded as Milan Cricket and Foot-Ball Club on 13 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a two in succession in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by disagreements over the signing of foreign players. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl. This was one of the clubs most successful periods domestically, with the Scudetto going to Milan in 1951,1955,1957,1959 and 1962, in 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, with a 4–1 win over Ajax in the final, during this period Milan also won its first Coppa Italia, with victory over Padova in the 1967 final, and two European Cup Winners Cups, in 1967–68 and 1972–73. Milan won a league title in 1979, but after the retirement of Gianni Rivera in the same year. The club was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and as punishment was relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history, the scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan achieved promotion back to Serie A at the first attempt, winning the 1980–81 Serie B title, in 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A, where they achieved a sixth-place finish in 1983–84
15.
Torino F.C.
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Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that plays in Serie A. That entire team was killed in the 1949 Superga air disaster and they have also won the Coppa Italia five times, the last of which was in the 1992–93 season. Internationally, Torino won the Mitropa Cup in 1991 and were finalists in the UEFA Cup in 1991–92, Torino plays all of its home games at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. The clubs colour is maroon, and its symbol is a rampant bull, in the city of Turin, the game of football arrived at the end of the 19th century, first introduced by the industrial Swiss and English. By 1887, Football & Cricket Club – the oldest Italian football club – had already founded in the capital of Piedmont. In 1891 the two merged to form Internazionale Torino, after which Football Club Torinese was founded in 1894. The new game quickly supplanted the popularity of pallapugno, which led to the foundation of the sections of the sports club Ginnastica Torino. Faelmdrich, A. Boulaz and Walter Streule, franz Schoenbrod, the president, was absent, with the cashier, Luigi Custer, randomly seated in his elected seat. While not intervening, Giacomo Zuffi, Gian Luigi Delleani, Vittorio Morelli di Popolo, Ademaro Biano, Ettore Ghiglione, Vittorio Berrà, through the merger of Football Club Torinese and the aforementioned group of dissidents Foot-Ball Club Torino was born. The new club chose to use different colours, opting in the end for granata, the historic photo of that first meeting portrays a boy destined to play an important role in the history of Italian football, Vittorio Pozzo. The first derby was played in the new year at the Velodrome Umberto I, dated 13 January 1907, Torino successfully replicated this by a margin of 4–1 a month later and gained the right to enter the final round of the Italian Football Championship, placed second behind Milan. Torinos home ground would be, until 1910, the aforementioned Velodrome Umberto I, Torino did not participate in the 1908 Italian Football Championship as a rule was passed which limited the use of foreign players. Torino lost in the final to Swiss side Servette, in 1915, Torino were denied their first real championship attempt by the outbreak of World War I. With one match left to play, Torino, were two points behind leaders Genoa, in the final game of the championship, Torino would have had the opportunity to play the Genoese head-on after defeating them in the first leg 6–1. At that time, albeit in different years, four different siblings played for Torino, the Mossos, after the War, the league resumed in October 1919. Like other teams, Torino lost many of its players during the war, the recovery was muted when Torino squad came 3rd in the Piedmont group, behind Pro Vercelli and Juventus. Even in 1920–21, there was not a league but a series of regional groups. The referee decided to play an extra time, but after eight minutes the teams mutually agreed to not continue
16.
Sporting CP
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Sporting Clube de Portugal, OM, ComC, MHIH or Sporting CP is a sports club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that is best known for its football team. As of 23 May 2016, Sporting is the worlds sixth-largest club in terms of members and is one of the Três Grandes football clubs in Portugal. They are nicknamed Leões and Verde e Brancos, the clubs anthem, A Marcha do Sporting, was written in 1955. Founded in Lisbon on 1 July 1906, Sporting were a member of the Primeira Liga and. Benfica and FC Porto, have never relegated from the top flight of Portuguese football since its establishment in 1934. Sporting are the third most successful Portuguese football club, with 50 titles in all the Portuguese competitions and one international title, domestically, they have won 18 Primeira Liga titles,16 Portuguese Cups, four Championships of Portugal and eight Portuguese Super Cup titles. Sportings football youth system has developed players such as Paulo Futre, Simão, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma and Ballon dOr recipients Cristiano Ronaldo. Sporting are currently ranked 54th in UEFA club rankings, Sporting Club de Portugal has its origins in June 1902, when young men Francisco da Ponte, Horta Gavazzo and his brother José Maria decided to create Sport Club de Belas. This club, the first ancestor of Sporting, played just one match and at the end of the years summer and they played their matches on the estate of Viscount of Alvalade, the grandfather of José Alvalade, with the clubs headquarters located at the house of Francisco Gavazzo. For two years, the club developed an activity on several sports, namely football, tennis. The club also organized parties and picnics, some time later, José Gavazzo, José Alvalade and 17 other members left the club, with the latter saying I am going to have with me my grandfather and he will give me the money to make another club. As such, a new club, Campo Grande Sporting Clube, was founded, the Viscount of Alvalade, whose money helped to fund the club, was the first president of Sporting. José Alvalade, as one of the founders, uttered on behalf of himself and his fellow co-founders, We want this club to be a great club. Three months later, on 1 July 1906, António Félix da Costa Júnior suggested the name Sporting Clube de Portugal, Sporting played their first Primeira Liga game ever on 20 January 1935, winning 0–6 against Académica de Coimbra. A year later, in 1936, the club had their heaviest defeat ever against Porto, Sporting, however, got their revenge a year later, when they humbled the same team with a 9–1 result. In 1941, under the guidance of Hungarian manager József Szabó, the football team had their height during the 1940s and 1950s. It was spearheaded by Fernando Peyroteo, José Travassos, Albano Pereira, Jesus Correia and Manuel Vasques, with the violins help, Sporting won seven league titles in eight seasons between 1947 and 1954, including a then unprecedented four in a row from 1950–51 onwards. Fernando Peyroteo, the most known of the violins, is considered one of the greatest Portuguese players of all time, Sporting and the Yugoslavian team Partizan both made history on 4 September 1955, as they played the first-ever UEFA Champion Clubs Cup match
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Yugoslavia national football team
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The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed success in international competition, in 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international competition as part of a United Nations sanction. In 1994, when the boycott was lifted, it was succeeded by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia national football team, Serbia national football team inherited Yugoslavias spot within FIFA and UEFA and is considered by both organisations as the only successor of Yugoslavia. The first national team was in the kingdom, that existed between the two world wars and they lost by a huge margin 0–7, but nonetheless got their names in the history books. In 1929, the country was renamed to Yugoslavia and the association became Fudbalski Savez Jugoslavije. The national team participated at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, finishing in fourth place, Yugoslavia begin their football campaign by defeating Luxembourg 6–1, with five different players scoring the goals. In the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, they would take out Turkey, in the final though, they would lose to Sweden. Having a team with players from the 1948 generation, Yugoslavia was a formidable side at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Against the USSR, Yugoslavia was 5–1 up with 15 minutes of their first round match to go, the Yugoslavs, understandably, put their feet up. Arthur Ellis, the referee, recorded what happened next in his book, The Final Whistle. Bobrov, their captain, scored a magnificent hat-trick, after the USSR had reduced the lead to 5–2, he, almost single-handed, took the score to 5–5, scoring his third in the last minute. For once, use of the word sensational was justified, although Bobrovs early goal in their replay presaged a miraculous recovery, Yugoslavia recovered sufficiently to put out their opponents easily in the second half. The federation and football overall was disrupted by World War II, after the war, a socialist federation was formed and the football federation reconstituted. It was one of the members of the UEFA and it organized the 1976 European Championship played in Belgrade. The national team participated in eight World Cups, four Euros, dragan Džajić holds the record for the most national team caps at 85, between 1964 and 1979. The best scorer is Stjepan Bobek with 38 goals, between 1946 and 1956, with the end of the Cold War, democratic principles were introduced to the country which brought about the end of Titoist rule. In the subsequent atmosphere, national tensions were heightened, at the Yugoslavia-Netherlands friendly in preparation for the 1990 World Cup, the Croatian crowd in Zagreb jeered the Yugoslav team and anthem and waved Dutch flags. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the split up and the remaining team of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was banned from competing at Euro 92
18.
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
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The UEFA European Under-21 Championship is a football competition organised by the sports European governing body, UEFA. It is held two years. The competition has existed in its current form since 1978 and it was preceded by the Under 23 Challenge Cup which ran from 1967 to 1970. A true Under 23 championship was formed, starting in 1972. The age limit was reduced to 21 for the 1978 championship, to be eligible for the campaign ending in 2017, players need to be born in or after 1994. Many can be actually 23 years old by the time the tournament takes place, however. Under-21 matches are played on the day before senior internationals and where possible. This was not true for the shortened 2006-2007 Championship and this tournament serves as qualifier for the Summer Olympics. It has been considered a stepping stone toward the senior team, sweden are the reigning champions, defeating Portugal in the 2015 final, on penalties. The finals of the 2015 competition were hosted by Czech Republic, up to and including the 1992 competition, all entrants were divided into eight qualification groups, the eight winners of which formed the quarter-finals lineup. The remaining fixtures were played out on a two-legged, home, for the 1994 competition, one of the semi-finalists, France, was chosen as a host for the semi-finals, 3rd place playoff and final. Similarly, Spain was chosen to host the last four matches in 1996, for 1998, nine qualification groups were used, as participation had reached 46, nearly double the 24 entrants in 1976. The top seven group winners qualified automatically for the finals, whilst the eighth- and ninth-best qualifiers, Greece and England, the remaining matches, from the quarter-finals onward, were held in Romania, one of the eight qualifiers. The 2000 competition also had nine groups, but the nine winners, from those, Slovakia was chosen as host. For the first time, the finals group stage was employed. The structure in 2002 was identical, except for the introduction of a round after the finals group stage. In 2004, ten groups were used, with the group winners. For 2006, the top two teams of eight large qualification groups provided the 16 teams for the playoffs, held in November 2005, then followed the switch to odd years
19.
Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
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The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for the Serbian language, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two used to write standard modern Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin, the other being Latin. During the same period, Croatian linguists led by Ljudevit Gaj adapted the Latin alphabet, in use in western South Slavic areas, using the same principles. As a result of this joint effort, Cyrillic and Latin alphabets for Serbo-Croatian have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs Lj, Nj, and Dž counting as single letters. Vuks Cyrillic alphabet was adopted in Serbia in 1868, and was in exclusive use in the country up to the inter-war period. Both alphabets were co-official in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Serbia, Cyrillic is seen as being more traditional, and has the official status. It is also a script in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, along with Latin. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet with the work of Krste Misirkov, Cyrillic is in official use in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbian language in Croatia is officially recognized as a minority language, however, Cyrillic is an important symbol of Serbian identity. In Serbia, official documents are printed in Cyrillic only even though, according to a 2014 survey, Glagolitic appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. Cyrillic was created by the orders of Boris I of Bulgaria by Cyrils disciples, the earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav, based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek. There was no distinction between capital and lowercase letters, the literary Slavic language was based on the Bulgarian dialect of Thessaloniki. Part of the Serbian literary heritage of the Middle Ages are works such as Vukan Gospels, St. Savas Nomocanon, Dušans Code, Munich Serbian Psalter, the first printed book in Serbian was the Cetinje Octoechos. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić fled Serbia during the Serbian Revolution in 1813, there he met Jernej Kopitar, a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj helped Vuk to reform the Serbian language and he finalized the alphabet in 1818 with the Serbian Dictionary. Karadžić also translated the New Testament into Serbian, which was published in 1868 and he wrote several books, Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica and Pismenica serbskoga jezika in 1814, and two more in 1815 and 1818, all with the alphabet still in progress. In his letters from 1815-1818 he used, Ю, я, Ы and Ѳ, in his 1815 song book he dropped the Ѣ. The alphabet was adopted in 1868, four years after his death
20.
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
21.
Manager (association football)
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In association football, a manager is an occupation of head coach in the United Kingdom responsible for running a football club or a national team. Outside of the British Isles and across most of Europe, a title of coach or coach is predominant. The manager of a club is responsible to the club chairman. The managers responsibilities in a football club usually include the following, Selecting the team of players for matches. Planning the strategy, and instructing the players on the pitch, motivating players before and during a match. Delegating duties to the first team coach and the coaching and medical staff, scouting for young but talented players for eventual training in the youth academy or the reserves, and encouraging their development and improvement. Buying and selling players in the market, including loans. Facing the media in pre-match and post-match interviews, some of the above responsibilities are shared with the director of football or sporting director, and are at times delegated to an assistant manager or club coach. Additionally, depending on the club, some minor responsibilities include, Marketing the club, most especially for ticket admission, sponsorship, growing turnover and keeping the club profitable. These responsibilities are more common among managers of small clubs, for this reason, in many cases, national football team managers are selected from current club team managers and also in many cases, they select the players of their clubs. The title of manager is almost exclusively used in British football, in the majority of countries where professional football is played, the person responsible for the direction of a team is awarded the position of coach or trainer. For instance, despite the general equivalence in responsibilities, Bobby Robson was referred to as the manager of England, for example, a typical European football manager would have the final say on in-game decisions, and off-the-field and roster management decisions. In American sports, these duties would be handled separately by the coach and general manager
22.
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
23.
Serbia and Montenegro national football team
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The Serbia and Montenegro national football team was a national football team that represented the federation of Serbia and Montenegro. It was controlled by the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro, although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on 28 April 1992, its teams were banned from all international sporting events, including the national football team. Consequently, the team did not play its first game as a new country before 23 December 1994. This was the first ever composed of Serbian and Montenegrin players exclusively, while Slobodan Santrač. The next game was played three days later, this time in Buenos Aires, resulting in 1–0 loss to Argentina. Despite two losses in two games, the team was honoured to play its first two games ever against such football powerhouses. Also due to the United Nations international sanctions, the team could not take part in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, nor the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying process. Slightly more than one year later, the team recorded its first ever win in a FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament in its first game in such a tournament, shortly after, the team also recorded its biggest win in history, once again against the Faroe Islands, 8–1. Yugoslavia finished second in Group 6, just behind Spain, meaning it had to go through the system in order to qualify. Yugoslavia was paired up with Hungary, and what was believed would be a tough matchup turned out to be a win for Yugoslavia, 7–1 in Budapest and 5–0 in Belgrade. This was enough to secure Yugoslavia its first ever FIFA World Cup appearance as a new country, the 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding had Yugoslavia ranked in 21st position, but the Yugoslav national football team went to France as one of the shadow favorites for the World Cup. The New York Times stated that Yugoslavia could easily be a semi-finalist in that years World Cup, the justification for such an estimation was partially found in the names of the Yugoslav players, members of great European teams and proven footballers. The draw put the team in Group F alongside Germany, the United States, Yugoslavia won its first game 1–0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defender Siniša Mihajlović. The next game was a draw for Yugoslavia, after leading Germany 2–0, last games hero, Mihajlović, scored an unlucky own goal following a German freekick, and Oliver Bierhoff equalised at 2–2 with only about ten minutes to the match. Nonetheless, Yugoslavia responded in the game against the United States. Yugoslavia made easy work of Group F, but despite an excellent record, due to their second position, Yugoslavia saw itself face the Netherlands in the Round of 16. Yugoslavia entered in the match with an attacker, but its defensive tactics proved unsuccessful as Dennis Bergkamp put the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute. Immediately following the start of the half, Yugoslavia pressured the Dutch
24.
1998 FIFA World Cup
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998, the country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the time that France staged the competition. Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997, for the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the match and final staged at the Stade de France. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3–0 in the final, France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals, France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7, Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFAs requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively, France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, blazer stated that we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup. Since France won the selection process it was thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the payment was from the failed Moroccan bid. The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, as tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was Brazil the defending champions. 174 teams from six confederations participated, up 24 from the previous round, in Europe, fourteen countries qualified excluding France. Ten were determined after group play, nine group winners and the best second-placed team, the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches – the winners of which qualifying for the finals as well. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced through to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament, chile qualified for the first time since 1982
25.
UEFA Euro 2000
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The finals of Euro 2000 were co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, between 10 June and 2 July 2000. Spain and Austria also bid to host the event, the final tournament was contested by 16 nations. With the exception of the teams of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands. France won the tournament, by defeating Italy 2–1 in the final, Romania was the other qualifier from the group, beating England with a late penalty in their last group game. Belgium had an exit in the group stage, winning the tournaments first game against Sweden. They finished third in Group B, behind Italy and Turkey, the other co-host and favourite, the Netherlands, progressed as expected from Group D, along with World Cup winners France. The Netherlands won the group, by beating France in their last group match, also in Group D, Denmarks three losses with eight goals conceded and none scored set a new record for the worst team performance in the group stages of a Euros. Group C was memorable for the match between FR Yugoslavia and Spain, Spain needed a win to ensure progression, but found themselves trailing 3–2, after Slobodan Komljenović scored in the 75th minute. The Spanish side rescued their tournament by scoring twice in injury time to record a 4–3 victory, FR Yugoslavia managed to go through as well, despite losing because Norway and Slovenia played to a draw. Italy and Portugal maintained their records in the quarter-finals, beating Romania and Turkey, respectively. Spain fell 2–1 to France, Raul missed a penalty that ended Spanish hopes. Italy eliminated the Netherlands in the semi-finals, despite going down to ten men, in the other semi-final, Portugal lost in extra time to France after Zinedine Zidane converted a controversial penalty kick. Several Portuguese players challenged the awarding of the penalty for a handball and were given lengthy suspensions for shoving the referee. In Britain, Match of the Day named Stefano Fiores goal against Belgium the Goal of the Tournament, ahead of Patrick Kluiverts against France, qualification for the tournament took place throughout 1998 and 1999. Forty-nine teams were divided into nine groups and each played the others in their group, the winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified automatically for the final tournament. The eight other runners-up played a set of play-off matches to determine the last four qualifiers. Belgium and the Netherlands automatically qualified for the tournament as co-hosts, the following 16 teams participated in the tournament, The composition of pots 1 to 3 was based on the teams UEFA coefficient at the end of 1999. The finals draw took place on 12 December 1999, the 16 national teams each stayed in their own team base camp during the tournament
26.
Direct free kick
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A direct free kick is a method of restarting of association football following a foul. A goal may be scored directly against the side without the ball having first touched another player. This is opposed to a free kick where the ball must be passed before an attempt on goal. According to The Laws of the Game, if the ball out of play. A player who concedes a indirect free kick to the opposing side. A direct free kick is awarded when a player commits a foul outside of their own penalty area, however, if the offence was committed by the defending team within their own penalty area, the kick becomes a penalty kick. The kick is taken from where the foul occurred, unless it was within the teams own goal area. The ball must be prior to being kicked. Opponents must remain 10 yards from the ball until the ball is in play, observing the minimum distance limit, the opposite players may choose to form a wall between the ball and the goal. Vanishing foam has been used at the level since 2000 to keep the defending players at the right distance. To keep the initiative a quick free kick is taken without waiting for the opposing players to retire from the 9.15 m radius. A goal may be scored directly from a free kick. Should the ball land in the kicking teams own goal. A player may be penalised for an offence committed from a direct free kick. There are various techniques used with direct free kicks, first, the player taking the direct free kick may blast the ball as hard as he can, usually with the laces of the boot. Alternatively, some try to curl the ball around the keeper or the wall. Additionally, certain free kick specialists will choose to kick the ball with minimal spin, the kicker may also attempt to drive the shot under the wall formed by the opposition defenders. Kicks are retaken if an opponent is closer to the spot from where the kick is taken than the required distance, also, for a kick taken by a team inside their own penalty area, the ball is not considered in play until it has left the area
27.
Serie A
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It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world, Serie A led the UEFA ranking from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999. In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, the championship titles won prior to 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC with the same weighting as titles that were subsequently awarded. However, the 1945–46 season, when the league was played over two groups due to the ravages of WWII, is not statistically considered, even if its title is fully official. All the winning teams are recognised with the title of Campione dItalia, Juventus, Italys most successful club of the 20th century and the most successful Italian team, is tied for fourth in Europe and eighth in the world with the most official international titles. The club is also the one in the world to have won all possible official continental competitions. Milan is joint third club for international titles won in the world. Internazionale, following their achievements in the 2009–10 season, became the first Italian team to have achieved a treble, Juventus, Milan and Inter, along with Roma, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli, are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football. For most of Serie As history, there were 16 or 18 clubs competing at the top level, since 2004–05, however, there have been 20 clubs altogether. One season was played with 21 teams for political reasons, thus, in Italian football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the andata, each team plays once against each league opponent, since the 1994–95 season, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. Since Italy is currently rated fourth in Europe in terms of club football ratings, teams finishing fourth and fifth qualify for the UEFA Europa League tournament. A third UEFA Europa League spot is reserved for the winner of the Coppa Italia, if both Coppa Italia finalists finish among the top five teams in Serie A, the sixth-ranked team in Serie A is awarded the UEFA Europa League spot. The three lowest-placed teams are relegated to Serie B, any play-off was held after the end of regular season. The last championship playoff occurred in the 1963-64 season when Bologna, below is a list of Serie A clubs who have competed in the competition when it has been a league format. There are 66 teams that have taken part in 85 Serie A championships in a round that was played from the 1929–30 season until the 2016–17 season. The teams in bold compete in Serie A currently, Internazionale is the only team that has played Serie A football in every season. Serie A, as it is structured today, began during the 1929–1930 season, from 1898 to 1922, the competition was organised into regional groups
28.
Andrea Pirlo
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Andrea Pirlo, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian professional footballer who plays for American club New York City FC and the Italy national team. Pirlo began his career as an attacking midfielder with his home-town side Brescia. Despite successful spells with Reggina, and Brescia once again, Pirlo was still unable to break into Inters starting line-up, and was sold to cross-city rivals Milan in 2001. At Milan, manager Carlo Ancelotti decided to shift Pirlo in front of the defence as a deep-lying playmaker, which allowed him more time on the ball to orchestrate his teams attacks. After playing in Italy for over 20 seasons, Pirlo joined MLS expansion side New York City FC in 2015, at international level, Pirlo is the fourth-most capped player in the history of the Italian national team with 116 caps. He joined the Italian senior side in September 2002 and captained the Olympic team to a medal in the 2004 Olympics. Later, he was instrumental in their victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was named Man of the Match three times, including the final, more than any player in the tournament. Pirlo came in third, second, fourth, and third again in the IFFHS World Playmaker of the Year awards in 2006,2007,2012 and he placed fourth in the 2012 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, and seventh in the 2015 edition. He placed 7th in the 2007 FIFA World Player, 5th in the 2007 Ballon dOr and he was also named as part of the 2006 FIFPro World XI and the 2012 UEFA Team of the Year. In 2012,2013, and 2014, Pirlo was also elected as Serie A Footballer of the Year, after helping Juventus to the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, he was named to the squad of the season. In 2012, Pirlo was named the eighth best footballer in the World by The Guardian, in 2015, France Football rated him as one of the 10 best footballers in the world who are over the age of 36. Pirlo was born in Flero, Italy, in the province of Brescia, in 1995, at the age of 16, Pirlo made his Serie A debut for Brescia against Reggiana, on 21 May, becoming Brescias youngest player to make an appearance in Serie A. He was promoted by his coach Mircea Lucescu, the following season, he did not appear with the senior team, although he was able to capture the Torneo di Viareggio with the youth side. After breaking into the Brescia first team during the 1996–97 Serie B season and he scored his first goal in Serie A during the 1997–98 season, in a 4–0 home win over Vicenza on 19 October 1997. Due to his performances with Brescia, Pirlo was spotted by Inter coach Mircea Lucescu, Pirlo was unable to break into the first squad permanently, however, and Inter finished eighth in the 1998–99 Serie A campaign. Inter loaned Pirlo to Reggina for the 1999–2000 season, alongside young Inter teammates Roberto Baronio, after an impressive season, he returned to Inter but was once again unable to break into the first team, making just four league appearances. He spent the second half of the 2000–01 season on loan at his club, Brescia
29.
Italian passport
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Italian passports are issued to Italian citizens for the purpose of international travel. Biometric passports have been available since 26 October 2006, are valid for 10,5 or 3 years, every Italian citizen is also a citizen of the European Union. The passport, along with the identity card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union. Italian passports share the design of EU Passports, they are burgundy-coloured. The word Passaporto, meaning passport, is inscribed below the coat of arms and Unione Europea, the biometry symbol appears right below Passaporto in the centre. The current version of the passport contains 48 pages, the data page is printed in Italian, English and French. Further translation is provided on page 6, in all 23 official languages of the European Union, Visa requirements for Italian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Italy. In 2016, Italian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 175 countries and territories, the current fee for a biometric passport is €116
30.
Socialist Republic of Croatia
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The Socialist Republic of Croatia was a constituent republic of Yugoslavia. By its constitution, modern-day Croatia is its direct continuation, along with five other Yugoslav republics, it was formed during World War II and became a socialist republic after the war. It had four full official names during its 48-year existence, by territory and population, it was the second largest republic in Yugoslavia, after the Socialist Republic of Serbia. In 1990, the government dismantled the communist single-party system of government, the newly elected government of Franjo Tuđman moved the republic towards independence, formally seceding from Yugoslavia in 1991 and thereby contributing to its dissolution. Croatia became part of the Yugoslav federation in 1943 after the Second Session of the AVNOJ and through the resolutions of the ZAVNOH and it was officially founded as the Federal State of Croatia on May 9,1944, at the 3rd session of the ZAVNOH. On November 29,1945, the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia became the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia, accordingly, the Federal State of Croatia became Peoples Republic of Croatia. On April 7,1963, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia gradually abandoned Stalinism after the Tito-Stalin split in 1948. In 1963 the Peoples Republic of Croatia also accordingly became the Socialist Republic of Croatia, the country was re-constituted upon the breakup of Yugoslavia as the Republic of Croatia on June 25,1991. In the first years of the war, Yugoslav Partisans in Croatia did not have support of Croats, the majority of partisans on the territory of Croatia were Croatian Serbs. However, in 1943 Croats started to join partisans in larger numbers, on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia, 75-80% of partisans were ethnic Serbs. In 1943, number of Croat partisans in Croatia increased, so in 1944 they composed 61% of partisans on the territory of Croatia, on 13 June 1943 in Otočac, Lika, Croatian partisans founded the ZAVNOH, a legislative body of future Croatian republic within the Yugoslavia. Its first president was Vladimir Nazor, Partisans of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have such autonomy. Because of partisan victories and increased territory held by partisans, AVNOJ decided to hold the second session in Jajce at the end of November 1943, at that session, the Yugoslav communist leadership decided to reestablish Yugoslavia as federal state. Not long after, the Communist Party started to prosecute those who opposed the communist one-party system, on January 30,1946, the Constituent Assembly made the Constitution of the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia. SR Croatia was the last of the republics to make its constitution, the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Croatia was made on January 18,1947. In their constitutions, all republics have been deprieved of gaining independence, republics had only formal autonomy, in reality, communist Yugoslavia was a centralized state, based on the Soviet model. The governments of the republics were only part of the mechanism in approval of Politburos decisions, in post-war Yugoslavia, communists had a struggle for power with the opposition that supported King Peter. The Croatian Peasant Party, part of the opposition, had divided into three branches, one supporting the Ustaše, the supporting the communists and the third supporting Vladko Maček
31.
Socialist Republic of Serbia
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The Socialist Republic of Serbia was one of the six constitutional republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the largest republic in terms of population and territory and its capital, Belgrade, was also the federal capital of Yugoslavia. From 1945 to 1963, the republic was known as Peoples Republic of Serbia. The republic had two provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, for most of its existence in the SFRY, Serbia was loyal and generally subordinate to the federal government. This changed after the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, the League of Communists was split on how to respond. In 1989, Milošević was elected as President of the republic and he demanded that the federal Yugoslav government act for the interests of Serbia in Kosovo by sending in the Yugoslav Peoples Army to take control of the province. Serbia opposed such action and demanded a one-member, one-vote system in the Yugoslav League of Communists, ethnic tensions increased and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia collapsed, followed by the fall of the government of Yugoslavia by 1991. After 1990, the state was simply as Republic of Serbia. In 1992, when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, in 2003 this state union was re-formed into Serbia and Montenegro, and in 2006 Serbia became an independent state. Within Socialist Republic of Serbia two autonomous provinces existed, Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, the central part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia located outside of the two autonomous provinces was generally known as Serbia proper. Geographically SR Serbia bordered Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, within Yugoslavia it bordered SR Macedonia to the south and SR Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to the west. Afterwards, the Serbian League of Communists selected Milosevic as its leader, Milosevic took a hard stand on Albanian nationalism in Kosovo and pressured the Yugoslav government to give him emergency powers to deal with Kosovo separatists. Furthermore, he reduced the autonomy of the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. The tactic failed and Slovenia, along with its ally Croatia and this caused the Yugoslav Communist party to fall apart, and then the state of Yugoslavia itself one year later
32.
Borovo Naselje
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Borovo Naselje is a Vukovar borough located on the right bank of the Danube river in the Croatian region of Slavonia,4 kilometers northwest of Vukovar town centre, elevation 90 m. The economy is based on rubber and shoe industries, the routes D2, D55 and D519 intersect in Borovo Naselje, connecting Vukovar to Osijek, Vinkovci and Dalj, respectively. Borovo Naselje sprung up around the Borovo rubber products factory, built, the entire town was built around the factory to provide housing and other necessary institutions for the employees. The town grew and finally merged with the town of Vukovar. After Borovo Naselje merged with Vukovar, it shed its name and became a part of Vukovar, but its still known as Borovo Naselje among the locals
33.
Serbs
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The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group that formed in the Balkans. The majority of Serbs inhabit the state of Serbia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. They form significant minorities in Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia, there is a large Serb diaspora in Western Europe, and outside Europe there are significant communities in North America and Australia. The Serbs share many traits with the rest of the peoples of Southeast Europe. They are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians by religion, the Serbian language is official in Serbia, co-official in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is spoken by the majority in Montenegro. The modern identity of Serbs is rooted in Eastern Orthodoxy and traditions, in the 19th century, the Serbian national identity was manifested, with awareness of history and tradition, medieval heritage, cultural unity, despite living under different empires. When the Principality of Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, Orthodoxy became crucial in defining the national identity, instead of language which was shared by other South Slavs. The tradition of slava, the family saint feast day, is an important ethnic marker of Serb identity, the origin of the ethnonym is unclear. Serbia has among the tallest people in the world, after Montenegro and Netherlands, Slavs invaded and settled the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries. Up until the late 560s their activity was raiding, crossing from the Danube, the Danube and Sava frontier was overwhelmed by large-scale Slavic settlement in the late 6th and early 7th century. What is today central Serbia was an important geo-strategical province, through which the Via Militaris crossed and this area was frequently intruded by barbarians in the 5th and 6th centuries. The numerous Slavs mixed with and assimilated the descendants of the indigenous population, numerous small Serbian states were created, located in modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. With the decline of the Serbian state of Duklja in the late 11th century, Raška separated from it, prince Stefan Nemanja conquered the neighbouring territories of Kosovo, Duklja and Zachlumia. The Nemanjić dynasty ruled over Serbia until the 14th century, over the next 140 years, Serbia expanded its borders. Its cultural model remained Byzantine, despite political ambitions directed against the empire, the medieval power and influence of Serbia culminated in the reign of Stefan Dušan, who ruled the state from 1331 until his death in 1355. Ruling as Emperor from 1346, his territory included Macedonia, northern Greece, Montenegro, when Dušan died, his son Stephen Uroš V became Emperor. With the death of two important Serb leaders in the battle, and with the death of Stephen Uroš that same year, hrebeljanović was subsequently accepted as the titular leader of the Serbs because he was married to a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. In 1389, the Serbs faced the Ottomans at the Battle of Kosovo on the plain of Kosovo Polje, both Lazar and Sultan Murad I were killed in the fighting
34.
Bosnia (region)
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Bosnia is the northern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, encompassing roughly 80% of the country, the other eponymous region, the southern part, is Herzegovina. Bosnia is a term for the whole country. The two regions have formed a geopolitical entity since medieval times, and the name Bosnia commonly occurs in historical and geopolitical senses as generally referring to both regions, the official use of the combined name started only in the late period of Ottoman-rule. Bosnia lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava. The area of Bosnia comprises approximately 41,000 km2, and makes up about 80% of the territory of the state of Bosnia. There are no borders between the region of Bosnia and the region of Herzegovina. Unofficially, Herzegovina is south of the mountain Ivan planina, according to another unofficial definition, Herzegovina encompasses watersheds Neretva and Trebišnjica rivers. The historical records of the region are scarce until its first recorded standalone ruler and viceroy of Bosnian state, Ban Borić, de Administrando Imperio describes a small župa of Bosona that was located around the river Bosna in the modern-day fields of Sarajevo and of Visoko. The area is thought to have been inhabited by the Illyrian tribe of the Daesitiates. Under its first known ruler, Stephen, Duke of Bosnia, in the 1080s, the region spanned the upper course of the rivers Bosna, the Vrbas. At the end of the 14th century, under Tvrtko I of Bosnia, the kingdom lost its independence to the Ottoman Empire in 1463. The region of Bosnias westernmost city at the time of the conquest was Jajce, the Ottoman Empire initially expanded into Bosnia and Herzegovina through a territory called the Bosansko Krajište. It was transformed into the Sanjak of Bosnia and the Sanjak of Herzegovina after 1462/1463, eventually, following the Great Turkish War, in the 18th century the Eyalet came to encompass the area largely matching that of todays Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1833, the Eyalet of Herzegovina was temporarily split off under Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, the area acquired the name of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1853 as a result of a twist in political events following his death. After the 1864 administrative reform, the province was named Vilayet of Bosnia, Austria-Hungary occupied the whole country in 1878. It remained formally part of the Ottoman Empire under the title of Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina until 1908, bosanska Krajina, western Birač, eastern Posavina, northernmost Semberija, northeastern Herzegovina
35.
Croats
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Croats are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group at the crossroads of Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean Sea. Croats mainly live in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but are a recognized minority in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have migrated throughout Europe, evidence is rather scarce for the period between the 7th and 8th centuries, CE. Archaeological evidence shows population continuity in coastal Dalmatia and Istria, in contrast, much of the Dinaric hinterland appears to have been depopulated, as virtually all hilltop settlements, from Noricum to Dardania, were abandoned in the early 7th century. Although the dating of the earliest Slavic settlements is still disputed, the origin, timing and nature of the Slavic migrations remain controversial, however, all available evidence points to the nearby Danubian and Carpathian regions. Much uncertainty revolves around the circumstances of their appearance given the scarcity of literary sources during the 7th and 8th century Dark Ages. Traditionally, scholarship has placed the arrival of the Croats in the 7th century, as such, the arrival of the Croats was seen as a second wave of Slavic migrations, which liberated Dalmatia from Avar hegemony. However, as early as the 1970s, scholars questioned the reliability of Porphyrogenitus work, rather than being an accurate historical account, De Administrando Imperio more accurately reflects the political situation during the 10th century. The major basis for this connection was the similarity between Hrvat and inscriptions from the Tanais dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, mentioning the name Khoroathos. Similar arguments have been made for an alleged Gothic-Croat link and they appear to have been based around Nin and Klis, down to the Cetina and south of Liburnia. Here, concentrations of the Old Croat culture abound, marked by very wealthy warrior burials dating to the 9th century CE. Other, distinct polities also existed near the Croat duchy and these included the Guduscans, the Narentines and the Sorabi who ruled some other eastern parts of ex-Roman Dalmatia. Also prominent in the territory of future Croatia was the polity of Prince Liutevid, however, soon, the Croats became the dominant local power in northern Dalmatia, absorbing Liburnia and expanding their name by conquest and prestige. In the south, while having periods of independence, the Naretines also merged with Croats later under control of Croatian Kings, with such expansion, Croatia soon became dominant power and absorb other polities between Frankish, Bulgarian and Byzantine empire. Each vied for control of the Northwest Balkan regions, nevertheless, two independent Slavic dukedoms emerged sometime during the 9th century, the Croat Duchy and Principality of Lower Pannonia. Having been under Avar control, lower Pannonia became a march of the Carolingian Empire around 800, aided by Vojnomir in 796, the first named Slavic Duke of Pannonia, the Franks wrested control of the region from the Avars before totally destroying the Avar realm in 803. After the death of Charlemagne in 814, Frankish influence decreased on the region, the Frankish margraves sent armies in 820,821 and 822, but each time they failed to crush the rebels. Aided by Borna the Guduscan, the Franks eventually defeated Ljudevit, for much of the subsequent period, Savia was probably directly ruled by the Carinthian Duke Arnulf, the future East Frankish King and Emperor
36.
Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
37.
Croatian War of Independence
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In Croatia, the war is primarily referred to as the Homeland War and also as the Greater-Serbian Aggression. In Serbian sources, War in Croatia and War in Krajina are used, Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but agreed to postpone it with the Brioni Agreement and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991. The JNA initially tried to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia by occupying all of Croatia, after this failed, Serb forces established the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina within Croatia. During that time, the RSK encompassed 13,913 square kilometers, in 1995, Croatia launched two major offensives known as Operation Flash and Operation Storm, which would effectively end the war in its favor. The remaining United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, the war ended with Croatian victory, as it achieved the goals it had declared at the beginning of the war, independence and preservation of its borders. 21–25% of Croatias economy was ruined, with an estimated US$37 billion in damaged infrastructure, lost output, a total of 20,000 people were killed in the war, and refugees were displaced on both sides. The Serb and Croatian governments began to cooperate with each other but tension remains, in part due to verdicts by the ICTY. Between 2008 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač, Čermak was acquitted outright, and the convictions of Gotovina and Markač were later overturned by an ICTY Appeals Panel. The International Court of Justice dismissed Croatia and Serbia genocide claims in 2015, the Court reaffirmed that serious crimes against civilians had taken place, but ruled that specific genocidal intent was not present. From 1967 to 1972 in Croatia and 1968 and 1981 protests in Kosovo, nationalist doctrines, the suppression by the state of nationalists is believed to have had the effect of identifying nationalism as the primary alternative to communism itself and made it a strong underground movement. A crisis emerged in Yugoslavia with the weakening of the Communist states in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cold War, in Yugoslavia, the national communist party, officially called the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, had lost its ideological potency. SR Slovenia and SR Croatia wanted to move towards decentralization, the rhetoric was approved by the Serbian political leadership, and accused the Croatian leadership of being blindly nationalistic when it objected. In 1989, political parties were allowed and a number of them had been founded, including the Croatian Democratic Union, led by Franjo Tuđman, who later became the first president of Croatia. In January 1990, the League of Communists broke up on ethnic lines, with the Croatian, at the congress, Serbian delegates accused the Croatian and Slovene delegates of supporting separatism, terrorism and genocide in Kosovo. The Croatian and Slovene delegations, including most of their ethnic Serb members, eventually left in protest, January 1990 also marked the beginning of court cases being brought to Yugoslavias Constitutional Court on the matter of secession. The first was the Slovenian Constitutional Amendments case after Slovenia claimed the right to unilateral secession pursuant to the right of self-determination, the Constitutional Court ruled that secession from the federation was only permitted if there was the unanimous agreement of Yugoslavias republics and autonomous provinces. On 4 March 1990,50,000 Serbs rallied at Petrova Gora, and shouted negative remarks aimed at Tuđman, chanted This is Serbia, the first free elections in Croatia and Slovenia were scheduled for a few months later. The first round of elections in Croatia were held on 22 April, the HDZ based its campaign on greater sovereignty for Croatia, fueling a sentiment among Croats that only the HDZ could protect Croatia from the aspirations of Milošević towards a Greater Serbia
38.
Serb Volunteer Guard
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The Guard was created on 11 October 1990 by twenty members of the Red Star Belgrade football club Ultra group Delije Sever. The Guards headquarters and training camp was in Erdut, SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, the Guard was under the command of the Territorial Defense, a regular military in charge of the territories of Croatia populated predominantly by Serbs during the first half of the 1990s. The Serb Volunteer Guard set up their headquarters and training camp in a military facility in Erdut. It saw action from mid-1991 to late 1995, initially in the Vukovar region of Croatia and it was supplied and equipped from the reserves of the Serbian police force during the War in Croatia and Bosnia. After war broke out in the former Yugoslav republic of Croatia in the fall of 1991 and in Bosnia in April 1992, Arkan, in Croatia, the Tigers fought in various locales in SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia. In autumn 1995, Arkans troops fought in the area of Banja Luka, Sanski Most, Arkan personally led most war actions, and rewarded his most efficient officers and soldiers with ranks, medals and eventually the products of the lootings. The Serb Volunteer Guard was officially disbanded in April 1996, besides Arkan, a notable member of the Guard was his right-hand man, Colonel Nebojša Djordjević, who was murdered in late 1996. Another notable member was Milorad Ulemek, who is now serving a 40-year sentence for his involvement in the assassination of Serbias pro-Western prime minister Zoran Đinđić in 2003. Several Golden Dawn members participated in the Bosnian War in the Greek Volunteer Guard, a few GVG volunteers were present in Srebrenica during the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, and they raised a Greek flag at a ruined church after the fall of the town. Spiros Tzanopoulos, a GVG sergeant who took part in the attack against Srebrenica, Chrysi Avyi members in the GVG were decorated by Radovan Karadžić, but — according to former Chrysi Avyi member Charis Kousoumvris — those who were decorated later left the party. Transporting twelve non-Serb men from Sanski Most to a location in the village of Trnova. The rape of a Muslim woman on a bus outside the Hotel Sanus in Sanski Most, among other factions, they meet an unnamed paramilitary unit wearing insignia similar to those of the Serb Volunteer Guard. Units commander is based on Arkan. In the 2012 Japanese anime Jormungand, one of the antagonists is Dragan Nikolaevich and his looks and even his biography bear resounding resemblance to those of Arkan. In fourteenth episode of the first season of the crime procedural Law & Order, Criminal Intent, Homo Homini Lupis, croatian War of Independence Bosnian War Serbian war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars Željko Ražnatović List of Serbian paramilitary groups Thomas, Nigel. The Yugoslav Wars, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia 1992-2001
39.
Beli Manastir
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Beli Manastir is a town and municipality in eastern Croatia. It is the town of the Croatian part of Baranja. The name means white monastery in Serbian language and this name was imposed in 1923 during the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and before this it was known as Monoštor in Croatian. It is also known as Pélmonostor in Hungarian, Manoster in German, other names formerly used for the town were, Pél, Bell, and Monostor. All names are connected with monasteries that existed in history at this location, in the 9th century, this area was part of the Slavic Principality of Lower Pannonia and Slavic monastery was situated here. Monastery was founded during the visit of Cyril and Methodius, who spread Christianity among Slavs, after Methodius died, his students were expelled and the monastery was razed. After the arrival of the Hungarians in the 10th century, this area was included into the newly founded Hungarian state, the town was first mentioned in 1212 under name Pél. During Hungarian administration, another monastery was built here, but it was destroyed by the Mongols in 1241 and it was later rebuilt, but was again destroyed during the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century. Between 11th and 16th century, the area belonged to the Baranya county. In the 16th–17th century, area was part of the Ottoman Empire, since the end of the 17th century, area was part of the Habsburg Monarchy and administratively belonged to the Baranya county, which was part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. Since 1918, the town was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, from 1918 to 1922, it was part of the Novi Sad county, from 1922 to 1929 part of the Bačka Oblast, and from 1929 to 1941 part of the Danube Banovina. From 1941 to 1944, it was occupied by Hungary and was included into Baranya county. It was returned to Yugoslav control in 1944 and was part of Vojvodina until 1945. During the Croatian War of Independence, Beli Manastir was occupied by Serbian paramilitaries and it was returned to Croatian control after the war, following the short period of UN administration. 8% Germans –32. 6% Croats –18. Beli Manastir is home to the STARCO Beli steel wheel factory, Beli Manastir, Beli Manastir-Planina, Haljevo and Palača. Part of settlement was also Sudaraž which is now independent settlement, ISBN 953-6667-07-X, ISBN 978-953-6667-07-9, Croatia struggles for post-war harmony Theater of Beli Manastir
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Swiss franc
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The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione dItalia. The Swiss National Bank issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins, the smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is a Rappen in German, centime in French, centesimo in Italian, and rap in Romansh. The ISO code of the used by banks and financial institutions is CHF, although Fr. is used by most businesses and advertisers. Given the different languages used in Switzerland, Latin is used for inscriptions on the coins. In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced a currency based on the Berne thaler, the Swiss franc was equal to 6 3⁄4 grams of pure silver or 1 1⁄2 French francs. This franc was issued until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, in order to solve this problem, the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified that the federal government would be the only entity allowed to make money in Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act, passed by the Federal Assembly on 7 May 1850, the franc was introduced at par with the French franc. It replaced the different currencies of the Swiss cantons, some of which had been using a franc which was worth 1 1⁄2 French francs. In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union, the currency was devalued by 30% following the devaluations of the British pound, U. S. dollar and French franc. In 1945, Switzerland joined the Bretton Woods system and pegged the franc to the U. S. dollar at a rate of $1 =4.30521 francs and this was changed to $1 =4.375 francs in 1949. The Swiss franc has historically considered a safe-haven currency with virtually zero inflation. However, this link to gold, which dates from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum. By March 2005, following a gold selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves which equated to 20% of its assets. In November 2014, the referendum on the Swiss Gold Initiative which proposed a restoration of 20% gold backing for the Swiss franc was voted down, in March 2011 the franc climbed past the US$1.10 mark. In June 2011 the franc climbed past US$1.20 as investors sought safety amidst the continuation of the Greek sovereign-debt crisis, demand for francs and franc-denominated assets was so strong that nominal short-term Swiss interest rates became negative. In response to the announcement the franc fell against the euro, to 1.22 francs from 1.12 francs, the intervention stunned currency traders since the franc had long been regarded as a safe haven. The franc fell 8. 8% against the euro,9. 5% against the dollar and it was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro. The SNB had previously set an exchange rate target in 1978 against the Deutsche mark and maintained it, although at the cost of high inflation
41.
FK Rad
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Fudbalski klub Rad, commonly known as Rad, is a professional Serbian football club based in Belgrade. FK Rad is one of the most successful and supported clubs in Serbia, translated into English, the clubs name signifies work or labour due to being formed by the construction company of the same name in 1958. Rad was founded in 1958 by workers of the GRO Rad company, from the start the club had two major local rivals, Banjica and Jajinci, these rivalries were the rivals of the company but quickly it passed to football. The first head coach was Nikola Marjanović, the parliament has given the club a pitch in the center of Banjica, a few concrete stands were made, and later locker rooms were added, as well as the restaurant. The club had supporters in the Banjica region, which followed their club away, Rad quickly got promoted to the Belgrade League. In the period from 1965 to 1969, a change of generations had taken place, the clubs greatest success occurred in 1988–89 season when it finished the Yugoslav First League competition in fourth spot, ahead of many richer clubs such as Partizan. This success qualified Rad for the UEFA Cup in the 1989–90 season and it was built in 1977 although its stand dates back to the pre-World War II period when it was used for military parades and other state celebrations during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Rads supporters call themselves United Force, a small group. They profess far-right ultra-nationalist views, making them unpopular with FK Novi Pazar fans. They also have a rivalry with the OFK Beograd-FK Voždovac alliance with whom they contest Belgrade derbies, Yugoslav Second League 1986–87 As of 10 March 2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, darko Dejanović Stefan Vico Nikola Drinčić Vladimir Rodić Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, for recent transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers winter 2016–17. For summer transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers summer 2016, beside them, important players in different historical periods are considered Miodrag Vranješ, Ratomir Janković and Lazar Slavković. For the list of all current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see, Category, FK Rad players
42.
GNK Dinamo Zagreb
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Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb, is a professional Croatian football club based in Zagreb. The club was founded in 1911 and they play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won 18 Prva HNL titles,14 Croatian Football Cups and four Croatian Football Super Cups. The club has spent its entire existence in top flight, having members of the Yugoslav First League from 1946 to 1991. The club was founded in 1911 as HŠK Građanski, after the Second World War, the new communist regime considered clubs like HAŠK and Građanski as fascist and nationalistic. As such, they were banned, and, in 1945, NK Dinamo was founded as a club to act as a successor to HŠK Građanski. They entered the Yugoslav First League in its inaugural 1946–47 season, in their second season in Yugoslav top flight in 1947–48 they finished as Yugoslav champions which was their first major trophy. The club won three league titles and seven Yugoslav Cups. Amid the breakup of Yugoslavia and formation of the Croatian football league system, Dinamo are the only Croatian club with European silverware, having won the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by defeating Leeds United in the final. They also finished runners-up in the competition in 1963 when they lost to Valencia. In order to reflect this in June 1991, it was renamed HAŠK Građanski and they won five league titles and participated in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League group stages carrying that name before reverting to Dinamo Zagreb in February 2000. The teams traditional colour is blue, which has been replaced for European matches in recent times with the darker navy blue. The clubs biggest rivals are Hajduk Split, and matches between the two teams are referred to as Eternal Derby, Dinamo are currently reigning Croatian league champions having won their eleventh consecutive Prva HNL title in the 2015–16 season. Another notable match was a 0–0 draw against Manchester United in the 1999–2000 season, in the 21st century, a notable win for Dinamo Zagreb was also against Ajax in the 2007–08 season, beating them 3–2 in Amsterdam, and later advancing on away goals. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the three most successful Zagreb-based clubs—HAŠK, Građanski and Concordia—were all disbanded by an issued by the communist authorities in May 1945. In order to them, a new sports society called FD Dinamo was founded on 9 June 1945. The new club inherited Građanskis colors and fan base, with most of Građanskis players continuing their careers at Dinamo. In the first few years, the club played their matches at Građanskis old ground, Stadion Koturaška
