1.
Germany national football team
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The Germany national football team is the mens football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900, ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany. Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team, the official name and code Germany FR was shortened to Germany following the reunification in 1990. Germany is one of the most successful teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups. They have also been three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976, Germany is the only nation to have won both the mens and womens World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any football team in history. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas, the current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germanys first championship title was won in Switzerland. At that time the players were selected by the DFB, as there was no dedicated coach, the first manager of the Germany national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher from Mannheim, who served in the role from 1926 to 1936. After a poor showing at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf in recognition of their 8–0 win over Denmark in the then German city of Breslau, Lower Silesia. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this united German team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland and that early exit stands as Germanys worst World Cup result. During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games were suspended, as most players had to join the armed forces. After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until 1950, the DFB was not a full member of FIFA, and none of the three new German states — West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland — entered the 1950 World Cup qualifiers. The Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany, with recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950, West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup. The Saarland, under French control between 1947 and 1956, did not join French organisations, and was barred from participating in pan-German ones and it sent their own team to the 1952 Summer Olympics and to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. In 1957, Saarland acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic was founded
2.
Czech Republic national football team
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The national team was founded in 1901, existing under the previously mentioned names before the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1992. Their first international competition as the Czech Republic was the UEFA Euro 1996, where they finished runners-up, following the separation, however, they have only featured in one FIFA World Cup, the 2006 tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round of the competition. Bohemia also played a match against Yugoslavia, Ostmark and Germany in 1939 while being the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, when the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, the national team had runner-up finishes in World Cups and a European Championship win in 1976. The newly formed team played their first home game in Ostrava, against Lithuania, in which registered their first home win. Their first competitive match was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, in the final tournament, hosted by England, the Czechs progressed from the group stage, despite a 2–0 opening game defeat to Germany. They continued their form, and progressed to the UEFA Euro 1996 final. Given their success at Euro 1996, the Czechs were expected to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and they finished third in their qualifying group, however, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament. The Czech Republic qualified for Euro 2000, winning all ten of their group games, in the finals the team were drawn in Group D, alongside 1998 FIFA World Cup winners France, co-hosts the Netherlands and UEFA Euro 1992 winners Denmark. This was considered to be the most difficult group to advance from in the tournament, the team were unlucky in the first match against the Netherlands as they hit the woodwork multiple times before losing 1–0 to a last-minute penalty. The Czechs lost their match against eventual champions France 2–1 which eliminated them from advancing to the knockout round. Czech Republic managed a 2–0 win against Denmark in their final game courtesy of two goals from Vladimír Šmicer, the team were unbeaten in 2002 and 2003, scoring 53 goals in 19 games and easily qualifying for Euro 2004 in the process. The Czech Republic went on a 20-game unbeaten streak, finally ended in Dublin on 31 March 2004 in a match against the Republic of Ireland. The Czechs entered the Euro finals in Group D, dubbed the tournaments Group of Death alongside the Netherlands, Germany, despite going behind in all three group games, the team won them all. This included trailing 2–0 to the Netherlands in a classic 3–2 win, the Czechs convincingly beat Denmark in the quarter-finals meaning a semi-final against Greece awaited them. It was not to be as the 90 minutes finished goalless, Greece would go on to win the tournament. The Czech Republic recorded their record win during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the same match, Jan Koller became the all-time top scorer for the national team with his 35th international goal. At the end of the campaign, after finishing in place in Group 1 then defeating Norway in a playoff. The team was boosted prior to the matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd
3.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
4.
Alan Shearer
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Alan Shearer, CBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and he is Newcastles and the Premier Leagues record goalscorer. He was named Football Writers Association Player of the Year in 1994, in 1996, he was third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2004 Shearer was named by Pelé in the FIFA100 list of the worlds greatest living players, until his retirement from international football in 2000, he appeared 63 times for his country and scored 30 goals. Shearer had a ratio of 0.667 throughout his career. Since retiring as a player in 2006, Shearer has worked as a pundit for the BBC. In 2009, he left his BBC role to become Newcastle Uniteds manager in the last eight games of their 2008–09 season. Shearer was born in Gosforth, Newcastle in 1970 to working-class parents Alan and his father, a sheet-metal worker, encouraged a keen Shearer to play football in his youth, and the young player continued with the sport as he progressed through school. He was educated at Gosforth Central Middle School and Gosforth High School, growing up playing on the streets of his hometown, he originally played in midfield because it meant could get more involved in the games. Shearer captained his team and helped a Newcastle City Schools team win a seven-a-side tournament at St James Park. Shearer had successful trials for First Division clubs West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Newcastle United, Shearer was promoted to the first team after spending two years with the youth squad. Shearer ended the 1987–88 season with three goals in five games, and was rewarded with his first professional contract, despite this auspicious start to his career, Shearer was only eased into the first team gradually and made just ten goalless appearances for the club the following season. Throughout his career Shearer was recognised for his strength, which, during his time at Southampton, enabled him to retain the ball and provide opportunities for teammates. Playing as a lone striker between wide men, Rod Wallace and Matt Le Tissier, Shearer scored three goals in 26 appearances in the 1989–90 season, and in the next, four goals in 36 games. His performances in the centre of the Saints attack were soon recognised by the fans, in the middle of 1991, Shearer was a member of the England national under-21 football squad in the Toulon Tournament in Toulon, France. Shearer was the star of the tournament where he scored seven goals in four games and it was during the 1991–92 season that Shearer rose to national prominence. 13 goals in 41 appearances for the Saints led to an England call-up, he scored on his debut, speculation of a transfer to Liverpool, who finished the season as FA Cup winners, also came to nothing. Although Branfoot accepted that a sale was inevitable, he claimed that whatever happens, in July 1992, Shearer was sold to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3.6 million, with David Speedie reluctantly moving to The Dell as part of the deal
5.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
6.
Matthias Sammer
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Matthias Sammer is a retired German footballer and coach who last worked as sporting director of Bayern Munich. He played as a midfielder, and later in his career as a sweeper. With Germany as a player, Sammer won the UEFA Euro 1996, where he was named the tournaments best player, Sammer retired with 74 total caps,23 for East Germany and 51 for the unified side. With Sammer as a manager, Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga in 2002, Sammer started his career at Dynamo Dresden when he joined the clubs youth team as a nine-year-old in 1976. He made his debut for the team under the management of his father, Klaus Sammer. Playing as a striker, he scored eight goals in his first season as Dynamo finished fifth in the DDR-Oberliga, after being moved to the left wing the following season by new manager Eduard Geyer, he eventually found his place in central midfield during the 1987–88 season. In the 1988–89 season, Sammer was part of the Dynamo Dresden team which won the East German championship, the same season the club also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup where they were knocked out by West German club VfB Stuttgart. The following year Dynamo won the league and cup double, defending the DDR-Oberliga title, in the summer of 1990, Sammer joined VfB Stuttgart of the Bundesliga. Sammer scored 11 times in his season as Stuttgart finished sixth in the Bundesliga. The following year Sammer scored nine goals, helping Stuttgart to become the first champions of the reunified Germany, after two seasons at Stuttgart, Sammer joined Italian club Internazionale for the 1992–93 Serie A season. In the winter break of the 1992–93 season, Sammer signed for Borussia Dortmund and he made 17 Bundesliga appearances in the second half of the season, scoring ten times. The following season, Sammer was moved from midfield into the position by Dortmund coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. Soon after winning the Champions League, Sammers career was cut short by injury and he made only three further Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund before suffering a serious knee injury which he failed to recover from and retired in 1998. In addition to the two Bundesliga titles and one Champions League, Sammer also led Dortmund to two DFB-Supercups, in 1995 and 1996, Sammer represented the GDR at every age group. He was part of the East German squads which won the 1986 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship, in November 1986, he made his debut for the full East Germany national football team in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifier against France at Zentralstadion in Leipzig. On 12 September 1990, Sammer captained East Germany in its final match and he scored both goals as the GDR beat Belgium 2–0 in Brussels. On 19 December 1990, Sammer debuted for the newly formed unified Germany national football team, the match was played at his home stadium in Stuttgart and Germany ran out 4–0 winners against Switzerland. Sammer was a member of the German squad for UEFA Euro 1992 and he was also selected for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as Germany was surprisingly knocked out by the underdog Bulgaria at the quarter final stage
7.
UEFA Euro 1992
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The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth European Football Championship, which is every four years. The team had qualified only after Yugoslavia was disqualified as a result of the breakup, eight national teams contested the finals tournament. Also present at the tournament was the CIS national football team and it was also the first major tournament at which the reunified Germany had competed. It was to be the last tournament with eight participants. On 17 December 1988, Sweden was chosen over Spain to host the event, Spain was at a disadvantage as they had already been chosen to host the EXPO1992 and the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. Seven of the eight teams had to qualify for the final stage, the CIS team represented the following ex-Soviet republics, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Tajikistan. Originally, Yugoslavia qualified for the stage, but due to the Yugoslav wars. They shocked the continent when Peter Schmeichel saved Marco van Bastens penalty in the semi-final penalty shoot-out against the Netherlands, the shock was compounded when Denmark went on to defeat the reigning world champions Germany 2–0 to win the European title. Etrvsco Unico, a different version of the Adidas Etrusco Unico, was used as the match ball of the tournament. Fourth officials The teams finishing in the top two positions in each of the two progress to the semi-finals, while the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated from the tournament. As with every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there was no third-place match, UEFA Team of the Tournament Golden Boot Dennis Bergkamp Tomas Brolin Henrik Larsen Karl-Heinz Riedle Small is Beautiful was the official slogan of the contest. The official anthem of the tournament was More Than a Game, performed by Towe Jaarnek and it was the last tournament to use the UEFA plus flag logo, and the last before the tournament came to be known as Euro. It was also the first major competition in which the players had their names printed on their backs. The official mascot of the competition was a rabbit named Rabbit, dressed in a Swedish football jersey, UEFA Euro 1992 overview at Union of European Football Associations Goal. com, Euro 2012 History, The 1992 Finals BBC. co. uk, Denmarks greatest moment, article
8.
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
9.
UEFA European Championship
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Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form UEFA Euro, prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations compete in a qualifying process. The championship winners earn the opportunity to compete in the following FIFA Confederations Cup, to date, Spain is the only team in history to have won consecutive titles, doing so in 2008 and 2012. It is the second most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup, the Euro 2012 final was watched by a global audience of around 300 million. The most recent championship, hosted by France in 2016, was won by Portugal, in honour of Delaunay, the trophy awarded to the champions is named after him. The 1960 tournament, held in France, had four competing in the finals out of 17 that entered the competition. It was won by the Soviet Union, beating Yugoslavia 2–1 in a final in Paris. Spain withdrew from its quarter-final match against the USSR because of two political protests, of the 17 teams that entered the qualifying tournament, notable absentees were England, the Netherlands, West Germany and Italy. The hosts beat the holders, the Soviet Union, 2–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. The tournament format stayed the same for the 1968 tournament, hosted, for the first and only time a match was decided on a coin toss and the final went to a replay, after the match against Yugoslavia finished 1–1. More teams entered this tournament, a testament to its burgeoning popularity, Belgium hosted the 1972 tournament, which West Germany won, beating the USSR 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. This tournament would provide a taste of things to come, as the German side contained many of the key members of the 1974 FIFA World Cup Champions. The 1976 tournament in Yugoslavia was the last in which four teams took part in the final tournament. Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in the newly introduced penalty shootout, after seven successful conversions, Uli Hoeneß missed, leaving Czechoslovakian Antonín Panenka with the opportunity to score and win the tournament. An audacious chipped shot, described by UEFA as perhaps the most famous spot kick of all time secured the victory as Czechoslovakia won 5–3 on penalties, the competition was expanded to eight teams in the 1980 tournament, again hosted by Italy. It involved a stage, with the winners of the groups going on to contest the final. West Germany won their second European title by beating Belgium 2–1, Horst Hrubesch scored early in the first half before René Vandereycken equalised for Belgium with a penalty in the second half. With two minutes remaining, Hrubesch headed the winner for West Germany from a Karl-Heinz Rummenigge corner, the format also changed, with the top two teams in each group going through to a semi-final stage, instead of the winners of each group going straight into the final
10.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
11.
UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973
12.
UEFA Euro 2012
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The 2012 UEFA European Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for mens national football teams organised by UEFA. Poland and Ukraines bid was chosen by UEFAs Executive Committee on 18 April 2007, the two host teams qualified automatically while the remaining 14 finalists were decided through a qualifying competition, featuring 51 teams, from August 2010 to November 2011. This was the last European Championship to employ the 16-team finals format in use since 1996, from Euro 2016 onward, Euro 2012 was played at eight venues, four in each host country. Five new stadiums were built for the tournament, and the hosts invested heavily in improving infrastructure such as railways, Euro 2012 set attendance records for the 16-team format, for the highest aggregate attendance and average per game. Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships, and also three major tournaments. Spain had already gained entry to the 2013 Confederations Cup by winning the 2010 World Cup, as at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, both 2012 host nations were eliminated in the group stage. The hosting of the event was contested by five bids representing seven countries, Croatia–Hungary, Greece, Italy, Poland–Ukraine. In November 2005, after a consideration of the bid data by UEFA. In May 2006, this was followed by a round of the selection process. The final decision was due to be announced on 8 December 2006 in Nyon, on 18 April 2007, the Poland–Ukraine bid was chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee, at a meeting in Cardiff. Poland–Ukraine became the successful joint bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium–Netherlands. Their bid received a majority of votes, and was therefore announced the winner. There were some alterations from the initial bid plan, regarding the venues. The draw for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying competition took place in Warsaw on 7 February 2010, fifty-one teams entered to compete for the fourteen remaining places in the finals, alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine. The teams were divided into nine groups, with the using the new UEFA national team coefficient for the first time in order to determine the seedings. As defending champions, Spain was automatically top seeded, the qualifying process began in August 2010 and concluded in November 2011. At the conclusion of the group stage in October 2011. The remaining eight-second placed teams contested two-legged play-offs, and the four qualified for the finals
13.
German reunification
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The end of the unification process is officially referred to as German unity, celebrated on 3 October. Following German reunification, Berlin was once designated as the capital of united Germany. The East German regime started to falter in May 1989, when the removal of Hungarys border fence with Austria opened a hole in the Iron Curtain and it caused an exodus of thousands of East Germans fleeing to West Germany and Austria via Hungary. The united Germany is the continuation of the Federal Republic. For political and diplomatic reasons, West German politicians carefully avoided the term reunification during the run-up to what Germans frequently refer to as die Wende, after 1990, the term die Wende became more common. The term generally refers to the events led up to the actual reunification, in its usual context. When referring to the events surrounding unification, however, it carries the connotation of the time. However, anti-communist activists from Eastern Germany rejected the term Wende as it was introduced by SEDs Secretary General Egon Krenz, the capital city of Berlin was divided into four occupied sectors of control, under the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Germans lived under such imposed divisions throughout the ensuing Cold War, into the 1980s, the Soviet Union experienced a period of economic and political stagnation, and they correspondingly decreased intervention in Eastern Bloc politics. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Brandenburg Gate challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall that had separated Berlin. The wall had stood as an icon for the political and economic division between East and West, a division that Churchill had referred to as the Iron Curtain. In early 1989, under a new era of Soviet policies of glasnost, perestroika and taken to more progressive levels by Gorbachev. Further inspired by images of brave defiance, a wave of revolutions swept throughout the Eastern Bloc that year. In May 1989, Hungary removed their border fence and thousands of East Germans escaped to the West, however, events rapidly came to a head in early 1990. First, in March, the Party of Democratic Socialism—the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany—was heavily defeated in East Germanys first free elections. A grand coalition was formed under Lothar de Maizière, leader of the East German wing of Kohls Christian Democratic Union, on a platform of speedy reunification, second, East Germanys economy and infrastructure underwent a swift and near-total collapse. While East Germany had long been reckoned as having the most robust economy in the Soviet bloc, the East German mark had been practically worthless outside East Germany for some time before the events of 1989–90 further magnified the problem. Discussions immediately began for a merger of the German economies
14.
Lisbon
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Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km². Its urban area extends beyond the administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people. About 2.8 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and it is continental Europes westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is recognised as a city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education. It is one of the economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector. Humberto Delgado Airport serves over 20 million passengers annually, as of 2015, and the motorway network, the city is the 7th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Milan, with 1,740,000 tourists in 2009. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita, the city occupies 32nd place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinationals in the country are located in the Lisbon area and it is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, in 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbons status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, the typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, another conjecture based on ancient hydronymy suggests that the name of the settlement derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbons name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela and it was later referred to as Olisippo by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. The Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population and this indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects
15.
The Football Association
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The Football Association, also known simply as the FA, is the governing body of association football in England, and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur, the FA sanctions all competitive football matches within its remit at national level, and indirectly at local level through the County Football Associations. It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the FA Cup, the FA is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board which is responsible for the laws of the game. As the first football association, it not use the national name English in its title. The FA is based at Wembley Stadium, London, the FA is a member of the British Olympic Association, meaning that the FA has control over the mens and womens Great Britain Olympic football team. All of Englands professional football teams are members of the Football Association, although it does not run the day-to-day operations of the Premier League, it has veto power over the appointment of the League Chairman and Chief Executive and over any changes to league rules. The English Football League, made up of the three professional divisions below the Premier League, is self-governing, subject to the FAs sanctions. Another set of rules, the Sheffield Rules, was used by a number of clubs in the North of England from the 1850s, eleven London football clubs and schools representatives met on 26 October 1863 to agree on common rules. The founding clubs present at the first meeting were Barnes, Civil Service, Crusaders, Forest of Leytonstone, many of these clubs are now defunct or play rugby union. Civil Service FC, who now plays in the Southern Amateur League, is the one of the original eleven football clubs still in existence. There are only three institutions which have been members of the F. A. since 1863, those being Civil Service, Forest School and Kings College. Central to the creation of the Football Association and modern football was Ebenezer Cobb Morley and he was a founding member of the Football Association in 1863. In 1862, as captain of Barnes, he wrote to Bells Life newspaper proposing a governing body for the sport led to the first meeting at The Freemasons Tavern that created the FA. He was the FAs first secretary and its president and drafted the Laws of the Game generally called the London Rules at his home in Barnes. As a player, he played in the first ever match in 1863, the first version of the rules for the modern game was drawn up over a series of six meetings held in The Freemasons Tavern from October till December. Of the clubs at the first meeting, Crusaders, Surbiton and Charterhouse did not attend the subsequent meetings, replaced instead by the Royal Navy School, Wimbledon School, at the final meeting, F. M. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, the term soccer dates back to this split to refer to football played under the association rules. The Richmond side were obviously unimpressed by the new rules in practice because they helped form the Rugby Football Union in 1871
16.
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
17.
Switzerland national football team
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The Switzerland national football team is the national football team of Switzerland. The team is controlled by the Swiss Football Association, the teams logo, ASF-SFV, represents the Swiss Football Associations initials in Switzerlands official languages, ASF represents both French and Italian, and SFV is German. In Romansh, the association is abbreviated as ASB and its best performances in the World Cup have been reaching the quarter-finals three times, in 1934,1938 and when the country hosted the event in 1954. Switzerland also won silver at the 1924 Olympics, the youth teams have been more successful, winning the 2002 U-17 European Championship and the 2009 U-17 World Cup. Switzerland co-hosted Euro 2008 with Austria, making their appearance in the competition. As with the two appearances, they did not clear the group stages. Switzerland earned the medal at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. It was beaten 3–0 by Uruguay in the final, the team participated in its first FIFA World Cup in 1934, where it reached the quarter-final before losing to Czechoslovakia. Switzerland again reached the stage in 1938, losing to Hungary. Switzerland hosted the tournament in 1954 and reached the quarter-final for a third time, the Swiss also qualified for the World Cup in 1950,1962 and 1966, losing in the first round on each occasion. After the appointment of English manager Roy Hodgson in 1992, Switzerland rose to its highest ever position in the FIFA World Rankings, at the tournament finals, the team qualified for the second round by beating Romania and drawing with host nation the United States. Switzerland lost 3–0 to Spain in the second round, the team then qualified for its first ever UEFA European Championship. For the finals of UEFA Euro 1996, Hodgson was replaced by the Portuguese Artur Jorge, the team finished bottom of Group A after a draw with England and defeats to the Netherlands and Scotland. Switzerland qualified for the Euro 2004 in Portugal by finishing first in Group 10 of the qualifying, ahead of Russia, after a 0–0 draw against Croatia, they lost 0–3 against England and 1–3 against France to finish last in Group B. Johann Vonlanthen became the youngest scorer ever in the Euro championships when he equalised against France, the 2006 World Cup in Germany was the first World Cup for Switzerland since 1994. After finishing second behind France in qualifying Group 4, they defeated Turkey on the away goals rule in the play-off round 2–0, in the group stage, they played again against France in Stuttgart, a 0–0 draw. After defeating Togo 2–0 in Dortmund and South Korea also 2–0 in Hannover, there, they faced Ukraine in Cologne, with the match having to be decided via a penalty shootout after 120 scoreless minutes were played, Ukraine won 3–0. Switzerland was the team in tournament not to have conceded a goal during regulation time in their matches
18.
Patrick Kluivert
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Patrick Stephan Kluivert is a former Dutch footballer and coach, and the current director of football for Paris Saint-Germain in France. He played as a striker, most notably for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and he was already part of Ajaxs Golden Generation of the 1990s at the age of 18, scoring the winner in the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final. Kluivert played for the Dutch national team from 1994 to 2004, with 40 goals in 79 appearances, he is the third highest top goalscorer for Ons Oranje. He played in three European Championships and the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and was joint top scorer at Euro 2000 where upon the scoresheet he tallied a total of 5 times. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by Pelé as part of FIFAs centenary observances and he began his coaching career as an assistant at AZ and then NEC. He had a coaching stint in Australia with the Brisbane Roar. He was assistant manager to Louis van Gaal with the Netherlands national football team when they finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In 2015 he took over as coach of the Curaçao national team for the countrys 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying. In 2016 it was announced that he would take over the Ajax A1 selection, coaching his son, Justin Kluivert, Kluivert was born on 1 July 1976 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His father, a football player, was born in Suriname. Kluivert learned to play football on the street, after a year at football club Schellingwoude, he joined the Ajax Youth Academy at the age of seven. He played several different positions as a youth, including defender and he was strong in technique, football intelligence, and speed, but was considered too impulsive. Kluivert played for the Dutch national teams under-15, under-16 and under-17, Kluivert was part of Ajaxs Golden Generation of the 1990s. He made his debut in the team of Ajax on 21 August 1994 at the age of 18 in the Dutch Supercup win against the old arch rival Feyenoord. He went on to top score for Ajax in the 1994–95 Eredivisie with 18 goals in 25 appearances, Kluivert came off the bench to score an 85th-minute winner in the 1995 Champions League Final against A. C. Milan in Vienna, Austria. The youngest player to score in a final of the event of the European continent. He again top-scored for Ajax in 1995–96 with 15 goals in 28 appearances as the club won five trophies, including the Eredivisie title. On 28 November 1995, Kluivert was the only Ajax player to miss his kick in the 4–3 penalty shootout win over Grêmio in Tokyo that saw de Godenzonen win the Intercontinental Cup
19.
UEFA Euro 1996
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It took place in England from 8 to 30 June 1996. It was the first European Championship to feature 16 finalists, following UEFAs decision to expand the tournament from eight teams. Germany won the tournament, beating the Czech Republic 2–1 in the final with a goal during extra time. This was also Germanys first major title won as a unified nation, at the time of the bidding process, it had not yet been confirmed that sixteen teams would be participating. Instead, the bids were largely prepared as if hosting an eight-team tournament, all candidates had to submit their plans by 10 December 1991. The hosting of the event was contested by five bids, Austria, England, Greece, the English bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Lisbon on 5 May 1992. In the year preceding the decision, the English FA had dropped out plans to bid for the 1998 World Cup in order to gain the support of other UEFA members who were planning to bid for that event. The hosts, England, drew 1–1 with Switzerland in the match of Group A when Alan Shearers 23rd-minute goal was equalled by a late Kubilay Türkyilmaz penalty kick. England defeated rivals Scotland 2–0 in their game, and then produced one of their finest performances ever with a 4–1 win over the Netherlands. Patrick Kluiverts late goal for the Netherlands secured his second place in the group. Group B had Western European France and Spain, along with Balkan World Cup participants Romania and Bulgaria. France and Spain dominated the group, with France avenging Bulgaria for the 1994 qualification debacle, groups C and D saw the Czech Republic and Croatia, whose national teams had only recently come into existence, qualify for the knockout stages. The Czechs lost to Germany, the group winners, in their opener. Italys defeat meant they had to beat Germany in their game to progress. In Group D, Croatia qualified for the quarter-finals, with wins over Turkey, the loss to the Croats ultimately sent the Danes, the surprise champions of 1992, home. Turkey became the first team since the introduction of a stage to be eliminated without gaining a point or scoring a goal. The other three quarter-finalists were Portugal, Spain, and a France team featuring a young Zinedine Zidane. The knockout stages were characterised by negative, defensive play, as a result, only nine goals were scored in the seven games, the first quarter-final between the hosts and Spain ended goalless, after Spain had two goals disallowed and two claims for a penalty denied
20.
Scotland national football team
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The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the two professional tournaments, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a constituent country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee, the majority of Scotlands home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park. Scotland is the joint oldest national team in the world, alongside England. Scotland has a rivalry with England, whom they played annually from 1872 until 1989. The teams have met six times since then, most recently in November 2016. Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions and the UEFA European Championship twice, the team have achieved some noteworthy results, such as beating the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967. Archie Gemmill scored what has been described as one of the greatest World Cup goals ever in a 3–2 win during the 1978 World Cup against the Netherlands, in their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008, Scotland defeated 2006 World Cup runners-up France 1–0 in both fixtures. Scotland supporters are known as the Tartan Army. The Scottish Football Association operates a roll of honour for every player who has more than 50 appearances for Scotland. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances, having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986, Dalglish scored 30 goals for Scotland and shares the record for most goals scored with Denis Law. Scotland and England are the oldest national teams in the world. Teams representing the two sides first competed at the Oval in five matches between 1870 and 1872, the two countries contested the first official international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, on 30 November 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw, all eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queens Park. Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches exclusively against the other three Home Nations—England, Wales and Ireland, the British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The encounters against England were particularly fierce and a rivalry quickly developed, Scotland lost just two of their first 43 international matches. It was not until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to an other than England. This run of success meant that Scotland would have topped the Elo ratings
21.
Netherlands national football team
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The Netherlands national football team represents the Netherlands in international football. It is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association, the body for football in the Netherlands. The team is referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal and Oranje. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes referred to as Holland. The Dutch hold the record for playing the most World Cup finals without winning the tournament. They finished second in the 1974,1978 and 2010 World Cups, losing to West Germany, Argentina and Spain respectively, the Netherlands played their first international match in Antwerp against Belgium on 30 April 1905. The players were selected by a commission from the Dutch football association. After 90 minutes, the score was 1–1, but because the match was for a trophy, the Netherlands made their first appearance at the World Cup final tournament in 1934. After a second appearance in 1938 they did not appear in another World Cup until 1974, the 1970s saw the invention of Total Football, pioneered by Ajax and led by playmaker Johan Cruyff and national team coach Rinus Michels. The Dutch made significant strides, qualifying for two World Cup finals in the decade. The captain of the Brazilian team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Carlos Alberto, went on to say, since then everything looks more or less the same to me. Their carousel style of play was amazing to watch and marvellous for the game, in 1974, the Netherlands beat both Brazil and Argentina in the second group stage, reaching the final for the first time in their history. However, the team lost to West Germany in the final in Munich, however, a converted penalty by Paul Breitner and the winner from Gerd Müller led to a victory for the Germans. By comparison, Euro 76 was a disappointment, the Netherlands lost in the semi-finals to Czechoslovakia, as much because of infighting within the squad and the coach George Knobel, as well as the skill of the eventual winners. In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final of a World Cup, only to be beaten by the hosts and this side played without Johan Cruijff, Willem van Hanegem, and Jan van Beveren, who refused to participate in the World Cup. It still contained Johan Neeskens, Johnny Rep, Arie Haan, Ruud Krol, Wim Jansen, Jan Jongbloed, Wim Suurbier, the Netherlands were less impressive in the group stages. They qualified as runners-up, after a draw with Peru and a loss to Scotland, in the second group phase, however, the Netherlands topped a group including Italy and West Germany, setting up a final with Argentina. However, the Dutch finished as runners up for the second World Cup in a row as they ultimately lost 3–1 after two extra time goals from Argentina, Rensenbrink hit the Argentinian post in the last minute of normal time, with the score 1–1
22.
Villa Park
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Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897, the ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations and has hosted sixteen England internationals at senior level, the first in 1899 and the most recent in 2005. It was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries, Villa Park has hosted more FA Cup semi-finals than any other stadium, having hosted 55 matches in total. In 1897, Aston Villa moved into the Aston Lower Grounds, a ground in a Victorian amusement park in the former grounds of Aston Hall. The stadium has gone through stages of renovation and development, resulting in the current stand configuration of the Holte End, Trinity Road Stand, North Stand. The club has planning permission to redevelop the North Stand. Before 1914, a track ran around the perimeter of the pitch where regular cycling meetings were hosted as well as athletic events. Aside from football-related uses, the stadium has seen various concerts staged along with sporting events including boxing matches and international rugby league. In 1999, the last ever final of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup took place at Villa Park, Villa Park also hosted the 2012 FA Community Shield, as Wembley Stadium was unavailable due to it staging the final of the Olympic football tournament. The Aston Lower Grounds, later renamed Villa Park, was not the first home of Aston Villa F. C and their previous venue, Wellington Road faced increasing problems including an uneven pitch, poor spectator facilities, a lack of access and exorbitant rents. As a result, in 1894, Villas committee began negotiations with the owners of the Aston Lower Grounds, situated in the former grounds of Aston Hall, a Jacobean stately home, the Lower Grounds had seen varied uses over the years. The current pitch stands on the site of the Dovehouse Pool, the committee immediately engaged an architect who began preparing plans for the site, which included construction of a new 440 yards cement cycle track to replace the existing cinder one. The main stand was to be built to the east on the Witton Lane side, with the track, construction of the final phase of the stadium began in the winter of 1896 following negotiations with contractors over the price. Several months behind schedule, the stadium finally opened on 17 April 1897. The process of fixing issues with the work would continue for a number of months thereafter. As built, the stadium could house 40,000 spectators, the first match at the ground, a friendly against Blackburn Rovers, took place on 17 April 1897, one week after Aston Villa had completed the League and FA Cup Double. After winning the championship in 1899, Villas record-breaking average crowd of 21,000 allowed the club to invest in a two-stage ground improvement programme. In 1911, Villa bought the freehold of the ground for £8,250, the buildings in the old aquarium and car park area for £1,500
23.
1994 FIFA World Cup
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The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, held in nine cities across the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on 4 July 1988. The total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the tournament remains the highest in World Cup history. Brazil beat Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 0–0 after extra time and this made Brazil the first nation to win four World Cup titles. Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia made their appearances in the finals, Norway made its first appearance since 1938. Bulgaria, Morocco and Mexico returned after missing the 1990 tournament, Greece, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. Russia, competing independently for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the defending champions West Germany were united with their East German counterparts, representing the unified Germany for the first time since the 1938 World Cup. As a result of the performances by African teams in 1990. Norway qualified for the first time since 1938, Bolivia for the first time since 1950, the qualification campaigns of both Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were affected by political events. The nation of Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992, and the team completed its qualifying group under the name Representation of Czechs and Slovaks, Yugoslavia was suspended from international competition in 1992 as part of United Nations sanctions against the country as a result of the Yugoslav Wars. The sanctions were not lifted until 1994, by time it was no longer possible for the team to qualify. Chiles suspension from the 1990 FIFA World Cup, following the interruption of their qualification game against Brazil. Japan failed to qualify after the Agony of Doha against Iraq, losing out to Saudi Arabia, among other teams who failed to qualify were Uruguay and England- the latter being semi-finalists, and finishing in fourth place in 1990. Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, and France failed to qualify for the second successive tournament and this was the only World Cup finals since 1938, for which neither England nor Scotland qualified. The Republic of Ireland qualified for a second successive World Cup finals tournament, as of 2016, this was the last time that Bolivia qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. Three nations bid for host duties, United States, Brazil, the vote was held in Zurich on 4 July 1988, and only took one round with the United States bid receiving a little over half of the votes by the Exco members. FIFA hoped that by staging the worlds most prestigious tournament there, one condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional soccer league, Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 and began operating in 1996. Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Italy and the United States were seeded for the draw that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada
24.
Zinedine Zidane
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Zinedine Yazid Zidane, nicknamed Zizou, is a retired French footballer and current manager of Real Madrid. He played as an midfielder for the France national team, Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus. An elite playmaker, renowned for his elegance, vision, ball control and technique and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. His 2001 transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid set a record fee of an equivalent €75 million. His left-foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final is considered to be one of the greatest goals in the competitions history. On the international stage with France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final, the World Cup triumph made him a national hero in France, and he received the Légion dhonneur in 1998. Zidane was named the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, in 1998,2000 and 2003, and won the 1998 Ballon dOr. He was Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001, in 2004 he was named in the FIFA100, a list of the worlds greatest living players compiled by Pelé. Zidane received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup, prior to the World Cup, he announced he would retire at the end of the tournament. After retirement, Zidane became assistant coach at Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti for the 2013–14 season, after a successful year in which the club won the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, Zidane became the coach of Real Madrids B team, Real Madrid Castilla. In 2010, Zidane was an ambassador for Qatars successful bid to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Zidane is currently the manager of Real Madrid, taking over the position in January 2016. In his first season as manager, Zidane won the UEFA Champions League title, Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in Southern France. Zidane is of Algerian Kabyle descent and his parents, Smaïl and Malika, emigrated to Paris from the village of Aguemoune in the Berber-speaking region of Kabylie in northern Algeria in 1953 before the start of the Algerian War. In 1972, Zidane was born there as the youngest of five siblings and his father worked as a warehouseman and nightwatchman at a department store, often on the night shift, while his mother was a housewife. The family lived a comfortable life by the standards of the neighbourhood. In July 2011, Zidane named former Marseille players Blaž Slišković, Enzo Francescoli, at the age of ten, Zidane got his first players licence after joining the junior team of a local club from Castellane by the name of US Saint-Henri. After spending a year and a half at US Saint-Henri, Zidane joined SO Septèmes-les-Vallons when the Septèmes coach Robert Centenero convinced the clubs Director to get Zidane. It was here that Zidane was spotted by AS Cannes scout and former player Jean Varraud, Zidane went to AS Cannes for a six-week stay, but ended up remaining at the club for four years to play at the professional level
25.
Wembley Stadium (1923)
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The Original Wembley Stadium was a football stadium located in Wembley Park, London. It stood on the now occupied by its successor, the new Wembley Stadium. The great Brazilian footballer Pelé once said of the stadium, Wembley is the cathedral of football and it is the capital of football and it is the heart of football in recognition of its status as the worlds best-known football stadium. It also hosted music events, including the 1985 Live Aid charity concert. The twin towers were an icon for England and Wembley, debris from the Original Wembley Stadium was used to make the award-winning Northala Fields in Northolt, Ealing. The stadiums first turf was cut by King George V, much of Humphrey Reptons original Wembley Park landscape was transformed in 1922–23 during preparations for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924–25. First known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or simply Empire Stadium, the stadium cost £750,000, and was constructed on the site of an earlier folly called Watkins Tower. The architects were Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton and the Head Engineer Sir Owen Williams, the stadium had gone into liquidation, after it was pronounced financially unviable. Elvin offered to buy the stadium for £127,000, using a £12,000 downpayment and they then immediately bought it back from Elvin, leaving him with a healthy profit. Instead of cash he received shares, which gave him the largest stake in Wembley Stadium, the electric scoreboard and the all-encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. The stadiums distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname, also well known were the 39 steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy. Wembley was the first pitch to be referred to as Hallowed Turf, in 1934, the Empire Pool was built nearby. The Wembley Stadium Collection is held by the National Football Museum, the stadium closed in October 2000, and demolition commenced in December 2002, completing in 2003 for redevelopment. The top of one of the towers was erected as a memorial in the park on the north side of Overton Close in the Saint Raphaels Estate. Wembley is best known for hosting football matches, having hosted the FA Cup Final annually as well as numerous England International fixtures, the Empire Stadium was built in exactly 300 days at the cost of £750,000. Described as the worlds greatest sporting arena, it was ready only 4 days before the White Horse Final in 1923, the FA had not considered admission by ticket, grossly underestimating the number of fans who arrived at the 104 gates on match day. However, after the game, every event, apart from the 1982 replay, was ticketed, the first event held at the stadium was the FA Cup Final on 28 April 1923 between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. This is known as the White Horse Final, the crowds overflowed onto the pitch as there was no room on the terraces
26.
Olympic Way
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Olympic Way, more commonly known as Wembley Way, is the road that links Wembley Park tube station and Wembley Stadium in Wembley Park, London, England. Thousands of spectators walk along it to every event as the road leads directly into the stadium, the road is an easy access from the London Underground system to the stadium, and travels in a north-south direction. Wembley Way was built years after World War II by German POWs still held captive by the UK. Instead they were put on less visible construction details
27.
England national football team
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The England national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England are one of the two oldest national teams in football, alongside Scotland, whom played in the worlds first international football match in 1872. Englands home ground is Wembley Stadium, London, and the current manager is Gareth Southgate, England contest the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, which alternate biennially. In contesting for the World Cup seventeen times over the past sixty four years, England won the 1966 World Cup, when they hosted the finals, the England national football team is the joint-oldest in the world, it was formed at the same time as Scotland. A representative match between England and Scotland was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised by the Football Association, a return fixture was organised by representatives of Scottish football teams on 30 November 1872. Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three Home Nations—Scotland, Wales and Ireland—in the British Home Championship, to begin with, England had no permanent home stadium. They joined FIFA in 1906 and played their first ever games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Europe in 1908, Wembley Stadium was opened in 1923 and became their home ground. The relationship between England and FIFA became strained, and this resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928 and their first ever defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a 0–2 loss to the Republic of Ireland, on 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park. A 6–3 loss in 1953 to Hungary, was their defeat by a foreign team at Wembley. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7–1 and this still stands as Englands worst ever defeat. After the game, a bewildered Syd Owen said, it was like playing men from outer space, in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, England reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and lost 4–2 to reigning champions Uruguay. Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as Englands first ever manager in 1946. In UEFA Euro 1968, the reached the semi-finals for the first time. England qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico as reigning champions, and reached the quarter-finals, England had been 2–0 up, but were eventually beaten 3–2 after extra time. They failed in qualification for the 1974, leading to Ramseys dismissal, under Ron Greenwood, they managed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, despite not losing a game, they were eliminated in the second group stage. Despite losing to Italy in the third place play-off, the members of the England team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians’, the England team of 1990 were welcomed home as heroes and thousands of people lined the streets, for a spectacular open-top bus parade. However, the team did not win any matches in UEFA Euro 1992, drawing with tournament winners Denmark, the 1990s saw four England managers, each in the role for a relatively brief period. Graham Taylor was Robsons successor, but resigned after England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, at UEFA Euro 1996, held in England, Terry Venables led England, equalling their best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semi-finals as they did in 1968
28.
Stefan Kuntz
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Stefan Kuntz is a retired German professional footballer who coaches the German under-21 team. Kuntzs playing career lasted from 1983 until 1999, Kuntz made 449 appearances, Kuntz played for VfL Bochum, Bayer 05 Uerdingen,1. Kuntz also played in Turkey for Beşiktaş J. K, in 1986 and 1994 Kuntz was the top scorer in the Bundesliga. Kuntz played for the German national team between 1993 and 1997 and was part of the winning German team of UEFA Euro 1996, Kuntz was also part of the German team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the US. During his international career, Kuntz obtained 25 caps, scoring six goals, none of these caps ended in a defeat for Germany, which is the German record for most caps without defeat. From 2006 to 2008, Kuntz was the director of VfL Bochum. Kaiserslautern DFB-Pokal, 1989–90 Bundesliga, 1990–91 Germany European Championship,1996 Kuntz was mocked in England because of the similarity of his surname to the word cunts, kuntzs father, Günter Kuntz, played for Borussia Neunkirchen between 1964 and 1968. Kuntz is a first cousin of singer Andy Kuntz of progressive metal band Vanden Plas, Stefan Kuntz at Fussballdaten Stefan Kuntz at weltfussball. de Stefan Kuntz at National-Football-Teams. com
29.
Paul Gascoigne
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Paul John Gascoigne is a former England international footballer and football manager. He is also known by his nickname, Gazza and he earned 57 caps during his England career and has been described by the National Football Museum as the most naturally gifted English midfielder of his generation. Born and raised in Gateshead, the midfielder signed schoolboy terms with Newcastle United, three years later he was sold on to Tottenham Hotspur for a £2.2 million fee. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, before he was sold to Italian club Lazio for £5.5 million the following year. In July 1995, he was transferred to Rangers for £4.3 million and he returned to England in a £3.4 million move to Middlesbrough in March 1998. He made his debut in the Premier League in the 1998–99 season and he switched to Everton in July 2000, and later had spells with Burnley, Gansu Tianma, and Boston United. He also helped the team to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 1996, in the later parts of his career and especially following retirement, Gascoignes life became dominated by severe mental and emotional problems, particularly alcoholism. He has been jailed or sectioned on numerous occasions and his personal struggles receive regular coverage in the British press and he has frequently attempted to live without alcohol, though rehabilitation programmes have provided only temporary relief. His personal issues ended his career, and he has not worked in football since being fired as the manager of Kettering Town in 2005. Gascoigne was born in the Dunston area of Gateshead, England and his father, John, was a hod carrier, and his mother, Carol, worked in a factory. He was named Paul John Gascoigne in tribute to Paul McCartney and he attended Breckenbeds Junior High School, then the Heathfield Senior High School, both in the Low Fell area of Gateshead. He was noticed by scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys. Further trials at Middlesbrough and Southampton also proved unsuccessful, before the team he supported, Newcastle chairman Stan Seymour described Gascoigne as George Best without brains. While Gascoigne was successful on the field, his childhood was marked by instability. Initially his family lived in an upstairs room in a council house with a shared bathroom. When he was ten, Gascoigne witnessed the death of Steven Spraggon, the brother of a friend. Around this time, his father began to suffer from seizures, Gascoigne began developing obsessions and twitches, and was taken into therapy at age ten, but soon quit the therapy sessions after his father expressed doubts over the treatment methods. Gascoigne developed an addiction to gaming machines, frequently spending all his money on them, Gascoigne experienced further tragedy when a friend, whom he had encouraged to join Newcastle United from Middlesbrough, died whilst he was working for Gascoignes uncle on a building site
30.
UEFA Euro 1976
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The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth European Football Championship, held four years. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976, at the time, only four countries played the final tournament, which meant that there were only the semi-finals, the final and the third-place match. This was the last tournament to have this format, as the tournament was expanded to eight teams four years later. It was the first and only time all four matches in the final tournament were decided after extra time. This was also the last tournament in which the hosts had to qualify for the final stage, czech player Antonín Panenka gained fame for his delicately chipped penalty that gave his country victory in the tournaments final against holders West Germany. The qualifying round was played throughout 1974 and 1975 and 1976, there were eight qualifying groups of four teams each. The matches were played in a home-and-away basis, victories were worth two points, draws one point, and defeats no points. Only group winners could qualify for the quarter-finals, the quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis. The winners of the quarter-finals would go through, to the final tournament and this was the first time the Soviet Union did not qualify for the finals tournament. With four goals, Dieter Müller is the top scorer in the tournament, in total,19 goals were scored by 13 different players in 4 games for an average of 4.75 goals per game. One of the goals is credited as own goal,4 goals Dieter Müller 2 goals Dragan Džajić Ruud Geels 1 goal Own goal Anton Ondruš UEFA Team of the Tournament EURO1976 Official History
31.
Patrik Berger
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Patrik Berger is a retired Czech footballer. He started his career in his own country with Slavia Prague and he moved to England in 1996, where he spent seven years with Liverpool, winning six trophies in his time there. This was followed by spells at Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Stoke City and he spent the last two years of his career back in his native Czech Republic playing for Sparta Prague. Internationally, Berger played in two tournaments for the Czech Republic. He played an important part in his nations Euro 1996 campaign and he took a 17-month break from the national team between 1997 and 1998 after a dispute with manager Dušan Uhrin, returning to the setup following Uhrins departure from the post. His second and final tournament was Euro 2000, but due to suspension and his countrys early exit. He retired from the team in 2002 at the age of 28 with a total of 44 senior international caps and 18 goals. Capable of occupying midfield and forward positions, Berger became noted for his powerful strikes, surging runs, Berger was beset with injuries throughout his career and received specialist treatment in the United States. He retired on 6 January 2010 due to knee injuries, Berger was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. His uncle is the Czech footballer Jan Berger and he married wife Jaroslava, and has two children, son Patrik and daughter Valentýnka. He gained a British passport in 2001 after having spent five years playing football in England. This enabled him to play without needing a permit, which he had previously required due to the Premier Leagues rules on non-EU players. He began his career as a youth player at Sparta Prague in 1989. Establishing himself as a regular, Berger competed in Europe and earned selection for Czechoslovakia and, following its establishment. After 90 league games and 24 goals, Berger was purchased by Ottmar Hitzfelds Borussia Dortmund in 1995 for a reported £500,000, in August 1995 he played in the DFL-Supercup, as Dortmund beat Borussia Mönchengladbach to win the title. While Dortmund went on to win the Bundesliga title in the 1995–96 season, Berger was frequently used as a substitute, hitzfeld preferred to employ Berger as a defensive midfielder as he considered him to be most suited to the role. Liverpools interest in Berger was stimulated by the performances of the Czech Republic during Euro 1996, organised in England, the club approached both Berger and Karel Poborský, who elected to transfer to Manchester United after the competitions conclusion. Berger did accept Liverpools contract offer and completed his transfer in August 1996 for £3.25 million, Berger and his family settled in Southport, Merseyside, where they resided near retired players Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen
32.
Oliver Bierhoff
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Oliver Bierhoff is a retired German former footballer who scored the first golden goal in the history of major international football, for Germany in the Euro 96 final. A tall, strong and prolific goalscorer, he was renowned for his excellent abilities in the air. The son of a German utility magnate, Bierhoff played for nine different clubs and he scored a total of 103 goals in Serie A, one of the highest totals for a non-Italian in the leagues history. In the 1997–98 season, he was the Serie A top scorer with 27 goals for Udinese, Bierhoff, however, was never a success in the Bundesliga. After failing to shine in Germany, he got his chance in the Austrian Bundesliga and that gave him the chance at Ascoli in Italy. But it was at Udinese, under Alberto Zaccheroni, that Bierhoff found success and won his place in fame and he then transferred to Milan in 1998, winning the Serie A title in his first season there. After three seasons there, he moved to French Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2001 for one year, before moving back to Serie A to play for Chievo Verona, in his last ever game, he scored a hat-trick for Chievo Verona in a 3–4 defeat to Juventus. Bierhoff made his debut for the German national team in a friendly against Portugal on 21 February 1996, in his second appearance on 27 March 1996, he managed to score his first two international goals in his countrys 2–0 win over Denmark. Altogether Bierhoff scored 37 goals in 70 caps, including goals in the 2–1 win over the Czech Republic in the Euro 1996 final after having come on as a substitute. Within seven minutes the former provided the latter with three assists, meaning Bierhoff had scored the fastest hat-trick in the history of the German national team, in 1998, he was appointed captain of the national team after the retirement of Jürgen Klinsmann. Bierhoff also played in Euro 2000, and both the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups. He made his last appearance for his country when he was brought on during the half of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final against Brazil. A large and prolific striker, Bierhoff was a strong, physical, and powerful player, who played mainly as a target man in the centre-forward role. Known in particular for his ability, he was able to execute headers with extreme precision, having scored several critical goals in the air throughout his career. Bierhoffs current involvement with football is as the manager of the German mens national team, essentially the duties revolve around the public relations aspect of the team as opposed to the coaching responsibilities. Bierhoff married Klara Szalantzy on 22 June 2001, Klara was a model from Munich and she was behind the wheel in the fatal car crash that claimed Petrovićs life. Bierhoff and his wife had a daughter on 27 January 2007, Bierhoff features in EA Sports FIFA video game series, he features in the FIFA14 Ultimate-Team Legends. Bierhoff is a member of the A. C. Milan Hall of Fame, Bierhoff was one of several celebrities in 2015 who endorsed the tabloid newspaper Bilds petition against anti-Islamisation group PEGIDA. C
33.
UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
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Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 1996 final tournament took place throughout 1994 and 1995. Forty-seven teams were divided into eight groups, all teams played against each other, within their groups, in a home-and-away basis. The winner of each group along with the six best runners-up automatically qualified, England qualified automatically as hosts of the event. This was the first time for the phase for the European Football Championship which awarded three points instead of two for a win. The draw was made on 22 January 1994 in Manchester, new teams that joined UEFAs qualification games after the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, From the former Soviet Union, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. From the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovakia, from the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia. Hosts England The runners-up of each of the eight groups were placed in a table to decide which seven of them would qualify, the best six runners-up would qualify automatically, while the two worst would play-off on a neutral ground to determine the final qualifier. To determine the two worst runners-up, a comparison was made all of them. Only matches played against teams that finished first, third and fourth were regarded, the bottom two runners-up took part in a play-off on a neutral ground to determine the final team to qualify. European Championship 1996 qualifications at RSSSF. com European Championship 1996 qualification match reports at Scoreshelf. com
34.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
35.
Yugoslavia
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Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century. The Serbian royal House of Karađorđević became the Yugoslav royal dynasty, Yugoslavia gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The country was named after the South Slavic peoples and constituted their first union, following centuries in which the territories had been part of the Ottoman Empire, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929, it was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance, in 1944, the king recognised it as the legitimate government, but in November 1945 the monarchy was abolished. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 and it acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980, in 1963, the country was renamed again as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The constituent six socialist republics that made up the country were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia, and SR Slovenia. Serbia contained two Socialist Autonomous Provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, which after 1974 were largely equal to the members of the federation. After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics borders, at first into five countries, eventually, Serbia and Montenegro accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession. Serbia and Montenegro themselves broke up in 2006 and became independent states, the concept of Yugoslavia, as a single state for all South Slavic peoples, emerged in the late 17th century and gained prominence through the Illyrian Movement of the 19th century. The name was created by the combination of the Slavic words jug, Yugoslavia was the result of the Corfu Declaration, as a project of the Serbian Parliament in exile and the Serbian royal Karađorđević dynasty, who became the Yugoslav royal dynasty. The country was formed in 1918 immediately after World War I as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and it was commonly referred to at the time as the Versailles state. Later, the government renamed the country leading to the first official use of Yugoslavia in 1929, on 6 January 1929 King Alexander I suspended the constitution, banned national political parties, assumed executive power and renamed the country Yugoslavia. He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions and he imposed a new constitution and relinquished his dictatorship in 1931. None of these three regimes favored the policy pursued by Alexander I, Alexander attempted to create a centralised Yugoslavia. He decided to abolish Yugoslavias historic regions, and new internal boundaries were drawn for provinces or banovinas, the banovinas were named after rivers. Many politicians were jailed or kept under police surveillance, the effect of Alexanders dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs from the idea of unity. During his reign the flags of Yugoslav nations were banned, Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and a regency council headed by his cousin, Prince Paul
36.
Manchester
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Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford. Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor, founded and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
37.
Republic of Ireland national football team
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The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland and plays its home fixtures at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, the team made their debut at the 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals. Between 1924 and 1936, the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1950, Northern Ireland was allowed to use the title Ireland by FIFA in the Home International Competition until it was discontinued in 1984. The Republic of Ireland was the first nation from outside the United Kingdom to defeat England at home at a fixture played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, the team also reached the quarter-final stage of the 1964 European Nations Cup, where they lost to the eventual winners Spain. Charltons successor Mick McCarthy lost out on the two major tournaments but ultimately qualified for the 2002 World Cup, making it to the last 16. Under Giovanni Trapattoni, the narrowly lost out on qualification for the 2010 World Cup during a controversial play-off. The team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Republic of Ireland also fell to a record low FIFA ranking of 59th, then a record low of 70th in June 2014. The Boys in Green reached the Round of 16 stage at that tournament and were knocked out by the hosts, between 1882 and 1924, Ireland was represented by a single national football team organised by the Belfast-based Irish Football Association. In 1923, the FAIFS was recognised by FIFA as the body of the Irish Free State and at the 1924 Summer Olympics. On 28 May, at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1–0, as a result, they qualified for the quarter-finals. On 14 June 1924, the Irish Free State made their debut against the United States. Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win at Dalymount Park, the Irish Free State did not play their next game until 21 March 1926, an away game against Italy lost 3–0. In subsequent years, the status of the Olympic Games football competition was downgraded and as a result, on 25 February 1934, the Irish Free State made their FIFA World Cup debut, drawing 4–4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park in a 1934 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Paddy Moore scored all four of the Free States goals and became the first player ever to four goals in a World Cup game. After 1936, they reverted to the designation Football Association of Ireland, during this entire period, there were two Irish international football teams, chosen by two rival Associations. FIFA eventually intervened when both teams entered 1950 World Cup qualification, the first time they had entered the same competition, four players – Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh, Con Martin – actually played for the two different teams in the same FIFA World Cup tournament. All four players concerned had been born in the Irish Free State and this may have alarmed the FAI, since they subsequently lobbied FIFA to prevent the IFA from picking Southern-born players. e. Initially the FIFA World Cup and subsequently the European Nations Cup, FIFA decreed that the FAI team officially be called the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland
38.
Bulgaria national football team
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The Bulgarian teams home ground is the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia and Petar Hubchev is the current national manager. The countrys finest hour came in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, despite losing to Italy and Sweden in an eventual fourth-place finish, Bulgarias major 1994 World Cup campaign provided the tournaments top scorer and future Ballon dOr recipient Hristo Stoichkov. The Bulgaria national team was founded in 1922, in 1923, the Bulgarian Football Union was established and the teams first match was held in Vienna on 21 May 1924, against Austria. Bulgaria was invited to participate in the 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay, the Bulgarian team at this time could not progress in qualifying for any major tournaments from 1930 to 1960. They would end up finishing, on occasions, in second or third place in their qualifying group and proceeding to the play-offs. Bulgaria, however, did many strong teams in international games during those years. The only tournaments they were able to qualify for were smaller tournaments, such as the Balkan Cup, which they have won four times. They qualified for the World Cup for the time in 1962 Bulgaria qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1962. The team, however finished third in their group three out of the four times, Bulgaria won the first leg 3–2, but lost the second by a 2–0 score to lose 4–3 in aggregate. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, the won the silver medal. They finished first in Group D by beating Thailand 7–0, Guatemala 2–1 and they advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Israel and the semifinals by beating host Mexico. In the final, the team was defeated by Hungary, in 1976, the team won the Balkan Cup by beating Romania in the two-legged final 1–0 and 3–2. Bulgaria finally qualified to their first international tournament, the 1962 world cup, Bulgaria was placed in a group alongside England, Argentina and Hungary. Bulgaria would open up their campaign with a narrow 0–1 loss to Argentina then would lose their second match 1–6 to Hungary, mathematically eliminated from progressing to the next round, Bulgaria drew England 0–0 to finish fourth in the group with only one point. Bulgaria would qualify for their second World Cup in 1966 and they were placed in a group, alongside Hungary, Portugal and a Pelé-led Brazil. Bulgaria would open their campaign match with a 0–2 loss to Brazil thanks to two goals by Pelé and Garrincha. Later on, Bulgaria would lose 0–3 to the Eusébio-led Portugal and they would finish fourth in their group zero points earned. A month-and-a-half after the Euro came the Olympics, which Bulgaria had qualified for the time in their history
39.
Turkey national football team
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The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. Turkey has qualified three times for the World Cup, in 1950,1954, and 2002, although they withdrew from the 1950 event, Turkey has also qualified four times for the UEFA European Championship, in 1996,2000,2008, and 2016. They have reached the semi-finals of three tournaments, the 2002 World Cup, the 2003 Confederations Cup, and Euro 2008. The Turkish national team played their first ever match against Romania in 1923 drawing 2–2, zeki Rıza Sporel is considered as the first big star of Turkish football as he scored the first two goals against Romania. Turkey played their first ever match at the 1924 Summer Olympics losing 5–2 to Czechoslovakia. Although Turkey qualified for the 1950 World Cup, beating Syria 7–0, Turkey then qualified for the 1954 World Cup after a play-off with Spain. The Turkish team first lost 4–1 to Spain, but a 1–0 win a few days later initiated a replay, on that occasion, they tied 2–2 after, booking their place after a coin toss. Turkey was put in a group along with Hungary and West Germany, the Turks, however, never played Hungary due to the tournament format, and a 4–1 defeat by the Germans was followed by Turkey carrying out a 7–0 win over South Korea. Turkey lost the play-off to West Germany 7–2, in 1956 Turkey did however play Hungary, in a friendly match in Istanbul, beating what was one of the strongest teams of the era 3–1. Lefter Küçükandonyadis, all-time best player of Turkey netted in two goals during the tournament, despite the introduction of a national league, and showings by Turkish clubs in European competition, the 1960s would be a barren time for the national team. Most players from the 1954 World Cup squad were retired, the 1970s saw Turkey holding back in the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, but the team was a point too short to qualify for both Euro 1972 and Euro 1976. In the 1980s the Turkish team also suffered their worst defeats with 8–0 scorelines against Poland, yet the 1990 World Cup qualifiers would mark a turning point for Turkish football, with Turkey only missing out on qualification in the final game. Prominent players in this period were Rıdvan Dilmen, Oğuz Çetin, Rıza Çalımbay, Feyyaz Uçar, in 1990, German coach Sepp Piontek was put in charge of the national team. Under his guidance, a group of new players debuted for the national team, many of these players which include, Bülent Korkmaz, Alpay Özalan, Sergen Yalçın, Rüştü Reçber, and Hakan Şükür would become the backbone of the national team for many years. Pionteks mission came to an end in 1993, where he was replaced by Fatih Terim, Turkey qualified for its first major tournament since 1954, marking another turning point for Turkish football after having failed to qualify for both Euro 1992 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The appointment of Piontek was a move by another German coach Jupp Derwall. Turkey qualified for Euro 1996, beating both Switzerland and Sweden 2–1 along the way, despite a solid performance during the qualifiers, Turkey lost all their matches without scoring a single goal. They did, however, go home with an award, the fair-play award, Turkey failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, they however qualified for Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against Ireland
40.
Croatia national football team
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The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body of football. A FIFA-sanctioned national side previously represented the short-lived Banovina of Croatia and this team was dissolved in 1945 as Croatia became a constituent federal republic of SFR Yugoslavia. In the period between 1945 and 1990, Croatia was ineligible to field a team for competitive matches. The modern Croatian team was formed in 1990, shortly before Croatias independence from Yugoslavia, the team played their first competitive matches in the successful qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 1996, leading to their first appearance at a major tournament. In Croatias FIFA World Cup debut in 1998 the team finished third and provided the top scorer. Since becoming eligible to compete in tournaments, Croatia have failed to qualify for only one World Cup. The team was undefeated in its first 36 home competitive matches at Maksimir, the teams traditional nickname is Vatreni. The team was named FIFAs Best Mover of the Year in 1994 and 1998, Association football was first introduced to Croatia by English expatriates working on industrial projects in Rijeka and Županja in 1873. By 1907, local clubs had established in Croatia and a modern edition of the sports laws was translated and published. A hastily arranged Croatian side, managed by Hugo Kinert, played a few matches in 1918–19, in 1940, Jozo Jakopić led an unofficial national team representing the Banovina of Croatia in four friendly matches, against Switzerland and Hungary. Following invasion by the Axis powers, the Croatian Football Federation became briefly active, joining FIFA on 17 July 1941, the side, led by Rudolf Hitrec, went on to play 15 friendly matches,14 of those as a member of FIFA. Croatias first recorded result as a FIFA member was a 1–1 draw with Slovakia on 8 September in Bratislava. The Independent State of Croatia continued playing matches until 1945 and the end of World War II, from 1950 to 1956, unofficial Croatian teams were briefly active—they won games against Indonesia and a Yugoslav team playing as Serbia. The Yugoslavia squad at the 1956 Summer Olympics included Croatian footballers, as did Yugoslavia in World Cup, the last Yugoslav team to field a considerable Croatian contingent played against Faroe Islands on 16 May 1991, days before Croatias independence referendum. However, an unofficial Croatian team was formed shortly before, and played the teams first modern international game, the game, which Croatia won 2–1, was one of three games played under caretaker manager Dražan Jerković. The match against the American side also marked the introduction of Croatias national jersey, although Croatia was still officially part of Yugoslavia until its independence declaration on 8 October 1991, this team already served as a de facto national side. Croatia went on to win two more games under Jerković, against Romania in December 1990 and Slovenia in June 1991
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Russia national football team
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The Russia national football team represents Russia in association football and is controlled by the Russian Football Union, the governing body for football in Russia. Russias home grounds are Otkrytie Arena, Luzhniki Stadium and Lokomotiv Stadium, Russia qualified for three World Cups, and they have automatically qualified for 2018 as hosts. They have also qualified for five European Championships, led by manager Pavel Sadyrin, Russia were in Group 5 for the qualification campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup which consisted of Greece, Iceland, Hungary and Luxembourg. The suspension of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reduced the group to five teams, Russia eventually qualified alongside Greece with six wins and two draws. Russia went to the USA to start a new era of Russian football as an independent country, in the final tournament, Russia was drawn into group B with Cameroon, Sweden, and Brazil. This was considered a group with Russia having limited chances of qualifying for the second round. In their first two games Russia lost 2–0 to Brazil and 3–1 to Sweden, teetering on elimination, Russia defeated Cameroon 6–1 with Oleg Salenko scoring record five goals in a single match. Russia was eliminated from the tournament with three points from one win and two losses, Sadyrin was later sacked following what was a poor performance. After Sadyrin was sacked, Oleg Romantsev was appointed coach to lead Russia to Euro 96, Romantsev was expected to qualify Russia for the final tournament and perform well. In his squad he selected many players from the 1994 FIFA World Cup such as Viktor Onopko, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Vladimir Beschastnykh, and Valery Karpin. During qualifying, Russia overcame Scotland, Greece, Finland, San Marino, in the final tournament Russia was in Group C with Germany, Czech Republic, and Italy. Group C was considered the group of death with Russia dubbed the weakest team, Russias last game against the Czech Republic ended 3–3. Germany and Czech Republic went on to meet in the final, in the qualifying stage Russia was in Group 5 with Bulgaria, Israel, Cyprus, and Luxembourg. Russia and Bulgaria were considered the two contenders to qualify from the group with Israel considered a minor threat. Russia began the campaign with two victories against Cyprus and Luxembourg and two draws against Israel and Cyprus and they continued with victories against Luxembourg and Israel. Russia suffered their only defeat of the campaign with a 1–0 loss to Bulgaria and they ended the campaign with a 4–2 victory in the return game over Bulgaria and qualify for the play-off spot. In the play-offs, Russia was drawn with Italy, in the first leg Russia drew 1–1. In the away leg, Russia were defeated 1–0 and failed to qualify for the World Cup, after failing to qualify for the World Cup in France, Russia were determined to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2000 co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands
Germany (3rd title)
Czech Republic
Alan Shearer (5 goals)
Switzerland
Romania
France
Spain
Denmark
Turkey
Croatia
Italy
Portugal
Bulgaria
Russia[D]
Scotland
Netherlands
Austria
Belgium
Belarus
Hungary
Sweden
23'
95'
Lyuboslav Penev (playing against France)
Alan Shearer (5 goals)[34]
