1.
Xavier Hernandez (baseball)
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Francis Xavier The X-Man Hernandez, is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues primarily in relief, from 1989-1998. He made the transition to the ranks in 2010 and is currently the pitching coach for Houston Baptist University Huskies. He attended and pitched for the University of Southwestern Louisiana Ragin Cajuns before being signed by the Toronto Blue Jays after being drafted in the 4th round of the 1986 June draft. Hernandez pitched in the Major Leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and he held a career 40-35 record with 35 saves and a 3.90 ERA. His best year came with the Houston Astros in 1992 when he posted a 9-1 record with 7 saves, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference, or Retrosheet, or Pelota Binaria
2.
Spanish naming customs
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Spanish naming customs are historical traditions for naming children practised in Spain. According to these customs, a persons name consists of a name followed by two family names. The first surname is usually the fathers first surname, and the second the mothers first surname, in recent years, the order of the surnames can be reversed at birth if it is so decided by the parents. Currently in Spain, people bear a single or composite given name, a composite given name comprises two single names, for example Juan Pablo is considered not to be a first and a second forename, but a single composite forename. The two surnames refer to each of the parental families, traditionally, a persons first surname is the fathers first surname, and the second one is the mothers first surname. From 2013, if the parents of a child are unable to agree on order of surnames, the law also grants a person the option, upon reaching adulthood, of reversing the order of their surnames. Each surname can also be composite, the parts usually linked by the y or e. For example, a name might be Juan Pablo Fernández de Calderón García-Iglesias, consisting of a forename, a paternal surname. There are times when it is impossible, by inspection of a name, for example, the writer Sebastià Juan Arbó was alphabetised by the Library of Congress for many years under Arbó, assuming that Sebastiá and Juan were both given names. However, Juan was actually his first surname, to resolve questions like this, which typically involve very common names, one must consult the person involved, or legal documents. A man named José Antonio Gómez Iglesias would normally be addressed as either señor Gómez or señor Gómez Iglesias instead of señor Iglesias, because Gómez is his first surname. Furthermore, Mr. Gómez might be addressed as José Antonio, José, Pepe, Antonio, or Toño Jose, Joselito, Josito, Joselillo, Josico or Joselín, Antoñito, Tonín or Nono. Very formally, he could be addressed with an honorific as don José Antonio or don José, colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez is sometimes incorrectly referred to in English media as Mr. Márquez, when it should be Mr. García Márquez or, simply, Mr. García. It is not unusual, when the first surname is very common, for example, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is often called simply Zapatero, the name he inherited from his mothers family, since Rodríguez is a common surname and may be ambiguous. The same occurs with another former Spanish Socialist leader, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, with the poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca, as these peoples paternal names are very common, they are often called with their maternal names. It would nonetheless be a mistake to index José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero under Z as Zapatero, a practical option to spare an explanation is using a single surname composed of two separate words. Parents choose their childs name, which must be recorded in the Registro Civil to establish his or her legal identity. With few restrictions, parents can now choose any name, common sources of names are the parents taste, honouring a relative, the General Roman Calendar nomina, legislation in Spain under Franco legally limited cultural naming customs to only Christian and typical Spanish names
3.
Terrassa
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Terrassa is a Spanish city in the east central region of Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, comarca of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the cocapital along with Sabadell. It is the site of Roman Egara, a former bishopric, the city is located in the Catalan Prelitoral depression, at the feet of the Prelitoral mountain range and the average altitude of the city is 277 meters above sea level. It is 20 and 18 kilometres from Barcelona and Montserrat respectively, the remains that have been found indicate that the area where Terrassa stands has been inhabited since prehistory. Other important remains from the Middle Ages are the cathedral, the castle of Vallparadís. Terrassa is a city of the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, preservation. The 25th September 1962, after a dry season, between 212 and 252 litres of rain per square metre fell in three hours. It caused rivers Llobregat and Besòs and their tributaries to overflow, creating a water avenue that caused 700 victims, the Vallès Occidental comarca was the most damaged. In particularly Terrassa, with 327 victims, the reason of these numbers was that building was permitted around two dry streams used to bring rain water to the Llobregat river. They met in a shape and were not properly channelized. When the streams overflowed created what was called the dead triangle, a Provincial Council was held there in 615. It was suppressed in 700, its territory being returned to the Diocese of Barcelona, the cathedral continued to exist until 718, when it was taken over during the Muslim conquest. Today the ancient Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa stand on the site, suffragan Bishops of Egara Ireneo Saint Nebridio Tauro Sofronio Ilergio Eugenio Vincenzo Giovanni In 1969 the diocese was nominally restored as Titular bishopric of Egara. This episcopal complex follows the Byzantine model of antiquity, with two churches and a mausoleum, the church of Santa Maria contains outstanding works of art, and there are murals dating from the Romanesque period to the Gothic. There is also an altar dating from the 10th century and medieval. In the transept there are three Gothic altarpieces, the C-58 and C-16 also link the city with, and. The railway reached Terrassa in 1856, and nowadays two lines serve the city, the first, operated by RENFE, connects with Barcelona and Lleida, and the second, operated by FGC, with Barcelona. Recently FGC extended its line to the north of the city and this extension is known as the Terrassa Metro. Several interurban bus lines connect Terrassa with the closest cities and towns such as Sabadell, Castellar del Vallès, Martorell, Rubí, Sant Cugat del Vallès, transport inside the city is provided by 14 bus lines operated by a municipal company
4.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy
5.
Al Sadd SC
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Al-Sadd Sports Club is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football. Locally, it is primarily by the nickname Al Zaeem. The club has participation in handball, basketball, volleyball, table tennis and it is the most successful sports club in the country, and holds a national record of 67 official football championships. The origin of Al Sadds conception began with four Qatari students whom excelled in football, in the 1989 season, they became the first Arab club side to triumph in the Asian Club Championship by defeating Al Rasheed of Iraq on an aggregate of away goals. Twenty-three years later, they were again victorious in the top regional competition, now known as the Asian Champions League. They finished third, becoming the first West Asian side to third place in the competition. Al Sadd was established by eleven high school students who excelled in playing football and they refused to join other clubs at the time and decided to make their own club. Four of them consulted with Sheikh Qassem bin Hamad Al-Thani, who was the minister of Youth and he obliged their request, resulting in the formation of Al Sadd Sports Club. Many of the players and supporters were remnants of Al Ahrar SC. In their initial year of establishment, the father of one of the founders, Hamad bin Mubarak Al Attiyah, coached the club, the club won the first ever league title in 1971–72. However, this was one year before the league was officially recognized, thus, they won their first official QSL title in 1973–74. Sadd, along with Al Arabi and Al Rayyan, went on to dominate Qatari football in the 70s, Youssef Saad, a Sudanese forward who played for the club since its inception, was the first ever professional player to officially join the ranks of Al Sadd. Transfers could be made unconditionally during this time, meaning Esteqlals protests were in vain and this was a major factor in them winning their first cup championship the next year in 1975. They defeated Al Ahli 4–3 in a contested match under the leadership of Hassan Osman in order to claim the Emir Cup. Their goals came from Youssef Saad, who scored a brace, till this day, it is the joint-largest score in an Emir Cup final match. They won the first ever Sheikh Jassim Cup held in 1977–78, in 1978–79, the club succeeded in achieving their first domestic double by winning both, the Sheikh Jassim Cup and the league, accomplishing the same feat the next season. In the 1981–82, they won the Emir Cup and Sheikh Jassim Cup, during this period, Badr Bilal and Hassan Mattar, both of whom were top scorers in the league at one point, led the team to victories in both of the finals
6.
FC Barcelona
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Futbol Club Barcelona, commonly known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the second most valuable team in the world, worth $3.56 billion. The official Barcelona anthem is the Cant del Barça, written by Jaume Picas, Barcelona was ranked first in the IFFHS Club World Ranking for 1997,2009,2011,2012 and 2015 and currently occupies the third position on the UEFA club rankings. The club has a rivalry with Real Madrid, matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico. Barcelona is one of the most supported teams in the world, Barcelonas players have won a record number of Ballon dOr awards, as well as a record number of FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never relegated from the top division, along with Athletic Bilbao. In 2011, the club became European champions again and won five trophies, by winning their fifth Champions League trophy on 6 June 2015, Barcelona became the first European club in history to achieve the continental treble twice. On 22 October 1899, Hans Gamper placed an advertisement in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club, FC Barcelona had a successful start in regional and national cups, competing in the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey. In 1902, the club won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya and he said in a meeting, Barcelona cannot die and must not die. If there is nobody who is going to try, then I will assume the responsibility of running the club now on. Club president on five occasions between 1908 and 1925, he spent 25 years in total at the helm. One of his achievements was ensuring Barça acquire its own stadium. On 14 March 1909, the moved into the Camp de la Indústria. To celebrate their new surroundings, the club conducted a logo contest the following year, Carles Comamala won the contest, and his suggestion became the crest that the club still wears – with some minor changes – as of the present day. The contest was the most prestigious in that era, from the inaugural year in 1910 to 1913, Barcelona won the competition four consecutive times. Carles Comamala played a part of the four-time champion, managing the side along with Amechazurra. The latter became the clubs first full-time coach in 1917, the last edition was held in 1914 in the city of Barcelona, which local rivals Espanyol won
7.
FC Barcelona B
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Futbol Club Barcelona B is a Spanish football team based in Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1970 as FC Barcelona Atlètic, it is the team of FC Barcelona. Reserve teams in Spain play in the league system as the senior team. They must play at least one level below their main side and they also cannot play in the Copa del Rey. Founded on 1 August 1934 as Societat Esportiva Industrial Espanya, the club was originally the team of the factory with the same name. Initially, Industrial played in the regional leagues but, in 1950, it was promoted to Tercera División. In 1953 the club finished as runners-up in both the league and the promotion play-off but, being a club of Barcelona, it was unable to move up a division. After winning another promotion play-off in 1956, Espanya Industrial became independent of FC Barcelona and was renamed Club Deportivo Condal, the club wore blue shirts with two white diagonals stripes. Condal competed once in La Liga, in the 1956–57 season, being relegated as 16th, in 1968 the club rejoined the Barcelona family as its reserve team, and adopted the blaugrana colours. In 1970, Barcelona president Agustí Montal decided to merge Condal with another club, Atlètic Catalunya. Atlètic was founded in 1965 as a result of the merger of two teams, UE Catalunya de Les Corts and CD Fabra Coats. Under the new denomination the B-team played a total of ten seasons in the second level, at the end of 1988–89 the side returned to Segunda División B – the new third level created in 1977 – after ranking 17th. In 1990 the team was renamed Barcelona B, but club president Joan Laporta changed the back to Barcelona Atlètic in 2008. Two years later, his successor Sandro Rosell returned to the previous denomination, former club player Luis Enrique succeeded Pep Guardiola as team manager in the summer of 2008, as the latter was appointed main squad coach. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, bold denotes players still playing in Barcelona B On 23 September 1982 the Mini Estadi was inaugurated by Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez. Next to the ground there are two training pitches, pitch 3 and 4, which have artificial turf – the latter has a size of 100 x 70 metres and has seating for 1,000 spectators. Mini Estadi has also hosted games for the Andorra national football team, inaugurated on 26 September 1966, La Masia is the name given to Barcelonas training facilities located near the Camp Nou in the Les Corts district of Barcelona. It is an ancient country residence built in 1702 and once Camp Nou was inaugurated in 1957, in 1979, La Masia became the residence of young players from outside of the city
8.
Spain national under-17 football team
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The Spain national under-17 football team represents Spain in international football at this age level and is controlled by Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks, gold background color indicates first-place finish. Silver background color indicates second-place finish, bronze background color indicates third-place finish. In addition to team victories, Spanish players have won awards at UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. In addition to team victories, Spanish players have won awards at FIFA World Cup Under-17 Football Championship. Note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the time in the Under-17s. Note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the time in the Under-17s. The following players have called up to participate in the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification games to be played through 19–24 September 2016. National team caps and goals correct as of 22 May 2016, *Please note some of these players play for their clubs reserve team. com Tournament archive at uefa. com UEFA U-17 European Championship at rsssf
9.
Spain national under-18 football team
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The Spain national under-18 football team represents Spain in international football at this age level and is controlled by Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks, gold background color indicates first-place finish. Silver background color indicates second-place finish, bronze background color indicates third-place finish. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil, note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the players time in the Under-18s. Note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the time in the Under-18s. The following players have called up to participate in the XXXIX Torneo Copa del Atlántico to be played from 29 January to 1 February. National team caps and goals correct as of 1 February 2013, *Please note some of these players play for their clubs reserve team. com UEFA U-18 European Championship at rsssf
10.
Spain national under-21 football team
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The Spain national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Spain and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The team, nicknamed La Rojita, competes in the biennial UEFA European Under-21 Championship, following the realignment of UEFAs youth competitions in 1976, the Spanish under-21 team was formed. Spain has a record, having consecutively won the 2011 and 2013 Championships. Only Italy with five titles has won the more often than Spain. Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, for this reason, Spains brief record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown, though in actuality, Spain played only three competitive U-23 matches. The first was in the under-23 Challenge, which they lost, Spains youth development programs has been challenging the South American dominance in the FIFA U-17 World Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup. In fact,20 of the Spanish 23-man squad that won the Euro 2008 came through the ranks of the youth teams, *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. Gold background color indicates first-place finish, silver background color indicates second-place finish. Bronze background color indicates third-place finish, red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil. In addition to team victories, Spanish players have won awards at UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the time in the Under-21s. Note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the time in the Under-21s. Caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2017 The following players were named in the squad for matches against Denmark and Italy. Caps and goals as of 27 March 2017, player those had been capped in senior level will be shown in italic. The following players have called up for the team in the last twelve months. com Europe – U-23/U-21 Tournaments at rsssf
11.
Spain national under-23 football team
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Spains Olympic football team represents Spain in international football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, the team is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Having qualified for four Olympic competitions since 1992, Spain has won one medal and one silver medal. Unlike later tournaments, the Summer Olympics used to be represented by senior or amateur teams, Spains first participation in the Olympics was in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920. Fourteen teams entered the competition which was organized on a knockout basis, twelve teams entered the first round, with the six winners joining the host nation and France, in the quarter-finals. Czechoslovakia, participating in their first international tournament, cruised to the final, inflicting heavy defeats on Yugoslavia, Norway, Belgium beat a talented Spain and then the Netherlands on their way to the final. Belgium won the medal by default after Czechoslovakia walked off in protest during the final, unhappy with the performance of the English referee. The Bergvall System was used to determine second and third places, the beaten quarter-finalists played-off, Spain emerged triumphant overcoming Sweden 2–1 and Italy 2–0. Ordinarily, Spain would then have played the beaten finalists, Spain thus advanced straight to the silver medal match against Holland, beaten in the semi-finals by gold medallists Belgium. 1924 was not as successful, Spain bowed out of competition in round 1 after losing to Italy 1–0 At the 1928 Summer Olympics things would go from good to worse, Spain were, potentially, much to be feared. Defeated once since the last Olympic Games tournament their traditional tournament nerves would handicap them here, the unavoidable loss of their experienced captain Pedro Vallana after their first game, though, would cost them dearly. Spain started with a 7–1 win over Mexico, then a 1–1 draw against Italy which would cause the match to go on a reply, there Spain were eventually eliminating with a 1–7 defeat. Spain would not compete in another Olympic tournament until the 1968 edition held in Mexico, there the team fielded an under-21 amateur squad and reached the quarter-finals, losing only to the host nation. The teams final two tournament came in 1976 and 1980, where failed to make it out of the group stage. The football competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics was the first under-23 competition, Spain were awarded a place at the tournament due to being the host nation. Spain were able to qualify for the following Olympics, managed by then coach Javier Clemente, la Rojita failed to repeat its past success and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual runners-up Argentina. Spain qualified for their third tournament in 2000. The squad, managed by head coach Iñaki Sáez, reached their final but were not able to take gold
12.
Spain national football team
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The Spain national football team represents Spain in mens International association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Julen Lopetegui after Vicente del Bosque stepped down following Euro 2016, the Spanish side is commonly referred to as La Roja, La Furia Roja, La Furia Española or simply La Furia. Spain became a member of FIFA in 1904 even though the Spanish Football Federation was first established in 1909, Spains national team debuted in 1920. Since then, the Spanish national team has participated in a total of 14 of 20 FIFA World Cups and 9 of 14 UEFA European Championships. These three successive titles make them the national team so far with three consecutive wins of either the applicable continental championship or the World Cup. From 2008 to 2013, a span, the national team won FIFA Team of the Year. Between November 2006 and June 2009 Spain went undefeated for a record-equalling 35 consecutive matches before their loss to the United States. The teams achievements have led many commentators, experts and former players to consider the 2010 and 2012 Spanish sides among the best ever international sides in world football. The first Spain national football team was constituted in 1920, with the objective of finding a team that would represent Spain at the Summer Olympics held in Belgium in that same year. Spain made their debut at the tournament on 28 August 1920 against Denmark, the Spanish managed to win that match by a scoreline of 1–0, eventually finishing with the silver medal. Spain qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1934, defeating Brazil in their first game and losing in a replay to the hosts, the Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented Spain from playing any competitive matches between the 1934 World Cup and the 1950 editions qualifiers. At the 1950 finals in Brazil, they topped their group to progress to the final round, until 2010, this had been Spains highest finish in a FIFA World Cup finals, which had given them the name of the underachievers. Spain won its first major title when hosting the 1964 European Championship held in Spain. The victory would stand as Spains lone major title for 44 years, Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, reaching the second round, and four years later they reached the quarter-finals before a penalty shootout defeat to Belgium. Javier Clemente was appointed as Spains coach in 1992, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup, had the official acknowledged the foul, Spain would have merited a penalty kick. In the 2002 World Cup, Spain won its three group matches, then defeated the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round. They faced co-hosts South Korea in the quarter-finals, losing in a shootout after having two goals called back for alleged infractions during regular and extra time, at UEFA Euro 2008, Spain won all their games in Group D. Italy were the opponents in the match, which Spain won 4–2 on penalties
13.
Catalonia national football team
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The Catalonia national football team is the official football team of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is organised by the Catalan Football Federation, the team has been referred to by various names including Selecció Catalana, Selecció de Barcelona and the Catalan XI. Catalonia is not affiliated with either FIFA or UEFA and is not allowed to participate in either the FIFA World Cup or the European Championship. Catalan players are full Spanish citizens who are eligible to play for Spain, since 1904, the team has played nearly 200 games against various national, regional and club teams. International friendly games have been played regularly since 1997. Among the teams they have played are Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina, recent friendly games include a 4–2 win over Argentina at Camp Nou in December 2009, and a 4–0 win over Honduras in December 2010. Catalonia national football team made their debut in 1904, initially they played against various club teams such as Club Espanyol, Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Irún Sporting Club. On 2 February 1912, they made their international debut against France. The team was, Reñé, Irízar, Amecharruza, Alemany, Peris, Armet, Forns, Rodríguez, Comamala, Morales, on 1 December 1912, the two teams met again in Barcelona and this time the Catalans won 1–0. In 1914, the Catalan XI played the Basque Country XI for the first time, the first recorded game between the two teams took place on 3 January 1915 at San Mamés Stadium, the Catalan XI lost 6–1. Between 1915 and 1926, the Catalan XI competed in an inter-regional competition and they finished as runners-up in 1915 and won the Copa Príncep dAstúries for the first time in 1916, beating a Castile XI 8–5 over two games. They then retained the trophy in 1917 after beating the Castile XI 2–0, during the 1920s, a team featuring Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Ricardo Zamora helped the Catalan XI win the competition in 1922,1924 and 1926. The last competition in 1926 was a play-off between the two teams who had won the competition the most, the Catalans beat an Asturias XI 6–3 over two games. As well as playing other teams from throughout Spain and Europe. On 13 March 1924, at the Camp de Les Corts, the Spain XI included Josep Samitier and Ricardo Zamora, two of the best Catalan players of the era, while the Catalan XI featured Paulino Alcántara and Sagibarba. Samiter scored twice as the Spain XI won 7–0, on 13 December 1925, Samitier, Zamora, Alcántara and Sagibarba were on the same side as the Catalan XI beat Czechoslovakia at the Estadi de Sarrià. After conceding a penalty and going down 1–0, Sagibarba then equalised with another penalty before Samitier clinched a 2–1 win, on 7 July 1926, the Catalan XI played Czechoslovakia in Prague. Despite Samitier putting the Catalans 1–0 ahead, they eventually lost 2–1, during the 1930s, Catalonia continued playing friendly games against an array of teams,1934 was a particularly good year
14.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
15.
Football at the Summer Olympics
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Association football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a mens competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Womens football was added to the program in 1996. Football was not included on the program at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, however, sources claim that an unofficial football tournament was organized during the first competition, in which an Athens XI lost to a team representing Smyrna, then part of the Ottoman Empire. According to a source, this is an error which has been perpetuated in multiple texts, tournaments were played at the 1900 and 1904 games and the Intercalated Games of 1906, but these were contested by various clubs and scratch teams. Although the IOC considers the 1900 and 1904 tournaments to be official Olympic events, they are not recognized by FIFA, neither recognizes the Intercalated Games today. In 1906 teams from Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France withdrew from a competition and left Denmark, Smyrna, Athens. Denmark won the final against Athens 9–0, in the London Games of 1908 a proper international tournament was organised by the Football Association, featuring just six teams. The number of rose to eleven in 1912, when the competition was organised by the Swedish Football Association. Many of these matches were unbalanced, as evidenced by high scoring games. All players were amateurs, in accordance with the Olympic spirit, the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Ireland asked the Football Association to send an English national amateur team. Some of the English members played with clubs, most notably Derby Countys Ivan Sharpe, Bradford City F. C. Harold Walden. England won the first two official tournaments convincingly, beating Denmark both times, in the 1924 and 1928 Olympic games, the first South American teams entered the competition, Uruguay and Argentina. Football returned to controversy at the 1936 Berlin Games, the German organisers were intent on the return of the game to the Olympic movement since it guaranteed income into the organisations coffers. The Italian team intimidated a referee, peru scored a contested victory over Austria in overtime, with a fan invasion of the field at the very end. The Austrian team asked for the result to be annulled, FIFA agreed, the Peruvian team refused and left the Olympics. As professionalism spread around the world, the gap in quality between the World Cup and the Olympics widened, the countries that benefited most were the Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe, where top athletes were state-sponsored while retaining their status as amateurs. Between 1948 and 1980,23 out of 27 Olympic medals were won by Eastern Europe, with only Sweden, Denmark, for the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players. Since 1992 male competitors must be under 23 years old, and since 1996, players under 23 years old, with three over-23 year old players, are allowed per squad
16.
2000 Summer Olympics
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It was the second time that the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and also the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1956. Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 games in 1993, the United States won the most medals with 93, while Australia came in 4th with 58. The games cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion, the Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship and Australian public being lauded in the international media. Bill Bryson from The Times called the Sydney Games one of the most successful events on the world stage, admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it, as Sydney was both exceptional and the best. These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch and these were also the second Olympic Games to be held in spring. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by Russia, several World and Olympic records were broken during the games. With little or no controversies, the games were deemed successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. The Australian city of Melbourne had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics four years earlier, the Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at USD5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the committee for the purpose of staging the Games. The competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. The cost and cost overrun for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of USD4.6 billion, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion, average cost overrun is 176%. In 2000, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6 billion, many venues were constructed in the Sydney Olympic Park, which failed in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses. In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and it has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1 billion has been shaved from public consumption. Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, in the years after the games, infrastructure issues have been of growing concern to citizens, especially those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydneys west have been estimated to cost in the order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games. Although the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until 15 September, among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1–0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage of the Australian stockmen and it was produced and filmed by Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation and the home nation broadcaster, Channel 7. This was introduced by a rider, Steve Jefferys
17.
Football at the 2000 Summer Olympics
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The football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics started on 13 September. The mens tournament is played by U-23 national teams, with up to three over age players allowed per squad, article 1 of the tournament regulations states, The Tournaments take place every four years, in conjunction with the Summer Olympic Games. The associations affiliated to FIFA are invited to participate with their mens U-23, * Hindmarsh Stadium only used during the Mens tournament. Temporary seating was added for the games, official website Olympic Football Tournaments Sydney 2000 - Men, FIFA. com Olympic Football Tournaments Sydney 2000 - Women, FIFA. com
18.
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
19.
UEFA Euro 2008
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It took place in Austria and Switzerland from 7 to 29 June 2008. The tournament was won by Spain, who defeated Germany 1–0 in the final, Spain were only the second nation to win all their group stage fixtures and then the European Championship itself - an accomplishment matched by France in 1984. Spain were also the first team since Germany in 1996 to win the tournament undefeated, Greece were the defending champions going into the tournament, having won UEFA Euro 2004. They recorded the worst finish in Euro 2008, losing their three fixtures and collecting the least amount of prize money. Throughout 31 matches, the participating nations totalled 77 goals, the same as the previous tournament, Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified as hosts, the remaining 14 teams were determined through qualifying matches, which began in August 2006. As European champions, Spain earned the right to compete for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, Austria had previously bid to host Euro 2004 with Hungary, but they eventually lost out to Portugal. Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote, Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win. The Austria/Switzerland bid is the successful joint bid in the competitions history, following the UEFA Euro 2000 hosted by Belgium. The following tournament, held in Poland and Ukraine, became the third jointly hosted tournament, qualification for Euro 2008 started in August 2006, just over a month after the end of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. England was the only seeded team not to qualify for the tournament proper, in contrast, Germany and Portugal were deemed to have an easy draw, as the tournament structure meant they could not meet Italy, France, the Netherlands or Spain until the final. In the group stage, Croatia, Spain and the Netherlands all qualified with maximum points, Austria and Switzerland were not expected to progress, despite the advantage of being the hosts. In Group A, the Swiss lost their captain, Alexander Frei, to injury in their first game and became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament, Switzerland managed to beat the group winner Portugal in their last game. In Group B, Austria managed to set up a final game against Germany. However, they lost by one goal, making Euro 2008 the first European Championship not to have one of the host nations present in the knockout phase, in the same game, goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was shown a red card for pushing Czech striker Jan Koller to the ground. The Turks joined Portugal as the qualifiers from Group A, France were the high-profile victims of Group C, recording just one point from a goalless draw against Romania in their opening game. Italy beat the French, on the day, to finish on four points. Finally, in Group D, Greece failed to reproduce the form of their shock 2004 win, Russia qualified at the expense of Sweden, after beating them in a final game decider, joining Spain in the knockout phase. Turkey continued their streak of wins, equalising at the end of extra-time against Croatia
20.
FIFA Confederations Cup
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The FIFA Confederations Cup is an international association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the holders of each of the six championships, along with the FIFA World Cup holder. Since 2005, the tournament has been held in the nation that will host the FIFA World Cup in the following year, acting as a rehearsal for the larger tournament. However,2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar will not host 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup as announced by FIFA in 2015 due to Qatars high temperatures during the summer period. This is the first edition, since the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, the reigning Champion is Brazil who won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, by defeating Spain 3–0 in the final for a record fourth title. They will not be able to defend their title, as they were eliminated by Paraguay in a penalty shoot-out in the Quarter-Finals of the 2015 Copa América. The tournament was organized by and held in Saudi Arabia and called the King Fahd Cup, contested in 1992 and 1995 by the Saudi national side. In 1997, FIFA took over the organization of the tournament, named it the FIFA Confederations Cup, since 2005, it has been held every four years, in the year prior to each World Cup in the host country of the forthcoming World Cup. At the same time, participation was optional for the South American and European champions. Generally, the host nation, the World Cup holders, in those cases where a team meets more than one of the qualification criteria, another team is invited to participate, often the runner-up in a competition that the extra-qualified team won. On four occasions teams have not to participate in the tournament. In 1997, Germany were replaced by 1996 runners-up Czech Republic, and in 2003 they were replaced by Turkey, france,1998 World Cup winners, declined their place in the 1999 Confederations Cup, and were replaced by Brazil, the 1998 World Cup runners-up. Italy, UEFA Euro 2000 runners up, declined their place in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, an earlier tournament existed that invited former World Cup winners, the Mundialito, or Copa de Oro which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the first World Cup. Both of these are considered by some to be a form of a precursor to the Confederations Cup. The 8 qualified teams are drawn into two groups, two teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in a group, except if there are three teams from the same confederation. Every team plays all teams in their group once, for a total three matches. The top two teams of each advance to the semi-finals, with the winners of each group playing the runners-up of the other group. For the knockout stage if the score is drawn at the end of time, extra time is played and followed, if necessary
21.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
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The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, the opening match was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The tournament was won by Brazil, who retained the trophy won in 2005 by defeating the United States 3–2 in the final. The draw for the competition was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Each team was represented in the draw by its competitor in the Miss World 2008 competition, except for Iraq, also as result, Italy and Spain were drawn into different groups. The official match ball for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the Adidas Kopanya, the name means join together in Southern Sesotho, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. The panel configuration of the ball is the same as that of the Teamgeist, the ball is white, accentuated with bold black lines and detailed with typical Ndebele designs in red, yellow, green and blue. Four cities served as the venues for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, originally, Port Elizabeths Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was also chosen as a venue. On 8 July 2008, however, Port Elizabeth withdrew as a host city because its stadium was deemed unlikely to meet the 30 March 2009 deadline for completion, the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium was subsequently completed before the Confederations Cup and was opened on 7 June 2009. It acted as a venue for the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa on 16 June, all of these stadia hosted matches during the Lions tour, but a minimum of nine days was allowed for pitch recovery between a rugby match and a Confederations Cup match. All four venues were used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The referees were announced on 5 May, two referee teams withdrew due to injuries. Replacements from the confederation, led by Benito Archundia and Pablo Pozo, were selected. Luís Fabiano received the Golden Shoe award for scoring five goals, in total,44 goals were scored by 27 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal
22.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
23.
2010 FIFA World Cup
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The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010, the matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africas largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points. These 16 teams advanced to the stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, as a result of their win, Spain represented the World in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. Host nation South Africa,2006 champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament and it was the first time that the hosts had been eliminated in the first round. New Zealand, with their three draws, were the undefeated team in the tournament, but they were also eliminated in the first round. Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a policy, abandoned in 2007. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libyas solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements. South Africa, which had failed to win the right to host the 2006 event, was thus awarded the right to host the tournament. Having successfully campaigned for South Africa to be granted host status, during 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africas preparations. Blazer stated, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup. On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had actually won the vote, the qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament, as happened in the previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification. With a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, some controversies arose during the qualifications
24.
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
25.
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup
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The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 June to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Host nation, Brazil successfully defended their title with a 3–0 win over Spain in the final and it was their fourth Confederations Cup title and third in a row, after previous wins in 1997,2005 and 2009. According to then FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the best version of the tournament ever played, the competition was the first national team tournament to employ goal-line technology, which was also used at the 2014 World Cup. 1Note, Italy was awarded a spot in the competition because Spain had won both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, since both competitions award their winners a place in the FIFA Confederations Cup, the runner-up of UEFA Euro 2012 received an invitation to the tournament. Six stadiums were used, each in a different city, the draw for the competition was held at the Palácio das Convenções in the Anhembi Convention Center in São Paulo, Brazil on 1 December 2012. Teams from the confederation were not drawn into the same group, therefore one team each from UEFA. Brazil and Spain had automatically been assigned as A1 and B1 respectively, therefore Italy and Uruguay were assigned respectively to Group A, ten trios of officials were announced by FIFA on 13 May 2013. Teams had to name a 23-man squad by the FIFA deadline of 3 June 2013, the squads were announced by FIFA on 7 June 2013. The competitions dates were confirmed by FIFA on 27 July 2011 in the build-up to the draw for the 2014 World Cups preliminary qualification rounds. As the competition partially overlapped with the round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification in Asian zone. However, the AFC decided that the day would only be adjusted for the AFC representative at the Confederations Cup. The official final schedule was presented in Rio de Janeiro on 30 May 2012, all times listed are Brasília official time. All eight teams entered the group stage, the group winners and runners-up advanced to the semi-finals, while the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated from the tournament. In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of playing time, extra time would be played and followed, if necessary. Fernando Torres was awarded the Golden Boot award on tie-breakers, both he and Fred scored five goals and made one assist, but Torres was given the award due to having played fewer minutes over the tournament. In total,68 goals were scored by 38 different players and it was unveiled during the draw for the competition. Former Brazil captain Cafu was invited to unveil the ball. The competing national football associations received prize money from FIFA based on their teams final finishing position
26.
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
27.
La Masia
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La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia, is often used to generically describe the Barcelona youth academy. In 2010, La Masia became the first youth academy to have trained all three finalists for the Ballon dOr in a year, with Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi. La Masia is also the name of FC Barcelonas football training facilities, with the gradual expansion of the club, the building became too small for headquarters, and on 20 October 1979, La Masia was converted into a dormitory for young players from outside of Barcelona. On 30 June 2011, the Masia building ceased housing the young sportsmen who are trained to become a part of the professional teams. In a simple ceremony, the doors were closed and the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper took over the function of the center for the youngsters. La Masia de Can Planes was an old Catalan farmhouse, built in 1702, in 1979, it was first used by the club to house its young footballers who originated from outside of Barcelona. The idea for the academy was proposed to Núñez by Johan Cruyff. In 2011, it was announced that Barcelona would be moving all its training activities to La Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. In 2000, Louis van Gaal, coach of Barcelonas first team, was ridiculed by the city sports media for his dream to win the Champions League with 11 home-grown players. The first team won the trophy in 2009 with eight home-grown players, from 1979 to 2009,440 youngsters have left their homes and families to stay at the academy. About half of them were from Catalonia, and the rest came from regions of the Kingdom of Spain and beyond. Of those 440,40 made it into Barcelonas first team, La Masia houses about 60 players,10 in the farmhouse, and the rest in rooms of the adjacent stadium, the rest of the youth players must provide for their own accommodation. The academy is one of the most expensive in Europe, operating at a cost of £5 million a year, the main cost is the dormitory, La Masia itself. The minimum age for the program is six years, each year. The club also actively seeks for prospective students, it employs a system in which 15 scouts are deployed in Catalonia,15 in the rest of Spain and 10 scattered throughout the world. To alleviate the expenses of this scouting, the club has an agreement with 15 local clubs for them to players who are not ready for entry into the youth academy. In return, FC Barcelona gives money, coaching and technical advice to clubs for their services. When Guardiola re-organised the reserve side, he set up a program to formalise the advancement from Juvenil to Barcelona B
28.
RCD Mallorca
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Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S. A. D. is a Spanish football team based in Palma, in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916 it currently plays in Segunda División, team colours are red shirts with black shorts and black socks. The oldest club in the Balearic Islands, Mallorca was founded in 1916 by Adolfo Vázquez, a republican engineer, the first stadium, called Buenos Aires, was inaugurated on March 25,1916, with a 0–8 loss against Barcelona. And, on June 28,1916, Spanish king Alfonso XIII de Borbón honored the team with the title Real Sociedad, in 1917, the Catalan Federation admitted Real Sociedad Alfonso XIII into the Catalan Championship tournament. The Mallorcan team reached the final in Barcelona, where played against FC Palafrugell. And so, the Mallorcan club tried to broaden its sporting repertoire by incorporating a cycling team in 1919 and this coupled with the influence of the Second Spanish Republic caused the club to change its name to Club Deportivo Mallorca. Still with that name in 1945, the club inaugurated Es Fortínas the new stadium of the Balearic club. But, during that season and in honor of the man who had started working and preparing that ground three years prior, the club changed the name of the stadium Lluís Sitjar. In 1960, RCD Mallorca earned its first promotion to the División de Honor under the tutelage of coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo, in 1964, RCD Mallorca again earned promotion, this time to the Primera Division, under coach Cesar Rodriguez and president Baron de Vidal. Then, in 1969, RCD Mallorca earned its promotion to the Primera Division, with coach Juancho Forneris. This decade produced three promotions to the Primera Division, including the first in Club history, however, it also produced the same number of relegations. The scorer of the first goal for RCD Mallorca in the Primera Division was Joan Forteza and he was the only player to survive the roster changes from the previous season after President Jaime Roselló Pascual dismissed all other members of the roster. Meanwhile, the coach of that 1960´s squad was Argentine Juan Carlos Lorenzo and he led the team into the Primera Division all the way from the depths of the third division, for the first time on April 17,1960. It was a mere 44 years since the club was founded under the name of Alfonso XIII FBC, RCD Mallorca was one of only 16 professional teams to compete in this top division. And the team reinforced by picking up players from FC Barcelona, among others, in the following season, the team finished eleventh. And so, with ups and downs, RCD Mallorca did not last more than three years in the top echelon of Spanish soccer. The team dropped into the division until 1964-65, when it rose up again. But, in day in age, the only direct promotion came via winning the Segunda Division
29.
Tiki-taka
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Tiki-taka is a style of play in football characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession. The style is associated with La Liga club Barcelona, especially during the era of manager Pep Guardiola. Its development and influence goes back to Johan Cruyffs tenure as manager in the early 1990s all the way to the present, tiki-Taka is also associated with the Spanish national team under managers Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque. Tiki-taka moves away from the thinking of formations in football to a concept derived from zonal play. In his live commentary of the Spain versus Tunisia match, Montes used the phrase to describe Spains precise, elegant passing style, the phrases origin may be onomatopoeic or derived from a juggling toy named tiki-taka in Spanish. The roots of what would develop into tiki-taka began to be implemented by Johan Cruyff during his tenure as manager of Barcelona from 1988 to 1996. The style of play continued to develop under fellow Dutch managers Louis van Gaal, Pep Guardiola managed Barcelona from 2008 to 2012. Under his guidance, tiki-taka reached new extremes, under Guardiola, Barcelonas tiki-taka shared Dutch Total Footballs high defensive line, positional interchange and use of possession to control the game. Pep Guardiola is famed for saying You win the ball back there are thirty metres to their goal not eighty. Tiki-taka is, above all, an approach to football founded upon team unity. Defenders are patient, preferring safe pass options looking for midfielders with the ball circulated anywhere on the waiting for a gap to make a vertical pass. The team created most of chances depending on through balls and performing give, Guardiola preferred freedom in the final third of the pitch which was effective as the team created many chances per match. The style involves roaming movement and positional interchange among midfielders, moving the ball in intricate patterns, tiki-taka is both defensive and offensive in equal measure – the team is always in possession, so does not need to switch between defending and attacking. Tiki-taka is associated with flair, creativity and touch, but can also be taken to a slow, directionless extreme that sacrifices effectiveness for aesthetics. Tiki-taka has been used successfully by the Spanish national team to win Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, and by Barcelona, the formation also allowed them to win 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, 2010–11 UEFA Champions League and 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. Sid Lowe identifies Luis Aragonés tempering of tiki-taka with pragmatism as a key factor in Spains success in Euro 2008, Aragonés used tiki-taka to protect a defense that appeared suspect, maintain possession and dominate games without taking the style to evangelical extremes. None of Spains first six goals in the tournament came from tiki-taka, five came from direct breaks, for Honigstein, tiki-taka is a significant upgrade of Total Football because it relies on ball movement rather than players switching position. Tiki-taka allowed Spain to control both the ball and the opponent, at the 2011 Womens World Cup, the Japan womens national football team employed a form of tiki-taka under coach Norio Sasaki
30.
FIFA U-20 World Cup
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The Championship has been awarded every two years since the first tournament in 1977 held in Tunisia. In the nineteen tournaments held, only nine nations have won the title, argentina is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Brazil with five titles. Portugal and Serbia won two titles, while Ghana, Germany, Spain, France and Russia have won the title once each. A corresponding event for teams, the FIFA U-20 Womens World Cup, began in 2002 with the name FIFA U-19 Womens World Championship. FIFA Coca-Cola Cup until 1997, features 24 teams in the final tournament,23 countries, including the defending champions, have to qualify in the six confederations Youth Championships. Key, a. e. t. – after extra time PSO – match won on penalty shootout Below are the 34 nations that have reached at least the semifinal in the U-20 World Cup finals. All continental confederations except for the OFC have made an appearance in the match of the tournament. To date, CONMEBOL leads with eleven titles, followed by UEFA with eight titles, teams from the AFC and CONCACAF have made the tournament final three times, but were defeated by CONMEBOL or UEFA sides. No current OFC member has made the semifinals. Australia reached the semifinals as an OFC member in 1993, finishing fourth,1 =1 as Yugoslavia 2 = as part of OFC. The Adidas Golden Ball award is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament and it is selected by the media poll. Since the 2007 tournament, those who finish as runners-up in the vote receive the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards as the second, the Adidas Golden Shoe is awarded to the topscorer of the tournament. If more than one players are equal by same goals, the players will be selected based by the most assists during the tournament, the Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. FIFA Fair Play Award is given to the team who has the best fair play record during the tournament with the set by FIFA Fair Play Committee. Most World Cup appearances 18, Brazil, most consecutive finals tournaments 15, Brazil
31.
1999 FIFA World Youth Championship
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The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between April 3 and April 24,1999. The 1999 championship was the 12th contested, the following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. The 24 teams were split into six groups of four teams, six group winners, six second-place finishers and the four best third-place finishers qualify for the knockout round
32.
Cap (sport)
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In British sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a players appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in a match of association football. An early illustration of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. These to be termed International Caps, the act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Thus, a cap is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, the practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded prior to a debut or, particularly for national teams. As an example, the England mens association football teams still awards physical caps, Players are awarded one cap for every match they play — unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given a cap for the competition — with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. In mens association football, the record belongs to former player Ahmed Hassan of Egypt, the first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of Englands Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England,90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain, however, it is a players choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team. In cricket, there are two types of caps, firstly, there is the international type, as described above. Some countries also award a domestic type generally known as a county cap, the latter system is most commonly applied in English county cricket. Most counties do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance, instead, indeed, one can play at the highest domestic level for several years, and have a quite significant career in first-class cricket, without ever winning a cap. The world record for the number of caps in Test cricket is held by Sachin Tendulkar of India, Tendulkar also holds the record for One Day Internationals, with 463 caps. In rugby union,35 players have reached 100 international caps as of 5 June 2012, Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded, the Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, the record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player & captain Darren Lockyer with 59 games and second place is former New Zealand Kiwis player & captain Ruben Wiki with 55 games. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, mens Records and Facts FIFA Players with 100+ Caps RSSSF Picture of International Football Cap National Museum of Scotland Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps
33.
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
34.
2014 FIFA World Cup
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The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for mens national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014 and it was the second time that Brazil staged the competition, and the fifth time that it was held in South America. Thirty-one national teams advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final tournament, a total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, FIFA Fan Fests in each host city gathered a total of 5 million people, and the country received 1 million visitors from 202 countries. Every World Cup-winning team since the first edition in 1930 – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Spain, the title holders, were eliminated at the group stage, along with England and Italy. Uruguay were eliminated in the round of 16, and France exited in the quarter-finals, Brazil, who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7–1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place. Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas, as the winners, Germany qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. With 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa, it would be the second consecutive World Cup outside of Europe and it was also second in the Southern Hemisphere. Only Brazil and Colombia formally declared their candidacy but, after the withdrawal of the latter from the process, following qualification matches played between June 2011 and November 2013, the following 32 teams – shown with their last pre-tournament FIFA world ranking – qualified for the final tournament. Twenty-four of these teams were returning participants from the 2010 World Cup, Bosnia and Herzegovina were the only team with no previous appearance at the World Cup finals. Colombia qualified for the World Cup after 16 years of absence, while Russia, the highest ranked team to not qualify was Ukraine, while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was Australia. The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight groups, in preparation for this, the teams were organised into four pots with the seven highest-ranked teams joining host nation Brazil in the seeded pot. As with the tournaments, FIFA aimed to create groups which maximised geographic separation. The draw took place on 6 December 2013 at the Costa do Sauípe resort in Bahia, under the draw procedure, one randomly drawn team – Italy – was firstly relocated from Pot 4 to Pot 2 to create four equal pots of eight teams. In March 2013, FIFA published a list of 52 prospective referees, each paired, on the basis of nationality, on 14 January 2014, the FIFA Referees Committee appointed 25 referee trios and eight support duos representing 43 different countries for the tournament. Yuichi Nishimura from Japan acted as referee in the opening match whereas Nicola Rizzoli from Italy acted as referee in the final, as with the 2010 tournament, each teams squad consists of 23 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad no later than 10 days before the start of the tournament, teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game. During a match, all remaining squad members not named in the team are available to be one of the three permitted substitutions
35.
FIFA World Player of the Year
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The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sports governing body, FIFA, since 1991. Originally an honour bestowed on the worlds best male player, it was awarded to both sexes from 2001, and from 2010 presented exclusively to the best female player. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representatives selected the player they deem to have performed the best in the calendar year. During the mens era, Brazilian players won 8 out of 19 years, in terms of individual players, Brazil again led with five, followed by Italy and Portugal with two each. The youngest winner was Ronaldo, who won at 20 years old in 1996, and the oldest winner was Fabio Cannavaro, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane each won the award three times, while Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were the only players to win in successive years. From 2010 to 2015, the equivalent mens award was the FIFA Ballon dOr, eight female players – three Germans, three Americans, one Brazilian, and one Japanese – have won the award. Marta, the youngest recipient at age 20 in 2006, has won five successive awards, birgit Prinz won three times in a row and Mia Hamm won twice in a row. The oldest winner is Nadine Angerer, who was 35 when she won in 2013, the winners are chosen by the coaches and captains of national teams as well as by international media representatives invited by FIFA. In a voting system based on voting, each voter is allotted three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists are ordered based on total number of points. Following criticism from sections of the media over nominations in previous years. Source, From 2010 to 2015, the worlds best player was awarded the FIFA Ballon dOr, in 2016, FIFA created The Best FIFA Mens Player to honour the best player around the world. Source, In 2016, FIFA created The Best FIFA Womens Player award instead, Ballon dOr FIFA Ballon dOr The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI
36.
FIFA Ballon d'Or
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The FIFA Ballon dOr was an annual association football award presented to the worlds best mens player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and France Football, the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon dOr, the six editions of the FIFA Ballon dOr were dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry. Barcelonas Messi won the inaugural Ballon dOr in 2010, before retaining the title twice, Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid, won successive awards in the next two years. The final FIFA Ballon dOr was presented to Messi in 2015 and its awarding bodies subsequently ended their partnership, for 2016, France Football reintroduced the previous format of the Ballon dOr, while FIFA created The Best FIFA Mens Player award. Historically, the individual awards in association football were the Ballon dOr. The original Ballon dOr, also known as the European Footballer of the Year award, had been awarded by the French publication France Football since 1956, the FIFA World Player of the Year award was presented by FIFA, the sports governing body, from 1991. From 2005, the winners of the Ballon dOr and FIFA World Player of the Year award were identical each year, following the introduction of a global Ballon dOr format in 2007, France Football and FIFA opted to merge the two awards. The creation of the FIFA Ballon dOr was subsequently announced during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the inaugural award was presented that same year to the Argentine Lionel Messi. After a six-year partnership, France Football and FIFA terminated the joint award, Lionel Messi had received the final FIFA Ballon dOr. For historical purposes, both awarding bodies regard the six editions of the FIFA Ballon dOr as a continuation of their respective awards, the winners of the FIFA Ballon dOr were chosen by international journalists and the coaches and captains of the national teams under FIFAs jurisdiction. In a system based on voting, each voter was allotted three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists were ordered based on total number of points. Voters were provided with a shortlist of 23 players from which they could select the three players they deemed to have performed the best in the calendar year. Ballon dOr FIFA World Player of the Year The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI Notes Citations Official website by FIFA Official website by France Football
37.
2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or
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The 2010 FIFA Ballon dOr Gala was the inaugural year for FIFAs awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards ceremony took place on 10 January 2011 in Zürich, the three finalists for each category were announced on 6 December 2010. Messi won the award, his second consecutive Ballon dOr victory. Marta won the FIFA Womens World Player of the Year award, josé Mourinho, Portuguese manager of Real Madrid and previously of Internazionale, was the first winner of the mens FIFA World Coach of the Year award in 2010. The womens version of the award was won by Germany head coach Silvia Neid
38.
Lionel Messi
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Lionel Andrés Leo Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. With Barcelona he has won eight La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and he has scored over 500 senior career goals for club and country. Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child, at age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelonas youth academy, Messi made his debut aged 17 in October 2004. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football, at 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon dOr and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins. Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA Ballons dOr, including an unprecedented fourth and he again struggled with injury during the following two seasons, twice finishing second for the Ballon dOr behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival. An Argentine international, Messi is his countrys leading goalscorer. At youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and his style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who declared the teenager his successor. As the squads captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three finals, the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball. On his fathers side, he is of Italian and Spanish heritage, the great-grandson of immigrants from Marche and Catalonia, a lifelong supporter of Newells Old Boys, Messi joined the Rosario club when he was six years old. However, his future as a player was threatened when, at age 10. As his fathers health insurance covered only two years of growth hormone treatment, which cost at least $1,000 per month, Newells agreed to contribute, but later reneged on their promise. He was scouted by Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker, Pablo Aimar, he idolised, as the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona in September 2000. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, in February 2001, the family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the clubs stadium, Camp Nou. During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a conflict with Newells, as a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team, already reserved by nature, at home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father. After a year at Barcelonas youth academy, La Masia, Messi was finally enrolled in the Royal Spanish Football Federation in February 2002, now playing in all competitions, he befriended his teammates, among whom were Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. After completing his growth hormone treatment aged 14, Messi became a part of the Baby Dream Team
39.
FIFPro
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The Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels, generally referred to as FIFPro, is the worldwide representative organisation for 65,000 professional footballers. FIFPro, with its headquarters in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, is made up of 58 national players associations. In addition, there are three members and seven observers. In the second half of June 1966, the first FIFPro congress took place in London, the articles of association of FIFPro were thereby adopted and the objectives accurately laid down. FIFPro was responsible for increasing the solidarity between professional footballers and players associations, FIFPro tried to offer the players associations or other interest associations the means for mutual consultation and co-operation to achieve their objectives. In addition, it wished to co-ordinate the activities of the different affiliated groups in order to promote the interests of all professional footballers, indeed, FIFPro likewise had in mind propagating and defending the rights of professional footballers. The emphasis was laid on the freedom of the football player to be able to choose the club of his choice at the end of his contract. It was likewise laid down that FIFPro would be helpful in every required area for setting up interest associations and these are objectives which still apply to this day. It was originally laid down that a congress would be held every four years at a minimum – prior to the World Championship. The congress had to uphold the course set out and with a majority vote. The congress is still the most important organ of FIFPro to this very day and it soon appeared that it was necessary to organize a congress annually, and not to limit this to once every four years. Many congresses have been held in the meantime, such as for example in 1978 in Madrid and in 1979 in Athens, the latest congress was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in November 2010. The objectives of FIFPro also mean not only FIFA applied as a talking partner. UEFA in particular, but also the European parliament and the European Commission appeared to be important points of approach, the national federations also started to become increasingly aware that, in addition to the national players association, the international trade union FIFPro also played its role. In recent years, FIFPro has grown from a European organization into a global network, the FIFPro has done much to support countries on other continents – Asia/Oceania, Africa and South America – in their efforts to set up players associations. In October 2012, FIFPro welcomed the footballers associations of Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, in 2013, FIFPro launched a legal challenge against the transfer system. FIFPro president Phillipe Piat said the system fails 99% of players around the world, it fails football as an industry. According to FIFPros European president Bobby Barnes, 28% of the money from a fee is paid to agents
40.
UEFA Euro 2012 Final
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The UEFA Euro 2012 Final was a football match that took place on 1 July 2012 at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 2012. It was the greatest margin of victory in the history of the European Championship finals, usually, the winner of the European Championship gains entry to the Confederations Cup, which was played in Brazil in 2013. Prior to the tournament, the two sides had met each other 30 times, with Italy winning ten games and Spain eight. Italy won the last meeting, a 2–1 friendly on 10 August 2011 at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari. Italy had won the European Championship once – in 1968 against Yugoslavia – while Spain had won it twice – in 1964 against the Soviet Union and in 2008 against Germany. In 2000, Italy reached the final for a time, losing 2–1 in extra time against France, while Spain also reached it in 1984. Spain, who began the tournament as one of the favorites, ranked highest in the FIFA World Rankings, while Italy ranked twelfth overall, Spain were drawn in Group C alongside Italy, Croatia, and Republic of Ireland, opening against Italy on 10 June 2012. Italy took the lead through striker Antonio Di Natale in the 61st minute, three minutes later Spain found an equaliser with midfielder Andrés Iniesta assisting Cesc Fàbregas, who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. In the 49th minute, after Given had blocked an Iniesta shot, David Silva collected the rebound and extended the Spanish lead, with 20 minutes remaining, Torres scored his second goal, taking a pass from Silva and chipping the ball over Given. Fabregas scored the goal after receiving a Silva corner and shooting from a difficult angle. The match looked like it was heading for a draw, until the 88th minute, Spain exploited their depth of talent, often starting games with international stars like Torres, Fabregas and Pedro on the bench, and bringing them on for tactical reasons, to great success. In the quarter-finals, on 23 June 2012, Spain took on France, Spain completed their win late in the second half with Alonsos penalty kick after France defender Anthony Réveillère brought down Pedro inside the penalty area. In the semi-finals on 27 June, Spain faced Portugal, who had beaten the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals. The match was contested, with Portugal pressuring the Spanish tiki-taka possession game high up the pitch. However, Spain managed to hold on, which required the match to go extra time. Spain began to control of the match with the introduction of Pedro and Fabregas. Alonso, who had taken a penalty kick against France, had his spot kick saved by Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patrício. Portugal looked to take the advantage, with midfielder João Moutinho as the penalty taker, however
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China PR
Northern Ireland
Argentina
Latvia
United States
Russia
Denmark
Lithuania
Liechtenstein
Saudi Arabia
Belarus
