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The Association football portal
Association football, more commonly known as simply football or soccer, is a team sport that is played between two teams of 11 players using a spherical ball. It is played by approximately 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport to date. The game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposition by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal within a time frame of 90 minutes or more.
Football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The ball is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference and known as the football. The two teams compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. Players are not allowed to touch the ball with hands or arms while it is in play, except for the goalkeepers within the penalty area. Players may use any other part of their body to strike or pass the ball and mainly use their feet. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition. Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by the Laws of the Game: to represent their team in the coin toss before kick-off or penalty kicks.
Football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA; French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), which organises World Cups for men and women every four years. The men's FIFA World Cup has taken place every four years since 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 tournaments, which were cancelled due to World War II. Approximately 190–200 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament is held every four years and involves 32 national teams competing over four weeks. It is the most prestigious men's football tournament in the world, and the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding the Olympic Games. Similarly, the FIFA Women's World Cup has been played every four years since 1991, though football has been played by women since it has existed. A record-breaking 1.12 billion viewers watched the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. (Full article...)
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The club briefly rose as high as the second tier of English football, spending two seasons in the Second Division in the 1970s. At the end of the 2003–04 season the club lost their League status when they were relegated from the Third Division, and have since remained in the Conference.
York have enjoyed more success in cup competitions than in the league, with highlights including an FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1955. In the 1995–96 League Cup, York beat Manchester United 3–0 at Old Trafford.
Traditionally, York City's two main rivalries have been with Scarborough and Hull City with the rivalry between Hull and York being represented as a battle between a lion (York City's mascot) and a tiger (Hull City's mascot). (Full article...)
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He achieved success as both a club and international manager, having won league championships in the Netherlands and Portugal, earning trophies in England and Spain, and taking England to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup. He was voted European Manager of the Year for the 1996–97 season whilst manager of Barcelona, with Ronaldo saying "without doubt he is one of the greatest in the world".
Robson was knighted in 2002, was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003 and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town. In December 2007, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year show in recognition of "his contribution as both player and manager in a career spanning more than half a century".
He was first diagnosed with cancer in 1991 and spent much of his time in the latter years of his life campaigning and fund-raising for research into the disease, one of his most notable achievements in this field being the launch of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in 2008.
His cancer was diagnosed as terminal in 2008 and he died of the disease on 31 July 2009. (Full article...)
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The German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈfuːsbalˌbʊnt]; DFB [ˌdeːʔɛfˈbeː]) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League (German: Deutsche Fußball Liga; DFL), organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
- ... that footballer Megan Wynne played for Tottenham Hotspur while also working full-time in the club's human resources department?
- ... that Hege Lanes Steinlund is believed to have officiated more international football matches than any other Norwegian referee?
- ... that the 2008 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth holds the record for the highest attendance for a football match at the new Wembley Stadium, with 89,874?
- ... that footballer Billy Hardy is Cardiff City F.C.'s record appearance holder, having played in 590 matches between 1911 and 1932?
- ... that, during his time in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, footballer Ernie Curtis would obtain extra food by teaching his captors how to play with a ball made of paper?
- ... that footballer Sean Morrison was described as being "45 minutes from death" before undergoing emergency surgery?
- ... that footballer Josh Yorwerth received what is believed to be the longest doping-related ban in English football history?
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The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.
The matches were played in nine stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. Sixteen teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in 2009. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where two rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. (Full article...)Selected topic
More did you know -
- ... that MLS Cup 2000 was the first championship game in league history not to feature D.C. United? (13 April 2021)
- ... that at the conclusion of the 2006 Football League Two play-off Final, the losing manager said his side did not deserve to win and the winning goalscorer said he did not mean to score? (3 March 2021)
- ... that Chichester & Selsey Ladies F.C. broke away from Chichester City for an undisclosed reason but retained their colours and football league position? (8 March 2021)
- ... that AFC Wimbledon were promoted for a sixth time since their formation in 2002 when they won the 2016 Football League Two play-off Final? (6 February 2021)
- ... that Neil Warnock left Huddersfield Town shortly after they gained promotion by winning the 1995 Football League Second Division play-off Final because he said the club chairman had told him a "porky pie"? (21 March 2021)
- ... that Brett Ormerod scored five goals for Blackpool in the 2001 Football League play-offs including one in the 2001 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (28 April 2021)
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