Soccer a World Wide Classic Sport

Information taking from FIFA records.

In the  early Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA’s congress. The choice of location gave rise to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between south America and Europe ,the two centres of strength in football . The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay , for example , led to only four European nations competing. The next two World Cups were both held in Europe . The decision to hold the second of these ,the 1938  FIFA World Cup , in France was controversial , as the American countries had been led understand that the world Cup would rotate between the two continents . Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted  the tournament .

Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup , to avoid future boycotts or controversy , FIFA began  a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe , which continued  until the 1998  FIFA World Cup . The 2002 FIFA World Cup , hosted jointly by South  Korea and Japan , was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts . Sotuh Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014  FIFA World Cup will hosted by Brazil , the first held in South America since 1978, and will be first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.

The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA Executive Committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system.  The national football association of country desiring to host the event receives a “Hosting Agreement ” from FIFA ,which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form ,the submission of which represents the official confirmation of candidacy . After this, a FIFA designed group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to hosts the event and report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However ,there have been occasions  where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time , as will be case for the 2018 and 2022  World Cups .

For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups , the final tournament is rotated between confederations ,allowing  only countries from the chosen confederation  (Africa 2010, South America in 2014 ) to bid to host the tournament . The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany’s victory over South Africa in the vote host the 2006 tournament . However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014 , so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding  tournaments , can apply as host for World Cups starting from 2018 . This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to bidding process for the 2014 tournament ,where Brazil was the only official bidder.

History from  FIFA World Cup Trophy >

From 1930 to 1970 , the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner .  It was originally simply known as the world Cup or Coupe du Monde , but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet  who set up the first tournament . In 1970 , Brazil’s third victory in the tournament entitled  them to keep the trophy permanently .  However , the trophy was stolen in 1983 , and has never been recovered , apparently  melted down by the thieves .

After 1970 , a new trophy ,known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy , was designed. The experts of  FIFA , coming from seven different countries , evaluated  the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer  Silvio Gazzaniga . The new trophy is 36 cm  ( 14.2 in ) high , made of solid 18 carat  (75%) gold and weighs  6.175 kg  (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious  malachite while  the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each  FIFA World Cup winner since 1974 . The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga  Was : The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world . From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently . World Cup winners  retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original .

FORMAT -  QUALIFICATION

Since the second World Cup in 1934 , qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament . They are held within the six FIFA continental  zones  (Africa, Asia,North and Central America and Caribbean , South America, Oceania and Europe),overseen  by their respective confederations . For each tournament , FIFA decides the number of places warded to each of the continental zones beforehand , generally based on the relative strength of  the confederations teams .

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period .The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations .  Usually , one or two places are warded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. for example , the winner of the Oceanian  zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup . From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations had received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn  from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil , winners in 2002 ,thus became the first defending champions to play in qualifying match.

FINAL TOURNAMENT

The current final tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation (s) . There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage .

In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each .Eight teams are seeded,including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings an/or performances in recent World Cups , and drawn to separate groups . The other teams are assigned to different  “pots” ,usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation .

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round  of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among  all four teams. The top two from each group advance to the knockout stage . points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994 ,three  points have been awarded for a  win, one for a draw and none for a loss  (before, winners, received two points ).

The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows :  a)  greatest number of points obtained in all group matches ;      b) goal difference in all group matches,                                                                                                                                                                                                  c) greatest number of goals scored  in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows :

d)  greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                      e) goal difference  resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                                      f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                                  g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee  (i.e. at random ).

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in  one -off matches ,with extra time and penalty shootouts  used to decide the winner if necessary . It begins with the “round of 16 ” (or the second round ) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group . This is followed by the quarter-finals, the , the semi-finals, the third-place match  (contested by the losing semi-finalists ), and the final .

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Statistics from FIFA.com

Since when is the expansion to 32 teams ? The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982 and then to 32 in 1998 , allowing more teams from Africa , Asia and North America to take part . In recent years , teams from these regions have enjoyed more success ,and those who have reached the quarter-finals include : Mexico , quarter finalists in 1986 ; Cameroon , quarter- finalists in 1990 ,Korea Republic , finishing in fourth place in 2002 ; and Senegal ,along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002 . European and South American teams have remained the stronger; for example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.

200 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds ; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup , while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup .

OTHER FIFA TOURNAMENTS

An equivalent tournament for women’s football , the FIFA Women’s World Cup , was first held in 1991 in the People’s Republic of China . The women’ s tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men’s ,but is growing ;the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120 ,more than double that of 1991.

Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932 . Unlike many other sports ,the men’s football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament , and since 1992 ,an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players . Women’s football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions .

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup . It is contested by the winner of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country .

FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup , FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup ), club football (FIFA Club World Cup ) and football variants as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup ) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach soccer Cup ).

FIFA WORLD CUP , From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup , the Soccer World Cup , or simply the World Cup ) is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FIFA) the sport’s global governing body . The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 , except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of the Second World War.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation (s) over a period of about a month - this phase is often called the World Cup Finals . A qualification phase ,which currently takes place over the preceding three years ,is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 19 tournaments that have been held, eight national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the world Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament .Italy, the current champions ,have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles . The other former champions are Uruguay , winners of the inaugural tournament , and Argentina, with two titles each , and England , France and Spain , with one title each .

The World Cup is the World’s most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany . The Current World Cup is being held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will held in Brazil.

Information taking from Main article of FIFA World Cup records.

Out of 77 nations that have played in at least one World Cup ,only eight nationals teams have won the World Cup , and they have added stars to their crests in a total of nineteen World Cups . With five titles , Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup to date . Italy 1934 and 1938 and Brazil 1958 and 1962 , are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Brazil and Germany have both made the most appearances in the final, with seven, while Germany have made the most appearances in the top four, with eleven .

Six of seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland , the exception being Brazil,
who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 . England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations . Uruguay (1930) , Italy (1934 ) and Argentina (1978) won their first title as host national but have gone on to win again , while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.

Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament . Sweden (runners-up in 1958) , Chile (third place in 1962) , Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) , and Japan (second round in 2002) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far ,all host nations have progressed beyond the first round .

BEST PERFORMANCES BY CONTINENTAL ZONES

To date , the final of the World Cup has only been contested by Europeans and South American teams . The two continents have won 10 Europe and nine South America . Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: USA (North ,Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and Korea Republic (Asia in 2002) .The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals : Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 . Only one Oceanian qualifier , Australia in 2006 , advanced to the second round.

Brazil victory in 1958 in Sweden is the only time a non-European team won a World Cup in Europe . A European team has never won the World Cup outside of Europe , as all World Cups hosted in either South America, North America ,or Asia have been won by South American teams. Only twice have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent . When Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively .

RECORDS , STATISTICS AND AWARDS ON INDIVIDUALS

Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups , Mexico Antonio Carbajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus both played in five tournaments. Matthaus has played the most World Cup matches overall , with 25 appearances . Brazil Pele is the only player to have won three World Cup winner’s medals, with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.

The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil’s Ronaldo , scorer of 15 goals in three tournaments . West Germany’s Gerard Muller is second , with 14 goals in two tournaments . The third placed goalscorer ,France’s Just Fontaine , holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup . All his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament .

Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach . Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as player and in 1970 as head coach . Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach . Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups.All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory .

As of the end of the 2006 tournament , Brazil and Germany have both played 92 matches , the most by any nation , with Brazil scoring the most goals, 201 .The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup , in the 2002 final .

daughter and sons,

Some of the next information is taken from a Miami Herald article by Michelle Kaufman.

Kristine Lilly is a veteran of five women’s World Cups and one of five moms who play in the women’s Professional Soccer league.

Other WPS moms include Kate Markgraf of Chicago Red Stars , who is back after a one-year leave after giving birth to twins Carson and Xavier; Tina Ellerton of St Louis Athletica, who has a 9 year old daughter McKenzie and 2 year old Mya Joy ; and Solveig Gulbrandsen of FC Gold Pride , who moved her husband ,Espen Andreassen and four year old son , Theodor, from Norway to Northern California .

Lilly and her husband , David Heavey , have a daughter ,Sidney who is 11/2 . Lilly 38 met Heavey a firefighter in 2004 while walking her golden retriever , and they married in 2006 . She had watched her U.S. teammates Joy Fawcett and Carla Overbeck jugle soccer and motherhood , and they inspired her .

Lilly said last year was my first Mother’s day , and that day feels much more special now that I am a mom . Everyone tells you having a child will change your life , but you don’t really understand it until you are a parent.

I met my husband late in life and immediately started thinking about having family , she said . ” I definitely had great role models from the national team, so I knew it could be done, It’s been really fun and made me have balance in my life.”

Lilly has played more national team games (342) than any player - male or female in soccer history . She is a 23 year veteran of the U.S. team , having joined in 1987 while still in high school . When other members of the 1999 World Cup team retired , Lilly stayed on .

She said she still is passionate about her sport, but being a mom put her job in perspective . “there is more in my life than just soccer. I still hate to lose and I’m very competitive ,but at the end of the day ,soccer is just part of my life , not my whole life.

The moms in the league have forged a special bond . There might be no greater multitasker in professional sports than soccer mom Christie Rampone , who during the last month of last season was a starting defender for Sky Blue FC and also acted as team captain and coach . She led the team to the inaugural WPS championship game and revealed to her team at that game that she had played the previous three months pregnant .

Rampone who has a daughter Rylie , 4 , gave birth to Reece on March 6 . She plans to return to the team in June.

Lilly said her husband’s flexible hours make parenting more manageable , and his parents live nearby when they need help . Sometimes, she just lets Sidney tag along to practice . And when Sidney naps, mom naps.

MY practice gear now includes diapers and milk bottles , but it’s really fun to have her with me ,” she said. “the other players on the team love her, and she loves them . She kicks the ball around and I can do my job”.

Lilly said she hopes that she can be a positive role model, not only for Sidney, but for girls everywhere.

I think it’s great for girls to see that there are women who are playing pro sports, competing ,staying fit ,and at the same time being loving mothers “, She said “none of us are playing soccer for the money . We’re not breaking the
bank , tha’s for sure.
We do it because we love it, and that’s a great message for all kids.

Maradona met with the Argentinian Football Association AFA president Julio Grondona who revealed what the board and the AFA have decided about renewing Maradona’s contract . And their decision of the executive committee unanimously resolve not to renew the contract with Diego Maradona . Both parties were in disagreement about the backroom staff . The 49-year old had said , in order to sign the new contract was including his whole backroom staff of seven members ,but Grondona and the board of members wanted everybody out except Maradona .

AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo asserted that they hope to have a new full time coach shortly . Argentina’s next friendly game is against Ireland August 11 in Dublin and Sergio Batista has been placed in temporary charge for this game .
Then September 7 is the schedule for another friendly match with Spain , and they expect have a new coach for that moment .
Cherquis Bialo claimed that the AFA do not yet have any list of possible replacements from which top choose Maradona’s successor.

But the reactions of Diego Maradona against the decision of the AFA’s president and the Board of Directors are very interesting : He says he was lied and betrayed by Argentina soccer officials who resolved not to renew his contract as coach of the national team .He said that the national team director Carlos Bilardo and association president Julio Grondona worked to get rid him out .
Grondona lied to me and Bilardo betrayed me ; while we were still in mourning , Bilardo worked in the shadows to throw me out.

Bilardo was the Argentinian coach in 1986 when Maradona was the superstar of his team . The Argentine Football Association had said several times before that they planned to offer him a new four-year deal and in this direction they celebrated a meeting Monday to continue their conversations but without seven of the coaching assistants and Maradona said he could not meet those conditions

Maradona in a restaurant in Buenos Aires suburb of Ezeiza with a room packed with reporters and family members but he took no questions; he was the only colloquist speaking his bitterness .

The trouble with Diego Maradona is his great ego a lot of drugs, but a lack of integrity , lack of respect, lack of dignity, lack of experience ;so our beautiful game is well rid of this little gnome .

This personage defied the codes of good ethics, good manners and therefore he look for those
qualities in another individuals like Fidel Castro of Cuba y Hugo Chavez of Venezuela which they don’t have respect for anybody and anything .