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Javi Gracia
Javier "Javi" Gracia Carlos (; born 1 May 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He played 430 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined, in a 15-year professional career. After retiring he began working as a manager, going on to coach several clubs in Spain, Greece and Russia before being appointed at Watford in January 2018. Gracia led Watford to the second FA Cup final in their history in 2019, but was sacked later the same year. From June 2020 to May 2021, he worked with Valencia, and a year later he won the Qatar Stars League during a brief spell at Al Sadd. Playing career Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Gracia started playing professionally with Bilbao Athletic, Athletic Bilbao's reserves, never appearing officially for the first team during three years. In the 1992–93 campaign, he scored a career-best 12 goals in all 38 games as UE Lleida returned to La Liga after an absence of more than 40 years, as champ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FC Rubin Kazan
FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar language, Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the second-tier Russian First League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003 Russian Premier League, 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–22 season, winning the Russian Premier League championship in 2008 Russian Premier League, 2008 and 2009 Russian Premier League, 2009. The club also won the 2011–12 Russian Cup. The team plays in the Ak Bars Arena. History FC Rubin Kazan was previously called Iskra from 1958 to 1964 and Rubin-TAN from 1992 to 1993. The name ''Rubin'' means "Ruby". Having never played in the Soviet Top League, the football club joined the Russian First Division in 1992 and fell to the Russian Second Division in 1994. The mayor of Kazan at the time, Kamil I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympiacos Volou 1937 F
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, basketball, volleyball, water polo, handball, athletics, swimming, table tennis and boxing amongst many othersand have won numerous European and domestic titles over the club's history. Olympiacos CFP is one of the most successful and decorated multi-sport clubs in Europe, being the only Greek club, as well as one of the few European multi-sport clubs to have won as many as 19 International titles –including 17 major European titles, 1 Intercontinental title and 1 Balkan title– in five sports (Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Water Polo, Wrestling) (no other Greek club have won more than seven European titles). Overall, Olympiacos is the most successful Greek mult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qatar Stars League
The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Qatari Second Division (QSD). Seasons of the QSL usually run from September to April. The league's first season was played in 1963, although the first official season occurred in 1972. The league currently features 12 clubs, with one club being demoted to make room for one club being promoted. The Qatari league system provides 5 domestic cups that these clubs are able to participate in: the Emir of Qatar Cup, open to all teams in both the first and second divisions, the Qatar Crown Prince Cup a postseason tournament played by the top four first division teams, the Sheikh Jassem Cup, a prelude to the first division regular season, the Qatari Stars Cup, a Round-robin tournament, round-robin tournament played midseas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competition in the world. It is organised by and named after The Football Association (The FA). Since 2015, it has been known as The Emirates FA Cup after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Women's FA Cup. The competition is open to all eligible clubs down to Level 9 of the English football league system with Level 10 clubs acting as stand-ins in the event of non-entries from above. Included in the competition are 20 professional clubs in the Premier League (level 1), 72 professional clubs in the English Football League (levels 2 to 4), and all clubs in steps 1–5 of the National League System (levels 5 to 9) as well as a tiny number of step 6 clubs acting as stand-ins for non-entries above. A record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mundo Deportivo
''Mundo Deportivo'' (; meaning ''Sports World'' in English) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports newspaper still published in Spain, and the second one in Europe, after the Italian '' La Gazzetta dello Sport'' which was founded in 1896. It is published in Barcelona and is owned by Grupo Godó. The group also owns ''La Vanguardia''. ''Mundo Deportive'' focuses primarily on the performances of FC Barcelona, but also covers the Spanish basketball league ( ACB), Grand Prix motorcycle racing and Formula One car racing, amongst others. Both ''Mundo Deportivo'' and ''Sport'' are the predominant sources of sports news in Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanish Football League System
The Spanish football league system consists of several professional, semi-professional and non-professional leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The top two tiers of the male league pyramid—La Liga, Primera División ( La Liga) and Segunda División—are administered by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, a sports association with independent legal status from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the governing body of football in Spain. Conversely, the top two tiers of the women's pyramid (Primera División (women), Primera División and Segunda División Pro (women), Segunda División Pro) are administered by the RFEF. The lower tiers (6th and below for the men's pyramid; 5th and below for the female one) are run by the regional federations. In addition to clubs from Spain, and under the purview of the additional provision 17 of the 1990 Law of Sport, Andorran clubs affiliated to a Spanish regional federation are allowed to compete in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Association Football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposition by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular framed goal defended by the opposing side. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45 minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries, it is considered the world's most popular sport. The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 with the International Football Association Board (IFAB) maintaining them since 1886. The game is played with a football that is in circumference. The two teams compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Sadd SC
Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it is known primarily by the nickname ''"Al Zaeem"'', which translates to "The Boss". It is known as the best team in Qatar and is the only Qatari team that has won the AFC Champions League in Asia. In addition to football, the club has teams for handball, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and athletics. It is the most successful sports club in the country, and holds a national record of 57 official football championships. The origin of Al Sadd's conception began with Al-Attiyah students who excelled in football, but did not wish to join any of the existing football clubs. After consulting with the minister of Youth and Sports, the Al-Attiyah family decided to make a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spanish league system. Valencia were founded in 1919 and have played their home games at the 55.000-seater Mestalla since 1923. Valencia has won six Spanish League titles, eight Copa del Rey titles, one Supercopa de España, and one Copa Eva Duarte. In European competitions, they have won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. They also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row (2000 and 2001). Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs and since its end has been part of the original members of the European Club Association. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them. It is on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watford F
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and breweries. While industry has declined in Watford, its location near London and transport links has attracted several companies to site their headquarters in the town. Cassiobury Park is a public park that was once the manor estate of the Earls of Essex. The town developed next to the River Colne on land belonging to St Albans Abbey. In the 12th century, a charter was granted allowing a market, and the building of St Mary's Church began. The town grew partly due to travellers going to Berkhamsted Castle and the royal palace at Kings Langley. A mansion was built at Cassiobury in the 16th century. This was partly rebuilt in the 17th century and another country house was built at The Grove. The Grand Junction Canal in 1798 and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
