Javier Martina
Javier Sylvester Martina (born 1 February 1987) is a Curaçaoan-Dutch footballer who plays as a winger for A.V.V. Zeeburgia in the Dutch Hoofdklasse, and for the Curaçao national team. Club career Netherlands Born in Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles (now known as Curaçao), Martina began his career with SV Bijlmer (Amsterdam, Netherlands). After two years, he joined Amstelveen Heemraad in the summer of 2001. In July 2003, he left Amsteleen Heemraad to sign for FC Omniworld, from where he was scouted by Jong AFC Ajax in the summer of 2005. He played three years for the AFC Ajax youth team, before he was promoted to the Eredivisie team in June 2008. The highly rated right winger made his official Ajax debut in the 2008 season in a 2–0 Eredivisie win against Twente. Martina started the match and assisted on his club's first goal of the match. In Summer 2009, he was linked with a move to Italian side Bari. In January 2010 he was sent on loan to HFC Haarlem playing only o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Willemstad
Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, dissolution in 2010. The historic centre of the city consists of four quarters: the Punda and Otrobanda, which are separated by the Sint Anna Bay, an inlet that leads into the large natural harbour called the Schottegat, as well as the Scharloo and Pietermaai Smal quarters, which are across from each other on the smaller Waaigat harbour. Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its unique architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History Punda was established in 1634, when the Dutch captured the island fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hoofdklasse
The Vierde Divisie, formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of the traditional pillarisation ( nl, verzuiling), the segregation of Dutch society. The ''Saturday'' clubs are mainly Protestant Christian clubs, who were not allowed to play on Sunday. The ''Sunday'' clubs were in general Catholic and working class clubs, whose players had to work on Saturday and therefore could only play on Sunday. Although the pillarisation ended in the 1960s and 1970s, the clubs and the league have maintained this division. The Saturday Hoofdklasse and the Sunday Hoofdklasse are divided into two leagues each since the 2016–17 season: * Clubs in the Saturday Hoofdklasse A and Sunday Hoofdklasse A are from the central, northern and western parts of the Netherlands. * Clubs in the Saturday Hoofdklasse B and Sunday Hoofdkl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stefan Frei
Stefan Frei (born 20 April 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Seattle Sounders FC. Born in Switzerland, Frei moved with his family to the United States as a teenager. He has spent his entire professional career playing in Major League Soccer. Youth and college Frei moved from Switzerland to the United States with his parents and brother in the late 1990s at the age of 15. He attended De La Salle High School in Concord, California. He played college soccer at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2008, he was named to the All-Pac-10 first team and the NSCAA Far West All-Region team, and was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Season. During his college years, Frei also played with both San Francisco Seals and San Jose Frogs in the USL Premier Development League. Club career Toronto FC Frei was named MVP at the 2009 MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and signed a Generation Adidas contract. He was drafted in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at Providence Park since 2011, when the team began play as an expansion team in the league. The club was founded in 2009, when the city of Portland was awarded an expansion berth to Major League Soccer. The team operating rights are owned by Peregrine Sports under the majority ownership of Merritt Paulson, whose companies had acquired the then-USL Pro team in 2007 and later established the Portland Thorns women's team in 2012 (all MLS franchises are centrally owned by the league itself, which grants operating rights and privileges to the individual club "owners," who are also shareholders in MLS). The club is a phoenix club, and the fourth soccer franchise based in Portland (second top-level) to carry the legacy of the Timbers name, which or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS)
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, 2009, and began play in 2011 as the 17th team to enter Major League Soccer while replacing the USSF Division 2 team of the same name in the city, making them a phoenix club and the third to carry the Whitecaps name. The club has been owned and managed by the same group since their USSF days. In the 2012 season, the team became the first Canadian team to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Whitecaps have won two Canadian Championships, in 2015 and 2022. Vancouver also competes against longtime Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle and Portland in the Cascadia Cup, a fan-created trophy awarded based on MLS regular season results. Notable former Whitecaps players include former American international Jay DeMerit, the club's first player an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elbekay Bouchiba
Elbekay Bouchiba (born 1 November 1978) is a Dutch footballer of Moroccan descent who last played for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. Club career Bouchiba is a midfielder who was born in Weert who began his career in the youth ranks of Willem II and made his debut in professional football, being part of the AZ squad in the 1998–99 season. He made his Eredivisie debut in a 2–0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam on 22 August 1998. He also played for Sparta Rotterdam and FC Twente before joining Roda JC. His most productive season in the Eredivisie was the 2001–02 season in which he appeared in 29 league matches for Sparta Rotterdam. On 10 August 2002 he scored his first two goals for Sparta in a 2–1 victory over HFC Haarlem in a 2002–03 KNVB Cup match. During his time with Sparta Rotterdam Bouchiba appeared in 58 official matches and scored 3 goals. While with FC Twente Bouchiba went on trial stints with Cardiff City and 1. FC Köln. Bouchiba appeared in 127 lea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nick Soolsma
Nick Soolsma (born 7 January 1988) is a Dutch footballer. Club career Netherlands Soolsma began his career in the youth ranks of Dutch side FC Volendam. During the 2007 season he played for FC Volendam's Under-19 side. He left Volendam at the end of the season and joined HFC Haarlem in the Eerste Divisie and appeared in seven league matches for his new side. The following seasons he played for Dutch lower division sides FC Chabab and VV Young Boys. While with Chabab, Soolsma was regarded as one of the club's finest players and began to draw interest from several higher-level clubs. He went on a trial stint with Eredivisie side RKC Waalwijk during the 2009 season. After one season with FC Chabab, Soolsma joined VV Young Boys where he went on to quickly establish himself with the club scoring 17 league goals and 2 others in the domestic cup as he helped the club gain promotion to the Hoofdklasse. He began the 2010/11 season with Young Boys in top form scoring 6 goals in the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dutch People
The Dutch (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Aruba, Suriname, Guyana, Curaçao, Argentina, Brazil, Canada,Based on Statistics Canada, Canada 2001 Censusbr>Linkto Canadian statistics. Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the United States.According tFactfinder.census.gov The Low Countries were situated around the border of France and the Holy Roman Empire, forming a part of their respective peripheries and the various territories of which they consisted had become virtually autonomous by the 13th century. Under the Habsburgs, the Netherlands were organised into a single administrative unit, and in the 16th and 17th centuries the Northern Netherlands gained independence from Spain as the Dutch Republic. The high degree of urbanization characteristic of Dutch society was attained at a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Antalya
Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast outside the Aegean region with over one million people in its metropolitan area.2011 Census Turkish Statistical Institute (Büyükşehir belediyeleri ve bağlı belediyelerin nüfusları) – 2011 The city that is now Antalya was first settled around 200 BC by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon, which was soon subdued by the Romans. Roman rule saw Antalya thrive, including the construction of several new monuments, such as Hadrian's Gate, and the proliferation of ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada—since the 2023 season. The league is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. Major League Soccer is the most recent in a series of men's premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984. MLS was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The inaugural season took place in 1996 with ten teams. MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, losing millions of dollars and folding two teams in 2002. Since then, developments such as the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums around the league, implementation of the Desi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Willem II (football Club)
Willem II (), also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a Dutch football club based in Tilburg, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. The club was founded on 12 August 1896 as ''Tilburgia''. On 12 January 1898, the club was renamed ''Willem II'' after Dutch king William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830, spent much time in the city after becoming king, and died there. Notable former players for the club include Dutch internationals Jan van Roessel, Joris Mathijsen, Jaap Stam, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Overmars, Virgil Van Dijk and Finland's Sami Hyypiä. The club's shirt consists of red-white-blue vertical stripes, inspired by the colours of the flag of the Netherlands. Willem II plays its home matches in the Koning Willem II Stadion, also na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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PEC Zwolle
PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total of 16 seasons, reaching sixth place in 2015. They won the KNVB Cup in 2014 and also reached the final in 1928, 1977 and 2015. This is the second incarnation of the club; its predecessor of the same name went bankrupt in 1990. The current club was founded immediately afterwards as FC Zwolle before renaming back to PEC Zwolle in 2012. History Introduction PEC was founded on 12 June 1910, the name being an abbreviation of PH EDN Combinatie (PH EDN Combination). The club was formed by a merger of Prins Hendrik (1 April 1906; Prince Henry) and Ende Desespereert Nimmer (1904; And Never Despair). PEC has been a professional football club since 23 February 1955. The club name was changed to PEC Zwolle in 1971 and to PEC Zwolle '82 in 1982. Insta ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |