Sergio Santamaría
Sergio Santamaría González (born 16 July 1980) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Santamaría was born in Málaga, Andalusia. At age 12, after scoring 52 goals for local La Cala del Moral, he moved to neighbours Málaga CF to continue his grooming, and joined country giants CF Real Madrid after four years. In 1998–99, the Catalan's director of football, Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, promoted Santamaría to the club's B-team, which also included Luis García, Carles Puyol and Xavi. In the following seasons, he switched back and forth between the B and the C-sides, as both squads operated in 4–3–3, and the player scored 11 goals; on 19 May 2000, he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, playing 45 minutes against Celta de Vigo in the last matchday. After the following campaign, in which he played exclusively for the reserves, Santamaría begun a series of loans until his June 2005 final release, all in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most populous in Spain. It lies on the Costa del Sol (''Coast of the Sun'') of the Mediterranean, about east of the Strait of Gibraltar and about north of Africa. Málaga's history spans about 2,800 years, making it one of the oldest cities in Europe and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. According to most scholars, it was founded about 770BC by the Phoenicians as ''Malaka'' ( xpu, 𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤀, ). From the 6th centuryBC the city was under the hegemony of Ancient Carthage, and from 218BC, it was ruled by the Roman Republic and then empire as ''Malaca'' (Latin). After the fall of the empire and the end of Visigothic rule, it was under Islamic rule as ''Mālaqah'' ( ar, مالقة) for 800 years, but in 1487, the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spain National Under-21 Football Team
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 (The Little Red ne, competes in the biennial UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Spain under-21 team was formed. Spain has a strong record (competition winners five times and runners-up twice); having consecutively won the 2011 and 2013 Championships. They hold the joint record with Italy for the most wins of the competition. Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, Spain's 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, while the next two were in a two-team qua ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's top professional football division of the Spanish football league system. Administered by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, it is contested by 20 teams, with the three lowest-placed teams at the end of each season being relegated to the Segunda División and replaced by the top two teams and a play-off winner in that division. Since its inception, a total of 62 teams have competed in La Liga. Nine teams have been crowned champions, with Barcelona winning the inaugural La Liga and Real Madrid winning the title a record 35 times, most recently in the 2021–22 season. During the 1940s Valencia, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona emerged as the strongest clubs, winning several titles. Real Madrid and Barcelona dominated the champions ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Formation (association Football)
In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a Association football pitch, pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper) in a formation does not define their role as tightly as that of rugby football, rugby player, nor are there breaks in play where the players must line up in formation (as in gridiron football). A player's position in a formation typically defines whether a player has a mostly defensive or attacking role, and whether they tend to play centrally or towards one side of the pitch. Formations are described by three or more numbers in order to denote how many players are in each row of the formation, from the most defensive to the most advanced. For example, the "4–5–1" formation has four Defender (association football), defenders, five midfielders, and a single Forward (association f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Xavi
Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980), known as Xavi is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi was renowned for his passing, vision, ball retention, and positioning. Xavi joined ''La Masia'', the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11, and made his first-team debut against RCD Mallorca, Mallorca in August 1998. In all, he played 767 official matches, a former club record—now held by Lionel Messi—and scored 85 goals. Xavi is the first player in the club's history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined. With Barcelona, Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles. Xavi came third in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year, followed by third place for its successor award, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, in 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, 2010 and 2011 F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carles Puyol
Carles Puyol Saforcada (, ; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played his entire career for Barcelona. He mainly played as a central defender, but he could also play in either full-back position, mostly as a right-back. Praised for his defensive qualities and leadership, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders and captains of all time. Puyol's abilities and prowess on the field earned him the nickname of "" ('The Shark') by teammates and fans. He was Barcelona's captain from August 2004 until his retirement in 2014, and appeared in 593 competitive matches for the club. He won 18 major club titles, including six La Liga trophies and three Champions Leagues. Puyol won 100 caps for Spain, and was part of the squads that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup semi-final, he scored the only goal of the game against Germany. Club career Born in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida, Catalonia, Puyol started playing football ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luis García (footballer, Born 1978)
Luis Javier García Sanz (born 24 June 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a winger. Although naturally left-footed, he was skilled with both feet and had a good aerial game, despite a small frame. He played professionally for Barcelona and Atlético Madrid in his homeland, amongst others – being brought up in the former's youth ranks – appearing abroad for Liverpool, with whom he won the 2005 Champions League and the 2006 FA Cup. Over the course of eight seasons, García amassed La Liga totals of 150 games and 22 goals. A Spanish international for three years, he earned 20 caps and represented the nation at the 2006 World Cup. García now works as a football analyst for ESPN. Club career Barcelona Born in Badalona, Barcelona, Catalonia, García began playing football with local CF Badalona at the age of 6, arriving in FC Barcelona's youth ranks six years later from neighbours CE Sant Gabriel. After two successful seasons with their rese ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lorenzo Serra Ferrer
Lorenzo Serra Ferrer (; ca, Llorenç Serra Ferrer ; born 5 March 1953) is a Spanish football manager. His career was mainly associated with Mallorca and Betis, and he also served the former in various other capacities. Playing career Born in Sa Pobla, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Serra Ferrer played three years with local amateurs UD Poblense in the Tercera División, retiring from football at only 23. Coaching career Early years After coaching youth team La Salle, Serra Ferrer joined his only club as a player in 1980. After two national championships, he led them to a first-ever promotion to the Segunda División B in his second season. Mallorca In 1983, Serra Ferrer signed for another side in the region, RCD Mallorca, spending two years with the B team. In the 1983–84 season, he also coached the main squad in one game as an interim manager. With Mallorca, Serra Ferrer promoted twice to La Liga, in 1986 and 1989, also reaching the Copa del Rey final in 1991, losing 1– ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Director Of Football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sporting director is, in many cases, a member of the executive board and therefore an executive director. The sporting director is usually directly subordinate to the CEO or the chairman of the sports organization. Director of football A director of football, sometimes also called a sporting director or technical director, is a senior management figure at an 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 ... club, most commonly in Europe. Often, their key task is managing transfers of players to and from the team. Howev ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city, Barcelona is the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union.Demographia: World Urban Areas – Demographia, April 2018 Current day Catalonia comprises most of the medieval and early modern Principality o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1998–99 La Liga
The 1998–99 La Liga season, the 68th since its establishment, started on 29 August 1998 and finished on 20 June 1999. Promotion and relegation Teams promoted from 1997–98 Segunda División * Deportivo Alavés * CF Extremadura * Villarreal CF Teams relegated to 1998–99 Segunda División * SD Compostela * CP Mérida * Sporting de Gijón Team information Clubs and locations 1998–99 season was composed of the following clubs: League table Positions by round Results Relegation playoff First Leg Second Leg Awards Pichichi Trophy The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season. *Source: Diario AS (newspaper archive, in paper), copy of the day: Monday 21 June 1999 Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy is awarded to the goalkeeper with least goals to games ratio. *Source: Diario AS (newspaper archive, in paper), copy of the day: Monday 21 June 1999 Fair Play award From this season, RFEF develops and publis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |