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Darren O'Dea
Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is the assistant head coach of Swansea City. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented the Republic of Ireland internationally. O'Dea began his career on the youth team of Celtic, with whom he played from 2006 to 2012. During his time on Celtic, he was loaned to Reading, Ipswich Town and Leeds United. While playing for Leeds, O'Dea won the Ireland Young International Player of the Year Award. For more first-team opportunities he switched clubs and countries, joining Toronto FC of Major League Soccer for a year until 2013. The following season, he represented FC Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine. O'Dea's stint was cut short due to the Ukrainian political situation, and he returned to England with Blackpool. In July 2015, he signed with Indian Super League club Mumbai City FC. After three years with Dundee, O'Dea retired from p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Of Ireland National Football Team
The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics, 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals. Between 1924 and 1936, the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1950, it was referred to by the FAI as Éire or Ireland. During the same period, another Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland team also existed; this was overseen by the Irish Football Association (IFA) and had previously been the sole national team for the entire island of Ireland. In 1953, FIFA decreed that for competitive matches in tournaments that both Irish teams could enter, the FAI team would be officially called Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland was al ... [...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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular field called a Football pitch, pitch. The objective of the game is to Scoring in association football, score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed Goal (sport), goal defended by the opposing team. 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 and territories, it is the world's most popular sport. Association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the International Football Association Board, IFAB since 1886. The game is pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F
Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Historically it served as the county town of the county of Inverness-shire. Inverness lies near two important battle sites: the 11th-century battle of Blàr nam Fèinne against Norway which took place on the Aird, and the 18th century Battle of Culloden which took place on Culloden Moor. It is the northernmost city in the United Kingdom and lies within the Great Glen (Gleann Mòr) at its northeastern extremity where the River Ness enters the Beauly Firth. With human settlement dating back to at least 5,800 BC, Inverness was an established self-governing settlement by the 6th century with the first Royal Charter being granted by Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim ( King David I) around 1160. Inverness and Inverness-shire are closely l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in existence. The competition had a straight knockout format but became a group and knockout competition from 2016–17. Rangers are the record holders of the cup, winning 28 times. Celtic are the current holders, winning their 22nd title after beating Rangers 3–3 (5-4 pen.) at Hampden Park on 15 December 2024. The domestic television rights are held by Premier Sports who replaced BT Sport from the 2019–20 season. Format Historically, the Scottish League Cup has oscillated between being a straightforward single-elimination knockout tournament and having an initial group phase. Since the 2016–17 season, the League Cup has used a group phase format. The format has eight groups of five teams playing each other once in a round-r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Youth System
In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough potential. In contrast to most professional sports in the United States where the high school and collegiate system is responsible for developing young sports people, most football and basketball clubs, especially in Europe and Latin America, take responsibility for developing their own players of the future. A subset of youth academies are referred to as elite academies, designated for teenagers and young adults. These academies typically have a higher cost of capital incurred for maintaining an optimal environment for practice as well as cups and other competitions that may be partaken. Elite academies often have full time staff including but not limited to coaches, physiotherapists, office staff and other roles that assist in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 July 2012, was co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine (both first time hosts), and was won by Spain national football team, Spain, who beat Italy national football team, Italy UEFA Euro 2012 final, in the final at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine. Poland and Ukraine's bid was chosen by the UEFA Executive Committee on 18 April 2007. The two host teams qualified automatically while the remaining 14 finalists were decided through a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, qualifying competition, featuring 51 teams, from August 2010 to November 2011. This was the last European Championship to employ the 16-team finals format in use sinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cap (sport)
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the early days of football, the concept of each team wearing a set of matching shirts had not been universally adopted, so each side would distinguish itself from the other by wearing a specific sort of cap. An early illustration of the 1872 Scotland v England football match, first international football match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. The practice was first approved on 10 May 1886 for association football after a proposal made by N. Lane Jackson, founder of the Corinthian F.C., Corinthians: The act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Although in some sports physical caps may not now always be given (wheth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Super League
The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the league is currently contested by 14 clubs. The season runs from September to March and includes a 26-round Season (sports)#Regular season, regular season followed by Indian Super League playoffs, playoffs involving the top six teams, culminating with the #Championships, ISL Final to determine the ISL Cup winners. At the end of the regular season, the team with the most points is declared the ISL champions and presented with the League Winners' Shield. Currently, the league only follows promotion in the promotion and relegation processes. ISL clubs qualify for the Asian continental club competitions; League Shield winners qualify directly for the subsequent season's AFC Champions League Two group stage. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2014 Pro-Russian Unrest In Ukraine
From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning President of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, pro-Russian, and anti-government groups (as well as pro-government demonstrations) took place in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Odesa. The unrest, which was supported by the Russian military and intelligence services, belongs to the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian War. During its first phase in February–March 2014, the Ukrainian territory of Crimea was Russo-Ukrainian War#Russian annexation of Crimea (2014), invaded and subsequently Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed by Russia following an internationally unrecognized 2014 Crimean status referendum, referendum, with the United Nations General Assembly United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262, voting in favor of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the north; Poland and Slovakia to the west; Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and List of cities in Ukraine, largest city, followed by Kharkiv, Odesa, and Dnipro. Ukraine's official language is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. Humans have inhabited Ukraine since 32,000 BC. During the Middle Ages, it was the site of early Slavs, early Slavic expansion and later became a key centre of East Slavs, East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. Kievan Rus' became the largest and most powerful realm in Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries, but gradually disintegrated into rival regional powers before being d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation. MLS is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The league is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (1968–84), 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 1996 Major League Soccer season, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
