Xabi Alonso
Xabier Alonso Olano (, ; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of La Liga club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid. He is regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and was known for his passing and long distance shooting. Alonso is also currently considered to be one of the best young managers in the world. Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his home province Gipuzkoa. After a brief loan period at SD Eibar, Eibar, he was appointed as Captain (association football), team captain of Real Sociedad and finished runner-up in La Liga in 2002–03 La Liga, 2002–03 season. He moved to Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in 2004 for Pound sterling, £10.5 million and won the UEFA Champions League in his first season, scoring in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final, final. He later won the UEFA Super Cup the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield. A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tolosa, Spain
Tolosa (Spanish and Basque: ) is a town and municipality in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque province of Gipuzkoa, in northern Spain. It is located in the valley of the river Oria River, Oria, next by Uzturre, a local mountain topped by a white cross. Its economy relies primarily on the industrial sector, specifically papermaking. Geography Neighbourhoods Iurre, Berazubi, Bidebieta, San Esteban, Izaskun, San Blas, Amarotz, Usabal, Santa Lutzia, Montezkue, Belate, Belabieta, Alde Zaharra (Parte Vieja), Auzo Txikia, Alliri, Arramele, Iparragirre, Urkizu, Aldaba, Larramendi, Aldaba Txiki, Banjul, and Bedaio. Notable buildings * Provincial archive of Gipuzkoa, built in 1904 by the architect Cortázar, was one of the first to be built in concrete in the province. From the sixteenth century, Tolosa was home to the provincial archives, formerly located in the parish. * Town Hall, built between 1657 and 1672, Baroque style, with a ground floor portico and wrought ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contested by UEFA members' senior men's national teams, determining the continental champion of Europe. It is the second-most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup; the Euro 2016 final was watched by a global audience of around 600 million. The competition has been held every four years since 1960, except for 2020, when it was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, but kept the name Euro 2020. Scheduled to be in the even-numbered year between FIFA World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations' Cup before changing to its current name in 1968. Since 1996, the individual events have been branded as "UEFA Euro ear''". Before entering the tournament, all teams o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a Round-robin tournament, round robin league phase to qualify for the double-legged knockout rounds, and a single-leg final. It is the most-watched club competition in the world and the third most-watched football competition overall, behind only the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations. Introduced 1955–56 European Cup, in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup (), and commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straigh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pound Sterling
Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. Sterling is the world's oldest currency in continuous use since its inception. In 2022, it was the fourth-most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. Together with those three currencies and the renminbi, it forms the basket of currencies that calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights. As of late 2022, sterling is also the fourth most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The Bank of England is the central bank for sterling, issuing its own banknotes and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling banknotes issu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2002–03 La Liga
The 2002–03 La Liga season was the 72nd since its establishment. It began on 31 August 2002, and concluded on 22 June 2003. Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Segunda División. The promoted teams were Atlético Madrid, Racing Santander and Recreativo, returning to the top flight after an absence of two, one and twenty three years respectively. They replaced Las Palmas, Tenerife and Zaragoza after spending time in the top flight for two, one and twenty four years respectively. (*) Promoted from Segunda División. Personnel and sponsors League table Results Overall *Most wins - Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, and Deportivo de La Coruña (22) *Fewest wins - Rayo Vallecano (7) *Most draws - Málaga CF and Espanyol (13) *Fewest draws - Racing Santander (5) *Most losses - Racing Santander and Rayo Vallecano (20) *Fewest losses - Real Madrid (4) *Most goa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Captain (association Football)
The captain of a association football, football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influence a game or has good leadership qualities. The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. In the 2024/25 edition of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, it was made mandatory for each team to have a captain and for each captain to be identified by the previously traditional but non-mandatory captain's armband. Responsibilities The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game is to participate in the Coin flipping, coin toss prior to Kick-off (association football), kick-off (for choice of ends or to have kick-off) and prior to a penalty shoot-out (association football), penalty shoot-out. Captain ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques at the northeast, with the province and autonomous community of Navarre at east, Biscay at west, Álava at southwest and the Bay of Biscay to its north. It is located at the easternmost extreme of the Cantabric Sea, in the Bay of Biscay. It has of coastline. With a total area of , Gipuzkoa is the smallest province of Spain. The province has 89 municipalities and a population of 720,592 inhabitants (2018), from which more than half live in the Donostia-San Sebastián metropolitan area. Apart from the capital, other important cities are Irun, Errenteria, Zarautz, Mondragón, Eibar, Hondarribia, Oñati, Tolosa, Beasain and Pasaia. Gipuzkoa is the province of the Basque Country in which the Basque language is the most ex ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Central midfielder, central midfielders often go across boundaries, with mobility and passing ability, they are often referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box midfielders, or holding midfielders. There are also attacking midfielders with limited defensive assignments. The size of midfield units on a team and their assigned roles depend on which Formation (association football), formation is used; the unit of these players on the pitch is commonly referred to as the midfield. Its name derives from the fact that midfield units typically make up the in-between units to the Defender (association football), defensive units and Forward (association football), forward units of a F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest level of the Spanish football league system. It is controlled by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional and contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period. Since its inception, All-time La Liga table, 62 teams have competed in La Liga, with nine teams crowned champions. Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Barcelona have dominated the competition, winning 36 and 28 titles respectively. In the 1940s, Valencia CF, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona emerged as the strongest clubs. Real Madrid and Barcelona led the charge in the 1950s, each winning four titles. During the 1960s and 1970s, Real Madrid dominated with fourteen titles, with Atlético Madrid winning four. During the 1980s and 1990s, Real Madrid remained prominent ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Football Player
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby league, and rugby union. It has been estimated that there are 250 million association football players in the world, and many play other forms of football. Career Jean-Pierre Papin has described football as a "universal language". Footballers across the world and at almost any level may regularly attract large crowds of spectators, and players are the focal points of widespread social phenomena such as association football culture. Footballers usually begin as amateurs and the best players progress to become professional players. Normally they start at a youth team (any local team) and from there, based on skill and talent, scouts offer contracts. Once signed, some learn to play better football and a few advance to the senior or profe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manager (association Football)
In association football, the manager is the person who has overall responsibility for the running of a football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st .... They have wide-ranging responsibilities, including selecting the team, choosing the tactics, recruiting and transferring players, negotiating player contracts, and speaking to the media. In professional football, a manager is usually appointed by and answerable to the club's board of directors, but at an amateur level the manager may have total responsibility for the running of a club. Responsibilities The manager's responsibilities in a professional football club usually include (but are not limited to) the following: * Selecting the team of players for matches, and their formation. * Planning the strateg ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The opening match and the final was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The tournament was won by Brazil national football team, Brazil, who retained the trophy they won in 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2005 by defeating the United States men's national soccer team, United States 3–2 in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, final. Qualified teams Draw The draw for the competition was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Each team was represented in the draw by its competitor in the Miss World 2008 competition, except for Iraq, which was represented by Miss World 2007, Zhang Zilin, from China. The teams were divided into two pots: * Pot A: South Afric ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |