UEFA CUP

The Euro 2012 Games: Polish Cities Celebrate Draw, Final Schedules Confirmed

Written by: admin
Comments: 4
Views: 10

As the other European nations brace for the Euro 2012 games, Polish cities Warsaw, Poznan, and Gdansk set up big screens and special events stormed by thousands of fans and viewers. The events are sparked by last Friday’s draw Kyiv. Cities Poznan, Warsaw and Gdansk were marked by fan zones where ceremonies are held in celebration of last Friday’s result. From the draw, the country is now set to compete with Group A opponents which includes Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic.

Celebrating with the football fanatics are also some prominent names in the ballgame. Michal Zewlakow, former Poland and Olympics FC player said he is optimistic ad that it is a special game to play with Greece. Jerzy Dudek also took part in the momentum adding a bottle of champagne is the only one missing after the draw. The ex-international teammate also adds they should not be too optimistic as it would be a shame not to go through the group. Also celebrating the draw from the Poland- Ukraine Euro 2012 games match is Jacek Gmoch, who served as Poland’s coach from 1976-1978. Thousands of fans mark the game results with celebrations around the corner some celebrated the streak of luck while the others consider it a victory.
Final Schedules confirmed

Share and Enjoy

23 Aug

Brief Overview Of UEFA Champions League

Written by: admin
Comments: 3
Views: 25

UEFA, Union of European Football Association, was founded in 1955 comprising top football clubs of the Europe at that time. UEFA Champions League is a cup competition in which different football clubs, from all over Europe, take part. This champion league is famous worldwide and its final is undoubtedly among the most viewed matches of the world. UEFA Champions League was earlier celebrated as European Champion Clubs Cup, but recognized as European Cup universally, later on. But, in 1992, its name was converted to UEFA Champions League and its format was made what it is at present.

The format of UEFA Champions League was based on knockout matches in earlier days, in which only the victor club, from each country, could participate. However, in early 1990s, the format of tournament was decided to change and expand because of its popularity around the world. When the tournament was long-drawn-out more teams were able to participate along with victorious teams and its format was kind of “round-robin group”. All the strong and favorite leagues of football, in Europe, provide round up to four teams for UEFA Champions League that entails multiple stages at the moment.

The participating teams are approximately 76 or 77, which means that the group stages are around 32. The tournament starts around mid-July with three “knockout qualifying rounds” and a single “play-off” round. After this stage, around 10 teams are able to survive, joining another 22 teams in group stage, which are seeded. In this group stage, there are eight groups in total, each one of them having four teams. Then, there comes the final knockout phase, in which total of sixteen teams enter from the last phase. Eight of those teams are winners and eight of them are runners-up. Finally, this league comes to an end with final match in the month of May. The team, winning UEFA Champions League, turns out well to the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Twenty-one different clubs have won this cup so far; out of 21, around 12 clubs have won this cup more than once. On the whole, Real Madrid is on top (all-time record holder) with having the honor of holding this cup for nine times, including five times in a row in starting. Milan is another all-time favorite club in the league, which defended the title in 1990s before the format of the league was changed.

Share and Enjoy

23 Aug

UEFA Champions League: The Legendary Football Event

Written by: admin
Comments: 3
Views: 20

Arranged by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in 1955, the UEFA Champions League is a Football cup tournament, in which the best Football clubs, from Europe, participate. The UEFA Champions League is the most celebrated and watched Football event globally.

The competition comprises various stages. At present, it kicks off in mid July with 3 knockout rounds and one play-off round. Next, 10 winning teams join 22 other teams in the grouping phase, involving 8 groups, with 4 teams in each. The 8 group winning teams and runner up teams participate in the knockout phase, after which the final match takes place in May. Whoever wins the UEFA Champions League, will earn itself an entry in the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA World Cup.

Background

The competition first began, during 1955-56, with a format, which allowed teams to play 2 matches-one in their homeland and the other one abroad. The team achieving the highest score secures a spot in the next match. During 1992-93, the format was updated by adding the group stage and the competition was renamed to UEFA Champions League. Since then, there have been various changes in the overall tournament format with increased number of rounds, including more teams.

Winners

Real Madrid was a consistent 5 time winner, in the time the tournament was launched and maintains a record of most wins (9 times). As for clubs, Spain’s La Liga has earned the most success through its wins (9 wins from Real Madrid and 4 from Barcelona). Teams, from Italy Serie A, have appeared the most number of times (26 appearances). England, also earned success with 4 winning clubs, but its clubs were banned from the tournament due to a mishap at Heysel, in 1985.

Barcelona won the 2011 UEFA Champion League on May 28^th, after beating England Manchester United.

Prize Money

Beginning of 2010-11observed that winning team of the play-offs round is awarded €2.1 million. Teams who make it to the group stage are awarded €3.9 million and €550,000 for every match. The group match winner gets €800,000, while a draw values €400,000. Teams, getting to the first knockout match, are awarded €3 million, for every quarter finalist €3.3 million; teams reaching the semi finals are paid €4.2 million each, the winning team takes €9 million and runners-up team is awarded €5.6 million.

Sponsors

The UEFA Champions League is sponsored by 7 international companies, entailing

MasterCard
Ford
UniCredit
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Sony Europe
Heineken
Adidas

Keep up to date with the latest news and goings on, with the live news feed at the top of this page..

Share and Enjoy

23 Aug

Contributions Of European Soccer To The Sport Itself

Written by: admin
Comments: 2
Views: 6

If football has sustained, making its mark on the sporting arena, it is mostly due to European soccer. The British were the inventors of the game and the Europeans took it to all parts of the globe, wherever they colonized. Today, European soccer has a large viewer base. The UEFA champions league, euro cup and in addition to these two domestic leagues of the countries, make European soccer one of the most interesting sports on this planet. EU soccer teams have performed consistently well, in the major competitions worldwide, like the FIFA world cup and Olympics. EU soccer teams have dominated the world, in world cups, with 3 European teams (Spain, Italy and France in descending order) winning the last four world cups.

What makes European soccer so special?

This would be a good time to make it clear that European soccer does not imply European players only. Players, from almost all good worldwide soccer playing nations, flock to play in European teams. This is because EU soccer offers unprecedented riches to star players. The glamour and wide-reaching attention that players get is also unmatched & unparalleled anywhere. For instance, Lionel Messi, current FIFA player of the year, has signed a contract with Barcelona (Spanish team) for a staggering sum of 250 million Euros, which makes him the most highly paid sports star. The final of UEFA Champions League is viewed by almost 11 million international users. These are some examples, which can be boasted only by European soccer!

All the bulk of credit, for popularizing European soccer, shouldn’t go to outsiders merely. People from within Europe have showed immense talent and quality game. Zinedine Zidane (retired French footballer who led his country to 1998 world cup win) has often been acknowledged, as the all time legend of the sport. David Beckham (English footballer), an icon when it comes to EU soccer, is an eminent worldwide model.

Conclusion

The invaluable contributions of EU soccer, to the most played ball game of the world, cannot be denied. EU soccer is for this sport, as Newton was for Physics. You don’t have to be of European descent to watch European soccer, in fact a significant percentage of the viewers are non-European, contemplated in other continents. With breath-taking locations, diverse teams & players, equipped with different skills, there is something bound to be fascinating for everyone! With over 40 registered broadcasters, all over the world, showing soccer round the clock; it shouldn’t be much of a problem to get in the action right away.

Share and Enjoy

23 Aug

More UEFA Champions League

Written by: admin
Comments: 4
Views: 21

The UEFA Champions League is a household name when it comes to football, in particular, European. Conducted by UEFA (union of European football associations) annually, since 1955, it is considered a crown event in the realm of football with its viewership in millions. The final of the UEFA Champions League is the most viewed television sporting event worldwide, attracted over 109 million fans in the 2010 final.

Format

The UEFA Champions League kicks off in the mid of July, starting with the qualifying rounds & 32 nations battle to find their place among the top ten; 10 countries from last year’s UEFA Champions League plus 22 other nations. There are 8 pools with 4 teams each. The winners and runners up (8 each), further, qualify for the final knockout round, which generally occurs in the month of May.

Statistics

Barcelona, a very famous club hailing from Spain, holds the current trophy of UEFA Champions League. It defeated Manchester United (English side) in the final of 2011 cup, held on 28^th May. The Spanish clubs are the most successful in the league, having 13 victories to their name .Real Madrid has 9 wins- the most number of wins, and four by Barcelona. The English clubs have the highest number of victorious teams in the UEFA Champions League, i-e four. Italian league (La Liga) has witnessed 26 final appearances in the Champions League, the most by any country.

Interesting information

The UEFA Champions League is hosted by a consortium of multinational companies, which makes financial rewards very lucrative for the participants. In the preliminary rounds, UEFA pays generous amount of 2.1 million Euros to each team (plus 550,000 Euro per match), which keeps on increasing as the rounds progress. The winner of the prestigious UEFA event gets a hefty amount of 9 million euro & the runners up has to be content with 5.6 million euro! Since the clubs employ almost all the big names of football like Lionel Messi (Barcelona) & Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) etc; their fans from, all over the world, are glued to the screen to witness what they refer to as “the clash of titans”.

Conclusion

In terms of a football fan, you haven’t been baptized, if you haven’t seen the UEFA Champions League. According to me, if you don’t like football, you should still see the champion’s league; it will make you like football! With the next event starting soon you have no time to waste. Pick a team and start following it throughout the nail biting season.

Share and Enjoy

23 Aug

The History Of Football – the beautiful game

Written by: admin
Comments: 2
Views: 3

Football, indisputably, one of the most played and watched games worldwide, has made the world crazy about it. However, things have not been like this from the very beginning. Like all the other sports, football has also been through an evolutionary period, referred as history of football. History of football can safely be traced back to the famous game of Englishmen, Rugby. It, basically, started being played, in the middle of 1800, in first-rate colleges and private clubs of England. However, at that time, football wasn’t in the form we watch and play today.

Almost at the end of the Civil war, institutions started to play a rather organized form of football; though even at that time, proper rules were not being devised. The basic rules for football were first devised by the Princeton University and then the first ever organized game was played between Princeton and the Rutgers. Afterwards, 1873 proved to be an important year in the history of football, during which various colleges got together in order to devise some more rules; hence, shaping the game a little. The introduced rules brought major changes in the style of the game; and therefore, made it look less like rugby. Number of players was reduced to eleven in each squad at that juncture. Moreover, the football field was decided to be of 110 yards and, in 1882, downs system was introduced for the first time.

Although by that era, football got a lot more organized, yet, there was some room for improvement. Due to lack of proper safety measures along with some necessary rules, the game started to get more risky. Players used to knock each other down, lock arms, and block in unison; all this, consequently, caused injuries. Keeping in view this scenario, NCAA (National Athletic Association) was established, introducing new rules and various penalties for the players, involved in any of the above activities like locking arms and blocking. The duration of the game was also reduced to 60 minutes.

With time, football became popular around the world and professional teams started to raise their heads. The year 1904 was a landmark in the history of football, when FIFA (the Federation Internationale de Football Association) was established. It started to hold world cup competition every four years, in which 24 football teams, from around the world, are allowed to participate. In 1991, finally, Women were allowed to play football professionally.

Brief Overview Of UEFA

Recent Posts

The Euro 2012 Games: Polish Cities Celebrate Draw, Final Schedules Confirmed

Share and Enjoy

Brief Overview Of UEFA Champions League

Share and Enjoy

UEFA Champions League: The Legendary Football Event

Share and Enjoy

Contributions Of European Soccer To The Sport Itself

Share and Enjoy

More UEFA Champions League

Share and Enjoy

The History Of Football – the beautiful game

Share and Enjoy

Login