Portal:Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed 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.
The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line), thereby scoring a goal. When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.
Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)
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This was the seventh time that A.C. Milan had won the tournament and the trophy was presented to captain Paolo Maldini in the Guest of Honour's box by UEFA President Michel Platini.
Before the match there were ticketing problems, due to an estimated 5,000 people gaining entry to the stadium without tickets or by brandishing fakes. This left many with genuine tickets locked outside and resulted in confrontations with the police. After the match, a UEFA spokesman accused Liverpool of "having the worst fans in Europe", a claim which was later denied by Platini. (Full article...)
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Frank Barson (10 April 1891 – 13 September 1968) was an English footballer born in Grimesthorpe. He started life as a blacksmith, and began his football career with Sheffield amateur clubs Albion FC and Cammell Laird's before joining Barnsley in 1911. He went on to play for a number of clubs in English football including Manchester United and Aston Villa, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1920.
Barson was known as one of the most feared players of his era, and had a reputation as a "hard man" of English football. On frequent occasions Barson was escorted out of grounds by policemen to protect him from mobs of angry opposition fans and he was once banned from the game for seven months for a challenge in a match against Fulham.
He played up until the age of 39, eventually signing on as an amateur with Wigan Borough and his last ever appearance as a player was in a game against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day 1930 in which he was sent off in the 83rd minute. (Full article...)
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The Scottish Football Association (also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA; Scots: Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.
The Scottish Football Association is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. It is based at Hampden Park in Glasgow. In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located there. (Full article...)
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Selected World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country.
Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in the final in Solna, Stockholm, to claim their first title, having beaten France in the semi-final and Wales in the quarter-final. The tournament also marked the arrival of a then 17-year-old Pelé on the world stage, who scored in all three of Brazil's knockout games. (Full article...)Selected topic
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