Ruud Gullit

Ruud GullitRuud Gullit (born as Ruud Dil, September 1, 1962 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1987 and the World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989. He was a versatile player, playing in numerous positions during his career. He last managed the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer after taking over in November 2007. Gullit is currently working to promote the Belgian-Dutch 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid. Read the rest of this entry »

FIFA World Cup Trophy

fifa world cup trophy 300x258 FIFA World Cup TrophyThe World Cup is a gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have represented victory: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, and the FIFA World Cup Trophy from 1974 to the present day.

The trophy, originally named Victory, but later renamed in honour of former FIFA president Jules Rimet, was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli and depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and never recovered. The replacement trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was first used in 1974. Read the rest of this entry »

World Cup

Fifa world cup org.jpgThe FIFA World Cup, also called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy, the current champions, have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each. Read the rest of this entry »

Luís Figo

Luis FigoLuís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (born 4 November 1972) is a retired Portuguese footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portuguese national football team, a number that makes him the most capped player for Portugal.

Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100.

Figo is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, he had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, such as one Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one UEFA-CONMEBOL Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one TIM Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups. Read the rest of this entry »

Gheorghe Hagi

HagiGheorghe Hagi (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ˈhad​͡ʒi]; born February 5, 1965 in Săcele), is a former Romanian football player, born in an Aromanian family. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s.

Nicknamed “The Maradona of the Carpathians”, he is considered a hero in his homeland as well as in Turkey. He has won his country’s “Player of the Year” award six times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of the twentieth century.

He played for the Romanian national team in three World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998, as well as in three European Football Championships in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 125 caps for Romania, being ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and scored 35 goals, being ranked first. Read the rest of this entry »