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Player Profile
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Sqkki_nen
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(Finland)About me
| Presentation | I Am Sqkkinen! I Like fuBball!!!!!! IM FROM FINLAND!! ZIZOU IS GR8:popularly nicknamed Zizou, is a French former football midfielder who played for four European clubs, including Juventus FC and Real Madrid. As a member and later captain of the French national team he participated in two World Cup finals - including winning the tournament in 1998 - and in three European Championships, winning that tournament in 2000. Having gained fame in Europe as a playmaker for Juventus, Zidane attracted worldwide attention in the 1998 World Cup final with two headed goals against Brazil which won his country its first FIFA World Cup. He also contributed to France's victory in Euro 2000, and at the club level he went on to win domestic championships in Italy and Spain with Juventus and Real Madrid respectively. In the final of the 2001-02 UEFA Champions League he scored the winning goal for Real Madrid. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was named "Most Outstanding Player" of the tournament, receiving the Golden Ball, captaining the French side that reached the final. However, Zidane's career ended in controversy as he was dismissed in extra-time of the 2006 Final for headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi. Zidane was elected FIFA World Player of the Year a record-equalling three times (1998, 2000, 2003), finished in the top-three an additional three times (1997, 2002, 2006). He was also named European Footballer of the Year in 1998. The world-record fee of €66 million (US$87 million, £47 million) for his transfer to Real Madrid in 2001 is the highest ever paid. In 2004, he topped the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll as the "Best European football player of the past 50 years", and was included in the FIFA 100, Pelé's list of the 125 greatest living footballers.Personal life Zidane was born in Marseille on 23 June, 1972 as the youngest of five children, and was raised in La Castellane, a government-sponsored housing project (cité HLM) in the city's northern suburbs (the Quartier Nord). His parents, Ismail (اسماعيل) and Malika (ملكه) were originally from the village of Aguemone, Algeria,[4] from where they had immigrated to France. In 1993, Zidane married Véronique Zidane (born Lentisco), a former French dancer of Spanish origin whose parents live in Rodez, Aveyron, France.[5] They have four sons: Enzo (born 24 March 1995 and named after the Uruguyan Football player Enzo Francescoli, Zidane's childhood hero), Luca (born 13 May 1998), Théo (born 18 May 2002), and Élyaz (born 26 December 2005). [edit] Name and heritage Zidane's name is of Arabic origin (Algerian Arabic: Zīn ad-Dīn Yazīd Zīdān, Arabic: زين الدين يزيد زيدان, transliteration: Zayn-u-Dīn Yazīd Zaydān). Zinédine translates to "the beauty of the religion" (Arabic Zayn-u-Dīn—from zayn, "beauty", and dīn, "religion; faith"). Yazid is a boy's name, sometimes spelled Yazeed (Arabic Yazīd, "one who increases, becoming greater"). Zidane is expressing the overabundance of something that the bearer of name is said to possess, such as talent (Arabic Zaydān—from zayd, "overabundant", and an, "two"). The nickname Zizou was given to Zidane by coach Rolland Courbis while Zidane played for Girondins de Bordeaux. Yaz is the nickname given to him by his brothers and used by his family and close friends.[6][7] Allegations by members of controversial French right-wing party Front National that Zidane's father was a Harki (an Algerian who fought for the French during the Algerian War of Independence), have been strongly denied by Zidane. He is said to be very proud of his family and his heritage, identifying himself as "first, a Kabyle from La Castellane, then an Algerian from Marseille, and then a Frenchman."[6] Zidane considers himself a non-practicing Muslim. [8] [edit] Club career [edit] Early career, Cannes and Bordeaux (1988–1996) Zidane got his start in football at a young age when he joined the junior team of US Saint-Henri, his local club in the La Castellane district of Marseille. At the age of 14, Zidane left Septemes and participated in the first year junior selection for the league championship, where Jean Varraud, AS Cannes' recruiter, took notice of him. Zidane went to Cannes for what was intended to be a six-week stay, but remained at the club for four years to play with professionals. Showing the determination of an athlete who wanted to exceed expectations, Zidane played his first game in First Division at the age of 17, and it was from then that football went from an ambition to a passion. The Cannes midfielder scored his first goal on February 8th, 1991 (he received a Clio as a promise from the Cannes President, who promised him a car when he scored his first goal as a professional), and his first season with the club was marked by a qualification for the UEFA Cup. Zidane's second season with Cannes was not as promising, but on the non-professional front he met his future wife Veronique, a Spanish dancer.[9] Afterwards, Zidane spent four years with FC Girondins de Bordeaux, leading them to victory in the 1995 Intertoto Cup and to a 2nd place in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup tournament. In Bordeaux, he met Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, with whom he played a set of midfield combinations that would become the trademark of both Bordeaux and the 1998 French national team. In 1996, he was transferred to Italy's Juventus F.C. for a fee of £ 3 million. [edit] Turin and Madrid (1996–2006) Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. This article has been tagged since March 2007. At Juventus, Zidane was one of the top players and playmaker of Marcello Lippi's team, along with Didier Deschamps, Alessandro Del Piero, and Edgar Davids. His team won two Serie A titles and reached two consecutive UEFA Champions League finals, in 1997 and 1998, losing both, the latter to the Spanish club Real Madrid. In 2001, Zidane was transferred to Real Madrid on a four-year contract. The transfer fee was €66m, around £45.6m, the highest in football history. His fellow Galacticos at Madrid included Raúl, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, and later Ronaldo and David Beckham. He scored a spectacular winning volley in a 2-1 win over the German team Bayer Leverkusen in the 2001-2002 Champions League final at Glasgow's Hampden Park. On 7 May 2006, Zidane played his last home game for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. His team-mates wore special jerseys that had ZIDANE 2001–2006 written on the bottom of the club logo. The Real Madrid fans gave him a warm reception and kept cheering him throughout the game. The opposing team was Villarreal CF, and the game ended in a 3-3 draw, where he scored the second goal for Real Madrid. After the game, Zidane swapped jerseys with Juan Román Riquelme, the Villarreal CF and Argentinean midfielder. Zidane was given an ovation by spectators chanting "merci", which left him in tears.[10] [edit] International career Zidane holds dual citizenship of both France and Algeria, and therefore could have played for Algeria. However, coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied him a position on the team, arguing that the young midfielder was not fast enough.[11] This rumor was dismissed by Zidane himself though, saying it was not possible for it to happen as he had already played for France before. [12] He earned his first cap with the French national football team on 17 August 1994, coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute of a friendly match against the Czech Republic. France was behind 0-2 when Zidane came on and scored two goals for a 2-2 draw. European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) awarded to Zidane in 1998 European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) awarded to Zidane in 1998 At that time, manager Aimé Jacquet had planned to field the team around Manchester United star Éric Cantona, but after Cantona earned a year long suspension in January of 1995 (he launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against an allegedly abusive Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons), Jacquet rearranged the team and positioned Zidane as playmaker. Despite criticism from fans and pundits regarding the choice of players, France made it to the semi-finals of the Euro 1996, where the Czechs beat France on 6-5 on penalties (0-0 after extra time). In 1995 Zinedine Zidane may have become another high profile signing for Blackburn Rovers during the Jack Walker era. Kenny Dalglish had wanted to sign both Zidane and Christophe Dugarry who were playing in France for FC Girondins de Bordeaux, however Walker reportedly said to Dalglish: "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?" [2] [edit] 1998 World Cup Zidane was a member of the French national football team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. During France's second match of the first round, he received a red card and a two-game suspension in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia for stomping on Saudi Arabia's team captain Fuad Amin. Reports from people close to Zidane stated that Amin had provoked him verbally. This incident was much like the incident to follow, in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[13] After scoring in the penalty shootout in the quarter-final against Italy, he scored his only other goals of the tournament in the final against Brazil; both goals were headers off corner kicks during the first half. France won the match 3-0 and obtained their first and only World Cup title. [edit] 2000 European Championship A Zidane Shirt, number 10 in France A Zidane Shirt, number 10 in France In the Euro 2000 tournament, Zidane helped his team reach the final with inspired play and important goals. He scored a direct free kick in the quarter-final against Spain and a golden goal penalty in the semi-final against Portugal. France went on to win the tournament by defeating Italy in the final, making it the first team in 26 years to hold both the World Cup and the European Cup (since Germany held both titles in 1974). Subsequently, his team was ranked 1st in the world. [edit] Injuries, retirement, and comeback (2002–2006) A thigh injury prevented Zidane from playing in France's first two matches of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He rushed back from his injury to play in the third game, but could not perform at his usual level.[14] France was eliminated in the first round without scoring a single goal, and the attempt at defending the World Cup title was unsuccessful. In the Euro 2004 tournament, Zidane and his team started strongly, and he scored a free kick and a penalty in a come-from-behind victory against England in the group stage. On 12 June 2004, after France was upset in the quarter-finals to the eventual winners, the Greek national football team, Zidane retired from international football.[15] However, after France experienced problems in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Zidane announced on 3 August 2005 that he was coming back to play for France and was reinstated as captain of the national team.[16] He made his competitive return in the 3-0 FIFA World Cup qualifier win against the Faroe Islands on 3 September 2005, and France went on to win their qualifying group.[17] On 25 April 2006, after an injury-plagued season at Real Madrid, Zidane announced that he would retire from professional football following the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany.[18] On 27 May 2006, Zidane earned his 100th cap for France in a 1-0 victory over Mexico at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris. It was his last match in the stadium, and he became the fourth French player after Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and Lilian Thuram to earn a hundred national caps. He was substituted early in the second half.[19] [edit] 2006 World Cup In the closing minutes of France's second match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, against South Korea, Zidane received a yellow card for pushing a Korean defender, his second booking of the tournament. As a result, he was suspended from the third and final match of the group stage.[20] France nonetheless beat Togo 2-0, allowing Zidane to play in the knockout stage, from which he would score or assist in every match afterwards. [21] He returned to the pitch in the Round of the 16th match against Spain. Zidane set up Patrick Vieira for the second goal by sending a free kick into the penalty area. He scored a wonderful goal against Spain in the 91st minute after going down the left wing then firing the ball past Casillas. The win sent France into a quarter-final against defending champions Brazil, in a rematch of the 1998 final. Zidane's set piece free-kick led to a goal by Thierry Henry, who was unmarked, giving France a 1-0 win over the Seleção. He was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group.[22] In the semi-final against Portugal four days later, Zidane scored a penalty kick against Ricardo for the only goal of the match and saw France through to the final against Italy. On 9 July, Zidane played his second World Cup final—his final game—and scored in the 7th minute from the penalty spot with a chip shot that hit the crossbar before narrowly bouncing behind the goal line, and then bouncing out again. He became one of only four footballers to achieve the feat of scoring in two different World Cup finals, sharing the honour with Pelé, Paul Breitner, and Vavá. This goal also made him one of the top goalscorers in World Cup final matches, with 3 goals, tied for first place with Vavá, Geoff Hurst and Pelé. He was sent off (see below) in the 110th minute, and thus did not participate in the penalty shootout which Italy won 5-3. Despite the subsequent controversy over his offence in the final, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball as Best Player in the 2006 World Cup.[23] [edit] Out of retirement to Los Angeles? On April 16, 2007, Los Angeles Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas stated to the world media that he had made an offer to sign Zidane to the MLS giants. He is quoted as saying, "We have been in contact with his folks, everything is very preliminary. If it happens, that would be wonderful - not just for the Galaxy, but also for our league". Lalas wants David Beckham to play a part in bringing Zidane to Los Angeles, with the pair having played together at Real Madrid for three years. "He knows him, and it's amazing how very big deals get done on some guy saying, 'Hey, come on over and hang out'," he added. Zidane is yet to publicly announce his thoughts on a move to Los Angeles. Chicago Fire are also very interested in signing Zidane, but they are still waiting for an answer from him.[24] [edit] Discipline Zidane is known to be modest, quiet and shy. However, he has occasionally shown a quick temper on the pitch. On top of his World Cup send-offs (in 1998 and 2006), he headbutted Jochen Kientz in a 2000/2001 Champions League match between Juventus and Hamburger SV, for which he was also sent off.[13] Overall, he was sent off 14 times in his career.[25] He is one of four players that have been sent off in a World Cup final, one of two players that have been sent off during two different World Cup tournaments (the other player being Cameroon's Rigobert Song)[26] and the only player ever to be sent off during extra time of a World Cup final.[27] [edit] Confrontation with Marco Materazzi Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup Final. Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup Final. In the 110th minute of the 2006 World Cup final against Italy, Zidane was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest in an off the ball incident. The two players exchanged words before Zidane began to walk away from him. Materazzi then said something about Zidane's sister to Zidane, who turned around, made a run-up and head-butted Materazzi in the chest, sending him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports, Fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his earphones. After consulting his assistant referees, Elizondo showed Zidane the red card and sent him off. [edit] Provocation Since video footage suggested that Materazzi had provoked Zidane, newspapers had lip readers try to determine what Materazzi had said, The Times reporting that he called Zidane "the son of a terrorist whore" before adding "so just f*** off". In his first, highly awaited comments since the World Cup final, the French football star only partly explained what caused him to react in fury and head-butt an Italian opponent: repeated harsh insults about his mother and sister. According to sources, Materazzi was repeatedly tugging Zidane's jersey. Zidane got agitated and said to Materazzi, 'If you want my shirt so much, you can have it after the match.' 'I'd prefer your sister instead.'[28] Materazzi admitted insulting Zidane, but said that Zidane's behaviour had been very arrogant. He stressed that the insults had been trivial.[29][30] Materazzi also insisted that he did not insult Zidane's mother, who was ill at the time, claiming that "I didn't talk about his mother, either. I lost my mother when I was 15, and even now I still get emotional talking about her," (World Soccer Magazine, August 2006). Zidane later stated that Materazzi had seriously and repeatedly insulted his mother and his sister and that he would "rather have taken a blow to the face than hear that". He also apologized to viewers, particularly children and educators, but said that he did not regret his offence because he felt that this would condone Materazzi's actions.[31] Two months later, in continuing to assert that his comments had been trivial, Materazzi refused to apologize to Zidane, but stated his desire for reconciliation. He also offered his version of events, claiming that after he had grabbed Zidane's jersey, Zidane offered it to him sarcastically, and that he replied to Zidane that he would prefer his sister.[32] Materazzi later said in an interview with World Soccer Magazine that he had taunted Zidane about the Frenchman's sister, but did not know he had one.[citation needed] [edit] Reactions After the final, President of France Jacques Chirac hailed Zidane as a national hero and called him a "man of heart and conviction".[33] Chirac later added that he found the offence to be unacceptable, but that he understood that Zidane had been provoked.[34] President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria expressed his solidarity with Zidane in a letter of support.[35] French newspaper Le Figaro called the headbutt "odious" and "unacceptable".[36] The editor-in-chief of French sports daily L'Équipe compared Zidane's greatness to Muhammad Ali's, but added that Ali, Jesse Owens, and Pelé had never "broken the most elementary rules of sport" as Zidane had. He questioned how Zidane could explain the offence to "millions of children around the world", but apologized the following day.[37] A commentator for TIME magazine regarded the incident as a symbol for Europe's "grappling with multi-culturalism".[38] Zidane's sponsors announced that they would stick with him.[39] The incident was extensively lampooned on the Internet and in popular culture; "Coup de Boule", a novelty song written about the incident, reached the top of the French charts. The incident was also parodied in the popular TV series Family Guy, in which Stewie compares Brian being assaulted with the butt of a rifle to receiving a birthday greeting from Zidane. FIFA investigation In light of Zidane's statements, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings to investigate the incident.[40] FIFA also affirmed the legality of Horacio Elizondo's decision to send Zidane off, rejecting claims that fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo had illegally relied on video transmission before informing Elizondo about Zidane's misconduct.[41] As a result of its investigation, FIFA issued a CHF5000 ($4,117) fine and a two-match ban against Materazzi, while Zidane received a three-match ban and a CHF7500 ($6,176) fine. According to FIFA, both players had stressed that Materazzi's comments had been defamatory, but not of a racist nature. Since Zidane was already retired at the time, he voluntarily served three days of community service on FIFA's behalf, as a substitute for the three-match ban.[42] [edit] Charity activities On February 24, 2007, Zidane dazzled more than 10,000 fans at a charity match in northern Thailand for the Keuydaroon charity for children with HIV/AIDS. Zidane scored the first goal by chipping the ball over the goalkeeper's head in the 36th minute before setting up the second for a Malaysian team-mate. The final score was 2-2. The event raised ฿260,000 ($7,750) for the charity.[43] On March 19, 2007, Zinedine Zidane made his first appearance on a European pitch since retiring following The World Cup 2006 final in a charity game at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome. Zidane, who captained one team of celebrities, played against another team of famous personalities captained by his ex- Real Madrid team mate and good friend Ronaldo .“The Match Against Poverty”, was played under the aegis of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and was won by Zidane and his team 6-2. Zidane who is currently a good will ambassador for U.N.D.P stated before the game “everyone can do something to make the world a better place.” Zidane himself didn’t score any goals but set up his team’s third goal in the 70th minute which was scored by French comic actor Jamel Debbouze.[44] [edit] Awards, honours, and appointments In 2004, Forbes magazine had named him the 42nd highest paid athlete in the world at earnings of US$15.8 million a year.[45] Zidane is the President for Life for Nouvelle Vague,[46] a club in Marseille coached by his brother Farid (فريد). In 2001, Zidane was appointed as the United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador for the fight against poverty.[47] Since 2000, Zidane has been consistently voted one of the most popular French personalities in newspaper polls. He was voted most popular in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2006, second most popular in 2005, and fourth most popular in 2001 and in 2002.[48] In November 2006, Zidane toured Bangladesh as the guest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.[49][50] [edit] Sponsorships Zidane has had sponsorship deals with companies including Adidas, Lego, Danone, Arentrella, Generali, France Télécom, Orange, Audi, Ford and Christian Dior. Sponsorship deals like these earned him €8.6 million on top of his €6.4 million Real Madrid salary in the 2005-06 season, making him the sixth highest paid football player.[51] [edit] Honours * UEFA Club Football Awards, Best Midfielder: 1997/1998 * World Soccer Player of the Year: 1998 * FIFA World Player of the Year: 1998, 2000, 2003 * FIFA Silver World Player of the Year: 2006 * FIFA Bronze World Player of the Year: 1997, 2002 * European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or): 1998 * UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player: 2001/2002 * UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll (Best European player of the past 50 years): 2004 * FIFA World Cup Golden Ball Award: 2006 * FIFPro World XI Team: 2005, 2006 * Onze d'Or: 1998, 2000, 2001 * UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament: 2000 * FIFA All-Star Team: 1998, 2006 * UEFA BEST XI: 2001, 2002, 2003 With France * FIFA World Cup o Winner: 1998 o Runner Up: 2006 o Appearances: 1998, 2002, 2006 * European Championship o Winner: 2000 o Appearances: 1996, 2000, 2004 With Girondins de Bordeaux * UEFA Cup runners up: 1995/1996 * UEFA Intertoto Cup:1995 With Juventus F.C.: * Italian League - Serie A champions (scudetto): 1996/1997, 1997/1998 * European Super Cup: 1996 * Intercontinental Cup: 1996 * Italian Super Cup: 1997 * UEFA Champions League runners up: 1996/1997, 1997/1998 With Real Madrid: * Spanish Super Cup: 2001, 2003 * UEFA Champions League: 2001/2002 * Intercontinental Cup: 2002 * Spanish League - La Liga champions: 2002/2003 * European Super Cup: 2002 Personal honours: * Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur: since 1998[52] * Torchbearer for the 2004 Summer Olympics * Prince of Asturias Awards nomination in the Sports category, 2006.[53] Preceded by new creation Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year 1997 Succeeded by Ronaldo Preceded by Inaugural Winner UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder 1997-98 Succeeded by David Beckham Preceded by Ronaldo World Soccer Player of the Year 1998 Succeeded by Rivaldo Preceded by Ronaldo European Footballer of the Year 1998 Succeeded by Rivaldo Preceded by Ronaldo FIFA World Player of the Year 1998 Succeeded by Rivaldo Preceded by Rivaldo FIFA World Player of the Year 2000 Succeeded by Luís Figo Preceded by Andriy Shevchenko Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year 2001 Succeeded by David Trézéguet Preceded by Stefan Effenberg UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player 2001-02 Succeeded by Gianluigi Buffon Preceded by Ronaldo FIFA World Player of the Year 2003 Succeeded by Ronaldinho Preceded by Oliver Kahn FIFA World Cup Golden Ball 2006 Succeeded by Incumbent Preceded by Marcel Desailly France captain 2003–2006 Succeeded by Patrick Vieira [edit] See also * Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle [edit] Notes and references 1. ^ Zinedine ZIDANE Profile. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. 2. ^ 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany - Player Profile Page - ZIDANE Zinédine - France. FIFA. Retrieved on 2006-07-10. 3. ^ "Zidane to retire after World Cup", BBC Sport, 2006-04-25. Retrieved on 2006-07-07. 4. ^ Humphries, Tom. "End of a journey nonpareil", The Irish Times, 2006-07-08. Retrieved on 2006-07-19. 5. ^ Olins, Alice. "The beautiful game", Times Online, 2006-06-05. Retrieved on 2006-07-10. 6. ^ a b Andrew, Hussey. "ZZ Top", The Observer, 2004-04-04. Retrieved on 2006-07-19. 7. ^ Zizou, the ultra-modest superstar. FIFA (2003-11-28). Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 8. ^ Interview: Zinedine Zidane. The Observer (2004-04-04). Retrieved on 2007-03-19. 9. ^ http://www.socceradd icts.com/zinedinezid ane.htm 10. ^ "Zidane's last show at Bernabeu", People's Daily Online, 2006-05-09. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. 11. ^ The scarred French messiah 12. ^ Le Buteur magazine May 7th, 2005 13. ^ a b Williams, Richard. "Zidane exits the stage with a walk of shame", Guardian Unlimited, 10 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-10. 14. ^ Brewin, John. "Arrogant approach finishes favourites", ESPNsoccernet, 2002-06-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 15. ^ "Zidane quits French national team", CNN International, 2004-08-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 16. ^ "Zidane & Makélélé back for France", BBC Sport, 2005-08-03. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 17. ^ "France 3-0 Faroe Islands: Cisse double strike", ESPNsoccernet, 2005-09-03. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 18. ^ "Zidane to retire after FIFA World Cup™", Reuters, 2006-04-25. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 19. ^ Pugmire, Jerome. "Malouda leads France past Mexico", Associated Press, 2006-05-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 20. ^ FRANCE 1-1 KOREA REPUBLIC. FIFA (2006-06-18). Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 21. ^ TOGO 0-2 FRANCE. FIFA (2006-06-18). Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 22. ^ Man of the Match: Stage 2. FIFA (2006-07-01). Retrieved on 2006-07-02. 23. ^ "Zidane wins Golden Ball award", Reuters UK, 10 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. 24. ^ http://www.worldsocc er.com/news/Galaxy_t ry_to_lure_Zidane_ou t_of_retirement_news _116120.html 25. ^ "Fourth Official: I saw Zidane's Headbutt", ESPNsoccernet, 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 26. ^ Buckingham, Mark. "1998 World Cup - France", Sky Sports. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 27. ^ "Zidane sent off in extra time for head butt", ESPNsoccernet, 9 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 28. ^ See: * Hughes, Matt. "Read my lips: the taunt that made Zidane snap", The Times, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. * "Le ricostruzioni della testata", La Gazzetta dello Sport, 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. (in Italian) * "Materazzi räumt Beleidigung ein", SPIEGEL online, 2006-07-11. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (in German) * "Caso Zidane: ricostruito lo scontro con Materazzi", TeleFree, 2006-07-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-12. (in Italian) * "Mondiali: Zidane-Materazzi, telenovela continua", Panorama, 2006-07-11. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (in Italian) 29. ^ "Materazzi admits to insulting Zidane", ESPNsoccernet, 2006-07-11. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 30. ^ See: * "Zidanes agent: Det var provokation med ord", Politiken, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on 2006-07-10. (in Danish) * Kent, Paul. "Insult was to Zidane's wife", Fox Sports (Australia), 2006-07-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. * "Mondiali 2006: Materazzi, Mai Insultato Madre Zidane", ADN Kronos, 2006-07-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-12. (in Italian) 31. ^ See: * "Zidane se livre", 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. * "Zidane explains", BBC Sport, 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. * "Zidane: Materazzi insulted my mother and sister", ESPNsoccernet, 2006-07-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-12. * "Zidane s'excuse mais ne regrette pas son geste", Tribune de Genève, 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. 32. ^ * "Materazzi reveals details of Zidane World Cup slur", Reuters, 05 September 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-05. 33. ^ Boyle, Jon. "French fans praise Zidane despite red card", The Washington Post, 9 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 34. ^ "Chirac calls Zidane head-butt 'unacceptable'", MSNBC, 14 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-14. 35. ^ "Algerian president backs Zidane over head-butth", Reuters UK, 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 36. ^ "French media condemns Zidane", UTV, 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 37. ^ "France baffled by Zidane's folly", BBC, 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-12. 38. ^ "The Head Butt Furor: A Window on Europe's Identity Crisis", Time, 13 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. 39. ^ "Sponsors stick with Zidane despite head-butt", USA Today, 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 40. ^ FIFA (2006-07-13). FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against Marco Materazzi. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. 41. ^ FIFA (2006-07-11). FIFA to review dramatic World Cup final. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. 42. ^ "Zidane and Materazzi fined and banned by FIFA", Reuters, 20 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-20. 43. ^ Zidane big fan of Celtic star Nakamura 44. ^ [1] "Zidane & Friends win charity game" 45. ^ "The Best Paid Athletes", Forbes.com, 2004-06-24. Retrieved on 2006-07-19. 46. ^ "The grace of a dancer, the grimace of a serial killer", The Sunday Times, 9 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-19. 47. ^ United Nations Information Service Vienna (7 March 2001). French Soccer Champion Zinédine Zidane to Be Appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-20. 48. ^ See: * "Zidane arcs over Noah in French hearts", Agence France-Presse (AFP), 12 August 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-12. * IFOP (Institut français d'opinion publique) (August 2005). Le Top 50 des personnalités (in French). Press release. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 49. ^ At this event he became good friends with the UK born Bangladeshi rapper Naz Haque Attack. They are often referred to as Double Trouble. Zidane has said in interviews that Haque's first touch is as good as his. He also later toured the birthplace of his parents Algeria where he met the president of the country Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika. "Bangladesh hails 'messiah' Zidane", BBC, 7 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-12. (in English) 50. ^ "News on Zidane in Bangladesh", RTV, 12 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-12. (in Bengali) 51. ^ See: * Stehli, Jean-Sébastien. "Icône malgré lui", L'Express, 8 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (in French) * Berthold, Von Norbert. "Warum verdienen Fußballspieler so viel Geld?", FAZ.net, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (in German) 52. ^ "France honors World Cup winners - Government gives Legion of Honor to players, coaches", CNN/SI, 1 September 1998. Retrieved on 2006-07-20. 53. ^ "Zidane, candidato al Príncipe de Asturias", El Mundo (Spain), 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. [edit] External links * (French) / (Spanish) Official website * Zinedine Zidane's career timeline and detailed statistics * Zinedine Zidane at the Internet Movie Database Flag of France France squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Champions (1st Title) Flag of France 1 Lama | 2 Candela | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Blanc | 6 Djorkaeff | 7 Deschamps | 8 Desailly | 9 Guivarc'h | 10 Zidane | 11 Pirès | 12 Henry | 13 Diomède | 14 Boghossian | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Petit | 18 Leboeuf | 19 Karembeu | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Dugarry | 22 Charbonnier | Coach: Jacquet Flag of France France squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Flag of France 1 Ramé | 2 Candela | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Christanval | 6 Djorkaeff | 7 Makélélé | 8 Desailly | 9 Cissé | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Boghossian | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Petit | 18 Leboeuf | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Dugarry | 22 Micoud | 23 Coupet | Coach: Lemerre Flag of France France squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up Flag of France 1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Abidal | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Malouda | 8 Dhorasoo | 9 Govou | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Saha | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Givet | 18 Diarra | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Chimbonda | 22 Ribéry | 23 Coupet | Coach: Domenech........... IS THIS ENOUGH?????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ??????? I LOVE 2PAC SHAKUR!!!!Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names: 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply 'Pac, was an American artist renowned for his rap music, movie roles, poetry, and his social activism. He is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best selling hip-hop artist, with over 75 million albums sold worldwide[1] including over 50 million in the United States alone. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up around violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society, and sometimes qualms with other fellow rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating political, economic, social, and racial equality as well as his raw descriptions of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and conflicts with the law. Many fans, critics, and industry insiders rank him as the greatest rapper ever.[2][3] In 1990, Shakur was a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative rap group Digital Underground. Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, gained critical recognition and backlash for its controversial lyrics. Shakur became the target of lawsuits and experienced other legal problems. Later, Shakur was shot five times in a recording studio lobby in Manhattan and was robbed. Following the incident, Shakur grew suspicious that other figures in the rap industry had prior knowledge of the shooting and did not warn him; the controversy would help spark the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. After serving 11 months of his sentence, Shakur was released from prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records. In exchange for Suge's assistance, Shakur agreed to release three records under the Death Row label. Shakur's fifth album, the first double-disc release in hip hop history All Eyez on Me, counted as two albums. On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, and died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at University Medical Center, Las Vegas. Contents [hide] * 1 Biography o 1.1 Early life o 1.2 Early career o 1.3 Acting career o 1.4 Thug Life o 1.5 Legal issues o 1.6 November 1994 shooting o 1.7 Prison sentence o 1.8 Life on Death Row + 1.8.1 Makaveli o 1.9 September 1996 shooting * 2 Style and influences * 3 Legacy * 4 Records * 5 Awards * 6 Discography o 6.1 Studio albums o 6.2 Posthumous studio albums o 6.3 Other albums o 6.4 Top 10 Billboard singles * 7 Filmography * 8 Documentaries * 9 Biographical books * 10 Poetry books * 11 See also * 12 Notes and references * 13 External links Biography Early life Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.[4] He was named after Túpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led a Peruvian uprising against Spain and was subsequently sentenced to death. "Shakur" comes from the Arabic word thankful (to God). His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s; Shakur was born just one month after her acquittal on more than 100 charges of "Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York Panther 21 court case.[5] Although officially unconfirmed by the Shakur family,[6] several sources list his birth name as either Parish Lesane Crooks[7][8] or Lesane Parish Crooks. Afeni supposedly feared her enemies would attack her son, and disguised their relation using a different last name, only to change it three months[7] or a year[9] later, following her marriage to Mutulu Shakur. Struggle and incarceration surrounded Tupac from an early age. Shakur's godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a high ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, spent four years at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list beginning in 1982, when Tupac was a pre-teen. Mutulu was wanted in part for having helped his sister Assata Shakur, Tupac's godmother, to escape from prison in New Jersey, where she had been incarcerated for allegedly shooting a state trooper to death in 1973. Mutulu was caught in 1986 and imprisoned for an attempted robbery of a Brinks armored car in which two police officers and a guard were killed.[10] Tupac had a half-sister, Sekyiwa, two years his junior, and an older step-brother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, who appeared on many of his recordings. At age 12, Shakur enrolled in Harlem's famous "127th Street Ensemble." His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in A Raisin in the Sun. In 1984, his family relocated to Baltimore,[11] After completing his sophomore year at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, and jazz. He performed in Shakespeare plays and in the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.[10] Tupac, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana "Mouse" Smith, as his beatbox, won most of the many rap competitions that he participated in and was considered to be the best rapper in his school.[12] Although he lacked trendy clothing, he was one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix in with all crowds.[12] He developed a close friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until Shakur's death. In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life," and Smith calls Shakur "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." A poem written by Shakur titled "Jada" appears in his book, The Rose That Grew From Concrete, which also includes a poem dedicated to Smith called "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes". In June 1988, Shakur and his family moved once again, this time to Marin City, California, where he attended Tamalpais High School. He joined the Ensemble Theater Company (ETC) to pursue his career in entertainment. His mother's crack addiction led him to move into Leila Steinberg's home with his friend Ray Luv at the age of 17. Leila Steinberg acted as a literary mentor to Shakur, an avid reader. Steinberg has kept copies of the books that Tupac read, which include J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Jamaica Kincaid's At the Bottom of the River, Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Eileen Southern's Music of Black Americans, and the feminist writings of Alice Walker and Robin Morgan.[13] Most of these books were read before the age of 20.[14] It has been claimed that Shakur was in fact more well-read and intellectually well-rounded at that age than the average student in the first year class of most Ivy League institutions.[15] In 1989, Leila Steinberg organized a concert with Shakur's group, Strictly Dope. The concert lead to him being signed with Atron Gregory who set him up with Digital Underground. In 1990, he was hired as a back-up dancer and roadie for up-and-coming rap group Digital Underground.[16] Early career 2Pacalypse Now 2Pacalypse Now Shakur's professional entertainment career began in early 1991, when he debuted his rap skills on the single "Same Song" from the Digital Underground album This is an EP Release. Also in 1991, he appeared in the music video for "Same Song". In late 1991, after his rap debut, Tupac Shakur performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons Of The P. Later that year, he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Initially he had trouble marketing his solo debut, but Interscope Records executives Ted Field and Tom Whalley eventually agreed to distribute the record. Shakur claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was publicly criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against police.[17] In one incident, a young man claimed his killing of a Texas trooper was inspired by the album. Former Vice President Dan Quayle publicly denounced the album as having "no place in our society". 2Pacalypse Now did not do as well on the charts as future albums, spawning no top ten hits. His second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993. Heavily produced by Stretch and the Live Squad, the album generated two hits, "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around", , the latter featuring guest appearances by members of the Digital Underground. Acting career Juice Juice In addition to rapping, Shakur acted in films. He made his first film appearance in the 1991 film Nothing But Trouble, as part of a cameo by Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the 1992 movie Juice as Bishop, a trigger happy teen, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure." He went on to star in Poetic Justice (with Janet Jackson) and Above the Rim. After his death in 1996, three of his completed films Bullet, Gridlock'd and Gang Related were posthumously released. He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' Menace II Society but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting the directors.[citation needed] Director John Singleton claimed that he wrote the film Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role.[citation needed] It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death. The movie features a mural of Shakur in the protagonist's bedroom as well as featuring "Hail Mary" in the movie's score. Later on while he was in prison who wrote the screenplay for an upcoming film "Live 2 Tell" which tells the story of a teenager who becomes a drug lord.[citation needed] Thug Life Main article: Thug Life In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a few of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his step-brother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The group released their first and only album Thug Life Vol. 1 on September 26, 1994. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur.[18] The concept of "Thug Life" was viewed by Shakur as a philosophy for life. Shakur developed the word into an acronym standing for "The Hate U Gave Little Infants Fucks Everybody". He declared that the dictionary definition of a "thug" as being a rogue or criminal was not how he used the term, but rather he meant someone who came from oppressive or squalid background and little opportunity but still made a life for themselves and were proud. Legal issues Even as he garnered fame as a rapper and actor, Shakur gained notoriety for his conflicts with the law. On October of 1991 he filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department, alleging they brutally beat him over a jaywalking incident. The suit was later settled for $42,000.[19][20] In October 1993, in Atlanta, Georgia, Shakur shot two off-duty police officers (one in the leg, one in the buttocks) who were harassing a black motorist. Charges against Shakur were dismissed when it was discovered that both officers were intoxicated and were in possession of stolen weapons from an evidence locker during the incident.[21] In December 1993, Shakur was charged with sexually abusing a woman in his hotel room. According to the complaint, Shakur sodomized the woman and then encouraged his friends to sexually abuse her. Shakur vehemently denied the charges. He had prior relations days earlier with the woman who was pressing the charges against him. She performed oral sex on him on a club dance floor and the two later had sex in his hotel room. The allegations were made after she revisited his hotel room for the second time where she engaged in sexual activity with his friends and claimed Shakur's entourage had gang-raped her, saying to him while leaving, "How could you do this to me?"[verification needed] Shakur stated he had fallen asleep shortly after she arrived and later awoke to her accusations and legal threats. He later said he felt guilty for leaving her alone, and did not want anyone else to go to jail, but at the same time he did not want to go to jail for a crime he didn't commit. Shakur was convicted of "sexual abuse (forcibly touching the buttocks)". In sentencing Shakur to one-and-a-half years in prison, the judge described the crime as "an act of brutal violence against a helpless woman".[22] In 1994, he was convicted of attacking a former employer while on a music video set. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail with additional days on a highway work crew, community service, and a $2000 fine. In 1995, a wrongful death lawsuit was brought against Shakur for a 1992 shooting that left Qa'id Walker-Teal, a six-year old of Marin City, California dead. The child had been the victim of a stray bullet in a shootout between Shakur's entourage and a rival group, though the ballistics tests proved the bullet was not from any members Shakur's entourage's guns.[verification needed] Criminal charges were not sought, and Shakur settled with the family for an amount estimated between $300,000 and $500,000.[23][24] After serving part of his sentence on the sexual abuse conviction, he was released on bail pending his appeal. On April 5, 1996, a judge sentenced him to serve 120 days in jail for violating terms of probation.[25] November 1994 shooting On the night of November 30, 1994, the day before the verdict in his sexual abuse trial was to be announced, Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan by two black men in an apparent robbery attempt. He would later accuse Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G. — whom he saw after the shooting — of setting him up. According to the doctors at Bellevue Hospital, where he was admitted immediately following the incident, Shakur was shot five times, twice in the head, twice in the groin and once through the arm and thigh. He checked out of the hospital, against doctor's orders, three hours after surgery. The day following the incident, December 1, 1994, Shakur entered the courthouse in a wheelchair and was found guilty of three counts of sexual abuse, but innocent of six others, including sodomy. Prison sentence Tupac in a police mugshot (March 8, 1995) Tupac in a police mugshot (March 8, 1995) Shakur began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility on February 14, 1995. Shortly afterwards, he released his multi-platinum album Me Against the World. Shakur is the only artist ever to have an album at #1 on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. The album made its debut on the Billboard 200 and stayed at the top of the charts for 5 weeks. The album had first week sales of 240,000 copies which was the record for highest first week sales for a solo male rap artist at the time.[26] He married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris, while serving his sentence. This marriage was later annulled. While in prison Shakur read many books by Niccolò Machiavelli, Sun Tzu's The Art of War and other works of political philosophy and strategy.[27] He also wrote a screenplay titled Live 2 Tell while incarcerated. In October 1995, Shakur's case was on appeal but due to all of Shakur's legal fees he could not raise the $1.4 million bail. After serving eleven months of his one and a half year to four and a half year sentence,[28] Shakur was released from prison, due in large part to the help and influence of Marion "Suge" Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. Knight posted $1.4 million bail pending appeal of the conviction, in exchange for which Shakur was obligated to release three albums for the Death Row label.[29] Life on Death Row Image of Tupac, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Suge Knight during Tupac's tenure on Death Row Records. (1996) Image of Tupac, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Suge Knight during Tupac's tenure on Death Row Records. (1996) After his release from prison, Shakur immediately went back to work recording. He began a new group, The Outlawz, and with them released the notorious "diss track" "Hit 'Em Up", a scathing lyrical attack on The Notorious B.I.G (Christopher Wallace) and others associated with him. In the track, Shakur claims to have had sex with Faith Evans, Wallace's wife at the time, and attacks Wallace's street cred. Though there is no hard evidence suggesting that they did, Tupac was convinced that Wallace and Sean "Puffy" Combs had known about the shooting beforehand based on their behavior that night and what his sources told him. Main article: Tupac Shakur feuds Shakur aligned himself with Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, who was already bitter toward Combs and his successful Bad Boy label; this added fuel to the building East-West feud. Wallace and Shakur would remain bitter enemies until Shakur's death. In February 1996, Shakur released his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me. This double album was the first and second of his three-album commitment to Death Row Records. It sold over 9 million copies.[30] The album was a general departure from the introspective subject matter of Me Against the World, being more oriented toward a thug and gangsta mentality. Shakur continued his recordings despite increasing problems at the Death Row label. Dr. Dre left his post as house producer to form his own label, Aftermath. CEO Suge Knight was under investigation for illegal and unethical activities and business practices.[citation needed] Despite these problems, Shakur produced hundreds of tracks during his time at Death Row, most of which would be released on posthumous albums such as Better Dayz and Until the End of Time. He also began the process of recording an album with the Boot Camp Clik and their label Duck Down Records, both New York-based, entitled One Nation.[citation needed] Makaveli The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory While in prison Shakur read and studied Niccolò Machiavelli and his works, which inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli" under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. Shakur wrote and recorded all the lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining for a total of seven days to complete the album (hence the name). The album was completely finished before Shakur died and Shakur had complete creative input on the album from the name of the album to the cover which Shakur chose to symbolize how the media has crucified him. The album debuted at #1 and sold 663,000 copies in the first week.[31] Shakur had plans of starting Makaveli Records which would have included the Wu-Tang Clan, The Outlawz, Big Daddy Kane, Big Syke, and Gang Starr. September 1996 shooting The famous photograph of Shakur and Suge Knight just moments before the shooting, from the cover of the book The Killing of Tupac Shakur The famous photograph of Shakur and Suge Knight just moments before the shooting, from the cover of the book The Killing of Tupac Shakur On September 7, 1996, Shakur attended the Mike Tyson - Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After the boxing match, Shakur spotted 21 year-old Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips in the MGM Grand lobby. Shakur rushed him and knocked Anderson down, and Shakur's entourage beat him. The incident was captured on the hotel's video surveillance. Anderson and a group of Crips had beaten up a member of Death Row's entourage in a Foot Locker a few weeks earlier, precipitating Shakur's attack. After the fight with Anderson, Shakur met up with Suge Knight to go to Death Row-owned Club 662 (now known as restaurant/club Seven). Shakur rode with Knight in Knight's 1996 black BMW 750i sedan as part of a larger convoy of cars including some of Shakur's friends, The Outlawz, and bodyguards. At approximately 11:10 PM, Suge pulled over to an intersection by another vehicle so Shakur could exchange words with the two unidentified women in the other vehicle and invite them to go to the club with them. At approximately 11:15 p.m., while stopped at the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, Shakur was shot several times in a drive-by shooting. Shakur was struck by four bullets out of the twelve shots that were fired at him; he was hit twice in the chest, and once each in his left arm and thigh, while Knight was grazed in the head by a piece of flying glass. At the time of the shooting, Shakur was riding alongside with Suge Knight, with his bodyguard following behind in a vehicle belonging to Kidada Jones, Shakur's then-fiancée. The bodyguard, Frank Alexander, stated that when he was about to ride along with the rapper in Suge Knight's car, Shakur asked him to drive Kidada Jones' car instead just in case they were too drunk and needed additional vehicles from Club 662 back to the hotel. Shortly after the shootings, the bodyguard reported in his documentary, Before I Wake, that one of the convoy's cars drove off after the assailant but he never heard back from the occupants. After arriving on the scene, police and paramedics took Shakur and Knight to the University Medical Center. Shakur was placed on life support until his death six days later, on September 13, 1996, at 4:03 PM PDT at the age of 25. The official cause of death was respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. After his death, Shakur's body was cremated. His ashes were spread over Los Angeles, the Pacific Ocean, Shakur's aunt's land and his mother's land in North Carolina, and some has been mixed with cannabis and smoked by The Outlawz.[32] Family and friends plan to spread the remaining ashes during a ceremony in Soweto, South Africa. The ceremony has been delayed from September 13, 2006, to June 16, 2007, which would have been Shakur's 36th birthday.[33] Due largely to the perceived lack of progress on the case by law enforcement, many independent investigations and theories of the crime have emerged. Because of the acrimony between Christopher Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G.) and Shakur, there was speculation from the outset about the possibility of Wallace's involvement in the murder. Wallace vehemently denied involvement. However, in a notable 2002 investigation by the Los Angeles Times, writer Chuck Phillips claimed to have uncovered evidence implicating Wallace, in addition to Anderson and the Southside Crips, in the murder.[34] In the article, Phillips quoted unnamed gang-member sources who claimed Wallace had ties to the Crips, often hiring them for security during West Coast appearances. Phillips' informants also state that Wallace gave the gang members one of his own guns for use in the attack on Shakur, and that he put out a $1 million contract on Tupac's life. By the time Phillips' specific allegations were published, however, Wallace himself had been murdered.[35] Wallace's family and associates have vehemently denied Wallace's involvement in Shakur's death.[36] In support of their claims, Wallace's family submitted documentation to MTV indicating that Wallace was working in a New York recording studio the night of Shakur's murder. Wallace's manager Wayne Barrow and rapper James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd made public announcements denying Wallace's involvement in the murder and claiming further that they were both with Wallace in the recording studio the night of the shooting. The high profile nature of the killing and ensuing gang violence caught the attention of British filmmaker Nick Broomfield who made the documentary film Biggie & Tupac, which examines the lack of progress in the case by speaking to those close to Wallace, Shakur, and the investigation. Shakur's close childhood friend and member of the Outlawz, Yafeu "Yaki Kadafi" Fula, was in the convoy when the shooting happened and indicated to police that he might be able to identify the assailants. He was killed shortly thereafter in a housing project in Irvington, New Jersey.[37] In the first few seconds of the song "Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply) on the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Shakur can be heard saying "Shoulda shot me".[38][39] Many theorists mistook the statement as "Suge shot me" or "Suge shot 'em" until confirmation by multiple audio tests and confirmation from members of The Outlawz. This, along with reports of Knight's strong-arm tactics with artists and other illegal business tactics including involvement with the Mob Piru Bloods street gang gave rise to a theory that Knight was complicit in Shakur's murder, as it was reported that Suge Knight owed Tupac up to seventeen million dollars in back royalties, but no evidence has been provided to support this theory. Other theories have been put forth, including a conspiracy theory that Shakur is alive and well, but in hiding. Many supporters of these theories point to the symbolism in Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory album and in the video for the single "I Ain't Mad at Cha". Efforts exposing these conspiracy theories include 2Pac Lives The Death of Makaveli / The Resurrection of Tupac Amaru (Volume 1) released in 2005.[40] Style and influences * "Changes" (file info) — [Play media] play in browser (beta) o Arguably one of Tupac's most famous and influential songs, "Changes", from his album Greatest Hits, released posthumously in 1998 * "Hit 'Em Up" (file info) — [Play media] play in browser (beta) o In "Hit 'Em Up," one of Tupac's more famous "diss songs", he attacked foe rapper The Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy members including Lil' Kim, Faith Evans, Mobb Deep, and Chino XL. Warning: contains explicit language. * Problems playing the files? See media help. All Eyez on Me, Shakur's 1996 album All Eyez on Me, Shakur's 1996 album Shakur's first album, 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of Shakur. On this album Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police brutality on songs "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped" and "Part Time Mutha". His style on this album was heavily influenced by the social consciousness and Afrocentrism pervading hip-hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On this initial release, Shakur helped extend the legacy of such rap groups as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and even Grandmaster Flash, as he became one of the first major socially conscious rappers from the West Coast. On his second album, Shakur continued to rap about the social ills facing African-Americans, with songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz." He also showed his compassionate side with the inspirational anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", while simultaneously putting his legendary aggressiveness on display with the title track from the album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. He even added a salute to his former group Digital Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around." Throughout his career, an increasingly aggressive attitude can be seen pervading Shakur's subsequent albums. The contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unbridled aggression, compassion, playfulness, and hope all continued to shape Shakur's work, as witnessed with the release of his incendiary 1995 album Me Against the World. In 1996 Shakur released All Eyez on Me. With many tracks on the album considered to be classics, including "Ambitionz Az a Ridah", "I Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love (RMX) [Remix]", "Life Goes On" and "Picture Me Rollin'", many critics consider this album to be a classic. All Eyez on Me was a change of style from his earlier works. While still containing conscious songs and themes, Shakur's album was heavily influenced by party tracks and tended to have a more "feel good" vibe than his earlier albums. Shakur described it as a celebration of life. Nonetheless, the album was critically and commercially successful. Shakur's work has influenced many modern rap artists. Eminem,[41] Nas,[42] Lloyd Banks,[43] Rick Ross,[44] Ja Rule, The Game, and 50 Cent[45] all acknowledge his influence on their work. The likes of Snoop Dogg, Diddy, Pharrell, Ghostface Killa, Lil' Scrappy, DMX, Lil' Jon, Mary J. Blige, Juvenile, Outkast, Jermaine Dupri, WC, Sean Paul, Ice Cube, Missy Elliot, Mike Tyson and Nelly have all named songs by Shakur that they personally enjoyed.[46] Legacy Tupac Shakur has one of the largest personal legacies of any music artist in history.[citation needed] The music and messages in his work pervaded the styles of the following generations and his music had great impact all over the nation and world. At a Mobb Deep concert following the death of the famed icon and release of his The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory album, Cormega recalled in an interview that the fans were all shouting "Makaveli"[47], and emphasized the influence of the The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and of Shakur himself even in New York at the height of the media-dubbed 'Inter-coastal rivalry'. About.com named Tupac the most influential rapper ever. To preserve Shakur's legacy, his mother founded the Shakur Family Foundation (later re-named the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation or TASF) in 1997. The TASF's stated mission is to "provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents." The TASF sponsors essay contests, charity events, a performing arts day camp for teenagers and undergraduate scholarships. The Foundation officially opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA) in Stone Mountain, Georgia on June 11, 2005. Tupac: Resurrection, a 2003 documentary on Shakur's life Tupac: Resurrection, a 2003 documentary on Shakur's life On November 14, 2003, a documentary about Shakur entitled Tupac: Resurrection, was released under the supervision of his mother and narrated entirely in his voice. The movie was nominated for "Best Documentary" in the 2005 Academy Awards. Proceeds will go to a charity set up by Afeni Shakur. On April 17, 2003, Harvard University co-sponsored an academic symposium entitled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero." The speakers discussed a wide range of topics dealing with Shakur's impact on everything from entertainment to sociology.[48] Many of the speakers discussed Shakur's status and public persona, including State University of New York English professor Mark Anthony Neal, who gave the talk "Thug Nigga Intellectual: Tupac as Celebrity Gramscian" in which he argued that Shakur was an example of the "organic intellectual" expressing the concerns of a larger group.[49] Professor Neal has also indicated in his writings that the death of Shakur has left a "leadership void amongst hip-hop artists."[50] Neal further describes Tupac as a "walking contradiction", a status that allowed him to "make being an intellectual accessible to ordinary people". Professor of Communications Murray Forman, of Northeastern University, spoke of the mythical status surrounding Shakur's life and death. He addressed the symbolism and mythology surrounding Shakur's death in his talk entitled "Tupac Shakur: O.G. (Ostensibly Gone)". Among his findings were that Shakur's fans have "succeeded in resurrecting Tupac as an ethereal life force".[51] In "From Thug Life to Legend: Realization of a Black Folk Hero", Professor of Music at Northeastern University, Emmett Price, compared Shakur's public image to that of the trickster-figures of African-American folklore which gave rise to the urban "bad-man" persona of the post-slavery period. He ultimately described Shakur as a "prolific artist" who was "driven by a terrible sense of urgency" in a quest to "unify mind, body, and spirit".[52] Michael Dyson, University of Pennsylvania Avalon Professor of Humanities and African American Studies and author of the book Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur[53] indicated that Shakur "spoke with brilliance and insight as someone who bears witness to the pain of those who would never have his platform. He told the truth, even as he struggled with the fragments of his identity."[53] At one Harvard Conference the theme was Shakur's impact on entertainment, race relations, politics and the "hero/martyr".[54] In late 1997, the University of California, Berkeley offered a student-led course entitled "History 98: Poetry and History of Tupac Shakur."[55] In late 2003, seven years after the death of Shakur, the Makaveli Branded Clothing line was launched by Afeni Shakur. In August 2006 Tupac Shakur Legacy was released. The interactive biography was written by Jamal Joseph. It features unseen family photographs, intimate stories, and over 20 removable reproductions of his handwritten song lyrics, contracts, scripts, poetry, and other personal papers. Shakur's album 6th posthumous studio album, Pac's Life, was released on November 21, 2006 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Shakur's death. Even 10 years after his death he is still considered one of the most popular artists in the music industry.[56] Records Although Tupac Shakur's life was cut short in 1996, he still manages to hold and break new records even to this day. * In 1995, with the release of Me Against the World Shakur became the first music artist to be incarcerated and have a #1 album on the Billboard 200 album at the same time. Me Against the World was written during Shakur's incarceration at Clinton Correctional Facility. * In 1996, with the release of All Eyez on Me Shakur became the first rapper to release a two-disc album. * In 1996 Shakur also became the first rap artist to release two #1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the same year. Shakur's All Eyez on Me, released February 13th, 1996, and his first album released under the pseudonym, Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, also released that year on November 5. * With over 75 million albums sold to date, Shakur is the highest selling rap artist of all-time. With very few updates on his sales, new albums still being released and the continued sales of his prior albums, this number continues to rise. Awards During his lifetime, and since his death, Tupac's body of work has always been highly regarded by his fans and entertainment industry insiders alike. Here are some of the industry and fan awards Tupac has received for his work: * At the 1994 American music awards, he was nominated for favorite rap/hip hop artist. * At the American music awards held on January 29, 1996, he was awarded favorite rap/hip hop artist. * His Album Me Against the World was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. * He was also nominated for Best Solo performance at 1996 Grammy's for his hit song, "Dear Mama".[57] * In 1996, his chart topping album, All Eyez on Me was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. * Also in 1997, his hits "California Love," featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman, and "How Do You Want It", featuring KC and JoJo, were both nominated for the 1997 Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.[58] * His moving track, "Changes" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.[59] * Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002.[60] * In 2003, MTV's "22 Greatest MCs" countdown listed Tupac as the "number 1 MC", as voted by the viewers.[61] * In 2004, at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Shakur was honored along with DJ Hollywood, Kool Herc, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Rock Steady Crew, and Sugarhill Gang.[62] * Also in 2004, a VIBE magazine poll rated Shakur "the greatest rapper of all time" as voted by fans. * Again in 2004, he was nominated a Black Reel award, for his song Runnin' Dying To Live from the movie about his life, Tupac Resurrection. * In 2005, Top Soundtrack Song of the Year: "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" from Tupac: Resurrection by Shakur featuring The Notorious B.I.G. at the 18th Annual [SCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards]. * Also in 2005, MTV listed Tupac's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (released under the pseudonym "Makaveli") as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time." * In 2006, MTV.com ranked him the second greatest rapper of all time only after Jay-Z. * At the First Annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival held on Tuesday, October 17, 2006, Tupac Shakur was honored for his undeniable voice and talent and as a performer who crossed racial, ethnic, cultural and medium lines, his mother, Afeni Shakur accepted the award on Tupac's behalf.[63] Discography Main article: Tupac Shakur discography Studio albums * 1991: 2Pacalypse Now (Gold) * 1993: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (Platinum) * 1994: Thug Life: Volume 1 (Gold) * 1995: Me Against the World (2x Platinum) * 1996: All Eyez on Me (1x Diamond) * 1996: The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (7x Platinum) (28 million worldwide) [64] Posthumous studio albums * 1997: R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (4x Platinum) * 1999: Still I Rise (Platinum) * 2001: Until the End of Time (4x Platinum) * 2002: Better Dayz (3x Platinum) * 2004: Loyal to the Game (Platinum) * 2006: Pac's Life (Gold) * 2007: Beginnings Other albums * 1998: Greatest Hits (9x Platinum) * 2000: The Rose that Grew from Concrete * 2003: Nu-Mixx Klazzics (Gold) * 2004: 2Pac Live * 2005: The Rose, Vol. 2 * 2005: Tupac: Live at the House of Blues (Platinum) * 2007: Evolution: Duets & Remixes * 2007: Best Of 2Pac [65] Top 10 Billboard singles * 1991: Brenda's Got a Baby (#3 Rap) * 1991: If My Homie Calls (#3 Rap) * 1993: I Get Around (#5 Hip-Hop, #8 Rap) * 1993: Keep Ya Head Up (#2 Rap, #7 Hip-Hop) * 1995: Dear Mama (#1 Rap, #3 Hip-Hop, #9 US) * 1995: Old School (#1 Rap, #9 US) * 1995: So Many Tears (#6 Rap) * 1996: California Love (#1 US, #1 Rap, #1 Hip-Hop) * 1996: How Do You Want It (#1 US, #1 Rap) * 1997: To Live & Die In LA (#10 US) * 1997: Made Niggaz (#1 Rap) * 1997: Do For Love (#2 Rap, #10 Hip-Hop) * 1998: Changes (#3 Rap, #3 Hip-Hop, #5 US) * 2002: Thugz Mansion (#4 Rap, #10 Hip-Hop) * 2003: Runnin' (Dying to Live) (#5 Rap) * 2005: Ghetto Gospel (#1 UK) * 2006: Pac's Life (#1 Lithuania) Filmography Main article: Tupac Shakur filmography Year Title Role Notes 1991 Nothing But Trouble Himself (Brief appearance) 1992 Juice Bishop First starring role 1993 Poetic Justice Lucky Co-starred with Janet Jackson 1994 Above the Rim Birdie 1996 Bullet Tank Released one month after Shakur's death. 1997 Gridlock'd Ezekiel 'Spoon' Whitmore Released several months after Shakur's death. 1997 Gang Related Detective Rodríguez Shakur's last performance in a film. 2003 Tupac: Resurrection Himself Official documentary 2008 Live 2 Tell (Screenwriter) Expected 2008 Documentaries Main article: Tupac Shakur documentaries Tupac Shakur's life has been recognized in big and small documentaries each trying capture the many different events during his short lifetime, most notably the Academy Award nominated, Tupac: Resurrection released in 2003. * 1997: Tupac Shakur: Thug Immortal * 1997: Tupac Shakur: Words Never Die (TV) * 2001: Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake... * 2002: Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw * 2002: Biggie & Tupac * 2003: 2Pac 4 Ever * 2003: Tupac: Resurrection * 2004: Tupac vs. * 2004: Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius (TV) * 2006: So Many Years, So Many Tears * 2007: Tupac Revelation * 2008: Notorious (TV) Biographical books * Tupac: Resurrection (2003) ISBN 0-7434-7435-X * Tupac Shakur Legacy (2006) ISBN 0-7432-9260-X * Thru My Eyes: Thoughts on Tupac Shakur in Pictures and Words * Rebel for the Hell of It: The Life of Tupac Shakur * Death Rap Tupac Shakur * Tupac Shakur (They Died Too Young) * Got Your Back : The Life of a Bodyguard in the Hardcore World of Gangsta Rap * Back in the Day: My Life and Times With Tupac Shakur * The Killing of Tupac Shakur * Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets: Spiritual Insights from Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur * How Long Will They Mourn Me?: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur * Holler If You Hear Me * Dear 2Pac * All Eyez on Me: The Life and Times of Tupac Shakur * Tupac (Hip Hop) * Tupac: A Thug Life * Tough Love: Cultural Criticism & Familial Observations on the life and death of Tupac Shakur (Black Words Series) * Tupac Shakur (Just the Facts Biographies) * Tupac Shakur (People in the News) * Tupac Shakur (Rock Music Library) * Tupac and Elvis (Inevitably Restless) * Tupac Shakur (Hip-Hop Stars) * Static: My Tupac Shakur Story * Tupac Shakur: 2Pac in the Studio (The Studio Years (1989 - 1996)) Poetry books * The Rose That Grew From Concrete (1999) ISBN 0-671-02844-8 * Inside a Thug's Heart (2004) ISBN 0-7582-0789-1 See also * Tupac Shakur discography * Tupac Shakur filmography * Tupac Shakur documentaries * Tupac Shakur companies * Tupac Shakur Timeline * 7 Day Theory * Tupac Shakur feuds * Amaru Entertainment * Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts * Makaveli Branded Clothing * Thug Life * Outlawz * Billy Garland (Tupac's Biological Father) * Afeni Shakur (Mother Of Tupac) * Assata Shakur (Tupac's aunt/godmother in exile in Cuba) * Mutulu Shakur (Stepfather of Tupac) * Best selling music artists Notes and references 1. ^ XXL Magazine October 2006 2. ^ Vibe.com, Tupac Shakur's Legacy Continues 3. ^ MTV2 Presents: 22 Greatest MC's broadcast July 2003 4. ^ Tupac:Resurrection, published by Atria Books, 2003, ISBN 0-7434-7434-1 5. ^ Afeni Shakur, brief biography in PDF format, published 2002 by Amaru Entertainment 6. ^ Baltake, Joe. "Tupac taps into cultural marvel", Sacramento Bee, November 14, 2003, p. TK26. Retrieved on March 19, 2007. 7. ^ a b Thompson, Ericka. "Remembering hip-hop's most influential", Recorder, pp. A1. Retrieved on March 19, 2007. 8. ^ Call & Post. "Tupac: Resurrection' explores myths surrounding rap icon", Cincinnati, Ohio: Nov 19, 2003. Vol. 87, Iss. 46; pg. 2B 9. ^ 10. ^ a b LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal by Randall Sullivan, Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002. ISBN 0-87113-838-7 pg 76 11. ^ published by Atria Books, 2003, ISBN 0-7434-7434-1' Pg 17 12. ^ a b Back in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Shakur 13. ^ Tupac's Book Shelf: "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for a Modern Folk Hero," W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, Harvard University, April 17, 2003 14. ^ Tupac's Book Shelf: "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for a Modern Folk Hero," W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, Harvard University, April 17, 2003 15. ^ Tupac's Book Shelf, Mark Anthony Neal 16. ^ Thug Angel 17. ^ Top 100 Albums. Recording Industry Association of America (2006-03-08). Retrieved on 2006-04-20. 18. ^ Tupac: A Thug Life 19. ^ Jones, J., "Tupac Comes to Life for Bay Area Teens". Northgate News Online, U.C.-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Nov. 18, 2003. Retrieved from http://journalism.be rkeley.edu/ngno/stor ies/001588.html on Apr. 9, 2006. 20. ^ D., Davey. "Tupac Shakur: Online With Tupac" (Interview). nd. Retrieved from http://www.allhiphop .com/features/?ID=58 7 on Apr. 9, 2006. 21. ^ Smothers, R. "Rapper Charged in Shootings of Off-Duty Officers". New York Times. Nov. 2, 1993 22. ^ James, George, "Rapper Faces Prison Term For Sex Abuse", New York Times, B1 (February 8, 1995); also Olen, Helaine, "Rapper Shakur Gets Prison for Assault", Los Angeles Times, A4 (February 8, 1995); Romano, Lois, "The Reliable Source", Washington Post, B3 (February 8, 1995) 23. ^ "Marin slaying case against rapper opens", San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 1995 24. ^ "Settlement in Rapper's Trial for Boy's Death". San Francisco Chronicle. November 8, 1995. 25. ^ "Rapper Is Sentenced To 120 Days in Jail". New York Times. April 5, 1996. 26. ^ "Timeline: 25 Years of Rap Records". BBC News. Oct. 11, 2004. Retrieved on Apr. 10, 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.u k/1/hi/entertainment /music/3734910.stm 27. ^ Au, W. J. "Yo, Niccolo!". December 11, 1996. Salon.com. Retrieved on April 10, 2006, from http://archive.salon .com/media/media2961 211.html 28. ^ Info from StreetGangs.com, from http://www.streetgan gs.com/topics/tupac/ 091496passes.html 29. ^ "Biography: Suge Knight". AOL Music. nd. Retrieved on April 10, 2006, from http://music.aol.com /artist/main.adp?tab =bio&artistid=27 9843&albumid=0 30. ^ The Top Selling Record Albums of All Time 31. ^ XXL Magazine October 2006 32. ^ Tupac Shakur Legacy 33. ^ http://www.allhiphop .com/hiphopnews/?ID= 6135 Tupac's life after death 34. ^ "Paper investigates rapper murder". BBC News. Sep. 6, 2002. Retrieved on Apr. 10, 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.u k/1/hi/entertainment /music/2240857.stm 35. ^ "Fresh probe over rapper's murder". BBC News. March 18, 2006. Retrieved on April 10, 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.u k/1/hi/entertainment /4820224.stm 36. ^ "Rapper's family denies murder theory". BBC News. September 9, 2002. Retrieved on April 10, 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.u k/1/hi/entertainment /music/2246862.stm 37. ^ Jones, S. "The Truth is Being Covered Up". Philadelphia Weekly. September 18, 2002. 38. ^ MTV's Big Urban Myths 39. ^ October 2006 XXL Magazine 40. ^ This work is not released by a major publishing house. 41. ^ MTV, Eminem: Reconstructing Tupac 42. ^ MTV, They Told Us 43. ^ Crave Music Lloyd Banks: The Savior 44. ^ Rick Ross on Tupac: Hell 4 A Hustler 45. ^ Rolling Stone, Tupac Shakur by 50 Cent 46. ^ All Ears On Me: Essential Tupac 47. ^ Tupac Shakur: A Roundtable Discussion 48. ^ Gewertz, K. "Symposium analyzes, celebrates 'Thug'". Harvard University Gazette. April 24, 2003. Retrieved from http://www.news.harv ard.edu/gazette/2003 /04.24/11-hiphop.htm l on April 16, 2006. 49. ^ Neal, M. "Thug Nigga Intellectual: Tupac as Celebrity Gramscian". Harvard University. 2003. 50. ^ Neal, M. "New Black Man". Retrieved on April 16, 2006, from http://newblackman.b logspot.com/2005/09/ race-ing-katrina.htm l 51. ^ Forman, M. "Tupac Shakur: O.G. (Ostensibly Gone)". Harvard University. 2003. 52. ^ Price, E. "From Thug Life to Legend: Realization of a Black Folk Hero". Harvard University. 2003. 53. ^ a b Dyson, M. Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. BasicCivitas Books. 2001., 54. ^ Harvard Gazette May 1, 2003 edition, writer Ken Gewertz 55. ^ "Berkeley University Offers Class On Tupac". VH1.com. Sep. 10, 1997. Retrieved on July 26, 2006, from http://www.vh1.com/a rtists/news/1171/091 01997/2pac.jhtml 56. ^ Top Musical Artists for 2006 57. ^ Me Against the World, Notes, by CD Universe, Me Against the World and Dear Mama nominated for Grammy. 58. ^ All Eyez on Me Album, Notes section, by CD Universe, All Eyez on Me Grammy Nominations 59. ^ http://www.cdunivers e.com/productinfo.as p?pid=1076506&BA B=A Greatest Hits Album, Notes section, by CD Universe, retrieved on 18, January, 2006.] 60. ^ BET.com - Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur To Be Inducted Into Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame 61. ^ MTV2 Presents: 22 Greatest MC's broadcast July 2003 62. ^ VH1 Hip Hop Honorees 2004 63. ^ Turks and Caicos International Film Festival - Festival To Honor John Debney and Tupac Shakur, Friday, October 13 64. ^ Jacques Agnant vs Estate of Tupac Shakur (Compl. P 15) 65. ^ Hip Hop Icon 2Pac Scheduled To Drop 2 Albums This Year External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tupac Shakur * 2Pac Legacy (Official website) * TupacNation (Tupac Fansite) * Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation for the Arts * Tupac Legacy Tour * Tupac Shakur at the Internet Movie Database [hide] v • d • e Tupac Shakur Discography Studio albums: 2Pacalypse Now · Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. · Thug Life: Volume 1 · Me Against the World · All Eyez on Me · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory Posthumously created studio albums: R U Still Down? (Remember Me) · Still I Rise · Until the End of Time · Better Dayz · Loyal to the Game · Pac's Life Other albums: Poetic Justice (Original Soundtrack) · Above the Rim (Original Soundtrack) · Gridlock'd (Original Soundtrack) · Gang Related (Original Soundtrack) · Greatest Hits · The Rose that Grew from Concrete · The Prophet: The Best Of The Works · Nu-Mixx Klazzics · Tupac: Resurrection (Original Soundtrack) · 2Pac Live · The Rose, Vol. 2 · Tupac: Live at the House of Blues · A 2Pac Tribute: Dare 2 Struggle · Evolution: Duets & Remixes · Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991 Singles Solo singles: "Brenda's Got a Baby" · "If My Homie Calls" · "Trapped" · "Keep Ya Head Up" · "Papa'z Song" · "Holla If Ya Hear Me" · "Dear Mama" · "Old School" · "So Many Tears" · "Temptations" · "Life Goes On" · "To Live & Die in LA" · "Hail Mary" · "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" · "Do For Love" · "Changes" · "Runnin'" · "Happy Home" · "Unconditional Love" · "Until the End of Time" · "Letter 2 My Unborn" Collaborations and other songs: "I Get Around" · "Cradle to the Grave" · "Pour Out A Little Liquor" · "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" · "California Love" · "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" · "How Do U Want It" · "Hit 'Em Up" · "All Bout U" · "I Ain't Mad at Cha" ·"Toss It Up" · "Wanted Dead or Alive" · "Made Niggaz" · "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)" · "Thugz Mansion" · "Still Ballin" · "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" · "One Day at a Time (Em's Version)" · "Thugs Get Lonely Too" · "Ghetto Gospel" · "Untouchable" · "Pac's Life" Filmography Nothing but Trouble · Juice · Poetic Justice · Above the Rim · Bullet · Gridlock'd · Gang Related · Tupac: Resurrection · Live 2 Tell Documentaries Tupac Shakur: Thug Immortal · Tupac Shakur: Words Never Die (TV) · Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake... · Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw · Biggie & Tupac · 2Pac 4 Ever · Tupac: Resurrection · Tupac vs. · Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius (TV) · So Many Years, So Many Tears · Notorious (TV) Companies Non-Stop Productions · Joshua's Dream Corporation · Thug Nation · 24/7 Productions · Out Da Gutta Records · Amaru Entertainment · Makaveli Branded Clothing Persondata NAME Shakur, Tupac ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tupac Amaru Shakur, Tupac, Pac, 2Pac, and Makaveli SHORT DESCRIPTION American rap artist, actor, activist, and poet DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1971 PLACE OF BIRTH New York City, New York DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1996 PLACE OF DEATH Las Vegas, Nevada Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Tupac_Shak ur" Categories: Semi-protected | Articles with unsourced statements since May 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | Wikipedia articles needing factual verification | Tupac Shakur | 1971 births | 1996 deaths | African American musicians | African-American actors | American film actors | American murder victims | American poets | American rappers | Gang members | American screenwriters | Death Row Records artists | Deaths by firearm in the United States | Freestyle rappers | Guinness World Record holders | Hip hop activists | Interscope Records artists | Murdered rappers | Murdered entertainers | New York musicians | People from New York City | Unsolved murders!!!! BUT IS TYPAC REALYY DEAD???? The uncontested facts: After leaving the Tyson fight on Saturday September 7, 1996 Tupac was alledgedly shot 5 times. He lived through the shooting and was taken to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead on Friday September 13, 1996. The suspicious facts: Friday the 13th is a very suspicious day. There were never any pictures released of Tupac in the hospital. In the song "Life Goes On", Tupac raps about his own funeral. The driver of the car in which Tupac was riding, Suge Knight (the executive producer of Death Row Records), didn't show up for questioning about the shooting. The video "I ain't Mad at Cha" was released only a few days after his death. "I ain't Mad at Cha" is track 13 on the album All Eyes On Me. The video shows Tupac as an angel in heaven. In the video, Tupac was shot after leaving a theater with a friend, which is very similar to how he was shot in real life. Interestingly, Tupac dies in his last video released under the name "Tupac". His new video "Toss It Up" from the new album was released under the name "Makaveli". The second video to be released by the name Makaveli is "To Live and Die in L.A." But how could they shoot the second video when he is "dead". Do you really think the video was shot 4 months ago, back in August of '96? Think about it. In the video "Hail Mary" released under the name Makaveli, there is a gravestone that says Makaveli. But the gravestone is cracked and there is a hole right in front of it, inferring that Makaveli rose from the dead. A shooting involving Snoop Doggy Dogg occured close to the release of his album Doggystyle. The shooting made Snoop appear more "real" and showed his fans that he really was a gangsta. The shooting gave him respect because everyone that bought his album believed what he was talking about. Within one week of its release, Doggystyle went platnium. Snoop is signed to the same label as Tupac which is Death Row Records. In December '96, Tupac's new album went platinum. In interviews prior to the shooting, Tupac talked about how he wanted to stop rapping and being a gangsta and get out of the limelight. What is the only way Tupac could completly escape the media spotlight ??? (Answer: if the public thought he was dead.) There are no suspects for the shooting. Press wasn't going to be allowed at the funeral, but then the funeral was cancelled for unknown reasons. Tupac always wore a bulletproof vest, no matter where he went. Why didn't he wear it to a very public event like a Tyson fight? (Because he wanted to make it seem like he could be shot.) In most of his songs he talks about being buried, so why was he allegedly cremated the day after he "died"? And since when do they cremate someone the day after death without an autopsy? Furthermore, it is illegal to bury someone who has been murdered without an autopsy. The new Tupac album released on Nov. 5, and was originally supposed to be an EP of 6 songs, but was then extended to a full length album of 12 songs. Tupac's alias is Makaveli. Though the spelling is different, Machiavelli was a 16th century italian philosopher who advocated the staging of one's death in order to evade one's enemies and gain power. In Machiavelli's book Discourses Upon the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, in Book 2 Chapter XIII he says "a prince who wishes to achieve great things must learn to deceive". This is Machiavelli's main idea and is the connection between Tupac and the writings of Machiavelli. The title of the new album by Makaveli (Tupac) is The 7 Day Theory. He was shot on September 7th; and survived on the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and"died" the 13th. Hence the title The 7 Day Theory. Tupac's album All Eyes on Me was released on Feb.13, 1996. Tupac "died" on Sept.13, 1996. It is quite a coincidence that the two dates are exactly 7 months apart. an animated gif of Tupac winking Tupac officially died at 4:03 PM. 4+3 = 7 Also he "died" at an age of 25 years. 2+5 = 7 It seems as if seven is Tupac's number. There is nothing in the new album that says TUPAC RIP 1971-1996. Wouldn't it make sense to include something like that in the first album after his "death"? The only thing mentioned is "EXIT TUPAC ENTER MAKAVELI". The executive producer of The 7 Day Theory , as listed in the CD booklet of the album, is Simon (who is a previously unknown producer in the rap music industry). In the bible, Simon was an apostle of Jesus. Simon was one of the first witnesses of the Resurrection listed by Saint Paul (I Cor. 15: 5). Could Simon be a reference to Suge Knight(the executive producer of Death Row records)? Simon was renamed "Peter, the rock" (John 1:42). In Richie Rich's album Seasoned Veteran, which was released on the same day as The 7 Day Theory, on the song "N*ggas Done Changed" which is a duet with Tupac, Tupac says the following lyrics: "I've been shot and murdered, can't tell you how it happened word for word / but best believe that n*ggas' gonna get what they deserve." This phrase implies that Tupac knows he will be dead when Richie Rich's album is released. In Makaveli's (Tupac's) song "White Man's World" on album The 7 Day Theory, he says "We ain't never gonna walk off this planet unless ya'll choose to." Did he choose to walk off the planet by faking his death? In Tupac's song "Ambitionz az a Ridah" on the album All Eyes On Me, he says "Blast me but they didn't finish, didn't diminish my powers so now I'm back to be a muthaf*ckin' menace, they cowards thats why they tried to set me up, had b*tch *ss n*ggas on my team so indeed they wet me up, BUT I'M BACK REINCARNATED." This implies that Tupac is reincarnated as Makaveli. In Tupac's song "Life of an Outlaw" on the album The 7 Day Theory, he says "All for the street fame on how to be managed, to plan sh*t, 6 months in advance to what we plotted, approved to go on swole and now I got it"-Life Of An Outlaw. This implies that Tupac planned his "death" in advance and now he is enjoying the success of his plan. In Tupac's song "Made Niggaz" from the Supercop Soundtrack, he says "F*ck 'em all who don't understand my plot to get richer... Outlaw to the grave, a muthaf*ckin' made nigga I got a plan to get richer. Take my picture." Once again he mentions his "plan" to get rich. In E-40's album Hall Of Game in the song "Million Dollar Spot" which is a duet with Tupac, Tupac says, "Fans can't understand my ghetto slang, so i evade and plot and plan a life of better things...." Once again Tupac mentions his "plan". In Tupac's song "Ain't Hard 2 Find" on the album All Eyes On Me, he says "I heard rumors I died, murdered in cold blood, tramatized pictures of me in my final states, you know momma cryed, but that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted." It seems as if Tupac foretold the future. Scarface's song "Smile", which is a duet with Tupac, was supposedly recorded in September of '96, before Tupac was "shot". But the video for the song was released in May of '97 and the video depicts Tupac rapping while he appears to be crucified. At the end of the video, Tupac falls off the cross and stands up...which is another image of resurection. Towards the end of the video, it becomes slightly apparent that Tupac is actually portrayed by a look-alike. I still wonder, if he is really dead, then why do they keep making everyone so suspicious??? In the video for "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto" the town it takes place in is called Rukahs. "Rukahs" spelled backwards is "Shakur". The room he goes into with the girl is room number 7. The clock in the background at the end is at 4:03...the same time he officially died. More funny stuff from the video producers. My question still remains, why? In Tupac's song "No More Pain" on the album All Eyes On Me, he says "A heart of a soldier with the brains to teach a whole nation." Could this be a reference to Machievelli or Jesus? On the cover of The 7 Day Theory, there is a picture of Tupac being crucified. This fits with the idea that Tupac "died" so he could be reincarnated as Makaveli. In the picture, there are five bullet holes. Interestingly, Tupac was "shot" 5 times. The only witness to the shooting, Yafeu Fula, was found shot to death on Nov. 10th in a hallway of an apartment building in East Orange, NJ. Hmm...now no one will get any info out of him. (for more info on his death, click here.) After the shooting of Notorious B.I.G. on March 9th, 1997 Lieutenant Wayne Petersen of the the homicide division of the Las Vegas Police Department who has been investigating Shakur's alleged killing said, "Before yesterday, I had never even heard of the Notorious B.I.G. There is no link between the two murders. We think the only connection is in the minds of the media. The media wants to connect the two." If you asked anyone who knows anything about the Tupac case, they would say something about the rivalry between Biggie and Tupac. How will the Las Vegas police ever solve the case if they don't know the basics? The answer is that they won't. C'mon guys, that is pretty pathetic. According to my friend Roger as well as numerous other sources, in the first three seconds of The 7 Day Theory, the words "Suge shot me" are spoken very softly. Check it out for yourself, but that certainly is suspicious and it must mean something. Click here for the sample as it appears on the CD. According to Neal, on the song "Thug Luv" which is a duet with Tupac on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's double CD Art Of War after Tupac says "whuz poppin' n*gga", Bizzy Bone can be heard saying "He's Alive He's Alive He's Alive" in the background. Click here for the sample. During an interview, an ABC correspondent asked Suge Knight, "If you knew who killed Tupac, would you tell the police?". Suge answered, "Absolutely not." On November 25, 1997 a new 2 Pac album will be released on Jive Records called R U Still Down. It is being released under the name "2 Pac" not "Makaveli". This implies many things...does this mean that "2 pac" is back? I have heard there is a "new" artist called "Blac Haze". The song that I have heard by them is called "Let Me Holla At Cha". A clip can be downloaded here from the site Exit-2 pac-Enter-Makaveli. The rapper sounds like Tupac, at least to me. Check it out for yourself. In the video "Heaven Gotta Ghetto", the license plate of the car that he gets in with the older man reads "61671". Another obvious occurance of the number seven and the sum of seven (6+1). This bit of info comes from Michael Penn: In the CD booklet of the "R U Still Down" album the it is written "Keep the faith in me I wont let u down...love 2pac". Can he be advising us not to dwell on his "death" because he is coming back? This comes from Mike Frankel: If you rearrange the letters in the album title "Makaveli The Don Killuminati The 7Day Theory" You can make the sentence "Ok on tha 7th u think I'm dead yet I'm really alive". Mike explains "7th meaning the 7th day after he was shot, he supposedly died but is really alive." That's quite amazing, try it for yourself. Doesn't all this sound a bit too ridiculous, although there is no specific fact that makes my theory valid, there is nothing the obviously disproves it, but it all adds up to something, there must be something funny going on. Don't you think? Song Samples Life Goes On (672K) I Get Around (663K) Video Clips I Get Around I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto How Do You Want It California Love I Ain't Mad at Cha Links A great interview with Tupac. The official Death Row Records web site. A link to a great Tupac web page. There is a wide variety of info. A good place to search for lyrics is the hip hop lyrics archive other Tupac links my Notorious B.I.G. page Although this doesn't provide any evidence about Tupac's death, it is interesting. If you rearrange the letters of "makaveli", you get "mak alive", or make alive. Remember how Tupac spelled Machiavelli as Makaveli? Well, he is probably spelling Calumniate as Killuminati. Calumniate means to make false or slanderous statements. Follow this link to find out about another person's opinion about what Killuminati means. Any questions, comments, or information that you would like to direct to me are appreciated via subseven@aol.com Having trouble printing this page? Here is the plain text version of this page. The ideas on this page have been developed by Mike, Nick, and Jason. The ideas expressed are not in anyway meant to disrespect the life of Tupac, but merely meant to bringanother idea to light. Tina has also been another source of info that has been a great help. This page has been viewed times by curious Tupac (Makaveli) fans since October 31, 1996. last updated 4/6/99 This page's location is http://members.aol.c om/subseven/tupac.ht ml © 1999. All Rights Reserved?!!! ANd I LIke these akuankka nimi väännöksetLuettelo Aku Ankan nimiväännöksistä Wikipedia Loikkaa: valikkoon, hakuun Disney-sarjakuvien suomennoksissa on jo yli 50 vuotta harrastettu tunnettujen henkilöiden yms. nimistä tehtyjä sananmuunnoksia ja väännöksiä. 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Haluatko miljonääriksi? Damdidam Bumtsibum Kerkko Kurppa Hannu Karpo Uutiskuono Uutisvuoto Artsi Uusivuori Arto Nyberg Simpsulan perhe Simpsonit Sallitut elämät Silatut eläimet Salatut elämät Koreat ja raukeat Kauniit ja rohkeat [muokkaa] Elokuvat Nimiväännös Mikä Indiana Hopo ja Muonion tomppeli Indiana Jones ja tuomion temppeli Tätien setä Tähtien sota Jäden paluu Jedin paluu [muokkaa] Kirjailijat Nimiväännös Kuka Jyri Terva Jari Tervo Tommi Toopermann Tommy Tabermann Julle Päätulo Kalle Päätalo Keijo Käki Reijo Mäki Viljami Säkinperä William Shakespeare Ernesti Hemmikivei Ernest Hemingway [muokkaa] Vaatemerkit ja suunnittelijat Nimiväännös Kuka Ducci Gucci Gior Christian Dior Yrjö Armaani Giorgio Armani Miu Mau Miu Miu tölkki & köppänä dolce & gabbana [muokkaa] Muut Nimiväännös Kuka tai mikä Visa Koskinen Vesa Keskinen Aatu Apina Aku Ankka (lehti) Villi-Anssi (formula-auton kyljessä) Williams F1 Olusen rekat Guinnessin ennätysten kirja Termospullo (purjelaiva) Thermopylae Kuttusakki (purjelaiva) Cutty Sark Tukkimies (tavaratalo) Stockmann Heksagon (Ankkalinnan puolustuskeskus) Pentagon Vili Portti Gill Bates Bill Gates Ali Kaponen La Pekoni Al Capone Sirkus Cariola Tivoli Sariola Beta Romeo Alfa Romeo Pörräri Ferrari Tiede 5000 -lehti Tiede 2000 -lehti (nykyään pelkkä Tiede) Tieteen Kuivalehti Tieteen Kuvalehti Kiirastulen Kerubit Helvetin Enkelit Klaudia Kihveli Claudia Schiffer Ankkateeminen kirjakauppa Akateeminen kirjakauppa Poni ja kaide Bonnie ja Clyde Kalutut palat Valitut palat Valintalato Valintatalo Hard Duck Halitulihei Hard Rock Hallelujah Anknick, Ankkanik RMS Titanic Ankkalinnanmäki Linnanmäki Ankkalandia Finlandia Jonne Purkka Janne Porkka Iso Pena Big Ben Hanhilampi Joutsenlampi Ankkatraz Alcatraz Ankkerheimintie Mannerheimintie Ankalliskirjasto Kansalliskirjasto Ankallismuseo Kansallismuseo Ankallisteatteri Kansallisteatteri Ison talon Ankka Ison talon Antti!!!!!!! AND AXU LIKES RONALDINHO! Ronaldinho From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since June 2007. For other persons named Ronaldinho, see Ronaldinho (disambiguation). For other persons named Ronaldo, see Ronaldo (disambiguation). Ronaldinho Personal information Full name Ronaldo de Assís Moreira Date of birth March 21, 1980 (1980-03-21) (age 27) Place of birth Flag of Brazil Porto Alegre, Brazil Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Playing position Attacking midfielder Club information Current club Flag of Spain FC Barcelona Number 10 Youth clubs 1997–1998 Flag of Brazil Grêmio Senior clubs1 Years Club App (Gls)* 1998–2001 2001–2003 2003– Flag of Brazil Grêmio Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain Flag of Spain Barcelona 110 (37) 055 (17) 128 (61) National team2 1999– Flag of Brazil Brazil 074 (29) 1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 June 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2007. * Appearances (Goals) Ronaldo de Assís Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre) is a Brazilian footballer, also known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho (due to him being from the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil), or simply and most commonly Ronaldinho. He became a naturalized Spanish citizen in January 2007.[1] Ronaldinho (IPA - [χonawˈdʒĩɲu]), meaning "little Ronaldo", is better know in Brazil by the nickname Ronaldinho Gaúcho, in order to distinguish him from Ronaldo (already called Ronaldinho in Brazil). However, upon Ronaldo's move to Europe, he began to be known simply as 'Ronaldo', thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop Gaúcho and remain simply as 'Ronaldinho'. Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005), as well as the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award twice (2005, 2006).[2] He has downplayed suggestions that he is the best footballer in the world, telling FourFourTwo magazine, "I don't even feel I'm the best at Barça." [3] Currently, he plays for FC Barcelona as forward. His contract with FC Barcelona expires in 2010 and his buyout clause is €125M.[4] Contents [hide] * 1 Early life * 2 Club career o 2.1 Grêmio o 2.2 Paris Saint-Germain o 2.3 Barcelona + 2.3.1 2003-04 season + 2.3.2 2004-05 season + 2.3.3 2005-06 season + 2.3.4 2006-07 season * 3 International career o 3.1 Under 17 championship Egypt 1997 o 3.2 Copa America 1999 o 3.3 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup o 3.4 2002 World Cup o 3.5 2005 Confederations Cup o 3.6 2006 World Cup o 3.7 After the World Cup * 4 Business and trivia * 5 Honors * 6 Notes * 7 References * 8 External links Early life Ronaldinho was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Ronaldinho's mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and footballer for Cruzeiro. The family moved to a more affluent home in Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was eight, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. This house was given to Roberto Assis as a present from Gremio to convince him to stay at the club. At the time, Torino were interested in him. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator.[5][6] Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on February 25, 2005. João's mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.[7] In his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team, at just 13 years of age.[3] His reputation as a footballer was built up through his childhood, particularly since he was identified as a rising star at the Egypt 1997 under-17 world championship.[8] He scored two goals in the tournament, both penalty kicks.[9] Club career Grêmio Ronaldinho's career began in the youth team at Porto Alegre club Grêmio, under head coach Celso Roth, who only played him due to immense pressure from the Gremio supporters. His first senior appearance came in the 1998 Libertadores Cup,[10] and his penchant for goalscoring was quickly displayed, his career soon generating interest due to his phenomenal ball control and ability to score. This was followed by his introduction into the Brazilian national team in 1999. Towards the end of his career at Grêmio, in 2001, many clubs from all over the world, particularly Premiership teams in England such as Arsenal who tried but failed, were eager to sign him as an attempt to attain a player who was both a "big name" and was also performing well. Despite several generous bids from Premiership teams (who would not have been able to sign him due to work permit restrictions) and several requests from Grêmio (they offered £ 7000-a-week), Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC, to which he moved at the beginning of the following season. Paris Saint-Germain In 2001 Ronaldinho left Grêmio to play European football. Despite attempts to sign him from larger clubs,[11] he opted to play for PSG. During his time at PSG, the manager, Luis Fernandez, claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than on his football, and complained that his holidays in Brazil would always drag on and never end at the scheduled times.[10] After the 2002 World Cup, having shown his worth on the international scene, there was no shortage of interest from bigger clubs. In 2003, Ronaldinho made it clear he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for any European competitions. Ronaldinho's desire to leave set off a bidding war among the top European clubs (Manchester United and FC Barcelona the notable examples) for his services.[10] The club that ended up winning the battle for his services was FC Barcelona. Manchester United also wanted him, but due to the constraints of being a PLC, could not come to an agreement with PSG Barcelona Ronaldinho in 2004. Ronaldinho in 2004. On July 19, 2003, FC Barcelona acquired Ronaldinho for £21 million.[12] Originally, Barcelona chairman Joan Laporta had promised to bring David Beckham to the club, but following his transfer to Real Madrid, Barcelona entered the running for Ronaldinho and beat Manchester United to his signature. It was thought that a failure on the part of the English and French clubs to agree on a fee was the reason Manchester United's deal fell through. Ronaldinho is also said to have signed with Barcelona instead of Manchester United because of his friendship with former Nike executive in Brazil and Barcelona's then vice-president in charge of sports, Sandro Rosell.[13] Ronaldinho's signing with Barcelona follows in the footsteps of a number of illustrious fellow countrymen who enjoyed successful careers with the club, including Romário, Ronaldo and Rivaldo. 2003-04 season Barcelona quickly showcased the talents of their new striker in an exhibition match against AC Milan. The match took place in front of a crowd of 45,000 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Barcelona had a 1-0 lead through most of the first half, and they increased their lead to 2-0 when Ronaldinho scored in the 51st minute. Having received a short pass from Xavi, Ronaldinho fired a shot that spun around Fernando Redondo and into the net, landing him his first goal for the club. After returning from injury in the first half of the campaign, Ronaldinho continued to justify his price tag by leading Barcelona to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 2003/2004 season. 2004-05 season Along with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Xavi, Ludovic Giuly and Henrik Larsson, Ronaldinho comprised part of a strike force which helped bring the 2004-05 La Liga title for FC Barcelona. On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko. It was then that Barcelona rejected a £60 million bid made for him by Chelsea F.C., according to Sandro Rosell.[10] . In March 2005, Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea in the first knockout round. Ronaldinho scored a penalty kick and an impressive solo goal in the 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge. [14] After the match, he was involved in a physical altercation with Chelsea stewards following allegations that the stewards had behaved in a racist and provocative manner.[15] Neither team was punished by UEFA, who downplayed the incident as "a very minor scuffle" and lacked firm evidence about the alleged racism.[16] In June 2005, Rosell resigned from the Barcelona administration following a bust-up with Joan Laporta, and it was feared that his resignation would spell the end for Ronaldinho and Barcelona's association as well. With Ronaldinho's contract running only into 2008, he was offered a contract until 2014 that would net him £85 million over those 9 years,[13] which he rejected. Later that year in September, he signed a two-year extension of his original contract on with FC Barcelona. The new contract contains a minimum fee release clause that allows him to leave should a club make an offer to Barcelona of at least £85 million for him.[17] 2005-06 season This article or section may contain an unstructured timeline. Please help convert this timeline into prose or, if necessary, a list. (help) On November 19, 2005, Ronaldinho scored two solo goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid followers gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which had not occurred since Diego Maradona played for Barcelona in 1985. In September 2005, Ronaldinho was crowned FIFPro World Player of the Year, an award voted for by his fellow professionals. He was also named in the FIFPro team of the year alongside the likes of Zidane and Maldini. In November 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the 2004-05 Champions League. In 2005, Ronaldinho became the third Brazilian to win the Ballon d'Or. On December 19, 2005, he was again named FIFA World Player of the Year with 956 points, more than three times the 306 points of Chelsea's Frank Lampard, who finished second in the poll, and the 190 points of Barcelona team mate Samuel Eto'o who finished third. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006. On March 7, 2006, in the 2nd leg of the Champions League first knockout round at Nou Camp, Ronaldinho avenged Barcelona's defeat to Chelsea in the same competition the previous year, running past the Chelsea defence to score. Although the game ended 1-1 with Chelsea equalling through a dubious penalty in the second half stoppage time[18][19], Barcelona progressed to the Champions League quarter-final on aggregate (3-2), in which they beat SL Benfica 2-0 at Nou Camp (Ronaldinho having scored the first goal after missing an early penalty kick) after a goalless draw at the Estádio da Luz. In the first semi-final leg, against AC Milan in the San Siro, Ronaldinho once again proved his worth with a superb pass for the goal volleyed in by Ludovic Giuly, which brought Barcelona a 1-0 victory. The second leg game ended in a goalless draw despite a disallowed goal from Andriy Shevchenko in the 70th minute. The 0-0 result with AC Milan brought Barcelona to the 2006 Champions League Final in Paris against Arsenal F.C., who had not conceded a goal in ten Champions League matches, a competition record. On May 3, 2006, Barcelona were crowned 2005-06 La Liga champions after they beat Celta Vigo 1-0. On May 17, 2006, Barcelona became European champions after defeating Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League final. In this match Ronaldinho was kept relatively subdued and the goals came from Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti, who were both assisted by Henrik Larsson. Ronaldinho finished the season with 26 goals in all competitions, his best goalscoring tally ever. It was rumoured on the 3rd of August that Ronaldinho might move to AC Milan, but Ronaldinho denied it. On August 24, 2006, Ronaldinho was named Champions League player of the year for the 2005-06 season. 2006-07 season This article or section may contain an unstructured timeline. Please help convert this timeline into prose or, if necessary, a list. (help) Ronaldinho celebrates a goal with Belletti and Giuly. Ronaldinho celebrates a goal with Belletti and Giuly. On September 12, 2006, Ronaldinho gave a stellar display as the defending champions Barcelona beat PFC Levski Sofia 5-0 in the Champions League. He was involved in two of the goals before wrapping up the win with a stunning strike in the final minute.[1] On November 25, 2006, Ronaldinho scored his 50th league goal against Villarreal during a Spanish League match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. In that same match he scored a second goal by an over head bicycle kick, after controlling the ball with his chest. He later said that it was a goal he had dreamed of scoring since he was a boy.[20] On December 5, 2006, Ronaldinho scored a low free kick against Werder Bremen in the first round of the Champions League to help Barcelona to a 2-0 win and send them through to the next round. He tricked the Bremen defenders by sending his free-kick under the wall, when his trademark is to bend it high, for Barcelona’s first goal and then picked out team mate Ludovic Giuly who passed to Eidur Gudjohnsen for the second.[21] On December 14, 2006, Ronaldinho inspired Barcelona to beat Mexico's Club America 4-0 by scoring one and setting up two other goals to book a spot in the final of the Club World Cup at Yokohama, Japan where Brazil lifted their fifth World Cup trophy in 2002.[22] On December 17, 2006, at the same Yokohama Stadium, Ronaldinho's efforts were not enough to beat his ex-rival team, the Sport Club Internacional, from Brazil. Barcelona lost 1-0 in the final. Ronaldinho won the Bronze ball award for the tournament. The next day Ronaldinho appeared at the World Player of the Year Gala in Zurich to claim third place in the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year poll, behind the Italian World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane.[23] In January, 2007, Ronaldinho was named among the UEFA Team of the Year for the third time in a row, receiving the highest number of votes in almost 292,000 nominations.[2] On January 28, 2007, Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti announced his intention to bid for Ronaldinho in response to AC Milan's acquisition of Ronaldo just days before [24]. On March 13, 2007, the FC Barcelona playmaker was scheduled to play for Marcello Lippi's European XI, but he withdrew because of an injury he picked up during the 3-3 draw with Real Madrid on Saturday evening. Lippi's squad lost to Sir Alex Ferguson's premiership leading Manchester United side by a 4-3 score line.[25].[3] International career Ronaldinho is one of few players to play at every footballing level, for he has played at under 15, under 17, under 20, under 23, and senior level. He made his first ever appearance for Brazil playing against Scotland on the 7th of March 1995 in an under 15s match, Brazil lost the game 1-0. Under 17 championship Egypt 1997 Ronaldinho was part of the first ever Brazilian team to win the Under 17s championship. His first goal was scored from a penalty against Austria in the first group match, which Brazil won 7-0, and eventually went on to finish top of their group. In the quarter-finals Brazil beat Argentina 2-0, in which Ronaldinho was named the Man of the match after setting up his teammate Fabio Pinto and creating numerous scoring chances. In the semi-finals Brazil had there first game against a European team, they had to play Germany, Brazil won the match 4-0 and Ronaldinho scored the fourth goal with a penalty. In the final Brazil had to play reigning champions Ghana, the game went 1-0 up for Ghana just before the half time break, only for Brazil to win the game 2-1 with the second goal being scored in the 87th minute. During the six matches of the tournament Brazil conceded only 2 goals and scored 21. Ronaldinho was named one of the best players of the tournament, receiving the Bronze Ball award. After the under 17's championship, he debuted for the Brazilian national team on June 26, 1999 against Latvia in a game which Brazil won 3-0. Copa America 1999 Ronaldinho first tournament participation with the Brazilian national team came in when he was included in the Brazilian squad that won the 1999 Copa América. He scored a goal against Venezuela in the 1999 Copa América, a game that the Brazilian team won 7-0. 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Ronaldinho was both top player and scorer in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He scored in all of the games of the tournament including a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals to give Brazil a 8-2 win. Although Brazil lost to Mexico 4-3 in the final in which Ronaldinho did not participate due to injury. 2002 World Cup Ronaldinho played a part in Brazil's successful 2002 campaign to win the World Cup, forming the famed "3 R's" with Ronaldo and Rivaldo. He scored two goals in the tournament. One of the highlights was an unconventional 30-yard free kick he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka. The ball lobbed over the English keeper David Seaman, who was out of position as he expected a pass into the penalty area, to make it 2-1 for Brazil. Soon after, he was sent off for a foul on Danny Mills. Following the sending-off, he was suspended for the semifinal, but returned to Brazil's starting line-up for the 2-0 victory over Germany in the final. Ronaldinho playing against Switzerland Ronaldinho playing against Switzerland 2005 Confederations Cup On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad that won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, and was named Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over Argentina in the final. 2006 World Cup In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldinho was a starting player for all of Brazil's five matches, but his performances were considered disappointing by both fans and commentators. He scored no goals and made only one assist (for Gilberto's goal in a 4-1 victory over Japan). When Brazil were eliminated by France 1-0 in the quarterfinal, he failed to make an impression.[26] Immediately after the World Cup disappointment, the team was criticized by many Brazilians, and vandals immolated and destroyed a 7.5-meter (23-foot) tall fiberglass and resin statue of Ronaldinho in the Brazilian city of Chapecó.[27] The statue had been erected in 2004 to celebrate his first election as FIFA World Player of the Year. Two days after the loss, Ronaldinho, joined by Adriano, returned to Barcelona and held a party at his home, which was continued into the early morning hours at a nightclub. This increased the feeling of Brazilian fans that they were betrayed by the lack of effort from their national team.[28] This reaction contrasted with other players such as Rogerio Ceni, who was ashamed of the game and said "some defeats are marked by struggle, but we lost in an infelicitous way, that wasn't what we had hoped for"[29] and Zé Roberto, who cried and said that "the unity that we had outside the pitch, lacked inside it".[30] After the World Cup After the World Cup, he has played in three of five official matches under Dunga's command (one start and two substitute appearances). After coming off the bench against Ecuador, Ronaldinho excelled, creating the winning goal for Kaká and hitting the post twice. On March 24, 2007, Ronaldinho made his first start for Brazil since September 2006 and scored twice in Brazil's 4-0 win against Chile, putting an end to a scoreless streak that lasted nearly two years.[4] Business and trivia This section has been identified as trivia. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items. This article has been tagged since June 2007. * In December 2005, Ronaldinho and Mauricio de Sousa, a famous Brazilian comic book author, announced the creation of cartoon characters based on Ronaldinho, his brother and his mother. In the UK, the comic is published exclusively in children's football magazine, KiCK!, while in Spain it is being published by Panini Comics and in Greece by Compupress. * Ronaldinho appears in advertising campaigns for international companies Nike, Pepsi, ASPIRE, and Lenovo, as well as at least eight brands in Brazil, including Kibon.[31] * Ronaldinho appears on the front cover of Electronic Arts games FIFA Soccer 06, FIFA 07 along with Wayne Rooney, FIFA 08. He was also on the front cover of FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup on the Xbox 360.[32] * He has surpassed David Beckham as the most marketable player in the world, generating $57.8m (£30.8m) annually,[33] though still trails Beckham in estimated yearly income.[34] * After playing a friendly match in Stockholm, Ronaldinho received a trophy rating him as the best Brazilian Player in history, according to a survey by Swedish television. [35] * Ronaldinho played in the largest friendly soccer match hosted in the United States when his Barcelona team played Chivas Guadalajara at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[36] * Ronaldinho newly presented his new series of clothing; R10. He has created different clothing and a new boot. * Ronaldinho shares his birthday with a famous fellow Brazilian F1 driver, the late Ayrton Senna, born 20 years before him. * He has been voted into the all-time favourite Gremio team in a survey conducted by the Brazilian Placar magazine at the end of 2006. * He is engaged with the top French model Alexandra Paressant. Honors Club * Rio Grande do Sul State Championship: 1999 * Spanish Liga: 2005, 2006 * Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006 * UEFA Champions League: 2006 * FIFA Club World Cup 2006: Runners-up International * FIFA U-17 World Cup: 1997 * Copa America: 1999 * FIFA World Cup: 2002 * Confederations Cup: 2005 Individual * Pelé named Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004. * FIFA World Player of the Year: 2004, 2005 * World Soccer Player of the Year: 2004, 2005 * European Footballer of the Year: 2005 * FIFPro World Player of the Year 2005, 2006 * FIFPro World XI: 2005, 2006 * Onze d'Or: 2005 * UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2005-06 * FIFA All-Star team: 2002 * FIFA World Club Cup Bronze Ball Award: 2006 Preceded by Zinedine Zidane FIFA World Player of the Year 2004, 2005 Succeeded by Fabio Cannavaro Preceded by Pavel Nedvěd World Soccer Player of the Year 2004, 2005 Succeeded by Fabio Cannavaro Preceded by Andriy Shevchenko European Footballer of the Year 2005 Succeeded by Fabio Cannavaro Preceded by inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year 2005, 2006 Succeeded by current holder Preceded by Steven Gerrard UEFA Club Footballer of the Year 2005-06 Succeeded by current holder Notes 1. ^ Ronaldinho Becoming the Face of Soccer, Jack Bell, nytimes.com, 26 March 2007, acccessed 26 March 2007. 2. ^ "Ronaldinho's juggling act", USA Today, 2006-04-18. Retrieved on 2006-06-13. 3. ^ a b Mitten, Andy. "The Master", FourFourTwo, January 2006, pp. 72-74. 4. ^ http://www.chinadail y.com.cn/english/doc /2005-09/01/content_ 474139.htm 5. ^ Webster, Justin. "Homage from Catalonia", Guardian, June 5, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-05-20. 6. ^ Wahl, Grant. "One-on-one with Ronaldinho", Sports Illustrated, June 1, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-14. 7. ^ "Ronaldinho Gaúcho fala sobre seu filho pela primeira vez", UOL Esporte, 2005-08-24. Retrieved on 2006-05-20. 8. ^ Egypt 1997: Brazil restore some pride. FIFA.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-26. 9. ^ Egypt 1997 goalscorers. FIFA.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-26. 10. ^ a b c d Radnedge, Keir, "The priceless prince of Barcelona", World Soccer, January 2005, pp. 8-9 11. ^ "Arsene KO'd in Dinho bid", The Sun. Retrieved on 2007-04-12. 12. ^ "Ronaldinho joins Barcelona", BBC Sport website, July 20, 2003. 13. ^ a b Lowe, Sid, "Friends and enemies", World Soccer, August 2005, pp. 18-21 14. ^ "Chelsea 4-2 Barcelona", BBC Sport, 8 March, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-06-27. 15. ^ Hughes, Matt. "Race row spoils Chelsea triumph", Evening Standard / FindArticles, 2005-03-09. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 16. ^ Ziegler, Martyn. "Chelsea and Barca to escape punishment", Irish Examiner, 2005-03-10. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 17. ^ "Ronaldinjo do 2010. u Barseloni", B92, 2005-09-02. Retrieved on 2006-06-14. (in Serbian) 18. ^ "Ronaldinho breaks Chelsea's resolve", telegraph.co.uk, 8 March 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-25. 19. ^ "UEFA Champions League Barcelona v Chelsea Report", ESPNsoccernet, 7 March 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-25. 20. ^ "Ronaldinho fulfils boyhood dream with overhead goal", ESPNsoccernet / Reuters, November 26, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-06. 21. ^ Marzocchi, Massimo. "Ronaldinho conjures yet more magic for Barca", The Scotsman, 14 December 2006. 22. ^ "Ronaldinho turns on style as Barcelona beat Club America 4-0", Yahoo! Asia News, 7 December 2006. 23. ^ "Cannavaro & Ronaldinho: We already feel like winners", FIFA.com, 18 December 2006. 24. ^ "Inter president to rumble AC Milan plans for Ronaldinho", Tribal Football, 7 December 2006. 25. ^ "Ronaldinho misses out", Manutd.com, 13 March 2007. 26. ^ "Ronaldinho no factor in Brazil defeat", Sports Illustrated, July 1, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-07. 27. ^ "Estátua de Ronaldinho é queimada em Santa Catarina", UOL Esporte, 2006-07-03. Retrieved on 2006-07-04. 28. ^ "Decepção da Copa, Ronaldinho "festeja" com comida, dança e balada", Folha Online, 2006-07-04. Retrieved on 2006-07-04. 29. ^ "Envergonhado, Ceni admite superioridade francesa", Terra Esportes, 2006-07-04. Retrieved on 2006-07-04. 30. ^ "Emocionado, Zé Roberto diz que faltou união em campo", Terra Esportes, 2006-07-04. Retrieved on 2006-07-05. 31. ^ Pfanner, Eric. "World Cup stars for sale to top advertising agencies", Toronto Star, May 24, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-19. 32. ^ Electronic Arts Australia (19 August 2005). Freddy Adu and Omar Bravo Join Ronaldinho and Rooney as the Cover Athletes for FIFA 06. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-06-11. 33. ^ "Brazilians rally behind cup favourites", BBC News, 25 May 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-13. 34. ^ "The Celebrity 100", Forbes Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-06-27. 35. ^ http://www.ronaldinh ogaucho.com/html/new s.asp?vDestino=galer ia_news_seleccion 36. ^ "Ronaldinho Helps Sets US Soccer Record in LA", Socal-SanDiego.com, 8 August 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-09. References * FootballDatabase career stats * Ronaldinho profile at BBC Sport website External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ronaldinho Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ronaldinho * Ronaldinho Gaúcho Official Website (Spanish) (Portuguese) (English) (Catalan) * Ronaldinho profile at FC Barcelona website * Ronaldinho profile at FIFA website * Ronaldinho career stats at Soccerbase Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Champions (5th Title) Flag of Brazil 1 Marcos | 2 Cafu | 3 Lúcio | 4 Roque Júnior | 5 Edmílson | 6 Roberto Carlos | 7 Ricardinho | 8 Gilberto Silva | 9 Ronaldo | 10 Rivaldo | 11 Ronaldinho | 12 Dida | 13 Belletti | 14 Anderson Polga | 15 Kléberson | 16 Júnior | 17 Denílson | 18 Vampeta | 19 Juninho | 20 Edílson | 21 Luizão | 22 Rogério Ceni | 23 Kaká | Coach: Scolari Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists Flag of Brazil 1 Dida | 2 Cafu | 3 Lúcio | 4 Juan | 5 Emerson | 6 Roberto Carlos | 7 Adriano | 8 Kaká | 9 Ronaldo | 10 Ronaldinho | 11 Zé Roberto | 12 Rogério Ceni | 13 Cicinho | 14 Luisão | 15 Cris | 16 Gilberto | 17 Gilberto Silva | 18 Mineiro | 19 Juninho | 20 Ricardinho | 21 Fred | 22 Júlio César | 23 Robinho | Coach: Parreira FC Barcelona - Current squad 1 V. Valdés | 2 Belletti | 3 Motta | 4 Márquez | 5 Puyol | 6 Xavi | 7 Guðjohnsen | 8 Giuly | 9 Eto'o | 10 Ronaldinho | 11 Zambrotta | 12 Gio | 15 Edmílson | 16 Sylvinho | 18 Ezquerro | 19 Messi | 20 Deco | 21 Thuram | 22 Saviola | 23 Oleguer | 24 Iniesta | 25 Jorquera | 26 Jesús | 28 Rubén | Coach: Rijkaard Persondata NAME Gaucho, Ronaldinho ALTERNATIVE NAMES de Assis Moreira, Ronaldo SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer DATE OF BIRTH 21 March 1980 PLACE OF BIRTH Porto Alegre, Brazil DATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Ronaldinho " Categories: Cleanup from June 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Wikipedia proseline cleanup | Articles with trivia sections from June 2007 | 1980 births | People from Rio Grande do Sul | Living people | Brazilian footballers | Brazil international footballers | Football (soccer) strikers | Roman Catholics | Afro-Brazilians | Spanish-Brazilians | FIFA 100 | FIFA World Players of the Year | FIFA World Cup 2002 players | FIFA World Cup 2006 players | FIFA World Cup-winning players | European Footballers of the Year | Olympic footballers of Brazil | Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players | Paris Saint-Germain players | La Liga footballers | FC Barcelona footballersFootball (soccer) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Soccer) Jump to: navigation, search “Soccer” redirects here. For other uses, see Soccer (disambiguation). A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. The goalkeeper will attempt to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. The goalkeeper will attempt to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. A goalkeeper dives to stop the ball from entering his goal. A goalkeeper dives to stop the ball from entering his goal. Association football, commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.[1] A ball game, it is played on a rectangular grass field, or occasionally on artificial turf, with a goal at each end of the field. The object of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal; only the goalkeepers may use their hands or arms to propel the ball in general play; the rest of the team generally uses their feet to kick the ball into position, though occasionally they may use their torso or head to intercept a ball in mid air. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition. The modern game was codified in England following the formation of the Football Association, whose 1863 Laws of the Game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today. Football is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), which is commonly known by the acronym FIFA. The most prestigious international football competition is the World Cup, held every four years. This event, the most widely viewed and famous in the world, boasts an audience twice that of the Summer Olympics.[2] Contents [hide] * 1 Nature of the game * 2 History and development * 3 Laws of the game o 3.1 Players, equipment and officials o 3.2 Pitch o 3.3 Duration and tie-breaking methods o 3.4 Ball in and out of play o 3.5 Fouls and misconduct * 4 Governing bodies * 5 Major international competitions * 6 Domestic competitions * 7 Names of the game * 8 References * 9 See also * 10 Further reading * 11 External links Nature of the game A football match at the AOL-Arena in Hamburg, Germany, May 2004. A football match at the AOL-Arena in Hamburg, Germany, May 2004. Football is played in accordance with a set of rules, known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a single round ball (the football) and two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal, thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals, then the game is a draw. There are exceptions to this rule, however; see Duration and tie-breaking methods below. The primary rule is that the players (other than the goalkeepers) may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play (though they do use their hands during a throw-in restart). Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their hands or arms. In typical game play, players attempt to propel the ball toward their opponents' goal through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a team-mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent who controls the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is limited. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play, or when play is stopped by the referee. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart. At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, during the English 2005–06 season of the FA Premier League, an average of 2.48 goals per match were scored.[3] The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of player specialisations have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball in order to pass it to the forwards; players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, in order to discern them from the single goalkeeper. These positions are further differentiated by which side of the field the player spends most time in. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in these positions in any combination (for example, there may be four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards, or three defenders, three midfielders, and four forwards), and the number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders would create a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse would create a slower, more defensive style of play. While players may spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of the players on the pitch is called the team's formation, and defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager. History and development See also: Football and History of football (soccer) Map showing the popularity of football around the world. Countries where football is the most popular sport are coloured green, while countries where it is not are coloured red. The various shades of green and red indicate the number of players per 1,000 inhabitants. Map showing the popularity of football around the world. Countries where football is the most popular sport are coloured green, while countries where it is not are coloured red. The various shades of green and red indicate the number of players per 1,000 inhabitants. Games revolving around the kicking of a ball have been played in many countries throughout history. According to FIFA, the "very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise of precisely this skilful technique dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. in China."[4] In addition, the Roman game Harpastum may be a distant ancestor of football. Various forms of football were played in medieval Europe, though rules varied greatly by both period and location. Whilst football has continued to be played in various forms throughout the United Kingdom, the English public schools (fee-paying schools) are widely credited with certain key achievements in the creation of modern football (association football and the rugby football games — rugby league and rugby union football). During the sixteenth century English public schools generally, and headmaster Richard Mulcaster in particular, were instrumental in taking football away from its violent "mob" form and turning it into an organised team sport that was beneficial to schoolboys. Thereafter, the game became institutionalised, regulated, and part of a larger, more central tradition. Many early descriptions of football and references to it (e.g., in poetry) were recorded by people who had studied at these schools, showing they were familiar with the game. Finally, in the 19th century, teachers and former students were the first to write down formal rules of early modern football to enable matches to be played between schools. The rules of football as they are codified today are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played at the public schools of England. The first ever set of football rules were written at Eton College in 1815. The Cambridge Rules were a code of football rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, which have influenced the development of Association football and subsequent codes. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1848, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools, but they were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club (formed by former pupils from Harrow) in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.[5] These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863 which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.[6] The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting, the first which allowed for the running with the ball in hand and the second, obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby football clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, or subsequently left the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game. These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games. The laws of the game are currently determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The Board was formed in 1886[7] after a meeting in Manchester of The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association. The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by C. W. Alcock and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of C. W. Alcock. England is home to the world's first football league, which was founded in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.[8] The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and the North of England. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association.[9] The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the International Football Association Board in 1913. The board currently consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the four British associations. Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world, and millions of people regularly go to football stadia to follow their favourite team,[10] whilst billions more watch the game on television.[11] A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA and published in the spring of 2001, over 240 million people regularly play football in more than 200 countries in every part of the world.[12] Its simple rules and minimal equipment requirements have no doubt aided its spread and growth in popularity. In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations; it is therefore often claimed to be the most popular sport in the world. ESPN has spread the claim that the Côte d'Ivoire national football team helped secure a truce to the nation's civil war in 2005. By contrast, however, football is widely considered to be the final proximate cause in the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras. The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade devolved into rioting in March 1990.[13] Laws of the game Football is popular among children as well as adults. Football is popular among children as well as adults. There are seventeen laws in the official Laws of the Game. The same Laws are designed to apply to all levels of football, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors or women are permitted. The laws are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game. In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of football. The laws can be found on the official FIFA website.[14] Players, equipment and officials See also: Football (soccer) positions, Formation (football), and kit (football) Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. Competition rules may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team; this is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, but they are only allowed to do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws. The basic equipment (kit) players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards. Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player (including jewellery or watches). The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials. A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is three, though the number permitted may be varied in other leagues or in friendly matches. Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or as a defensive ploy to use up a little time at the end of a finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not take further part in the match. A game is officiated by a referee, who has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees. In many high-level games there is also a fourth official (and in the world cup a fifth official), who assist(s) the referee and may replace another official should the need arise. Pitch Standard pitch measurements (See Imperial version) Standard pitch measurements (See Imperial version) Main article: Football pitch Due to the original formulation of the Laws in England and the early supremacy of the four British football associations within IFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in imperial units. The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though popular use tends to continue to use traditional units in English-speaking countries with a relatively recent history of metrification[citation needed]. The length of the pitch specified for international adult matches is in the range 100-110 metres (110-120 yd) and the width is in the range 64-75 metres (70-80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 100-130 yards length and 50-100 yards in width, provided that the pitch does not become square. The longer boundary lines are touchlines or sidelines, while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines. On the goal line at each end of the field a rectangular goal is centred. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 8 yards (7.32 m) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 8 feet (2.44 m) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws. In front of each goal is an area of the field known as the penalty area (colloquially "18-yard box" or simply "the box"). This area is marked by the goal-line, two lines starting on the goal-line 18 yards (16.5 m) from the goalposts and extending 18 yards into the pitch perpendicular to the goal-line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penal foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by a penalty kick. The field has various other markings and defined areas. Duration and tie-breaking methods A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play; the referee does, however, make allowance for time lost through significant stoppages as described below. There is usually a 15-minute "half-time" break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time. The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, and is at the sole discretion of the referee. The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, toward the end of the half the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time he intends to add, and the fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. In league competitions games may end in a draw, but in some knockout competitions if a game is tied at the end of regulation time it may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shootouts (known officially in the Laws of the Game as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament. Goals scored during extra time periods count toward the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament (with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score). Competitions held over two legs (in which each team plays at home once) may use the away goals rule to attempt to determine which team progresses in the event of equal aggregate scores. If the result is still equal following this calculation kicks from the penalty mark are usually required, though some competitions may require a tied game to be replayed. In the late 1990s, the IFAB experimented with ways of making matches more likely to end without requiring a penalty shootout, which was often seen as an undesirable way to end a match. These involved rules ending a game in extra time early, either when the first goal in extra time was scored (golden goal), or if one team held a lead at the end of the first period of extra time (silver goal). Golden goal was used at the World Cup in 1998 (France) and 2002 (Japan-South Korea). The first World Cup game decided by a golden goal was France's victory over Paraguay in 1998. In Euro 1996, Germany was the first nation to score a golden goal in a major competition, beating Czech Republic in the final. Silver goal was used in Euro 2004 (Portugal). Both these experiments have been discontinued by IFAB. Ball in and out of play Main article: Ball in and out of play Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off (a set kick from the centre-spot by one team) until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play: * Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play. * Throw-in: when the ball has wholly crossed the touchline; awarded to opposing team to that which last touched the ball. * Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by an attacker; awarded to defending team. * Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a defender; awarded to attacking team. * Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution/send-off an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly from an indirect free kick. * Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls. * Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area. * Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason (e.g., a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective). This restart is uncommon in adult games. Fouls and misconduct Players are cautioned with a yellow card, and sent off with a red card. Players are cautioned with a yellow card, and sent off with a red card. Players are cautioned with a yellow card, and sent off with a red card. A foul occurs when a player commits a specific offence listed in the Laws of the Game when the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick. A player scores a penalty kick given after an offence is committed inside the penalty box A player scores a penalty kick given after an offence is committed inside the penalty box The referee may punish a player or substitute's misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or sending-off (red card). A second yellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and therefore to a sending-off. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while the offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. Non-players, such as managers and support staff, may be dismissed from the field and its surrounds by the referee if they fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner. Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue when its continuation will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within a short period of time, typically taken to be four to five seconds. Even if an offence is not penalised because the referee plays an advantage, the offender may still be sanctioned for any associated misconduct at the next stoppage of play. The offside law effectively limits the ability of attacking players to remain forward (i.e. closer to the opponent's goal-line) of the ball, the second-to-last defending player (which can include the goalkeeper), and the half-way line.[15] Governing bodies The recognised international governing body of football (and associated games, such as futsal and beach soccer) is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The FIFA headquarters are located in Zürich, Switzerland. Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA; these are: * Asia: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) * Africa: Confederation of African Football (CAF) * Central/North America & Caribbean: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF; also known as The Football Confederation) * Europe: Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) * Oceania: Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) * South America: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (South American Football Confederation; CONMEBOL) The recognised various national associations (see football around the world) oversee football within their jurisdictions. These are affiliated both with FIFA directly and also with their respective continental confederations. The Laws of the Game are not maintained by FIFA itself; rather they are maintained by the International Football Association Board. Major international competitions The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, now involves 32 national teams (increased in 1998 from the 24 of 1994) competing over a four-week period. The 2006 FIFA World Cup took place in Germany;[16] in 2010 it will be held in South Africa. There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Prior to the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only,[17] however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professionals have been permitted as well, albeit with certain restrictions which effectively prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men's tournament is played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team;[18] but that practice will cease in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic competition is not generally considered to carry the same international significance and prestige as the World Cup. A women's tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men's event, the women's Olympic tournament is played by full international sides without age restrictions. It thus carries international prestige considered comparable to that of the FIFA Women's World Cup. After the World Cup, the most important football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). Two of the most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores de América in South America. The most prestigious competition until 2005 was the Intercontinental Cup which was contested by the winner club of the European Champions League cup and the winner of the Copa Libertadores. This was a single match played in Tokyo, Japan and went from 1980 until 2004. This was also known as the Toyota Cup. Due to the growing number of audience and interest of people from Africa, North America and Asia, this "cup" was replaced in 2005 by the FIFA Club World Championship in which there is no single match, but a whole tournament between the winners of the six club championships of each FIFA confederation. Domestic competitions Main article: Football (soccer) around the world The governing bodies in each country operate league systems, normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results. Teams are placed into tables, placing them in order according to points accrued. Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament. At the end of a season, the top team are declared to be the champions, and the top few teams may be promoted to a higher division; and one or more of the teams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division. The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may be eligible also to play in international club competitions in the following season. The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura, awarding a champion for each. In addition to a league system, most countries operate one or more cup competitions during the season. These are organised on a knock-out basis, the winner of each match proceeding to the next round; the loser takes no further part in the competition. Some countries' top divisions feature highly-paid star players; in smaller countries and lower divisions, players may be part-timers with a second job, or amateurs. The five top European leagues - the FA Premier League, the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A - attract most of the world's best players. Historical restrictions on the number of foreign players in a club's team have been largely eliminated by the Bosman ruling. Names of the game See also: Names for football (soccer) and Football (word) The rules of football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863, and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The term soccer first appeared in the 1880s as a slang abbreviation of Association football, often credited to Charles Wreford-Brown.[19] Today the sport is known by a number of names throughout the English-speaking world, the most common being football and soccer. Although FIFA, the sport's world governing body, defines the sport they govern as Association football in their statutes[20], the most commonly used term by that organisation and the International Olympic Committee is football. For more details of naming throughout the world, please refer to the main articles above. References 1. ^ Soccer Encarta. Retrieved on May 24, 2007. 2. ^ 2002 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage, FIFA official website. Retrieved on May 13, 2006. 3. ^ England Premiership (2005/2006). Sportpress. Retrieved on 5 June 2006. 4. ^ History of Football. FIFA. Retrieved on 20 November 2006. 5. ^ The hands-off approach to a man's game. The Times. Retrieved on 3 June 2006. 6. ^ History of the FA. Football Association website. Retrieved on February 19, 2006. 7. ^ The International FA Board. FIFA website. Retrieved on February 19, 2006. 8. ^ The History Of The Football League. Football League website. Retrieved on April 19, 2006. 9. ^ History of FIFA. FIFA website. Retrieved on 3 June 2006. 10. ^ Baseball or Football: which sport gets the higher attendance?, Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 5 June 2006. 11. ^ 2002 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage, FIFA official website. Retrieved on 13 May 2006. 12. ^ FIFA Survey: approximately 250 million footballers worldwide, FIFA official website. Retrieved on 5 June 2006. 13. ^ Daniel W. Drezner. "The Soccer Wars", The Washington Post, Sunday, June 4, 2006, p. B01. 14. ^ The Official web site of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved on 2006-04-19. 15. ^ The History of Offside. Julian Carosi. Retrieved on June 3, 2006. 16. ^ FIFA World Cup 2006. FIFA World Cup 2006 website. Retrieved on February 19, 2006. 17. ^ Where it all began FIFA official website. Retrieved on April 10, 2006. 18. ^ Football - An Olympic Sport since 1900. IOC website. Retrieved on June 5, 2006. 19. ^ The World's Most Beloved Sport - The History of Soccer. fussballportal.de. Retrieved on 3 June 2006. 20. ^ FIFA Statutes See also Portal:football (soccer) football (soccer) Portal * List of national football teams * List of club/sub-national football teams * List of football players * Ranking of all-time top goalscorers in football * Football culture * Paralympic football Football (soccer) - edit Overviews: Football around the world | Women's football around the world Timelines: Football | English football History: Prehistory of football | History of football Decades: 1840s in football | 1850s in football | 1860s in football 1870s - 1870 | 1871 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874 | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 1880s - 1880 | 1881 | 1882 | 1883 | 1884 | 1885 | 1886 | 1887 | 1888 | 1889 1890s - 1890 | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 1900s - 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 1910s - 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 1920s - 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 1930s - 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 1940s - 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 1950s - 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 1960s - 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 1970s - 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 1980s - 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 1990s - 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 2000s - 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 Further reading * Szymanski, Stefan; and Tim Kuypers (1999). Winners and Losers. London: Viking. ISBN 0-670-88486-3. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Soccer Wikinews Wikinews has an entire section of news on: Football (Soccer) * Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) * Asian Football Confederation (AFC) * Confederation of African Football (CAF) * Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) * Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) * South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) * Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) * The Current Laws of the Game (LOTG) * The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) * Association of Football Statisticians (AFS) * Forbes.com, International Football Club Valuations Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Football_% 28soccer%29" Categories: Semi-protected | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Ball games | Football (soccer) | Olympic sports | Team sports!! AND REAL MADRID IS MY FAVOURITE CLUB IN SOOCCAA: Real Madrid From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Real Madrid Full name Real Madrid Club de Fútbol Nickname(s) Los Blancos Los Merengues Los Galacticos Founded 6 March 1902 (as Sociedad Madrid Foot-ball Club) Ground Santiago Bernabéu Madrid, Spain Capacity 80,354 Chairman Flag of Spain Ramón Calderón Head Coach Flag of Italy Fabio Capello League La Liga 2006-07 La Liga, 1st Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Home colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Away colours La Liga 2006-07 Winners La Liga Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. It is the most successful club of the 20th century and also the football club with most European cups and holds several records. The club also has a similarly successful basketball section. The original uniform colors are white t-shirt and shorts, and blue socks. The purple band in the badge represents the kingdom of Castile. The club was one of the founding members of FIFA.[1] They play their home games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid have been European Champions a record 9 times and have also won 30 La Liga titles. The club also operates a reserve football team, Real Madrid Castilla, and a successful basketball team, Real Madrid Baloncesto and are trying to sponsor a rugby team, CRC Madrid Noroeste and a Formula One team. Real Madrid is unique in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated only by its members (socios) since 1902. On December 23, 2000, FIFA awarded Real Madrid as the Best Club of the twentieth Century. On 17th June 2007, Real Madrid won its 30th La Liga title by beating Mallorca at home 3-1. They finished level on points on fierce rivals Barcelona, but were declared winners on better head-to-head record. Throughout its history, the club has acquired a lot of nicknames. The first ones were los merengues, because of the white dessert meringue, and los blancos. Both simply referred to the club's legendary all-white strip and remain the most common to this day. In the 1970s, the nickname los vikingos became popular, due to the signings of several northern European players. Most recently, the media called the club los galácticos, referring to club's tendency to sign the most famous players in the world. Contents [hide] * 1 History o 1.1 Early years o 1.2 Santiago Bernabéu o 1.3 Domestic success o 1.4 International success o 1.5 Quinta del Buitre years o 1.6 Florentino Pérez years o 1.7 Post Pérez-Galácticos Era + 1.7.1 Ramón Calderón period * 2 Crest * 3 Statistics * 4 Supporters and rivals o 4.1 Rivalry with FC Barcelona o 4.2 Rivalry with Atlético Madrid * 5 Major trophies o 5.1 National titles o 5.2 International titles * 6 Current squad 2007/08 o 6.1 Selected reserve team players o 6.2 The 2006- 2007 Loans o 6.3 2007/2008 transfers * 7 Club Officials o 7.1 Board of directors (2007-2008) o 7.2 Training Staff * 8 Foreign players 2007/2008 * 9 Notable former players o 9.1 World Cup Winners * 10 Selected former managers * 11 Presidents * 12 Other sport sections o 12.1 Real Madrid Castilla o 12.2 Real Madrid de Baloncesto * 13 Formula One sponsorship * 14 Hymn * 15 Notes and references * 16 See also * 17 External links [edit] History [edit] Early years Football was introduced to Madrid by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They included several Oxbridge graduates. In 1895 they founded the club Football Sky, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. In 1900 this club split into two different clubs New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. The president of the latter club was Julián Palacios. In 1902 the latter club split again, resulting in the formation of Sociedad Madrid FC on March 6, 1902. The first president was Juan Padrós Rubió; the first secretary was Manuel Mendía; and the first treasurer was José de Gorostizaga. Juan Padrós Rubió would be later succeeded by his brother, Carlos Padrós from Spain. In 1905, only three years after its foundation, Madrid FC already won its first major title in the Estadio Chamartín stadium. The team won the first of four consecutive Copa del Rey - titles (at that time the only statewide competition). In 1912 they moved to their first ground called Campo de O'Donnell' after moving between some minor grounds.[2] In 1920 the club's name was changed into Real Madrid after the King grants the title of Real (Royal) to the club. [edit] Santiago Bernabéu Main article: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Estadio Santiago Bernabéu El Bernabéu Location Avenida de Concha Espina 1, E28036 - Madrid Opened December 14, 1947 Owner Real Madrid Operator Real Madrid Surface Grass Architect Manuel Muñoz Monasterio Luis Alemany Soler Antonio Lamela (Expansion) Former names Chamartín (1947-1955) Tenants Real Madrid Capacity 80,400 Before becoming President in 1945, Santiago Bernabéu Yeste had already carried out the functions of player, first-team captain, club maintenance, first-team manager and director, in an association with the club that lasted nearly 70 years. He was responsible for rebuilding the club after the Spanish Civil War, and under his presidency, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Ciudad Deportiva. Real Madrid has a newly named stadium which is the 'Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium'. He also reorganized the club at all levels, in what would become the normal operating hierarchy of professional clubs in the future, giving every section and level of the club independent technical teams and recruiting staff such as Raimundo Saporta. Finally, beginning in 1953 he embarked upon a strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, the most prominent of them being the signing of Alfredo Di Stéfano and built the world's first truly multinational side. During Bernabéu's presidency many of Real Madrid's most legendary names played for the club, including the aforementioned Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Francisco Gento, Héctor Rial, Raymond Kopa, José Santamaría, Miguel Muñoz, Amancio, Santillana, Juanito, José Antonio Camacho and others. In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the journalist Gabriel Hanot and building upon the Copa Latina (a tournament involving clubs from France, Spain, Portugal and Italy), Bernabéu met in the Ambassador Hotel in Paris with Bedrignan and Gustav Sebes and created what today is known as the UEFA Champions League. Under the administration of UEFA, it is the world's premier club tournament. It was under Bernabéu's guidance, that Real Madrid became established as a major force in both Spanish and European football. Before passing away in 1978, Bernabéu had been the club's president for 35 years, during which he won 1 Intercontinental Cup, 6 European Cups, 16 La Liga titles, and 6 Spanish Cups. [edit] Domestic success The signings in the early 1950s formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team, which would dominate the latter half of the decade and beyond. They won La Liga for first time in over 20 years as Real Madrid in 1954 and retained it in 1955. They were winners again in 1957 and 1958, with only Athletic Bilbao interrupting their sequence. CF Barcelona won La Liga in 1959 and 1960 but between 1961 and 1980 Real Madrid dominated La Liga with the club winning the competition 14 times. This included a five-in-a-row sequence (1961-1965) and two three-in-a-row sequences (1967-69 and 1978-1980). It was during this era that legendary players such as Jose Antonio Camacho, Uli Stielike, Santillana and Juanito came into the side. In the early 1980s Real Madrid lost its grip on La Liga but by 1986 they had resumed normal service with another five-in-a-row sequence (1986-90). This team included Hugo Sánchez and the famous 'Quinta del Buitre' - Emilio Butragueño, Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vazquéz, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza. Real Madrid has also won the Copa del Rey on 17 occasions, and are 7-time winners of the Supercopa de España. [edit] International success In addition to their domestic success, Real Madrid's reputation as a major club was established by their outstanding record in the European Cup. To date they have been crowned champions of Europe a record nine times. Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás and other famous players helped the club win the European Cup five times in a row between 1956 and 1960, which included the memorable 7-3 Hampden Park final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. The club won for a sixth time in 1966 with the team known as the Ye-Ye , defeating Partizan Belgrade 2-1 in the final with a team composed entirely of nationally-born players, a first in the competition. They were also runners-up in 1962, 1964 and 1981. Winning the competition five consecutive times saw Real permanently awarded the original cup and earning the right to wear the UEFA badge of honour. They have also won the UEFA Cup twice and were twice runners-up in the European Cup Winners Cup. In 1996 President Lorenzo Sanz appointed Fabio Capello as coach. Although his tenure lasted only one season, Real Madrid were proclaimed league champions and several important players arrived at the club (Roberto Carlos, Predrag Mijatović, Davor Šuker and Clarence Seedorf) to strengthen a squad that already boasted the likes of Raúl, Fernando Hierro and Fernando Redondo. As a result, Real Madrid (with the addition of Fernando Morientes in 1997) finally ended its 32-year wait for the seventh European Cup in 1998 under manager Jupp Heynckes, defeating Juventus 1-0 in the final, thanks to a goal from Predrag Mijatovic. Real Madrid would go on to win again in 2000 and 2002 under manager Vicente Del Bosque, with sides including players such as Steve McManaman, Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane. Real Madrid are also three-time winners of the Intercontinental Cup, defeating Peñarol, Vasco da Gama, and Olimpia Asunción in 1960, 1998, and 2002 respectively. [edit] Quinta del Buitre years Quinta del Buitre was the name given to the generation of club grown Real Madrid players that dominated Spanish football in the 1980s. The name ("Vulture's Cohort") was derived from the nickname given to its most charismatic member Emilio Butragueño. The other four members were Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza. Sanchís and Martín Vázquez were the first to play for the first team of Real Madrid, making their debut at Murcia on December 4, 1983. Coach Alfredo Di Stéfano brought the youngsters in from the start. Both played surprisingly well and Sanchís even scored the winning goal. A few months later, February 5, 1984, saw the debut of Emilio Butragueño in an away game at Cádiz. El Buitre was an instant sensation and scored twice. Pardeza was added to the first team that same season and Míchel followed at the start of the next. With La Quinta del Buitre (reduced to four members when Pardeza left the club for Zaragoza in 1986) Real Madrid had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe during the second half of the 1980s, winning amongst others two UEFA Cups and 5 Spanish championships in a row. Their record was only blemished by their failure to win the European Cup, and their continued abject defeats against the far superior AC Milan side of the time. Martín Vázquez went to play for Torino in 1990. He made a return to Real Madrid in 1992, leaving the club again for good in 1995 (to Deportivo La Coruña). Butragueño left the club in 1995 and Michél in 1996. Both went to play for Atlético Celaya in Mexico. Sanchís was the only member of La Quinta to never play for a club other than Real Madrid. By winning the Champions League twice (in 1998 and 2000), he also managed to accomplish what La Quinta had failed to achieve in its glory days. He retired in 2001 as last active member of the famous cohort at the age of 37. [edit] Florentino Pérez years In July 2000 Florentino Pérez was elected club president vowing to erase the club's debt and modernise the club's facilities, however the primary electoral promise that propelled Pérez to victory was the signing of then-FC Barcelona star Luís Figo. During the campaign, Pérez claimed he had an agreement with the Portuguese winger that would see Figo move to the Bernabeu should Pérez be elected. On July 16, Pérez won the election. Eight days later, Luís Figo was presented with the number 10 shirt of Real Madrid. Days later, surrounded by controversy, Real Madrid idol Fernando Redondo, who had openly supported Pérez's opponent Lorenzo Sanz, was sold to Italian giants AC Milan. During the summer of 2000, Real Madrid signed Claude Makélélé, Albert Celades, Flávio Conceição, César Sánchez, Pedro Munitis, and Santiago Solari although aside from Makélélé and Conceição the rest had been signed previous to the election of Florentino Pérez. Expectations were high as Real Madrid began the 2000-01 season with the possibility of winning 5 trophies but stumbled at the first test losing the European Super Cup by a score of 1-2 to Galatasaray. An injury to Fernando Morientes left Real Madrid without a centre forward, but manager Vicente Del Bosque improvised by using youth team graduate Guti, in that role and Real Madrid made a good start to both domestic and European campaigns. But Real Madrid were defeated 2-0 at the Camp Nou against Barcelona and were later eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Toledo as well as losing the Intercontinental Cup final to a Boca Juniors side led by Martin Palermo and Riquelme. But Real Madrid recovered form and went top of the Spanish first division in mid-January, a position they would not relinquish on their way to winning the title. Real Madrid advanced from the second group stage of the Champions League to face Galatasaray in the quarterfinals. Real Madrid lost the first leg in Istanbul 3-2 but recovered to win the tie after a 3-0 victory in the Bernabeu. This would produce a replay of the 1999-2000 Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich. Real Madrid would not reach the final however, losing 2-3 on aggregate to the eventual champions. Real Madrid would not be denied the league title however, and on 26 May, the merengues would crown themselves champions of the Spanish first division with an emphatic 5-0 win over Alaves at the Bernabeu. Goals by Raúl (2), Guti, Hierro, and Iván Helguera would ensure victory and Real Madrid's 28th league title with two matches left to play. César Sánchez Hierro (c) Helguera R.Carlos Salgado Makélélé Zidane Raúl Figo Morientes Solari The 4-1-3-2 lineup. Real Madrid's Starting Lineup in The 01/02 Champions League Final. After reaching an agreement to re-zone and sell the Ciudad Deportiva, Pérez went on to sign Zinédine Zidane (2001), Ronaldo (2002) and David Beckham (2003). The media began referring to the team as Los Galácticos. Initially the strategy, eventually dubbed Zidanes y Pavones and meant to combine world stars and youth team graduates, was successful and Real Madrid won La Liga in 2001 and 2003 and the UEFA Champions League in 2002, their centenary year. They also won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Super Cup and the Supercopa de España in both 2001 and 2003. Off the field the Zidanes y Pavones policy resulted in increased financial success based on the exploitation of the club's high marketing potential around the world, especially in Asia[citation needed]. In the summer of 2003, just after capturing another La Liga title, Florentino Pérez and the board of directors refused to renew the contract of coach Vicente Del Bosque and after an internal dispute forced captain Fernando Hierro to leave the club. They also ignored Claude Makélélé's request of a new contract with a better salary, in return, Makélélé asked for a transfer request, and was transferred to Chelsea. In the following years the team's on-field performance started to decline. Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz replaced Vicente Del Bosque for the 2003-2004 season. Real Madrid started the season brightly and were 8 points clear in the Spanish 1st division in February but a late season slide saw them struggle to finish fourth. Further disappointment came when AS Monaco, thanks impart to goals from on-loan striker Fernando Morientes, eliminated Real Madrid from the UEFA Champions League at the quarterfinal stage. Real Madrid's poor form continued as Real Zaragoza upset them in the Copa del Rey final. Shortly after the season, Carlos Queiroz was sacked and replaced by ex-Real Madrid player, José Antonio Camacho. Pérez, at the request of Camacho, signed two central defenders to try to correct the team's defensive shortcomings. Real Madrid spent a total of €45 millions on Argentine defender Walter Samuel and English centre back Jonathan Woodgate but missed out on signing Arsenal's midfield general, Patrick Vieira due to the Vieira's boldness of asking a 'Galactico' paycheck (like Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham and unlike Claude Makélélé, who left for exactly that reason - €9 million Euro's per year). The summer of 2004 also saw the sale of Cameroon Samuel Eto'o, who had been loaned out to Real Mallorca, to archrivals F.C. Barcelona. English striker Michael Owen was bought from Liverpool FC but never settled at Real Madrid while Eto'o went on to great success with Barcelona. Camacho only lasted two months before resigning after a disappointing start into the season. He was replaced by interim coach Mariano García Remón and in December 2005 Brazilian manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo became the permanent replacement. Although Real Madrid did finish a distant second in the Spanish league, Luxemburgo was unable to lead Real Madrid in to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The 2005-06 season began with the promise of several new signings (Julio Baptista (€20 Million), Robinho (€30 Million) and Sergio Ramos (€30 Million - Release Clause) but the Brazilian coach was not able to find the right formula on the pitch as Real Madrid's poor form continued, with the team hitting rock bottom after a humiliating 0-3 loss at the hands of F.C. Barcelona in the Santiago Bernabeu. Luxemburgo would eventually resign and his replacement was Juan Ramón López Caro, formally the manager of Real Madrid Castilla. A brief return to form came to an abrupt halt after losing the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal, 6-1 to Real Zaragoza. Shortly after, Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League for a third successive year, this time at the hands of Arsenal. On February 27, 2006, Florentino Pérez resigned. Real Madrid eventually managed to finish second in the league but did not pose a serious threat to defending champions, F.C. Barcelona. [edit] Post Pérez-Galácticos Era [edit] Ramón Calderón period On July 2, 2006 Ramón Calderón was elected as club president and subsequently appointed Fabio Capello as the new coach and Predrag Mijatovic as the new sporting director. As new manager of Real Madrid, Capello signed the World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson, both from embattled Juventus, for a total sum of €23 m; Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United for €15 m; Mahamadou Diarra from Lyon for €26 m and on a last minute trade loan - José Antonio Reyes. Ramon failed, however, to sign A.C. Milan star Kaká, Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas and Chelsea star Arjen Robben as was promised by the new president. During the January transfer window, he has managed to sign Fluminense left back Marcelo (€6.5 m), River Plate forward Gonzalo Higuaín (€13 m) and Boca Juniors midfielder Fernando Gago (€18 m). On January 16, 2007, Calderón made some very unfortunate comments about the behavior of some players in the squad and the Santiago Bernabeu fans, which has put the club in a delicate situation.[3] One of the players that Calderón criticised was David Beckham, who, in January 2007, agreed a deal to play for LA Galaxy at the end of that season. Among others to criticise Beckham was manager Fabio Capello, who, at the time, vowed never to select Beckham for the team again, although he later withdrew his words. At the end of January Ronaldo left the club for 7.5 million euros for AC Milan. On February 9 2007, Capello allowed Beckham back onto Real's starting 11 in an away match against Real Sociedad, Beckham played well and scored the equalizing goal in the match (Real Madrid won the match 2-1). On February 24 2007, the Madrid derby between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid at the Vicente Calderón Stadium was a 1-1 draw. The scorers were Fernando Torres for Atlético, and Gonzalo Higuain for Real. The Madrid derby is seen as one of the most fiercely contested matches in the Spanish football calendar. On March 7, 2007 Real Madrid failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League due to Bayern Munich's strong home performance. Despite winning the home leg 3-2, they lost 2-1 in Germany and were eliminated on an away goals tiebreaker. On March 10, 2007 Real Madrid contested the Clasico against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid took the lead 3 times after 2 goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and one from Sergio Ramos but were pegged back by a hat-trick from Lionel Messi. Despite the sending off of Oleguer, the Clasico ended 3-3. Real Madrid managed to put their European disappointments behind them and treated their last 12 league games as "cup finals". Real Madrid managed to find their form consistently for the first time all season as they managed to win seven out their first eight "cup finals", including a 2-1 home win over Valencia on April 21 2007 and another 3-2 home win over Sevilla on May 6 2007. Calderon then went on to say that if the team keep up their great play, he is confident Real Madrid will win the league title and end their four year wait for a major trophy on June 17. On May 12, 2007, despite not having Robinho and Beckham on the pitch (due to separate yellow cards given in the previous match against FC Sevilla) Real Madrid took over first place in the La Liga for the first time all season by defeating Espanyol 4-3, coming back from 1-3 first half deficit. Los Blancos were able to avoid a 3-3 draw thanks to a 89th minute goal by Gonzalo Higuaín. The Sunday after Real won their epic battle with Espanyol, Barca dropped points with a 1-1 draw to struggling Real Betis. By virtue of their superior head to head record, Madrid sat at the top of La Liga, with four crucial 'finals' left to play. The following Sunday, Real managed to beat Recreativo 3-2 away as the Recreativo famously put out a shocking 3-0 win over Real at the Bernabeu eariler during the season. With the score tied at 2-2, Madrid looked set return the lead back to bitter rivals Barcelona until Roberto Carlos thumped in the winner right before death during injury time to ensure Real remain in the driver seat for at least another week and also leaving them with just three 'finals' left to play. The remaining three are Deportivo La Coruña, Real Zaragoza and Mallorca. On 26th May 2007, Real Madrid produced yet again, another excellent display to dispatch Deportivo 3-1 at the Bernabeu. This victory will make it six wins in a row for Madrid. Goals from Sergio Ramos, Raul and Ruud Van Nistelrooy secured the win. It also leaves Real with only two 'finals' left to play and with hopes and morale reaching a high point in the Real dressing room, Capello and Calderon believes that Real are just few steps away from securing the league title. Transfers and transfer rumors under Capello have been big, with the names of Kaka, Franck Ribery, Christoph Metzelder, Carlos Tevez, Frank Lampard, Javier Saviola, Gabriel Heinze, and Francesc Fabregas being linked with moves to El Bernabeu. Recently, Christoph Metzelder signed a deal to bring him to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund are also signing a 7 million pound rated Gabriel Heinze from Premiership champions Manchester United. Jerzy Dudek also looks set to make a move to the Spanish giants. On 9 June 2007, more drama unfolded as Real attempted to secure the league title. The match got off to a bad start when Real Madrid were forced to change their lineup minutes from the start when young defender Miguel Torres got injured in the warm up, tearing his hamstring. Zaragoza led Real 2-1 near death while Barcelona were also winning against Espanyol 2-1. Real's title challenge looked to be over. However, a late Ruud Van Nistelrooy equalizer followed by a last minute Raul Tamudo goal sprang Madrid's title hopes back into their favor. Sevilla were also held 0-0 away against Mallorca, which meant that a win at home against Real Mallorca would effectively secure Los Merengues their 30th Spanish league title. The title decider was on June 17th, Real faced Real Mallorca at the Bernabau, whilst Barcelona and Sevilla, the other title challengers, faced Gimanstic de Tarragona and Villarreal respectively. At half time Real were 0-1 down, whilst Barcelona had surged ahead into a 3-0 lead at Gimnastic; however, three goals in the last half-an-hour secured Madrid a 3-1 win and their first league title since 2003. The first goal came from Reyes who slotted home after good work from Higuain. An own goal followed by another delightful finish from Reyes allowed Real to begin celebrating the title. Thousands of Madrid fans began swarming Cibeles square to begin a party that lasted long throughout the night, with the official Real Madrid website crashing due to the huge amount of traffic. Capello, in danger of losing his job earlier this year, would continue on with such a victory, albeit with some major changes, according to Calderon. Real Madrid recently signed a three-year deal with betting company Bwin.com in June, announcing a shirt deal at the same time that saw BenQ Siemens replaced by Bwin.com on the front. The 2007-08 shirts made their first appearance during their title celebration on 17 June 2007. [edit] Crest The first crest of Real Madrid had a very simple design. It consisted of interlacing the three initials of the club, that is to say, the "M", the "F" and the "C", that went in blue dark bottom, on the white t-shirt. But as well, the regulation established that for parties with sets of other societies, the equipment had to take the shield of the city of Madrid in the left side of the chest, replacing to the shield of the club. The first variant data of 1908. The interlaced letters adopted one more a more streamlined form and appeared enrolled in a circle. The following change in the configuration of the crest did not occur until 1920, year in which King Alfonso XIII granted to the club the title of Real. Therefore Corona was added to him Real, the streamlined initials were the same, and the club happened to denominate Real Madrid Foot ball Club. As well, for the official parties, the shield of the city was adopted along with the borbónica crown. With the restoration of II the Republic in 1931 all the symbols of the Royalty were eliminated, so that the crown was lost that years before it had obtained. In return, the band dwelled in diagonal of the region of Castile was added to him . In 1941, two years after the end of the Civil War, the shield recovered Real Corona, but also it maintained the strip mulberry. In addition, the colors were modified, being then gilded the predominant one, and the club happened to be called Real Madrid Club of Football. It is with this shield with which the club would reach the maximum laurels of the world-wide football, and that stayed already until end of the Nineties. The last modification occurred in 2001, as a result of granting an agreed character to him with century XXI and with related to the marketing research and the band it happened to be of blue color. [edit] Statistics Main article: Real Madrid Statistics [edit] Supporters and rivals During most home matches the majority of the seats in the stadium are occupied by season ticket holders, of which there are approximately 65,000. In order to become a season ticket holder one must first be a socio, or club member. Not all members are able to get a season ticket. In addition to members, the club has over 1,800 peñas (official, club-affiliated supporters' groups) in Spain and around the world. [edit] Rivalry with FC Barcelona See also: El Clásico The rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona is legendary. From the start, the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions of Spain, Castile and Catalonia, not just of the two cities themselves. An important landmark in the rivalry between the two club was the controversial dispute over the signing of Alfredo Di Stéfano in the 1950s. As the two biggest and most successful clubs in Spain, nowadays the rivalry is renewed on an annual basis with both teams often challenging each other for the league championship. The flashpoint of this rivalry is the twice-a-season El Clasico which draws vast audiences from around the world. [edit] Rivalry with Atlético Madrid As well as their rivalry with FC Barcelona, Real also enjoy a local rivalry with Atlético Madrid. Although Atlético was originally founded by three Basque students in 1903, they were joined in 1904 by dissident members of Madrid FC. Further tensions came because initially Atlético supporters came from the working class while the Real supporters were drawn from the middle class. Today these distinctions are largely blurred. The rivalry first gained international attention in 1959 during the European Cup when the two clubs met in the semi-final. Real won the first leg 2-1 at the Bernabéu while Atlético won 1-0 at the Metropolitano. The tie went to a replay and Real won 2-1. Atlético, however, gained some revenge when, led by former Real coach José Villalonga, they defeated Real in two successive Copa del Generalísimo finals in 1960 and 1961. Between 1961 and 1980 when Real dominated La Liga, only Atlético offered Real any serious challenge, winning La Liga titles in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. In 1965, when they finished as La Liga runners-up to Real after an intense battle for the title, Atlético became the first team to beat Real at the Bernabéu in eight years. Real Madrid's record against Atlético in more recent times is very favourable. A high point coming in the 2002/03 season, when Real clinched the La Liga title after beating Atlético 4-0 at the Vicente Calderón stadium. [edit] Major trophies [edit] National titles * La Liga Titles: 30 (record) 1931/32, 1932/33, 1953/54, 1954/55, 1956/57, 1957/58,1958/59, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1971/72, 1974/75, 1975/76, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1994/95, 1996/97, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2006/07. * Copa del Rey: 17 1904/05; 1905/06; 1906/07; 1907/08; 1916/17; 1933/34; 1935/36; 1945/46; 1946/47; 1961/62; 1969/70; 1973/74; 1974/75; 1979/80; 1981/82; 1988/89; 1992/93. * Supercopa de España: 7 1988 3-2 vs. Barcelona 1989 Won Copa del Rey and La Liga 1990 5-1 vs. Barcelona 1993 4-2 vs. Barcelona 1997 5-3 vs. Barcelona 2001 4-1 vs. Zaragoza 2003 4-2 vs. Mallorca * Copa de la Liga: 1 1984/85 4-3 vs. Atlético Madrid [edit] International titles * UEFA Champions League: 9 (record) 1955/56 4-3 vs. Stade de Reims 1956/57 2-0 vs. Fiorentina 1957/58 3-2 vs. Milan 1958/59 2-0 vs. Stade de Reims 1959/60 7-3 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt 1965/66 2-1 vs. Partizan 1997/98 1-0 vs. Juventus 1999/00 3-0 vs. Valencia 2001/02 2-1 vs. Bayer Leverkusen * Intercontinental Cup: 3 1960 5-1 vs. Peñarol 1998 2-1 vs. Vasco da Gama 2002 2-0 vs. Olimpia Asunción * Ibero-American Cup: 1 (record) 1994 4-3 vs. Boca Juniors * UEFA Cup: 2 1984/85 3-1 vs. Videoton 1985/86 5-3 vs. Köln * European Super Cup: 1 2002 3-1 vs. Feyenoord * Latin Cup: 2 1955 2-0 vs. Stade de Reims 1957 1-0 vs. Benfica [edit] Current squad 2007/08 The numbers are established according to the official websites of Real Madrid, the Spanish league and UEFA. Spanish teams are limited to three players without EU citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. As of June 20, 2007 No. Position Player 1 Flag of Spain GK Iker Casillas 2 Flag of Spain DF Míchel Salgado 4 Flag of Spain DF Sergio Ramos 5 Flag of Italy DF Fabio Cannavaro 6 Flag of Mali MF Mahamadou Diarra 7 Flag of Spain FW Raúl (captain) 8 Flag of Brazil MF Emerson 10 Flag of Brazil FW Robinho 11 Flag of Brazil DF Cicinho 12 Flag of Brazil DF Marcelo 14 Flag of Spain MF Guti H. (vice-captain) 15 Flag of Spain DF Raúl Bravo 16 Flag of Argentina MF Fernando Gago 17 Flag of Netherlands FW Ruud van Nistelrooy No. Position Player 18 Flag of Italy FW Antonio Cassano 19 Flag of Spain FW José Antonio Reyes 20 Flag of Argentina FW Gonzalo Higuaín 21 Flag of Spain DF Iván Helguera 22 Flag of Spain DF Francisco Pavón 24 Flag of Spain DF Álvaro Mejía 25 Flag of Spain DF Óscar Miñambres 26 Flag of Spain MF Javi García 27 Flag of Spain MF Rubén De la Red 36 Flag of Spain MF Miguel Nieto 38 Flag of Spain DF Miguel Torres - Flag of Germany DF Christoph Metzelder - Flag of Poland GK Jerzy Dudek [edit] Selected reserve team players Main article: Real Madrid Castilla * Below were Castilla and C team players which were granted a first team shirt. No. Position Player 28 Flag of Spain GK Antonio Adán 29 Flag of Spain GK Kiko Casilla 30 Flag of Spain FW Alberto Bueno 31 Flag of Spain FW Rayco 32 Flag of Spain MF Adrián González 33 Flag of Spain MF Esteban Granero 34 Flag of Spain FW Juan Manuel Mata No. Position Player 35 Flag of Spain MF Pedro Mosquera 37 Flag of Spain MF Marcos Tébar 40 Flag of Spain GK Jordi Codina 41 Flag of Spain DF Miguel Palencia 42 Flag of Spain FW Álvaro Negredo 43 Flag of Spain DF David Mateos 44 Flag of Spain DF Sergio Alejandro [edit] The 2006- 2007 Loans No. Position Player Flag of Spain MF Javier Balboa (at Racing Santander) Flag of Spain FW Roberto Soldado (at CA Osasuna) [edit] 2007/2008 transfers In: No. Position Player Flag of Germany DF Christoph Metzelder (from Borussia Dortmund) Flag of Poland GK Jerzy Dudek (from Liverpool F.C) Out: No. Position Player Flag of England MF David Beckham (to Los Angeles Galaxy) Flag of Uruguay DF Carlos Diogo (to Real Zaragoza) Flag of England DF Jonathan Woodgate (to Middlesbrough F.C) Flag of Brazil DF Roberto Carlos (to Fenerbahçe S.K.) Flag of Spain GK Diego López (to Villarreal C.F.) Flag of Spain FW Juan Manuel Mata (to Valencia CF) Flag of Spain MF Borja Valero (to RCD Mallorca) Flag of Uruguay MF Pablo García (to CA Osasuna) [edit] Club Officials [edit] Board of directors (2007-2008) President Flag of Spain Ramón Calderón Director of football Flag of Montenegro Predrag Mijatović Director of basketball Flag of Spain Antonio Martín Espina [edit] Training Staff Head Coach Flag of Italy Fabio Capello Assistant Coach Flag of Italy Italo Galbiati Third Coach Flag of Spain José Antonio Grande Fitness Coach Flag of Italy Massimo Neri Goalkeeper Coach Flag of Italy Franco Tancredi [edit] Foreign players 2007/2008 Only three non-EU nationals can be on the pitch at anytime. Those with European ancestry can claim a passport from the nation their ancestors came from. e.g Gago can claim an Italian passport as he has Italian ancestry. If a Latin American player cannot prove European ancestry he can claim a Spanish passport by playing in Spain for 5 years. * Flag of Argentina Flag of France Gonzalo Higuaín * Flag of Argentina Flag of Italy Fernando Gago * Flag of Brazil Flag of Italy Cicinho * Flag of Brazil Robinho * Flag of Brazil Marcelo * Flag of Mali Mahamadou Diarra * Flag of Italy Flag of European Union Fabio Cannavaro * Flag of Italy Flag of European Union Antonio Cassano * Flag of Germany Flag of European Union Christoph Metzelder * Flag of Netherlands Flag of European Union Ruud van Nistelrooy [edit] Notable former players 1910s - 1940s * Flag of Spain Ricardo Zamora * Flag of Spain Jacinto Quincoces * Flag of Spain Jaime Lazcano * Flag of Spain Manuel Olivares * Flag of Spain Santiago Bernabéu 1940s - 1970s * Flag of Spain Luis Molowny * Flag of Spain Pahiño * Flag of Spain Miguel Muñoz * Flag of Spain Francisco Gento * Flag of Argentina Flag of Spain Alfredo Di Stéfano * Flag of Argentina Flag of Spain Héctor Rial * Flag of Uruguay Flag of Spain José Santamaria * Flag of France Raymond Kopa * Flag of Hungary Flag of Spain Ferenc Puskás * Flag of Brazil Didi * Flag of Spain Amancio * Flag of Spain Pirri * Flag of Spain Manuel Sanchís M. 1970s - 1990s * Flag of Spain Amancio * Flag of Spain Pirri * Flag of Spain Vicente Del Bosque * Flag of Spain Mariano García Remón * Flag of Spain Miguel Ángel González * Flag of Spain José Antonio Camacho * Flag of Germany Günter Netzer * Flag of Germany Paul Breitner * Flag of Spain Santillana * Flag of Germany Ulrich Stielike * Flag of Spain Juanito * Flag of Spain Rafael Gordillo * Flag of Spain Miguel Porlán 'Chendo' * Flag of Spain Manuel Sanchís H. * Flag of Netherlands John Metgod * Flag of Spain Emilio Butragueño * Flag of Spain Rafael Martín Vázquez * Flag of Spain Míchel * Flag of Spain Paco Buyo * Flag of Argentina Jorge Valdano * Flag of Mexico Hugo Sánchez * Flag of Germany Bernd Schuster 90's * Flag of Spain Paco Buyo * Flag of Mexico Hugo Sánchez * Flag of Spain Emilio Butragueño * Flag of Spain Manuel Sanchís H. * Flag of Spain Miguel Porlán 'Chendo' * Flag of Spain Fernando Hierro * Flag of Brazil Ricardo Rocha * Flag of Romania Gheorghe Hagi * Flag of Croatia Robert Prosinečki * Flag of Denmark Michael Laudrup * Flag of Chile Iván Zamorano * Flag of Argentina Fernando Redondo * Flag of Brazil Roberto Carlos * Flag of Netherlands Clarence Seedorf * Flag of Montenegro Predrag Mijatović * Flag of Italy Christian Panucci * Flag of Croatia Davor Šuker * Flag of Spain Fernando Morientes * Flag of France Christian Karembeu * Flag of Germany Bodo Illgner * Flag of France Nicolas Anelka 2000's * Flag of Spain Manuel Sanchís H. * Flag of Spain Fernando Hierro * Flag of Spain Albert Celades * Flag of England Steve McManaman * Flag of Argentina Esteban Cambiasso * Flag of France Claude Makélélé * Flag of Brazil Flavio Conceiçao * Flag of Spain Fernando Morientes * Flag of Argentina Santiago Solari * Flag of Cameroon Geremi * Flag of England Michael Owen * Flag of Portugal Luís Figo * Flag of Denmark Thomas Gravesen * Flag of France Zinedine Zidane * Flag of Brazil Ronaldo * Flag of England Jonathan Woodgate * Flag of England David Beckham * Flag of Brazil Roberto Carlos [edit] World Cup Winners * Flag of Brazil Didi (Sweden 1958) and (Chile 1962) * Flag of Germany Paul Breitner (West Germany 1974) * Flag of Germany Günter Netzer (West Germany 1974) * Flag of Argentina Jorge Valdano (Mexico 1986) * Flag of Argentina Oscar Ruggeri (Mexico 1986) * Flag of Germany Bodo Illgner (Italy 1990) * Flag of Brazil Ricardo Rocha (USA 1994) * Flag of France Christian Karembeu (France 1998) * Flag of France Zinedine Zidane (France 1998) * Flag of Brazil Roberto Carlos (Korea-Japan 2002) * Flag of Brazil Ronaldo (USA 1994) and (Korea-Japan 2002) * Flag of Italy Fabio Cannavaro (Germany 2006) [edit] Selected former managers see also Cat:Real Madrid managers and List of Real Madrid managers * Flag of England Arthur Johnson 1910 - 1920 * Flag of Spain Francisco Bru 1934 - 1941 * Flag of Uruguay Héctor Scarone 1951 - 1952 * Flag of Uruguay Enrique Fernández 1953 - 1954 * Flag of Spain José Villalonga 1955 - 1957 * Flag of Argentina Luis Carniglia 1957 - 1959 * Flag of Paraguay Manuel Fleitas Solich 1959 - 1960 * Flag of Spain Miguel Muñoz 1960 - 1973 * Flag of Spain Luis Molowny 1974 * Flag of Yugoslavia Miljan Miljanić 1974 - 1977 * Flag of Spain Luis Molowny 1977-1979 * Flag of Yugoslavia Vujadin Boškov 1979 - 1982 * Flag of Spain Luis Molowny 1982 * Flag of Argentina Alfredo Di Stéfano 1982 - 1984 * Flag of Spain Amancio Amaro 1984-1985 * Flag of Spain Luis Molowny 1985 - 1986 * Flag of Netherlands Leo Beenhakker 1986 - 1989 * Flag of Wales John Toshack 1989 - 1990 * Flag of Argentina Alfredo Di Stéfano 1990 - 1991 * Flag of Yugoslavia Radomir Antić 1991 - 1992 * Flag of Netherlands Leo Beenhakker 1992 * Flag of Spain Benito Floro 1992 - 1993 * Flag of Spain Vicente Del Bosque 1994 * Flag of Argentina Jorge Valdano 1994 - 1995 * Flag of Spain Vicente Del Bosque 1996 * Flag of Spain Arsenio Iglesias 1996 * Flag of Italy Fabio Capello 1996 - 1997 * Flag of Germany Jupp Heynckes 1997 - 1998 * Flag of Spain Jose Antonio Camacho 1998 * Flag of Netherlands Guus Hiddink 1998 - 1999 * Flag of Wales John Toshack 1999 * Flag of Spain Vicente Del Bosque 1999 - 2003 * Flag of Portugal Carlos Queiroz 2003 - 2004 * Flag of Spain Jose Antonio Camacho 2004 * Flag of Spain Mariano García Remón 2004 * Flag of Brazil Vanderlei Luxemburgo 2004 - 2005 * Flag of Spain Juan Ramón López Caro 2005 - 2006 * Flag of Italy Fabio Capello 2006 - Present [edit] Presidents * Flag of Spain Julián Palacios 1900 -1902 * Flag of Spain Juan Padrós 1902 - 1904 * Flag of Spain Carlos Padrós 1904 - 1908 * Flag of Spain Adolfo Meléndez 1908 - 16, 1939 - 40 * Flag of Spain Pedro Parages 1916 - 1925 * Flag of Spain Luis de Urquijo 1926 - 1929 * Flag of Spain Luis Usera 1929 - 1935 * Flag of Spain Rafael Sanchez Guerra 1935 - 1939 * Flag of Spain Antonio Santos Peralba 1940 - 1943 * Flag of Spain Santiago Bernabéu 1943 - 1978 * Flag of Spain Luis de Carlos 1978 - 1985 * Flag of Spain Ramón Mendoza 1985 - 1995 * Flag of Spain Lorenzo Sanz 1995 - 2000 * Flag of Spain Florentino Pérez 2000 - 2006 * Flag of Spain Fernando Martín 2006 (February 27 - April 26) * Flag of Spain Luis Gómez-Montejano 2006 (April 26 - July 2) * Flag of Spain Ramón Calderón Ramos 2006 - present see also Cat:Real Madrid presidents [edit] Other sport sections [edit] Real Madrid Castilla Main article: Real Madrid Castilla [edit] Real Madrid de Baloncesto Main article: Real Madrid Baloncesto [edit] Formula One sponsorship In a press conference on 23 October 2006, president of the club, Ramón Calderón announced that Real Madrid will sponsor a Formula One team for the 2007 Formula One season.[4] [edit] Hymn The original Real Madrid hymn was sung by José de Aguilar. A second hymn was written in 2002, the year of the Centenary of Real Madrid by José María Blanco and sung by Plácido Domingo. This new hymn did not replace the original one; the two now coexist as the hymns of Real Madrid. [edit] Notes and references 1. ^ www.fifa.com/en/hist ory/history/0,1283,4 ,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-13. 2. ^ http://www.stadiumgu ide.com/realmadridst ory.htm 3. ^ sports.yahoo.com/sow /news?slug=reu-spain realcalderondc&p rov=reuters&type =lgns. Retrieved on 2007-05-13. 4. ^ www.f1racing.net/en/ news.php?newsID=1339 60. Retrieved on 2007-05-13. [edit] See also * Cat:Real Madrid * Ciudad Real Madrid * Real Madrid Summer 2006 * Real Madrid Statistics * Real Madrid Captains * Real Madrid Baloncesto * Santiago Bernabéu Stadium * Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium * El Clásico [edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Real Madrid * Realmadrid.com - Official website (Spanish) / (English) / (Japanese) Real Madrid v • d • e Teams: Real Madrid | Real Madrid Castilla | Real Madrid C | Real Madrid Baloncesto Players: Real Madrid | Real Madrid Baloncesto Coaches: Real Madrid Statistics: Real Madrid Stadiums: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium | Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium | Estadio Chamartín Other: El Clásico | RMTV Flag of Spain La Liga • 2007/08 clubs v • d • e Flag of Spain Almería • Atlético • Athletic • Barcelona • Betis • Deportivo • Espanyol Getafe • Levante • Mallorca • Murcia • Osasuna • Racing • Real Madrid Recreativo • Sevilla • Valencia • Valladolid • Villarreal • Zaragoza La Liga seasons 1991/92 • 1992/93 • 1993/94 • 1994/95 • 1995/96 • 1996/97 • 1997/98 • 1998/99 1999/00 • 2000/01 • 2001/02 • 2002/03 • 2003/04 • 2004/05 • 2005/06 • 2006/07 • 2007/08 UEFA Champions League 2006-07 v • d • e Winners AC Milan Runners-Up Liverpool Eliminated in Semi-finals Chelsea • Manchester United Eliminated in Quarter-finals Bayern Munich • PSV • Roma • Valencia Eliminated in First Knockout Round Arsenal • Barcelona • Celtic • Internazionale • Lille • Lyon • Porto • Real Madrid Eliminated in Group Stage AEK • Anderlecht • Benfica • Bordeaux • Werder Bremen • Copenhagen • CSKA Moscow • Dynamo Kyiv Galatasaray • Hamburg • Levski Sofia • Olympiacos • Shakhtar • Spartak Moscow • Sporting • Steaua Members of G-14 v • d • e Flag of Netherlands Ajax • Flag of England Arsenal • Flag of Spain FC Barcelona • Flag of Germany Bayer Leverkusen • Flag of Germany Bayern Munich Flag of Germany Borussia Dortmund • Flag of Netherlands PSV Eindhoven • Flag of Italy Internazionale • Flag of Italy Juventus Flag of England Liverpool • Flag of England Manchester United • Flag of Italy AC Milan • Flag of France Lyon • Flag of France Marseille Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain • Flag of Portugal FC Porto • Flag of Spain Real Madrid • Flag of Spain Valencia Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Real_Madri d" Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since May 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Football (soccer) clubs established in 1902 | G-14 clubs | La Liga | Real Madrid | Spanish football clubs | Madrid football teams | Sports teams sponsored by consumer electronics brands! And Axu's is barca:FC Barcelona From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search FC Barcelona Barça emblem Full name Futbol Club Barcelona Nickname(s) Barça Culés Los Blaugrana (The Blue-Reds) The Catalans The Boys of Catalunya Founded 29 November 1899 Ground Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia Capacity 98,787 Chairman Flag of Spain Joan Laporta Head Coach Flag of Netherlands Frank Rijkaard League La Liga 2006-07 La Liga, 2nd Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Home colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Team colours Away colours Futbol Club Barcelona, known familiarly as Barça (IPA: baɾsa), is a Spanish sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is best known for its football team. It was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English, and Spanish men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto Més que un club (More than a club). They were founding members of La Liga in 1928, and, together with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, they have never been relegated from the Primera División. The club were also the first La Liga champions. With 18 La Liga, 24 Copa del Rey, 7 Supercopa de España, 2 UEFA Champions League, 4 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup and 2 European Super Cup trophies, the club is considered to be one of the most successful clubs in football history in Spain and Europe and one of the greatest in the World. The club's main stadium is the Camp Nou and the fans of FC Barcelona are known as culers or culés. In September 2006, the number of socis (club members/owners) reached 151,127, while in June 2006 the number of penyes (officially-registered supporter clubs) reached 1782 worldwide. The club also operates a reserve team, FC Barcelona B, a youth team FC Barcelona C and four other professional sports teams, Winterthur FCB (From 2007/8 AXA-Winterthur FCB), FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona Futsal and FC Barcelona Sorli Discau that compete at basketball, handball, futsal and rink hockey respectively. There are also a number of prominent amateur sports teams that compete at rugby union, women's basketball, women's football and wheelchair basketball. These include FCB Rugby, UB-Barça and FC Barcelona-Institut Guttman. Other amateur teams represent the club at ice hockey, athletics, baseball, cycling, field hockey, figure skating, and volleyball. During the 2005-06 season, FC Barcelona was the second richest club in the world with an estimated revenue of €259.1 million. Contents [hide] * 1 History o 1.1 Early years (1899-1908) o 1.2 With Gamper's seal (1908-1923) o 1.3 Rivera, República and Civil war (1923-1939) o 1.4 C. de F. Barcelona (1939-1974) o 1.5 Cruijff (1974-1978) o 1.6 Núñez in presidency (1978-2000) + 1.6.1 The stability years (1978-1988) + 1.6.2 The Dream Team (1988-1996) + 1.6.3 Towards the centenary (1996-2000) o 1.7 Gaspart's decline period (2000-2003) o 1.8 The current era (2003-present) o 1.9 Pre 2007/2008 Season o 1.10 Rivalries + 1.10.1 El Clásico + 1.10.2 El derbi barcelonés * 2 Sponsorship * 3 Honours * 4 Recent seasons * 5 Current squad o 5.1 Out * 6 Personnel o 6.1 Current technical staff * 7 Former Personnel o 7.1 Selected former presidents o 7.2 Selected former managers o 7.3 Selected former players o 7.4 World Cup Winners * 8 Sources * 9 References * 10 External links [edit] History [edit] Early years (1899-1908) The ad in Los Deportes The ad in Los Deportes On 22 October 1899 Joan Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Sole on November 29. Eleven players attended: Gualteri Wild, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Josep Llobet, John Parsons, and William Parsons. As a result Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born. Several other Spanish football clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, also had British founders, and as a result they initially adopted English-style names. FC Barcelona quickly emerged as one of the leading clubs of both Catalonia and Spain as they competed in both the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey. In 1901 they won their first trophy when they won the Copa Macaya and in 1902 they also played in the first Copa del Rey final, losing 2-1 to Club Vizcaya. [edit] With Gamper's seal (1908-1923) In 1908 Joan Gamper became club president for the first time. Gamper took over the presidency as the club was on the verge of folding. The club had not won anything since the Campionat de Catalunya of 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. Gamper was subsequently club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925 and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire its own stadium. On March 14 1909, it moved into the Carrer Industria, a stadium with a capacity of 6,000. Gamper also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Les Corts, which inaugurated in the same year. This stadium had an initial capacity of 20,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000. Gamper also recruited Paulino Alcántara, the club's all time top-scorer with 356 goals, and in 1917 appointed Jack Greenwell as manager. This saw the club's fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Campionat de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey and four Coupe de Pyrenées and enjoyed its first golden age. As well as Alcántara the Barça team under Greenwall also included Sagibarbá, Ricardo Zamora, Josep Samitier, Félix Sesúmaga and Franz Platko. [edit] Rivera, República and Civil war (1923-1939) In the midst of the glorious 20's, Barca suffered of non-sporting conflicts which were to mark the following decade. On 14th June 1925, during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, the crowd at a game in homage to the Orfeo Catalan jeered the Royal March and as a reprisal the ground closed for six months, later reduced to three, and forced Gamper to give up the presidency of the club. The club's founder, after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems comitted suicide on July 30 1930. Although they continued to have players of the standing of Josep Escolà, the club now entered a period of decline, in which political conflict overshadowed sport throughout society. Barca faced a crisis on three fronts: financial, social, with the number of members dropping constantly, and sporting, where although the team won the Catalan Championship in 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1934-34, 1935-36 and 1937-38, success at Spanish level evaded them. A month after the civil war began, Barça's left-wing president Josep Suñol i Garriga was murdered by Franco's soldiers near to Guadalajara. In 1937, the squad was on a tour in Mexico and USA in which the team was received as an ambassador of the fighting Second Spanish Republic. Moreover, it proved the financial saving of the club, also resulted in half the team seeking exile in Mexico and France. On 16th March 1938 the fascists dropped a bomb on the club's social club and caused serious damage. A few months later, Barcelona was under fascist occupation and as a symbol of the 'undisciplined' Catalanism, the club, now down to just 3,486 members, was facing a number of serious problems. [edit] C. de F. Barcelona (1939-1974) Club shield during the Franco dictatorship Club shield during the Franco dictatorship After the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan language and flag were banned and football clubs were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures led to the club having its name forcibly changed to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and the removal of the Catalan flag from the club shield. During the Franco era one of the few places that Catalan could be spoken freely was within the club's stadium. Despite the difficult political situation, CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1943, at Les Corts, for the first leg of the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid, the game ended in a 3-0 win for Barça. It has been alleged that at the return leg in Madrid, just before the game, a member of Franco's secret police entered the FC Barcelona's locker room to 'remind' some of the players that they owed their return to Spain only to the Generalisimo's generosity. The Madrid side proceeded to win 11-1. In 1945, with Josep Samitier as coach and players like César, Ramallets and Velasco, they won La Liga for first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 they also won the first Copa Latina. Coach Fernando Daucik and Ladislao Kubala, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired the team to five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Generalisimo, the Copa Latina and the Copa Eva Duarte in 1952. In 1953 they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalisimo again. The club also won the Copa del Generalisimo in 1957 and the Fairs Cup in 1958. With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup game, thus ending their monopoly of the competition. The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. The construction of the stadium was personally endorsed by Francisco Franco himself and the real state sector where the stadium was to be built was valuated very generously by the town, as to facilitate the financing. However the decade also saw the emergence of Josep Fusté and Carles Rexach and the club winning the Copa del Generalisimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalisimo final at the Bernabéu. The club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona in 1974.[2] [edit] Cruijff (1974-1978) The 1973/74 season saw the arrival of a new Barça legend – Johan Cruijff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruijff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year twice in a row while at club. * Real Madrid vs. Barcelona 0-5, 1974 [edit] Núñez in presidency (1978-2000) [edit] The stability years (1978-1988) Josep Lluís Núñez was elected president of FC Barcelona in 1978. His main objectives were to establish Barça as a world-class sports club and to give the club financial stability. In 1979 and 1982 the club won two of four European Cup Winners' Cups won in the Núñez era. In 1982 Diego Maradona was signed for a world record fee from Boca Juniors. However his time with Barça was short-lived and unsuccessful and he soon left for Napoli. At the start of the 1984/85 season, Terry Venables was hired as manager and he won La Liga with stellar displays by German midfielder Bernd Schuster. The next season, he took the team to their second European Cup final, only to lose on penalties to Steaua Bucureşti. After the 1986 World Cup, English top scorer Gary Lineker was signed along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta but the team could not achieve success while Schuster was excluded from the team. Terry Venables was subsequently fired at the beginning of the 1987/88 season and replaced with Luis Aragones. That season finished with a rebellion of the players against president Núñez known as the Motin del Hesperia and the 1-0 victory at the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad. [edit] The Dream Team (1988-1996) In 1988 Johan Cruijff returned to the club as manager, assembling the so-called Dream Team, named after the US basketball team that played at the 1992 Summer Olympics hosted by Barcelona. He introduced players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristáin, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário and Hristo Stoichkov. This team won La Liga four times between 1991 and 1994 and beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España. With 11 trophies, Cruijff has been the club's most successful manager to date. He is also the club's longest serving manager. However, in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies and fell out with president Núñez, resulting in Cruijff's departure. [edit] Towards the centenary (1996-2000) Cruijff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996/97. He is quoted as saying, "Catalonia is a country and FC Barcelona is their army". He recruited Ronaldo from his previous club, PSV Eindhoven and delivered a cup treble winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the Supercopa de España. Despite his success, Robson was only ever seen as a short-term solution while the club waited for Louis van Gaal to become available. Like Maradona, Ronaldo only stayed a short time and he left for Inter Milan. However, new heroes such as Luís Figo, Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Luis Enrique Martínez and Rivaldo emerged and the team won a Copa del Rey/La Liga double in 1998. In 1999 the club celebrates its 'centenari' winning the La Liga title and Rivaldo became the fourth Barça player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to emulate Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League led to van Gaal and Núñez resigning in 2000. [edit] Gaspart's decline period (2000-2003) The departures of Nuñez and Van Gaal were nothing compared to that of Luís Figo. As well as club vice-captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. So the Barça fans were distraught by Figo’s decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid and during subsequent visits to the Camp Nou Figo was given an extremely hostile reception, including one occasion when a pig's head was thrown at him from the crowd. The next three years saw the club in decline and managers came and went, including a short second spell by Louis van Gaal. Gaspart did not inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003 he and Van Gaal resigned. [edit] The current era (2003-present) FC Barcelona 2005 team photograph FC Barcelona 2005 team photograph After the disappointment of the Gaspart era, a combination of a new young president Joan Laporta and a relatively young new manager Frank Rijkaard saw the club bounce back. It was during this time, that Barça had gotten a tagline. It read Blaugrana Al Vent, which in Catalan, the official language of Barcelona, means The Red-Blue, Flowing In The Wind. But aside from that, on the field, an influx of talented players, such as Ronaldinho, Deco, Ludovic Giuly, and Samuel Eto'o, and experienced professionals, such as Rafael Márquez and Giovanni van Bronckhorst combined with a nucleus of home grown players, Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, and Víctor Valdés saw the club return to success. In the 2004/05 season, Barça won La Liga and had a successful season with a 3-0 win over fierce rivals Real Madrid at the Camp Nou and another impressive 2-0 win vs Valencia CF at the fearsome Mestalla. In the UEFA Champions League 2004-05 Barça were eliminated by Chelsea FC 4-2 on aggregate. The first leg started a rivalry between the two clubs after Chelsea manager José Mourinho claimed that he had seen referee Anders Frisk invite Barça manager Frank Rijkaard into his room at half-time. As a result of these claims, Frisk announced his immediate retirement, citing threats made to his family. The second leg produced one of the best ever goals in the UEFA Champions League by Ronaldinho. The 2005-06 season has been the pinnacle of the Laporta reign so far. In November 2005 Barça beat Real Madrid 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a match where Ronaldinho was so impressive that after his second, and Barça's third goal the Real Madrid fans felt compelled to applaud him. This match also gave Barça manager Frank Rijkaard his second victory at the stadium of Real Madrid, becoming the first Barça manager to do so. In this season, Barça also beat Chelsea FC 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in a match which saw the global introduction of Lionel Messi and then in the semi-final of the competition Barça beat A.C. Milan 1-0 on aggregate, at the San Siro through a Ludovic Giuly goal after a pass from Ronaldinho. The return leg in Barcelona, Spain finished 0-0. As well as winning La Liga with ease, on May 17, 2006 they also won the UEFA Champions League. Trailing 1-0 to Arsenal with less than 15 minutes left, they won 2-1 after the substitute Henrik Larsson set-up two late goals, one for Samuel Eto'o and the other for Juliano Belletti. This victory sparked scenes of jubilation from Barcelona fans with ecstatic culérs celebrating in the obvious scene of La Rambla as well as members of Barça fan clubs celebrating in the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid and all over the world. [1] In 2005 and 2006 Barça won the Supercopa de España with victories over Real Betis and Catalan rivals Espanyol respectively. For the 2006/07 season, FC Barcelona has been reinforced with the arrival of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lilian Thuram, and the return of Javier Saviola [2]. They took part in the FIFA Club World Cup 2006, making it to the final, only to be beaten by a late goal against Internacional. Barcelona were unable to retain the Champions League 06-07 season as they were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Liverpool on away goals. Highlights of the 2006/07 season for Barcelona have included Lionel Messi's hat-trick vs Real Madrid in the extraordinary 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou and his 'golazo' vs Getafe. In addition to this, Barça managed to stun the rest of La Liga with a 6-0 win over Atlético Madrid, a team who FC Barcelona have found extremely difficult to beat in recent seasons. [edit] Pre 2007/2008 Season This season Barcelona has signed deals with two Scottish Premier League clubs Dundee United and Heart of Midlothian to play pre season friendlies at Tannadice Park home to Dundee United and Hearts are due to play at Murrayfield Stadium home to Scottish Rugby. On August 15, Barcelona will face Bayern Munich in the Mehmet Scholl testimonial / Franz Beckenbauer Cup. Barcelona will also make a trip to north america and play several teams including Chivas USA and the New York Red Bulls in August 2007. [edit] Rivalries [edit] El Clásico There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league and this is particularly the case in La Liga, between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, this game is also know as El Clasico. From the start the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain, Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities themselves. The rivalry projects what many regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilleans. During the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco, all regional identities were openly suppressed (e.g. the peripheral languages were officially banned). So FC Barcelona become more than a club (més que un club) for Catalonia and one of its greatest ambassadors. At the same time, many Catalans felt that Real Madrid, selectively or not, was representing the sovereign centralism. However, during the Spanish Civil War itself, members of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra, suffered at the hands of Franco supporters. During the 1950s the rivalry was exacerbated significantly when the clubs disputed the signing of Alfredo Di Stefano, who finally played for Real Madrid and was key in the subsequent success achieved by the club. The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the semi-final stage of the European Cup. As nowadays FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two biggest and most successful clubs in Spain, the rivalry is renewed on an almost annual basis with both teams often challenging each other for the league championship. The current Clasico was played in the Camp Nou and ended with a 3-3 draw, and with Lionel Messi scoring his first hat-trick. See also El Clásico, Major football rivalries [edit] El derbi barcelonés Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol, the "other" team of the city were founded exclusively by Spanish fans of the game, on the contrary to the multinational nature of FC Barcelona's original board. The club's first home was in the well-off district of Sarrià and was formerly known with the spanish spelling of its name, Real Club Deportivo Español. However, the blanquiazules in 1995 attempted to have a go at getting their own part in Catalanism by 'catalanize' their name in a move that generally did not earn them much respect at the Camp Nou. [edit] Sponsorship FC Barcelona attitude to sponsorship is unique. Selectively without a commercial message in its shirts, on 14 July 2006 the club announced a five year agreement with UNICEF, which includes having the UNICEF logo on their shirts. The agreement will see FC Barcelona donating US$1.9 million per year to UNICEF (0.7 per cent of its ordinary income to the FC Barcelona Foundation, and rejecting significant money offers to be the first shirt sponsor of the football team. The club has done this in order to set up international cooperation programmes for development, supports the UN Millennium Development Goals and has made a commitment to Unicef’s humanitarian aid programs through the donation of one and a half million euros for the next five years. To those who are not familiar with Barça's meaning, even they could see that this deal would prove to them that Barça is 'Més que un club'. Companies that FC Barcelona currently has sponsorship deals with include [3]: * Nike - Official sponsors * Coca-Cola - Official sponsors * TV3 (Catalonia) - Official sponsors * Audi - Official sponsors * Telefonica - Official sponsors * Estrella Damm - Official sponsors * La Caixa - Official sponsors * bwin - Official Betting Partner * MediaPro - Official provider [edit] Honours Celebrating on the streets of Barcelona Celebrating on the streets of Barcelona Main article: FC Barcelona in Europe * La Liga Champions: 18 o 1929, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1960, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006 * Copa del Rey: 24 o 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998 * Supercopa de España: 7 o 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2006 * UEFA Champions League: 2 o 1992, 2006 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 4 o 1979, 1982, 1989, 1997 * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup: 3 o 1958, 1960, 1966 * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off: 1 o 1971 * European Super Cup: 2 o 1992, 1997 * Copa Latina: 2 o 1949, 1952 * Copa de Oro Argentina/Copa Eva Duarte o 1945, 1949, 1952, 1953 * Copa Macaya/Catalan Champions: 22 o 1902, 1905, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1938 * Copa Martini Rossi: 2 o 1952, 1953 * Coupe de Pyrenées: 4 o 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 * Mediterranean League: 1 o 1937 * Copa de la Liga: 2 o 1982, 1986 * Copa Barcelona: 1 o 1903 * Lliga Catalana: 1 o 1937-38 * Copa Catalunya: 6 o 1991, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007 * Little World Cup: 1 o 1957 Playing against the African Club Of the Century Ahly and wining 4-0 in the Ahly 100 years ahly friendly game. * References: [4] [5] [edit] Recent seasons Last updated: 21 May 2007 Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes Manager 1996/97 1st 2 42 28 6 8 102 48 90 winner CWC Winner Bobby Robson 1997/98 1st 1 38 23 5 10 78 56 74 winner ECL qualifying round Louis van Gaal 1998/99 1st 1 38 24 7 7 87 43 79 ECL group stage Louis van Gaal 1999/00 1st 2 38 19 7 12 70 46 64 ECL semi-final Louis van Gaal 2000/01 1st 4 38 17 12 9 80 57 63 UC semi-final elim. group stage ECL Llorenç Serra Ferrer 2001/02 1st 4 38 18 10 10 65 37 64 ECL semi-final Carles Rexach 2002/03 1st 6 38 15 11 12 63 47 56 ECL quarter-final Carles Rexach/Louis van Gaal/Radomir Antić 2003/04 1st 2 38 21 9 8 63 39 72 UC 4th round Frank Rijkaard 2004/05 1st 1 38 25 9 4 73 29 84 2nd round ECL last 16 Frank Rijkaard 2005/06 1st 1 38 25 7 6 80 35 82 quarter-final ECL winner Frank Rijkaard 2006/07 1st 2 38 22 10 6 78 33 76 semi-final ECL last 16 Frank Rijkaard Div.=Division; Pos.=Position; Pl=Match played; W=Win; D=Draw; L=Lost; GS=Gol Scored; GA= Gol Againts; P=Points Colors: gold=winner; silver=runner-up; cyan=on going [edit] Current squad Last updated: 20 May 2007 Source: FCBarcelona.cat No. Position Player 1 Flag of Spain GK Víctor Valdés 2 Flag of Brazil DF Juliano Belletti 3 Flag of Brazil MF Thiago Motta 4 Flag of Mexico DF Rafael Márquez 5 Flag of Spain DF Carles Puyol (captain) 6 Flag of Spain MF Xavi (vice-captain) 7 Flag of Iceland FW Eiður Guðjohnsen 8 Flag of France FW Ludovic Giuly 9 Flag of Cameroon FW Samuel Eto'o 10 Flag of Brazil FW Ronaldinho (vice-captain) 11 Flag of Italy DF Gianluca Zambrotta No. Position Player 12 Flag of Netherlands DF Giovanni van Bronckhorst 15 Flag of Brazil MF Edmílson 16 Flag of Brazil DF Sylvinho 18 Flag of Spain FW Santiago Ezquerro 19 Flag of Argentina FW Lionel Messi 20 Flag of Portugal MF Deco 21 Flag of France DF Lilian Thuram 22 Flag of Argentina FW Javier Saviola 23 Flag of Spain DF Oleguer Presas 24 Flag of Spain MF Andrés Iniesta 25 Flag of Spain GK Albert Jorquera 28 Flag of Spain GK Rubén [edit] Out No. Position Player 22 Flag of Argentina FW Javier Saviola has stated he will leave the club at the end of the season[6] [edit] Personnel [edit] Current technical staff Director of Football Flag of Spain Txiki Beguiristáin Head Coach Flag of Netherlands Frank Rijkaard Assistant Coach Flag of Netherlands Johan Neeskens 2nd assistant Coach Flag of Spain Eusebio Sacristán Goalkeeping coach Flag of Spain Juan Carlos Unzué Academy director Flag of Spain José Ramón Alexanko [edit] Former Personnel [edit] Selected former presidents see also Cat:FC Barcelona presidents * Flag of Spain Flag of England Arthur Witty (1902-05) * Flag of Switzerland Joan Gamper (1908-09, 1910–13,1917-19,1921-23,1924-25) * Flag of Spain Josep Sunyol (1935-36) * Flag of Spain Enrique Piñeyro (1940-43) * Flag of Spain Josep Lluís Nuñez (1978–2000) * Flag of Spain Joan Gaspart (2000-03) [edit] Selected former managers see also Cat:FC Barcelona managers * Flag of England Jack Greenwell, 1917-24, 1931-33 * Flag of England Ralph Kirby, 1925-26 * Flag of Spain Romà Forns, 1927-29 * Flag of Hungary Franz Platko, 1934-35, 1955-56 * Flag of Ireland Patrick O'Connell, 1935-37 * Flag of Spain Joan Josep Nogués, 1941-44 * Flag of Spain Josep Samitier, 1944-47 * Flag of Uruguay Enrique Fernández, 1947-50 * Flag of Czech Republic Fernando Daucik, 1950-54 * Flag of Spain Domènec Balmanya, 1956-58 * Flag of Argentina Flag of France Helenio Herrera, 1958-60, 1980, 1980-1981 * Flag of Hungary Flag of Spain Flag of Slovakia Ladislao Kubala, 1962, 1980 * Flag of Spain Josep Gonzalvo, 1963 * Flag of Spain César Rodríguez, 1963-64 * Flag of England Vic Buckingham, 1969-71 * Flag of Netherlands Rinus Michels, 1971-1975, 1976-1978 * Flag of Germany Hennes Weisweiler, 1975-1976 * Flag of Germany Udo Lattek, 1981-1983 * Flag of Argentina César Luis Menotti, 1983-1984 * Flag of England Terry Venables, 1984-87 * Flag of Spain Luis Aragonés, 1987-88 * Flag of Netherlands Johan Cruijff, 1988-96 * Flag of England Bobby Robson, 1996-97 * Flag of Netherlands Louis van Gaal, 1997-2000, 2002-2003 * Flag of Spain Llorenç Serra Ferrer, 2000-2001 * Flag of Spain Carles Rexach, 2001-2002 * Flag of Serbia Radomir Antić, 2003 * Flag of Netherlands Frank Rijkaard, 2003-present [edit] Selected former players * Flag of Spain Abelardo Fernández * Flag of Spain Alexanko * Flag of Spain Guillermo Amor * Flag of Spain José Mari Bakero * Flag of Spain Txiki Beguiristain * Flag of Spain César * Flag of Spain Iván de la Peña * Flag of Spain Josep Escolà * Flag of Spain Albert Ferrer * Flag of Spain Goikoetxea * Flag of Spain Josep Guardiola * Flag of Spain Luis Enrique * Flag of Spain Migueli * Flag of Spain Miguel Ángel Nadal * Flag of Spain Quini * Flag of Spain Ramallets * Flag of Spain Carles Rexach * Flag of Spain Julio Salinas * Flag of Spain Josep Samitier * Flag of Spain Sergi Barjuán * Flag of Spain Luis Suárez * Flag of Spain Urruti * Flag of Spain Velasco * Flag of Spain Ricardo Zamora * Flag of Spain Andoni Zubizarreta * Flag of Austria Hans Krankl * Flag of Argentina Diego Maradona * Flag of Argentina Juan Román Riquelme * Flag of Argentina Juan Pablo Sorin * Flag of Argentina Javier Saviola * Flag of Argentina Maxi López * Flag of Brazil Sonny Anderson * Flag of Brazil Evaristo * Flag of Brazil Giovanni * Flag of Brazil Rivaldo * Flag of Brazil Romário * Flag of Brazil Ronaldo * Flag of Bulgaria Hristo Stoitchkov * Flag of Croatia Robert Prosinečki * Flag of Costa Rica Alejandro Morera Soto * Flag of Denmark Michael Laudrup * Flag of Denmark Allan Simonsen * Flag of England Gary Lineker * Flag of Finland Jari Litmanen * Flag of France Laurent Blanc * Flag of France Emmanuel Petit * Flag of Germany Bernd Schuster * Flag of Hungary Zoltán Czibor * Flag of Hungary Sandor Kocsis * Flag of Hungary Ladislao Kubala * Flag of Hungary Franz Platko * Flag of Mexico Horacio Casarín * Flag of Netherlands Frank de Boer * Flag of Netherlands Ronald de Boer * Flag of Netherlands Winston Bogarde * Flag of Netherlands Mark van Bommel * Flag of Netherlands Phillip Cocu * Flag of Netherlands Johan Cruijff * Flag of Netherlands Edgar Davids * Flag of Netherlands Ruud Hesp * Flag of Netherlands Patrick Kluivert * Flag of Netherlands Ronald Koeman * Flag of Netherlands Johan Neeskens * Flag of Netherlands Marc Overmars * Flag of Netherlands Michael Reiziger * Flag of Netherlands Boudewijn Zenden * Flag of Paraguay Cayetano Re * Flag of Peru Hugo Sotil * Flag of Philippines Paulino Alcántara * Flag of Portugal Vitor Baia * Flag of Portugal Fernando Couto * Flag of Portugal Luís Figo * Flag of Portugal Ricardo Quaresma * Flag of Portugal Simao Sabrosa * Flag of Romania Gheorghe Hagi * Flag of Romania Gheorghe Popescu * Flag of Russia Igor Korneev * Flag of Scotland Steve Archibald * Flag of Sweden Patrik Andersson * Flag of Sweden Henrik Larsson * Flag of Turkey Rüştü Reçber * Flag of Uruguay Héctor Scarone * Flag of Wales Mark Hughes [edit] World Cup Winners * Flag of Brazil Romário (USA 1994) * Flag of Brazil Rivaldo (Korea-Japan 2002) * Flag of Brazil Ronaldinho (Korea-Japan 2002) * Flag of Italy Gianluca Zambrotta (Germany 2006) see also Cat:FC Barcelona footballers [edit] Sources * Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (2003), Phil Ball. * Barça: A People’s Passion (1998), Jimmy Burns. [edit] References 1. ^ [[1]] 2. ^ Tactical Formation. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on February 5, 2007. 3. ^ Official Sponsors. FBbarcelona.cat (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 4. ^ Futbol Club Barcelona honours; FCBarcelona.cat 5. ^ European club facts: FC Barcelona; uefa.com 6. ^ http://www.goal.com/ en/Articolo.aspx?Con tenutoId=316597 [edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: FC Barcelona see also Supporters of FC Barcelona for more links * FCBarcelona.cat - Official website (Catalan) / (Spanish) / (English) / (Japanese) * Official FC Barcelona channel in Youtube (Catalan) / (English) * FCBarcelonaBlog.com for Barça Fans (English) * Play football in Barcelona at the eurofootballfives.com 5-a-side football tournament - The Barca Fives, December 2007 (English) UEFA Champions League 2007-08 v • d • e Group Stage AC Milan • Barcelona • Chelsea • CSKA Moscow • Lyon • Internazionale • Manchester United • Marseille • Porto • PSV • Real Madrid • Roma • Schalke • Sporting • Stuttgart • Olympiacos Third Qualifying Round AEK • Ajax • Anderlecht • Arsenal • Benfica • Celtic • Dinamo Bucharest • Fenerbahçe • Lazio • Liverpool • Sevilla • AC Sparta Praha • Spartak Moscow • Toulouse • Valencia • Werder Bremen • Zürich Second Qualifying Round Beitar Jerusalem • Beşiktaş • Copenhagen • Crvena Zvezda • Debrecen • Genk • Levski Sofia • Rangers • Red Bull Salzburg • Rosenborg • SK Slavia Praha • Steaua • Zagłębie Lubin First Qualifying Round Dinamo Zagreb • APOEL • Domžale • Elfsborg • Sarajevo • Ventspils • MŠK Žilina • Derry City • FH • Kaunas • Tampere United • Sheriff • Olimpi Rustavi • BATE • SK Tirana • Levadia Tallinn • Pyunik • FK Khazar Lenkoran • Astana • Linfield • The New Saints • Havnar Bóltfelag • F91 Dudelange • Marsaxlokk • Rànger's • S.S. Murata • FK Pobeda • FK Zeta Flag of Spain La Liga • 2007/08 clubs v • d • e Flag of Spain Almería • Atlético • Athletic • Barcelona • Betis • Deportivo • Espanyol Getafe • Levante • Mallorca • Murcia • Osasuna • Racing • Real Madrid Recreativo • Sevilla • Valencia • Valladolid • Villarreal • Zaragoza La Liga seasons 1991/92 • 1992/93 • 1993/94 • 1994/95 • 1995/96 • 1996/97 • 1997/98 • 1998/99 1999/00 • 2000/01 • 2001/02 • 2002/03 • 2003/04 • 2004/05 • 2005/06 • 2006/07 • 2007/08 Members of G-14 v • d • e Flag of Netherlands Ajax • Flag of England Arsenal • Flag of Spain FC Barcelona • Flag of Germany Bayer Leverkusen • Flag of Germany Bayern Munich Flag of Germany Borussia Dortmund • Flag of Netherlands PSV Eindhoven • Flag of Italy Internazionale • Flag of Italy Juventus Flag of England Liverpool • Flag of England Manchester United • Flag of Italy AC Milan • Flag of France Lyon • Flag of France Marseille Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain • Flag of Portugal FC Porto • Flag of Spain Real Madrid • Flag of Spain Valencia Sport in the Catalan-speaking world Flag of Catalonia v • d • e National: Andorran Football Federation | Andorra national football team | Andorra national rugby team Catalonia Football Federation | Catalonia national football team Club: FC Barcelona | RCD Espanyol | CE Sabadell | Gimnàstic de Tarragona | València CF RCD Mallorca | Levante UD | Vila-real CF | Winterthur FCB | DKV Joventut | Akasvayu Girona Ricoh Manresa | Pamesa València | Etosa Alacant | ViveMenorca | USA Perpinyà | Catalans Dragons Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/FC_Barcelo na" Categories: FC Barcelona | Catalan football teams | Spanish football clubs | G-14 clubs | La Liga | Football (soccer) clubs established in 1899 Views * Article * Discussion * Edit this page * History Personal tools * Sign in / create account Navigation * Main page * Contents * Featured content * Current events * Random article interaction * About Wikipedia * Community portal * Recent changes * File upload wizard * Contact us * Make a donation * Help Search Toolbox * What links here * Related changes * Upload file * Special pages * Printable version * Permanent link * Cite this article In other languages * Afrikaans * Alemannisch * العربية * Asturianu * Azərbaycan * Беларуская (тарашкевіца) * Български * বাংলা * Català * Česky * Cymraeg * Dansk * Deutsch * Eesti * Ελληνικά * Español * Esperanto * Euskara * Français * Gaeilge * Galego * 한국어 * Hrvatski * Bahasa Indonesia * Italiano * עברית * Kurdî / كوردي * Latviešu * Lietuvių * Magyar * Nederlands * 日本語 * Norsk (bokmål) * Norsk (nynorsk) * Polski * Português * Română * Русский * Simple English * Slovenščina * Српски / Srpski * Srpskohrvatski / Српскохрватски * Suomi * Svenska * Tetun * ไทย * Tiếng Việt * Türkçe * 中文 Powered by MediaWiki Wikimedia Foundation * This page was last modified 17:11, 20 June 2007. * All text is available under the terms !:!:!AND THIS PLAYER!:: Patrik Antonius From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Patrik Antonius Patrik Antonius at WPT Bellagio Five Diamond Classic tournament in December 2005 Nickname(s) Adonis The Flying Finn The Terminator Hometown Las Vegas, USA World Series of Poker Bracelet(s) None Money finishes 8 Highest ITM main event finish None World Poker Tour Titles None Final tables 1 Money Finishes 5 Patrik Antonius (born December 13, 1980) is a Finnish professional poker player, former tennis player/coach, and model from Vantaa. He currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, however. Antonius is known for his aggression in table and he regularly plays at the highest stake games online, mostly against fellow professional poker players Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Brian Townsend. Antonius began making a name for himself on the poker tournament circuit with two finishes near the final table of World Poker Tour (WPT) events in early 2005. He went on to finish in the money in three events of the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP). In September 2005 he made his first European Poker Tour (EPT) final table, finishing 3rd in Barcelona. The next month, Antonius won the EPT event in Baden bei Wien, taking home the €343,366 first prize when in the final hand his 8♠ 4♥ beat Gunnar Osterbrod's Q♥ 9♣ on a board of 4♠ 7♠ 8♥ 3♣ 7♣. In December 2005 he finished off the year by finishing 2nd in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada, winning $1,046,470. In July 2006 he placed 9th in World Series of Poker $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event, taking home $205,920, his biggest in the money that year. As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,000,000. Antonius is also featured on the Marcel Lüske DVD Poker: My Way. He has made appearances on High Stakes Poker season 3, which is the highest cash game poker show on TV. Antonius was also featured on Poker After Dark in which he lost heads-up to Jennifer Harman. Antonius is largely known as an online heads-up specialist, playing at the highest limits under the nicknames I_Knockout_U, TryHarderFish, Allthewomen, Luigi66369 on Full Tilt Poker and -ANTONIUS- and @antonius at Martinspoker. Patrik Antonius is a leading member of Team Martinspoker and main face for www.martinspoker.com and usa!::United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from USA) Jump to: navigation, search For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation); also see America (disambiguation) United States of America Flag of the United States Great Seal of the United States Flag Great Seal Motto "In God We Trust" (since 1956) "E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Location of the United States Capital Washington, D.C. 38°53′N, 77°02′W Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Government Federal constitutional republic - President George W. Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) - Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi (D) - Chief Justice John Roberts Independence from Great Britain - Declared July 4, 1776 Area - Total 9,631,420 km² (3rd2) 3,718,695 sq mi - Water (%) 4.87 Population - 2007 estimate 301,910,000[1] (3rd) - 2000 census 281,421,906 - Density 31 /km² (172nd) 80 /sq mi GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate - Total $12,229,276m [2] (1st) - Per capita $43,444 (4th) GDP (nominal) 2006 estimate - Total $13,244,550m [2] (1st) - Per capita $44,190 (8th) Gini? (2004) 45 HDI (2004) 0.948 (high) (8th) Currency United States dollar ($) (USD) Time zone (UTC-5 to -10) - Summer (DST) (UTC-4 to -10) Internet TLD .us .gov .edu .mil Calling code +1 1 English is the de facto language of American government; Spanish is the second most common. English, Spanish, French, Carolinian, Chamorro, Hawaiian and Samoan are officially recognized by various states and territories. 2 Sometimes listed as fourth largest in area; the rank is disputed with China (PRC). The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states, one federal district, and fourteen territories. The country is situated almost entirely in the western hemisphere: its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie in central North America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south; the state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent with Canada to its east, and the state of Hawaii is in the mid-Pacific. U.S. territories, or insular areas, are scattered around the Caribbean and Pacific. At over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.6 million km²) and with more than 300 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and third largest by land area and population.[3] A liberal democracy, the U.S. is one of the world's most ethnically and socially diverse nations, the product of large-scale immigration from almost every corner of the globe.[4] Its national economy is the world's largest, with a nominal 2006 gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $13 trillion.[2] The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. Proclaiming themselves "states," they issued the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The rebellious states defeated Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic. Ten constitutional amendments composing the Bill of Rights were ratified in 1791. In the nineteenth century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. The American Civil War ended slavery and prevented a permanent split of the country. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the nation's status as a great power. In 1945, the U.S. emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The sole remaining superpower in the post–Cold War era, it is the dominant economic, political, military, and cultural force in the world.[5] Contents [hide] * 1 Etymology * 2 Geography * 3 Environment * 4 History o 4.1 Native Americans and European settlers o 4.2 Independence and expansion o 4.3 Civil War and industrialization o 4.4 World War I, Great Depression, and World War II o 4.5 Postwar superpower * 5 Government and politics * 6 Foreign relations and military * 7 Economy o 7.1 Income and social class o 7.2 Technology * 8 Demographics o 8.1 Language and religion o 8.2 Education and health o 8.3 Crime and punishment * 9 Culture o 9.1 Popular media o 9.2 Literature and the arts o 9.3 Food and clothing o 9.4 Sports * 10 See also * 11 Footnotes * 12 External links Etymology Common abbreviations of the United States of America include the United States, the U.S., and the U.S.A. Colloquial names for the country include the common America as well as the States. The term Americas, for the lands of the western hemisphere, was coined in the early sixteenth century after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer and cartographer. The full name of the country was first used officially in the Declaration of Independence, which was the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" adopted by the "Representatives of the united States of America" on July 4, 1776.[6] The current name was finalized on November 15, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first of which states, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'" Columbia, a once popular name for the Americas and the U.S., was named after Christopher Columbus. It appears in the name District of Columbia. A female personification of Columbia appears on some official documents, including certain prints of U.S. currency. The standard way to refer to a citizen of the United States is as an American. Though United States is the formal adjective, American and U.S. are the most common adjectives used to refer to the country ("American values," "U.S. forces"). American is rarely used in English to refer to people not connected to the U.S. The prevailing use of American as synonymous with U.S. citizen has aroused controversy, particularly in Latin America, where Spanish and Portuguese speakers refer to themselves as "americanos" and use "estadounidense" to describe a person from the United States.[7] Geography Main articles: Geography of the United States and Territorial evolution of the United States Topographic map of the continental United States Topographic map of the continental United States The United States is the world's third or fourth largest nation by total area, before or after the People's Republic of China, depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are counted. Including only land area, the U.S. is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.[8] The continental United States stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from Canada to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. Alaska is the largest state in area. Separated by Canada, it touches the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Hawaii occupies an archipelago in the Pacific, southwest of North America. The commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the largest and most populous U.S. territory, is in the northeastern Caribbean. Deciduous vegetation and grasslands prevail in the eastern U.S., transitioning to prairies, boreal forests, and the Rocky Mountains in the west, and deserts in the southwest. In the northeast, the coasts of the Great Lakes and Atlantic seaboard host much of the country's population. With a few exceptions such as the territory of Guam and the westernmost portions of Alaska, nearly all of the country lies in the western hemisphere.[9] Beyond the coastal plain, the rolling hills of the Piedmont end at the Appalachian Mountains. The Rocky Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the continental U.S., reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,270 m) in Colorado.[10] Between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, the Interior Plains and Great Plains are relatively flat, fertile farm land. The Mississippi-Missouri River, the world's fourth longest river system, runs mainly north-south through the heart of the country.[11] Active volcanoes are common throughout the Alexander and Aleutian Islands and the entire state of Hawaii is built upon tropical volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.[12] Climate zones of the continental United States Climate zones of the continental United States Due to the United States' large size and wide range of geographic features, nearly every type of climate is represented. The climate is temperate in most areas, tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the 100th meridian, desert in the Southwest, mediterranean in coastal California, and arid in the Great Basin. Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes and most of the world's tornadoes occur within the continental United States.[13] However, the predominantly temperate climate, infrequent severe drought in the major arable regions, and infrequent severe flooding have helped make the nation a world leader in agriculture.[citation needed] Environment Main articles: Environmental movement in the United States and United States environmental law The formerly endangered bald eagle, the national bird The formerly endangered bald eagle, the national bird With habitats ranging from tropical to Arctic, U.S. plant life is very diverse. The country has more than 17,000 identified native species of flora, including 5,000 in California (home to the tallest, the most massive, and the oldest trees in the world).[14] More than 400 mammal, 700 bird, 500 reptile and amphibian, and 90,000 insect species have been documented.[15] Wetlands such as the Florida Everglades are the base for much of this diversity. The country's ecosystems include thousands of nonnative exotic species that often adversely affect indigenous plant and animal communities. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1872, the world's first national park was established at Yellowstone. Another fifty-seven national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks and forests have since been formed.[16] Wilderness areas have been established around the country to ensure long-term protection of pristine habitats. Altogether, the U.S. government regulates 1,020,779 square miles (2,643,807 km²), 28.8 percent of the country's total land area.[17] Protected parks and forestland constitute most of this. As of March 2004, approximately 16 percent of public land under Bureau of Land Management administration was being leased for commercial oil and natural gas drilling;[18] public land is also leased for mining and cattle ranching. The energy policy of the United States is widely debated; many people worldwide call on the U.S., as the largest emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels,[19] to take a leading role in fighting global warming.[20] History Main article: History of the United States Native Americans and European settlers Main articles: Native Americans in the United States, European colonization of the Americas, and Thirteen Colonies The indigenous peoples of the territory that now constitutes the U.S. mainland, including Alaska, migrated from Asia. Primarily traversing the Bering land bridge, they arrived over a period that began as many as 35,000 years ago and ended approximately 11,000 years ago.[21] Several indigenous communities in the pre-Columbian era developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies. European explorer Christopher Columbus arrived at Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493, making first contact with the Native Americans. In the years that followed, the majority of the Native American population was killed by epidemics of Eurasian diseases.[22] The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, by William Halsall, 1882. The Mayflower transported Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, by William Halsall, 1882. The Mayflower transported Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. Florida was home to the earliest European colonies on the mainland; of these, only St. Augustine, founded in 1565, remains. French fur traders set up small outposts called New France near the Great Lakes.[23] Later Spanish settlements in the present-day southwestern United States drew thousands through Mexico. The first successful British settlements were the Virginia Colony in Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts in 1620. Beginning in 1614, the Dutch established settlements along the lower Hudson River, including New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. The small settlement of New Sweden was founded along the Delaware River in 1638; the Dutch took control of the colony in 1655. Several colonies were used by the British as penal settlements from the 1620s until the American Revolution. In the French and Indian War, the colonial extension of the Seven Years War, Britain seized Canada from the French, but the francophone population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. By 1674, the British had won the former Dutch colonies in the Anglo-Dutch Wars; the province of New Netherland was renamed New York. With the 1729 division of the Carolinas and the 1732 colonization of Georgia, the thirteen British colonies that became the United States of America in 1776 were established. All had active local and colonial governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient rights of Englishmen and a sense of self government that stimulated support for republicanism. All had legalized the African slave trade. With high birth rates, low death rates, and steady immigration, the colonies doubled in population every twenty-five years. By 1770, the colonies had an increasingly Anglicized population of three million, approximately half that of Britain. Though subject to British taxation, they were given no representation in the Parliament of Great Britain. Independence and expansion Main articles: American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, and Manifest Destiny Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull, 1817–18 Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull, 1817–18 Tensions between American colonials and the British during the revolutionary period of the 1760s and early 1770s led to the American Revolutionary War, fought from 1775 through 1781. On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress, convening in Philadelphia, established an army under the command of George Washington. The Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson, on July 4, 1776. The Congress, lacking authority to levy taxes, had difficulty funding the Continental Army. It overprinted paper money, triggering hyperinflation. In 1777, the Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, uniting the states under a weak federal government, which operated until 1788. Some 70,000 loyalists to the British Crown fled the rebellious states, many to Nova Scotia and the new British holdings in Canada.[24] Native Americans, with divided loyalties, fought on both sides of the war's western front. U.S. growth by date of statehood and ratification of the Constitution U.S. growth by date of statehood and ratification of the Constitution After the British army's defeat by American forces, who were assisted by the French, Great Britain recognized the sovereignty of the thirteen states in 1783. A constitutional convention was organized in 1787 by those who wished to establish a strong national government with power over the states. By June 1788, nine states had ratified the United States Constitution, sufficient to establish the new government; the republic's first Senate, House of Representatives, and president, George Washington, took office in 1789. New York City was the federal capital for a year, before the government relocated to Philadelphia. In 1791, the states ratified the Bill of Rights, ten amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing American citizens protection against federal restriction of such rights as freedom of speech, assembly, and religious practice and legal due process. Attitudes toward slavery were shifting; a clause in the Constitution protected the African slave trade only until 1808. The Northern states abolished slavery between 1780 and 1804, leaving the slave states of the South as defenders of the "peculiar institution." In 1800, the federal government moved to the newly founded Washington, D.C. Territorial acquisitions by date Territorial acquisitions by date Americans' eagerness to expand westward began a cycle of Indian Wars that stretched to the end of the nineteenth century, as Native Americans were stripped of their land. The Louisiana Purchase of French-claimed territory under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 virtually doubled the nation's size. The War of 1812, declared against Britain over various grievances and fought to a draw, strengthened American nationalism. A series of U.S. military incursions into Florida led Spain to cede it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819. The country annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845. The concept of Manifest Destiny was popularized during this time.[25] The 1846 Oregon Treaty with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest. The U.S. victory in the Mexican-American War resulted in the 1848 cession of California and much of the present-day American Southwest. The California Gold Rush of 1848–1849 further spurred western migration. New railways made relocation much less arduous for settlers and increased conflicts with Native Americans. Over a half-century, up to 40 million American bison, commonly called buffalo, were slaughtered for skins and meat and to ease the railways' spread. The loss of the bison, a primary economic resource for the plains Indians, was an existential blow to many native cultures. Civil War and industrialization Main articles: American Civil War and History of the United States (1865–1918) Battle of Gettysburg, lithograph by Currier & Ives, ca. 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, lithograph by Currier & Ives, ca. 1863 Tensions between slave and free states mounted with increasing disagreements over the relationship between the state and federal governments and violent conflicts over the expansion of slavery into new states. Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the largely antislavery Republican Party, was elected president in 1860. Before he took office, seven slave states declared their secession from the U.S., forming the Confederate States of America.[26] The federal government maintained secession was illegal, and with the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, the American Civil War began and four more slave states joined the Confederacy. The Union freed Confederate slaves as its army advanced through the South. Following the Union victory in 1865, three amendments to the U.S. Constitution ensured freedom for the nearly four million African Americans who had been slaves,[27] made them citizens, and gave them voting rights. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in federal power.[28] Immigrants landing at Ellis Island, New York, 1902 Immigrants landing at Ellis Island, New York, 1902 After the war, the assassination of President Lincoln radicalized Republican Reconstruction policies aimed at reintegrating and rebuilding the Southern states while ensuring the rights of the newly freed slaves. The disputed 1876 presidential election resolved by the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction; Jim Crow laws soon disenfranchised many African Americans. In the North, urbanization and an unprecedented influx of immigrants hastened the country's industrialization. The wave of immigration, which lasted until 1929, provided labor for American industry and transformed American culture. High tariff protections, national infrastructure building, and national banking regulations encouraged industrial growth. The 1867 Alaska purchase from Russia completed the country's mainland expansion. The Wounded Knee massacre in 1890 was the last major armed conflict of the Indian Wars. In 1893, the indigenous monarchy of the Pacific Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in a coup led by American residents; the archipelago was annexed by the U.S. in 1898. Victory in the Spanish-American War that same year demonstrated that the United States was a major world power and resulted in the annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippines.[29] The Philippines gained independence a half-century later; Puerto Rico remains a commonwealth of the United States. World War I, Great Depression, and World War II Main articles: The United States in World War I, Great Depression, and Military history of the United States during World War II An abandoned farm in South Dakota during the Dust Bowl, 1936 An abandoned farm in South Dakota during the Dust Bowl, 1936 At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the United States remained neutral. Americans sympathized with the British and French, although many citizens, mostly Irish and German, opposed intervention.[30] In 1917, the U.S. joined the Allies, turning the tide against the Central Powers. Reluctant to be involved in European affairs, the Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles, which established the League of Nations. The country pursued a policy of unilateralism, verging on isolationism.[31] In 1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a constitutional amendment granting women's suffrage. In part due to the service of many in the war, Native Americans gained U.S. citizenship in the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. During most of the 1920s, the United States enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosperity as farm profits fell while industrial profits grew. A rise in debt and an inflated stock market culminated in the 1929 crash that triggered the Great Depression. After his election as president in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, a range of policies increasing government intervention in the economy. The Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration. The nation would not fully recover from the economic depression until the industrial mobilization spurred by its entrance into World War II. On December 7, 1941, the United States joined the Allies against the Axis Powers after a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. World War II cost far more money than any other war in American history,[32] but it boosted the economy by providing capital investment and jobs, while bringing many women into the labor market. Allied conferences at Bretton Woods and Yalta outlined a new system of intergovernmental organizations that placed the United States and Soviet Union at the center of world affairs. As victory was achieved in Europe, a 1945 international conference held in San Francisco produced the United Nations Charter, which became active after the war.[33] The United States, having developed the first nuclear weapons, used them on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. Japan surrendered on September 2, ending the war.[34] Postwar superpower Main articles: Cold War, American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968), and War on Terrorism Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech, 1963 The United States and Soviet Union jockeyed for power after World War II during the Cold War, dominating the military affairs of Europe through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact. The United States promoted liberal democracy and capitalism, while the Soviet Union promoted communism and a centrally planned economy, but both sides supported dictatorships and engaged in proxy wars, including the Greek Civil War and the Korean War. As the Communist Party in the Eastern Bloc suppressed dissent, American anti-communists like Joseph McCarthy attempted and failed to suppress their opposition at home. The Soviet Union launched the first manned spacecraft in 1961, prompting U.S. efforts to raise proficiency in mathematics and science and President John F. Kennedy's call for the country to be first to land "a man on the moon," achieved in 1969.[35] Kennedy also faced a tense nuclear showdown with Soviet forces in Cuba. Meanwhile, America experienced sustained economic expansion. A growing civil rights movement headed by prominent African Americans, such as Martin Luther King Jr., fought segregation and discrimination, leading to the abolition of Jim Crow laws and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[36] Following Kennedy's assassination in 1963, his successors expanded a proxy war in Southeast Asia into the unsuccessful Vietnam War. As a result of the Watergate scandal, in 1974 Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign, rather than be impeached on charges including obstruction of justice and abuse of power. U.S. Air Force jets flying above the remnants of Kuwaiti oil fields in the Gulf War, 1991 U.S. Air Force jets flying above the remnants of Kuwaiti oil fields in the Gulf War, 1991 The election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980 marked a significant rightward shift in American politics. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Soviet Union's power diminished, leading to its collapse. The leadership role taken by the United States and its allies in the United Nations–sanctioned Gulf War and the Yugoslav wars helped to preserve its position as the world's last remaining superpower and to expand NATO. On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York City and The Pentagon near Washington, D.C., killing nearly three thousand people. In the aftermath, President George W. Bush launched the War on Terrorism under a military philosophy stressing preemptive war now known as the Bush Doctrine. In late 2001, U.S. forces led a NATO invasion of Afghanistan, removing the Taliban government and al-Qaeda terrorist training camps. As of 2007, a Taliban insurgency continues to fight a guerrilla war against the NATO occupation force. In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush labeled North Korea, Iraq, and Iran the "axis of evil," and stated that these countries "constitute a grave threat to the security of the U.S. and its allies."[37] Later that year, the Bush administration pressed for regime change in Iraq on controversial grounds. In 2003, a Coalition of the Willing invaded Iraq, removing President Saddam Hussein. Although facing both external[38] and internal[39] pressure to withdraw, the United States continues to occupy Iraq. Government and politics Main articles: Federal government of the United States and Politics of the United States The west front of the United States Capitol, which houses the United States Congress The west front of the United States Capitol, which houses the United States Congress The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, a representative democracy with a government regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the United States Constitution. The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation, which were in effect from 1781 to 1789. However, it is "not a simple representative democracy, but a constitutional republic in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law."[40] Citizens are usually subject to three levels of government, federal, state, and local; the local government's duties may themselves be split among county, metropolitan, and municipal governments. Officials at all levels are either elected by voters in a secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Executive and legislative offices are decided by a plurality vote of citizens by district. Federal and state judicial and cabinet officials are typically nominated by the executive branch and approved by the legislature, although some state judges are elected by popular vote. The north side of the White House, home and work place of the U.S. president The north side of the White House, home and work place of the U.S. president The federal government is comprised of three branches: * Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the rarely used power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government. * Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto bills, and appoints the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies. * Judiciary: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional. The front of the United States Supreme Court building The front of the United States Supreme Court building The United States Constitution is the supreme legal document in the American system, and serves as a social contract for the people of the United States, regulating their affairs through representatives chosen by and drawn from the people. All laws and procedures of both state and federal governments are subject to review, and any law ruled in violation of the Constitution by the judicial branch is overturned. The Constitution can be amended by two methods, both of which require the approval of three-fourths of the states. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times, including the 1791 Bill of Rights, which guarantees freedom of speech, religion, and the press; the right to keep and bear arms; the right to a fair trial; and property rights. However, the extent to which these rights are protected and universal in practice is heavily debated. The Constitution vaguely guarantees to every State "a Republican Form of Government."[41] The Constitution also defines presidential term limits and Congress's size. The House of Representatives has 435 members, each representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population every tenth year. As of the 2000 census, seven states have the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, has fifty-three. Each state has two senators, elected at-large to six-year terms; one third of Senate seats are up for election every second year. The overwhelming majority of elected offices across the country at federal, state, and lower levels are held by the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. The Senate has two independent members—one is a former Democratic incumbent, the other is a self-described socialist; every member of the House is a Democrat or Republican. Within American political culture, the Republican Party is considered "center-right" or conservative and the Democratic Party is considered "center-left" or liberal, but members of both parties have a wide range of views. Since 2001, the president has been George W. Bush, a Republican. Following the 2006 midterm elections, the Democratic Party holds a majority of seats in both the House and Senate for the first time since 1994.[42] Foreign relations and military Main articles: Foreign relations of the United States and Military of the United States President George W. Bush (right) with UK prime minister Tony Blair President George W. Bush (right) with UK prime minister Tony Blair The United States has vast economic, political, and military influence on a global scale, which makes its foreign policy a subject of great interest around the world. Almost all countries have embassies in Washington, D.C., and many host consulates around the country. Likewise, nearly all nations host American diplomatic missions. However, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Bhutan, and Sudan do not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States.[43] American isolationists have often found themselves at odds with internationalists and promoters of Manifest Destiny and American Empire. American imperialism in the Philippines drew sharp rebukes from Mark Twain[44] and many other noted citizens. Later, President Woodrow Wilson played a key role in creating the League of Nations, but the Senate prohibited American membership in it. Isolationism became a thing of the past when the United States took a lead role in founding the United Nations, becoming a permanent member of the Security Council and host to the United Nations headquarters. The U.S. enjoys a special relationship with Britain and strong ties with Australia, Japan, Israel, and fellow NATO members. It also works closely with its neighbors through the Organization of American States and free trade agreements such as the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier The president holds the title of commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The United States Department of Defense administers the armed forces, including the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime but is placed under the Department of the Navy in times of war. The military comprises 1.4 million personnel on active duty,[45] along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military service is voluntary, though conscription may occur in wartime through the Selective Service System. The rapid deployment of American forces is ensured in part by the Air Force's large fleet of transportation aircraft and aerial refueling tankers, the Navy's fleet of eleven active aircraft carriers, and Marine Expeditionary Units at sea in the Navy's Atlantic and Pacific fleets. The military budget of the United States in 2005, over $470 billion,[46] was estimated to be greater than the next fourteen largest national military budgets combined.[47] At 4.06 percent of GDP, U.S. military spending ranked 27th out of 172 nations.[48] The Department of Defense employs 2,338,213 troops and over 800,000 civilian employees,[49] disregarding contractors. The U.S. military is deployed to over 700 bases and facilities, on every continent except Antarctica.[50] Due to the extent of its global military presence, scholars describe the United States as maintaining an "empire of bases."[51] Economy Main article: Economy of the United States Economy of the United States Median income (2006)[52][53] Median income $32,611 for individuals $46,326 for households Income distribution (2006)[54][55] Top 20% $52,500 for individuals $91,705 for households Bottom 20% $12,500 for individuals $20,000 for households Gini index 45 2004[56] National economic indicators Unemployment 4.5% May 2007[57] GDP growth 3.3% 2005–2006[2] CPI inflation 2.6% April 2006–April 2007[58] National debt $8.84 trillion June 6, 2007[59] Poverty 12.6% or 13.3% 2005[60][61] Foreign aid and investment $122.8 billion 2005[62] Monetary value Exchange rate (per €) 1.3391 June 17, 2007[63] Exchange rate (per £) 1.9768 June 17, 2007[63] Exchange rate (per ¥) 0.0081 June 17, 2007[63] The United States has a capitalist mixed economy. The private sector constitutes the bulk of the economy, with government activity accounting for 12.4 percent of the GDP.[64] Most businesses in the U.S. are sole proprietorships with no payroll.[65] Both the regulatory burden on its companies and its social safety net are smaller than in most developed nations.[66] According to the International Monetary Fund, the United States GDP of more than $13 trillion constitutes 20 percent of the gross world product. The country ranks eighth in the world in nominal GDP per capita and fourth in GDP per capita at purchasing power parity.[2] The economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. Americans tend to work considerably more hours annually, take less vacation, and produce more per hour than workers in other developed nations.[67] In 2005, 155 million persons were employed with earnings, of whom 80 percent worked in full-time jobs.[68] The majority, 79 percent, are employed in the service sector.[69] The United States is the largest importer of goods and second largest exporter. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany are its top five trading partners.[70] Income and social class Main articles: Income in the United States, Poverty in the United States, and Social class in the United States According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household incomes ranged from $33,000 in West Virginia to $57,000 in New Hampshire,[71] with an overall national median of $46,000 and 42 percent of households having two or more income earners.[72] Using purchasing power parity exchange rates, these income levels are similar to those found in other postindustrial nations such as Switzerland ($54,000)[73] and the United Kingdom ($39,000).[74] In 2005, the median income for an individual age twenty-five or older in the labor force was $32,000 while the median income per household member was $24,000;[75] between 12.6 and 13.3 percent of Americans were below the federally designated poverty line.[60][61] Income inequality has increased since the 1970s,[76][77] although the standard of living has increased for nearly all classes.[78] The share of income held by the top 1 percent has increased considerably while the share of income of the bottom 90 percent has fallen, with the gap between the two groups being roughly as large in 2005 as in 1928.[79] According to the standard Gini index, income inequality in the U.S. is higher than in any European nation.[56] Some economists, such as Alan Greenspan, see rising income inequality as a cause for concern.[80] While American social classes lack defined boundaries,[77] sociologists point to social class as a crucial societal variable. Occupation, educational attainment, and income are used as the main indicators of socioeconomic status.[81] Dennis Gilbert of Hamilton College has proposed a system, adapted by other sociologists,[82] with six social classes: an upper, or capitalist, class consisting of the wealthy and powerful (1%), an upper middle class consisting of highly educated professionals (15%), a middle class consisting of semiprofessionals and craftsmen (33%), a working class consisting of clerical and blue-collar workers who conduct highly routinized tasks (33%), and two lower classes—the working poor (13%) and a largely unemployed underclass (12%).[77] Though the American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility, played a key role in attracting immigrants to the United States, particularly in the late 1800s,[83] some analysts have found the U.S. to have relatively low social mobility compared to Western Europe and Canada.[84] Technology Astronaut Buzz Aldrin during the first human landing on the Moon, 1969 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin during the first human landing on the Moon, 1969 Main articles: United States technological and industrial history, Science and technology in the United States, and Transportation in the United States The United States has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late nineteenth century, attracting immigrants such as Albert Einstein. The bulk of research and development funding, 69 percent, comes from the private sector.[85] The U.S. leads the world in scientific research papers and impact factor.[86] In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first patent for the telephone. The laboratory of Thomas Edison developed the phonograph, the first long-lasting light bulb, and the first viable movie camera. During World War II, the U.S. developed nuclear weapons, ushering in the atomic age. The space race produchaded rapid advances in rocketry, material science, computers, and many other areas. The U.S. largely developed the Arpanet and its successor, the Internet. Americans enjoy high levels of access to technological consumer goods.[87] Almost half of U.S. households have broadband Internet service.[88] The United States has had a powerful automotive industry for more than a century, and it has the most roadways in the world.[89] Only 9 percent of total U.S. work trips employ mass transit, compared to 38.8 percent in Europe.[90] Demographics Main articles: Demography of the United States and Immigration to the United States On October 17, 2006, the United States' population was estimated to be 300,000,000.[91] This figure excludes an estimated 12–20 million unauthorized migrants.[91] The overall growth rate is 0.89%,[69] compared to 0.16% in the European Union.[92] The birth rate of 14.16 per 1,000 is 30 percent below the world average, while higher than any European country except for Albania and Ireland.[93] The United States is the only industrialized nation in which large population increases are projected.[94] The United States has a very diverse population—thirty-one ancestry groups have more than a million members.[95] Whites are the largest racial group, with German Americans, Irish Americans, and English Americans constituting three of the country's four largest ancestry groups.[96] African Americans, mostly descendants of former slaves, constitute the nation's largest racial minority and third largest ancestry group.[61][96] Asian Americans are the country's second largest racial minority, with those of Chinese origin constituting a plurality of the group.[96] In 2005, the U.S. population included an estimated 4.5 million people with some Native American or Alaskan native ancestry (2.4 million exclusively of such ancestry) and nearly 1 million with some native Hawaiian or Pacific island ancestry (0.4 million exclusively).[97][61] Race/Ethnicity (2005)[61] White 74.67% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 14.50% African American 12.12% Asian 4.32% Native American and Alaskan Native 0.82% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 0.14% Other/multiracial 7.92% Hispanic American population growth is a major demographic trend. Counted collectively, the approximately 42 million Hispanic Americans constitute the largest ethnic minority in the country.[97] About 63 percent of the Hispanic American community is of Mexican origin.[98] Between 2000 and 2004, the country's Hispanic population increased 14 percent while the non-Hispanic population rose just 2 percent.[98] Much of this growth is due to immigration: As of 2004, 12 percent of the U.S. population was foreign-born, over half that number from Latin America.[99] Fertility is also a factor: The average Hispanic woman gives birth to three children in her lifetime. The comparable fertility rate is 2.2 for African American women and 1.8 for non-Hispanic whites (below the replacement rate of 2.1).[94] It is estimated on the basis of current trends that by 2050 non-Hispanic whites will be just 50.1 percent of the U.S. population, compared to 69.4 percent in 2000.[100] They are already less than half the population in four "majority-minority states": California,[101] New Mexico,[102] Hawaii,[103] and Texas.[104] African or Mexican Americans make up the most populous ancestry group in the ten largest American cities.[96] New York City New York City About 83 percent of the population lives in one of the country's 361 metropolitan areas.[105] In 2005, 254 incorporated places in the U.S. had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than 1 million residents, and four global cities had over 2 million (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston).[106] The United States has fifty metropolitan areas with populations greater than 1 million.[107] The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metro area ranks fourth in the nation, though its population center, Dallas, ranks only ninth among cities. Of the fifty fastest-growing metro areas, twenty-three are in the West and twenty-five in the South. Among the country's twenty most populous metro areas, those of Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston saw the largest numerical gains between 2000 and 2006, while Phoenix's grew the largest in percentage terms.[105] Five most populous incorporated places in the United States[106][107] Rank City Population within city limits (2005) Population Density per sq mi Population Density per km² Metropolitan Area Region[108] population (2006) rank 1 New York City 8,143,197 26,720 10,316 18,818,536 1 Northeast 2 Los Angeles 3,844,829 8,567 3,165 12,950,129 2 West 3 Chicago 2,842,518 12,604 4,867 9,505,748 3 Midwest 4 Houston 2,016,582 3,480 1,344 5,539,949 6 South 5 Philadelphia 1,463,281 10,883 4,202 5,826,742 5 Northeast Language and religion Main articles: Languages of the United States and Religion in the United States Languages (2003)[109] English (only) 214.8 million Spanish, incl. Creole 29.7 million Chinese 2.2 million French, incl. Creole 1.9 million Tagalog 1.3 million Vietnamese 1.1 million German 1.1 million Although the United States has no official language at the federal level, English is the de facto national language. In 2003, about 215 million, or 82 percent of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by over 10 percent of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught foreign language.[109][110] Immigrants seeking naturalization must know English. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.[111] Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.[112] Several insular territories also grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French.[113] A church in the largely Protestant Bible Belt A church in the largely Protestant Bible Belt The United States government does not audit Americans' religious beliefs.[114] In a private survey conducted in 2001, 76.7 percent of American adults identified themselves as Christian, down from 86.4 percent in 1990. Various Protestant denominations accounted for 52 percent, while Roman Catholics, at 24.5 percent, were the largest individual denomination.[115] A different study describes white evangelicals, 26.3 percent of the population, as the country's largest religious cohort;[116] evangelicals of all races are estimated at 30–35 percent.[117] The total reporting non-Christian religions in 2001 was 3.7 percent, up from 3.3 percent in 1990. The leading non-Christian faiths were Judaism (1.4 percent), Islam (0.5 percent), Buddhism (0.5 percent), Hinduism (0.4 percent), and Unitarian Universalism (0.3 percent). Between 1990 and 2001, the number of Muslims and Buddhists more than doubled. From 8.2 percent in 1990, 14.2 percent in 2001 described themselves as agnostic, atheist, or simply having no religion,[115] still significantly less than in other postindustrial countries such as Britain (44 percent) and Sweden (69 percent).[118] Education and health Main articles: Education in the United States, Educational attainment in the United States, and Health care in the United States The University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson, is one of 19 American UNESCO World Heritage Sites The University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson, is one of 19 American UNESCO World Heritage Sites American public education is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. Children are obliged in most states to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, kindergarten or first grade) until they turn eighteen (generally bringing them through 12th grade, the end of high school); some states allow students to leave school at sixteen or seventeen.[119] About 12 percent of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2 percent of children are homeschooled.[120] The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education; 168 U.S. universities are in the world's top 500, 17 in the top 20.[121] There are also many smaller universities and liberal arts colleges, and local community colleges of varying quality with open admission policies. The United States has a basic literacy rate of approximately 99 percent.[69][122] Of Americans age 25 and up, 84.6 percent graduated high school, 52.6 percent attended some college, 27.2 percent earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6 percent earned graduate degrees.[123] The United Nations assigns the U.S. an Education Index of 99.9, tieing it with twenty other nations for the top score.[124] The American life expectancy of seventy-eight years at birth[69] is a year shorter than the overall figure in Western Europe, and three to four years lower than that of Norway and Switzerland.[125] The infant mortality rate of 6.37 per thousand[69] places the U.S. 41st out of 221 countries, likewise behind most of Western Europe.[126] Approximately one-third of the adult population is obese and an additional third is overweight;[127] the obesity rate, the highest in the industrialized world, has more than doubled in the last quarter-century.[128] Obesity-related type 2 diabetes is considered epidemic by healthcare professionals.[129] The U.S. adolescent pregnancy rate, 79.8 per 1,000 women, is nearly four times that of France and five times that of Germany.[130] Abortion, legal on demand, is a source of great political controversy. Many states ban public funding of the procedure and have laws to restrict late-term abortions, require parental notification for minors, and mandate a waiting period prior to treatment. Geographical access to abortion is limited: 87 percent of U.S. counties have no abortion provider.[131] Nonetheless, while the incidence of abortion is in decline, the U.S. abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of most Western nations.[132] The United States healthcare system far outspends any other nation's, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP.[133] Unlike most developed countries, the U.S. healthcare system is not fully socialized, instead relying on a mix of public and private funding. In 2004, private insurance paid for 36 percent of personal health expenditure, private out-of-pocket payments covered 15 percent, and federal, state, and local governments paid for 44 percent.[134] Medical bills are the most common reason for personal bankruptcy in the United States.[135] In 2005, 41.2 million residents, or 14.2 percent of the population, were uninsured for at least part of the year.[134] Many may have been between jobs, leaving a gap in employer-provided health insurance. Approximately one third of those 41.2 million lived in households with annual incomes greater than $50,000, with half of those having an income over $75,000.[136] Another third were eligible but not registered for public health insurance.[137] In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate health insurance;[138] California is considering similar legislation.[139] Crime and punishment Main articles: Policing in the United States, Law of the United States, Crime in the United States, Prisons in the United States, and Capital punishment in the United States Law enforcement in the United States is primarily the responsibility of local police and sherriff's departments, with state police providing broader services. Federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have specialized duties. At the federal level and in almost every state, jurisprudence operates on a common law system. State courts conduct most criminal trials; federal courts handle certain designated crimes as well as appeals from state systems. Crime in the United States is characterized by high levels of gun violence and homicide, relative to other developed countries.[140] In 2005, there were 5.6 murders per 100,000 persons, compared to 1.0 in Germany[141] and 1.9 in Canada.[142] The U.S. homicide rate, which decreased by 36 percent between 1986 and 2000, has been roughly steady since.[143] The United States has the highest incarceration rate[144] and total prison population[145] in the world and by far the highest figures among democratic, developed nations: in 2000, 468 out of every 100,000 Americans were jailed during the year, approximately five times the average of member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and more than three times the next closest member.[146] That was more than triple the 1980 figure of 139 per 100,000.[147] African American males are jailed at over six times the rate of white males and three times the rate of Hispanic males.[144] The country's extraordinary rate of incarceration is largely due to changes in sentencing and drug policies.[144][148] Though it has been abolished in most Western nations, capital punishment is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and in thirty-eight states. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, there have been over 1,000 executions in the U.S.[149] In 2006, the country had the sixth highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, and Sudan.[150] Culture Main article: Culture of the United States Elvis Presley in 1957 Elvis Presley in 1957 The United States is a culturally diverse nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values.[81][4] The culture held in common by the majority of Americans is referred to as "mainstream American culture," a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European migrants, beginning with the early English and Dutch settlers. German, Scottish, and Irish cultures have also been very influential.[4] Certain Native American traditions and many cultural characteristics of enslaved West Africans were absorbed into the American mainstream. Westward expansion brought close contact with the culture of Mexico, and large-scale immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced many new cultural elements. More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has had broad impact. The resulting mix of cultures may be characterized as a homogeneous melting pot or as a pluralistic salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.[4] While American culture maintains that the U.S. is a classless society,[151] economists and sociologists have identified cultural differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values.[152] The American middle and professional class has been the source of many contemporary social trends such as feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism.[153] Americans' self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree.[154] While Americans tend to greatly value socioeconomic achievement, being ordinary or average is generally seen as a positive attribute.[155] Women, formerly limited to domestic roles, now mostly work outside the home and receive a majority of bachelor's degrees.[156] The changing role of women has also changed the American family. In 2005, no household arrangement defined more than 30 percent of households; married childless couples were most common, at 28 percent.[82] The extension of marital rights to homosexual persons is an issue of debate, with more liberal states permitting civil unions and Massachusetts recently having legalized same-sex marriage.[157] Popular media Main articles: Cinema of the United States, Television in the United States, and Music of the United States The iconic Hollywood sign The iconic Hollywood sign In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge demonstrated the power of photography to capture motion. In 1894, the world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. The next year saw the first commercial screening of a projected film, also in New York, and the U.S. was in the forefront of sound film's development in the following decades. Since the early twentieth century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, California. The major film studios of Hollywood are the primary source of the most commercially successful movies in the world, such as Star Wars (1977) and Titanic (1997). American screen actors like John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe have become iconic figures, while producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising. Director D. W. Griffith was central to the development of film grammar and Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941) is frequently cited in critics' polls as the greatest film of all time.[158] The products of American cinema and other mass media now appear in nearly every nation. Americans are the heaviest television viewers in the world,[159] and the average time spent in front of the screen continues to rise, hitting five hours a day in 2006.[160] The four major broadcast networks are all commercial entities. Americans listen to radio programming, also largely commercialized, on average just over two-and-a-half hours a day.[161] Aside from Web portals and search engines, the most popular websites are eBay, MySpace, Amazon.com, The New York Times, and Apple.[162] Twelve million Americans keep a blog.[163] The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African American music have deeply influenced American music at large, distinguishing it from European traditions. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and what is now known as old-time music were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences. Jazz was developed by innovators such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington early in the twentieth century. Country music, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll emerged between the 1920s and 1950s. More recent American creations include funk and hip hop. American pop stars such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Madonna have become global celebrities. Literature and the arts Main articles: Literature of the United States, Visual arts of the United States, and Theater in the United States Mount Rushmore, a massive sculpture of four prominent American presidents Mount Rushmore, a massive sculpture of four prominent American presidents In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, American art and literature took most of its cues from Europe. Writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau established a distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the nineteenth century. Mark Twain and poet Walt Whitman were major figures in the century's second half; Emily Dickinson, virtually unknown during her lifetime, would be recognized as America's other essential poet. Eleven U.S. citizens have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, most recently Toni Morrison in 1993. Ernest Hemingway, the 1954 Nobel laureate, is often named as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.[164] A work seen as capturing fundamental aspects of the national experience and character—such as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925)—may be dubbed the "great American novel." Popular literary genres such as the Western and hardboiled crime fiction developed in the United States. The other classical arts did not establish distinctive American expressions until the twentieth century. In the visual arts, the Hudson River School was an important mid-nineteenth-century movement in the tradition of European naturalism. The 1913 Armory Show in New York City, an exhibition of European modernist art, shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene.[165] Georgia O'Keefe, Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with new styles, displaying a highly individualistic sensibility. Major artistic movements such as the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning and the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein have developed largely in the United States. The tide of modernism and then post-modernism has also brought American architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and Frank Gehry to the top of their field. One of the first notable promoters of the nascent American theater was impresario P. T. Barnum, who began operating a lower Manhattan entertainment complex in 1841. The team of Harrigan and Hart produced a series of popular musical comedies in New York starting in the late 1870s. In the twentieth century, the modern musical form emerged on Broadway, where the songs of composers such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Stephen Sondheim have become pop standards. Playwright Eugene O'Neill won the Nobel literature prize in 1936; other acclaimed U.S. dramatists include multiple Pulitzer Prize winners Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and August Wilson. Though largely overlooked at the time, Charles Ives's work of the 1910s established him as the first major U.S. composer in the classical tradition; other experimentalists such as Henry Cowell and John Cage created an identifiably American approach to classical composition. Aaron Copeland and George Gershwin developed a unique American synthesis of popular and classical music. Choreographers George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Martha Graham were among the leading figures of twentieth-century dance. The U.S. has long been at the fore in the relatively modern artistic medium of photography, with major practitioners such as Alfred Steiglitz, Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, and many others. The newspaper comic strip and the comic book are both American innovations. Food and clothing Main article: Cuisine of the United States American cultural icons: apple pie, baseball, and the American flag American cultural icons: apple pie, baseball, and the American flag Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important. Fried chicken, which combines Scottish and African American culinary traditions, is a national favorite. Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, pizza, and hamburgers derive from the recipes of various European immigrants. So-called French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.[166] During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Americans' daily caloric intake rose 24 percent,[166] as the share from food consumed outside the home went from 18 to 32 percent.[167] Frequent dining at fast food outlets such as McDonald's is closely associated with what government researchers call the American "obesity epidemic."[168][167] The popularity of well-promoted diets such as the Atkins Nutritional Approach has sent sales of "carb-conscious" processed food soaring.[169] Americans generally prefer coffee to tea, with more than half the adult population drinking at least one cup a day.[170] American liquors include bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, applejack, and Puerto Rican rum. The martini is the characteristic American cocktail.[171] The average American consumes 81.6 liters of beer per year.[172] American-style lagers, typified by the leading Budweiser brand, are light in body and flavor; Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch controls 50 percent of the national beer market.[173] In recent decades, wine production and consumption has increased substantially, with winemaking now a leading industry in California. Wine is often drunk before meals, substituting for cocktails.[174] Aside from coffee, orange juice and homogenized, often fat-reduced cow's milk are typical breakfast beverages.[169] Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular; sugared beverages now account for 9 percent of the average American's daily caloric intake, more than double the rate three decades ago.[168] Leading soft-drink producer Coca-Cola is the most recognized brand in the world, just ahead of McDonald's.[175] Apart from professional business attire, U.S. fashions are eclectic and predominantly informal. While Americans' diverse cultural roots are reflected in their clothing, particularly those of recent immigrants, cowboy hats and boots and leather motorcycle jackets are emblematic of specifically American styles. Blue jeans were popularized as work clothes in the 1850s by merchant Levi Strauss, a German immigrant in San Francisco, and adopted by many American teenagers a century later. They are now widely worn on every continent by people of all ages and social classes. Along with mass-marketed informal wear in general, blue jeans are arguably U.S. culture's primary contribution to global fashion.[176] The country is also home to the headquarters of many leading designer labels such as Ralph Lauren, Eddie Bauer, and Calvin Klein. Labels such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Eckō cater to various niche markets. Sports Main article: Sports in the United States The Pro Bowl (2006), American football's annual all-star game The Pro Bowl (2006), American football's annual all-star game Since the late nineteenth century, baseball has been regarded as the national pastime; football, basketball, and ice hockey are the country's three other leading professional team sports. College football and basketball also attract large audiences. Football is now by some measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States.[177] Boxing and horse racing were once the most watched individual sports, but they have been eclipsed by golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR. Soccer, though not a leading professional sport in the country, is participated in widely at the youth and amateur levels. Tennis and many outdoor sports are also popular. While most major U.S. sports have evolved out of European practices, basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the regionally popular lacrosse was a precolonial Native American sport. At the individual level, skateboarding and snowboarding are twentieth-century U.S. inventions, related to surfing, a Hawaiian practice predating Western contact. Eight Olympiads have taken place in the United States. The United States has won 2,191 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other country,[178] and the second most in the Winter Olympic Games, with 216 medals.[179] Several American athletes have become world famous, in particular baseball player Babe Ruth, boxer Muhammad Ali, and basketball player Michael Jordan. The most frequently crowned champion among major U.S. sports teams is the New York Yankees, twenty-six times the winners of American baseball's World Series. See also Main article: List of United States-related topics v • d • e Life in the United States[show] Affluence • Arts and entertainment • Culture • Crime • Education • Educational attainment • Health care • Holidays • Household income • Homeownership • Human rights • Labor unions • Languages • Middle class • Passenger vehicle transport • Personal income • Politics • Poverty • Racism • Religion • Social class • Social issues• Sports • Standard of living [hide] v • d • e Major topics in the United States History Timeline (Pre-Columbian • Colonial America • Thirteen Colonies • Declaration of Independence and American Revolution • Westward Expansion • Civil War • World War I • Great Depression • World War II • Korean War • Cold War • Vietnam War • Civil Rights) • Foreign relations • Military • Demographic • Industrial • Postal Government Law (Constitution • Bill of Rights • Separation of powers) • Legislative branch (House • Senate) • Executive Branch (Cabinet • Federal agencies) • Judicial Branch (Supreme Court • Appeals) • Law enforcement (DoJ • FBI) • Intelligence (CIA • DIA • NSA) Politics Political parties (Democrats • Republicans) • Elections (Electoral College) • Political scandals • Red state vs. blue state divide • Uncle Sam Geography Political divisions • Territory • States • Cities • Counties • Regions (New England • Mid-Atlantic • The South • Midwest • Great Plains • Northwest • Southwest) • Mountains (Appalachian • Rocky) • Rivers (Mississippi • Colorado) • Valleys • Islands • Extreme points • National Park System • Water supply and sanitation Economy U.S. Dollar • Companies • Wall Street • Federal Reserve • Banking • Standard of living (Personal and Household income • Homeownership) • Communications • Transportation (Cars and Highways • Airports • Railroads) • Tourism Society Demographics • Languages (American English • Spanish) • Religion • Social class (American Dream • Affluence • Middle class • Poverty • Educational attainment • Professional and working class conflict • Media • Education • Holidays • Crime • Prisons Arts Music (Classical • Folk • Popular) • Film and TV (Hollywood) • Literature (American Folklore • Poetry • Transcendentalism • Harlem Renaissance • Beat Generation) • Visual arts (Abstract expressionism) • Cuisine • Dance • Architecture Social issues Affirmative action • American exceptionalism • Anti-Americanism • Capital punishment • Drug policy (Prohibition in the United States • War on Drugs) • Environmentalism • Human rights • Immigration • United States-Mexico barrier • Pornography • Racial profiling • Same-sex marriage • Abortion in the United States • Adolescent sexuality in the United States WikiProject · Portal Footnotes 1. ^ Extrapolation from U.S. POPClock 2. ^ a b c d e Report for Selected Countries and Subjects (180 countries; 6 subjects). 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Retrieved on 2007-06-12. 144. ^ a b c New Incarceration Figures: Thirty-Three Consecutive Years of Growth. Sentencing Project (December 2006). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 145. ^ World Prison Population List. UK Home Office Research, Development and Stasistics Directorate (1999). Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 146. ^ Quality of Life: Crime—Prison Population. OECD Factbook. OECD (2006). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. The official U.S. figure for the year is actually higher: 478. See following note. 147. ^ Incarceration Rate, 1980–2005. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2006). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 148. ^ The Impact of the War on Drugs on U.S. Incarceration. Human Rights Watch (May 2000). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 149. ^ Executions in the United States in 2007. Death Penalty Information center. Retrieved on 2007-06-15. 150. ^ Executions Around the World. Death Penalty Information center (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-15. 151. ^ Gutfield, Amon (2002). American Exceptionalism: The Effects of Plenty on the American Experience. Brighton and Portland: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1903900085. 152. ^ Vanneman, Reeve; Lynn Weber Cannon (1988). The American Perception of Class. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. ISBN 0877225931. Zweig, Michael (2004). What's Class Got To Do With It, American Society in the Twenty-First Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801488990. Effects of Social Class and Interactive Setting on Maternal Speech. Education Resource Information Center. Retrieved on 2007-01-27. 153. ^ Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060973331. 154. ^ Eichar, Douglas (1989). Occupation and Class Conciousness in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313261113. 155. ^ O'Keffe, Kevin (2005). The Average American. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 158648270X. 156. ^ Women's Advances in Education. Columbia University, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (2006). Retrieved on 2007-06-06. 157. ^ Burge, Kathleen (2003-11-18). SJC: Gay Marriage Legal in Mass.. Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-07-14. 158. ^ Pym, John, ed., Time Out Film Guide, 8th ed. (London and New York: Penguin, 2000), pp. x–xi (top 100 poll conducted in 1995). ISBN 014028365X; Village Voice: 100 Best Films of the 20th Century (2001). Filmsite.org; Sight and Sound Top Ten Poll 2002. BFI. Retrieved on June 19, 2007. 159. ^ Media Statistics > Television Viewing by Country. NationMaster. Retrieved on 2007-06-03. 160. ^ Broadband and Media Consumption. eMarketer (2007-06-07). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 161. ^ TV Fans Spill into Web Sites. eMarketer (2007-06-07). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 162. ^ Digital Fact Pack 2007 (pp. 18–20). Advertising Age (2007-04-23). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 163. ^ Digital Fact Pack 2007 (pp. 21). Advertising Age (2007-04-23). Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 164. ^ Meyers, Jeffrey, Hemingway: A Biography (New York: Da Capo, 1999), p. 139. ISBN 0306808900. 165. ^ Brown, Milton W., The Story of the Armory Show (New York: Abbeville, 1988 [1963]). ISBN 0896597954. 166. ^ a b Klapthor, James N. (2003-08-23). What, When, and Where Americans Eat in 2003. Institute of Food Technologists. Retrieved on 2007-06-19. 167. ^ a b Let's Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and Nutrition. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Retrieved on 2007-06-09. 168. ^ a b Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. American Heart Association (2005). Retrieved on 2007-06-09. 169. ^ a b Pirovano, Tom (2007). Health & Wellness Trends—The Speculation Is Over. AC Nielsen. Retrieved on 2007-06-12. 170. ^ Coffee Today. Coffee Country. PBS (May 2003). Retrieved on 2007-06-19. 171. ^ Conrad, Barnaby (1995). The Martini: An Illustrated History of an American Classic. 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External links Find more information on United States by searching Wikipedia's sister projects Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary Textbooks from Wikibooks Quotations from Wikiquote Source texts from Wikisource Images and media from Commons News stories from Wikinews Learning resources from Wikiversity Government * Official U.S. government Web portal - Gateway to governmental sites * White House - Official site of the President of the United States * Senate - Official site of the United States Senate * House - Official site of the United States House of Representatives * Supreme Court - Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States * U.S. Federal Government * The Library of Congress - Official site of the Library of Congress Directories * Open Directory Project - "United States" - Volunteer directory Overviews * United States at Wikitravel - Travel Guide and tourist information on United States * U.S. Census Housing and Economic Statistics Updated regularly by U.S. Bureau of the Census. * Portrait of the United States - Published by the United States Information Agency, September 1997. * CIA World Factbook Entry for United States * Encyclopaedia Britannica, United States - Country Page * Info links for each state * Population, employment, income, and farm characteristics by State History * Historical Documents * National Motto: History and Constitutionality * Historicalstatistics.org - Links to historical statistics of USA Maps * WikiSatellite view of United States at WikiMapia * The National Atlas of the United States. * United States map Immigration * U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS.gov. * U.S. citizenship sample civics questions for naturalization interview Immihelp.com - from an immigrant to future immigrants. * Civic Orientation - Sample Questions for Naturalization Other * Voter turnout, Gender quotas, Electoral system design and Political party financing in United States Geographic locale [show] v • d • e Countries of North America Several nations listed here straddle both North and South America or can also be considered Caribbean Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador · Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama · St. Kitts and Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago · United States Dependencies Denmark France Netherlands United Kingdom United States Greenland Guadeloupe · Martinique · Saint Barthelemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon Aruba · Netherlands Antilles Anguilla · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Montserrat · Turks and Caicos Islands Puerto Rico · U.S. Virgin Islands v • d • e Countries of Northern America[show] Canada · Mexico · United States International membership v • d • e United States Membership in International Organizations[show] AfDB • ANZUS • APEC • ARF • AsDB • ASEAN (dialogue partner) • Australia Group • BIS • CE (observer) • CERN (observer) • CP • EAPC • EBRD • FAO • G5 • G7 • G8 • G10 • IADB • IAEA • IBRD • ICAO • ICC • ICCt (signatory) • ICFTU • ICRM • IDA • IEA • IFAD • IFC • IFRCS • IHO • ILO • IMF • IMO • Interpol • IOC • IOM • ISO • ITU • MIGA • MINUSTAH • NAM (guest) • NATO • NEA • NSG • OAS • OECD • OPCW • OSCE • Paris Club • PCA • United Nations • UN Security Council (permanent member) • UNCTAD • UNESCO • UNHCR • UNITAR • UNMEE • UNMIK • UNMIL • UNMOVIC • UNOMIG • UNRWA • UNTSO • UPU • WCL • WCO • WHO • WIPO • WMO • World Trade Organization • ZC [show] v • d • e Members of the United Nations Security Council Permanent members People's Republic of China · France · Russia · United Kingdom · United States Flag of the United Nations Term ends December 31, 2007 Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) · Ghana · Peru · Qatar · Slovakia Term ends December 31, 2008 Belgium · Indonesia · Italy · Panama · South Africa [show] v • d • e Group of Eight (G8)!! THATS it |
| Personality | Confident |
| Occupation | Grinder |
My Poker Achievements
| Date | Event | Winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 05 Jun, 2007 | In Betsson 16/2000 | 25 |
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| PokerOnline |
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