Tuesday, 8 October 2013

liga bbva facts

When was the Primera Liga, which La Liga commonly refers to, established? 1928. The Spanish Football Federation agreed to a ten-team competition to begin in 1928. FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletico Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo, Real Union were all chosen as former winners of the Copa del Ray (the Spanish version of the FA Cup). Athletico Madrid, RCD Espanyol and CE Europa qualified as runners-up and Racing Santander qualified for the league through a knockout competition. Who were the first winners of La Liga? FC Barcelona & Barcelona & Barcelona FC. FC Barcelona, with an already established track record in the Copa del Ray, won the first Primera Liga title, holding off bitter rivals Real Madrid to their first title. Which of the he following teams dominated Spanish football in the 1930s up until the Spanish Civil War and the abandonment of the league? Athletic Bilbao. Athletic Bilbao were the form team during the early years of the competition, winning the Primera title four times in 1929/30, 1930/31, 1933/34 and 1935/36. They were also runners-up in 1931/32 and 1932/33. Athletic are well known for the policy of 'cantera', where they only sign players from the local Basque region. At the resumption of the Primera Liga in 1939/40, Athletico Madrid were awarded the place of Real Oviedo in the league for what reason? Ovideo's ground was damaged. The war had caused substantial damage to the country as a whole, and football was just one of the many industries hit. Unfortunately for Oviedo, their little stadium was damaged, and without a home, Atletico were awarded their place. It was good news for Athletico Madrid, who subsequently won their first La Liga title in 1939/40, and quickly added a second the following season. Who did not win a La Liga title in the 1940s? Real Madrid. The war had hit Real Madrid hard, with the loss of many young players and it took time for Real to rebuild their squad. FC Barcelona won three titles in 1944/45, 1947/48, and 1948/49. Sevilla FC won their only La Liga title to date in 1945/46 while Valencia won three titles in 1941/42, 1943/44, and 1946/47. Who of the following legendary players did not play for the great Real Madrid team of the 1950s? Ladislao Kubala. Ladislao Kubala, one of the many talented Hungarian players who joined the Spanish leagues in the 1950s, was the man who inspired FC Barcelona to two La Liga titles in 1951/52 and 1952/53. Puskas, regarded by many as one of the finest footballers of his generation, was part of the Real Madrid team that dominated European football in its early stages. Kopa was the first Frenchman to be part of a team that won the European Cup with Real Madrid. In a 20-year span from 1961 to 1980, how many times to Real Madrid win La Liga? 14. Real Madrid dominated Spanish football during the 1960s and 1970s, with their run of success only being halted by occassional titles for cross-city rival Athletico and and one each for Valencia CF and a Johann Cruyff inspired FC Barcelona in 1973/74. The Real side of these years were dominated by players such as Jose Antonio Camacho, Uli Stielke, Jose Martinez Sanchez, Manuel Sanchís Martínez and Juan Gomez. Who won their first La Liga title in 1980/81? Real Sociedad. Real Sociedad ended the Madrid golden years with their first title in 1980/81, and quickly followed that up with a second title the following season in what was a golden period for Basque football as Athletico Bilbao would go on to win the next two titles in 1982/83 and 1983/84. Like their Basque cousins at Bilbao, Sociedad operated under the 'cantera' policy, and their side's of the 1980s were full of young Basque players, fiercely loyal to the Basque 'nation' but would also play for Spain in the international arena. Who managed FC Barcelona to the their only title of the 1980s in 1984/85? Terry Venables & Venables & El Tel & Terry Venebles & Venebles. Venables became an instant hero with the Catalan crowd, earning the nickname 'El Tel'. He used the very English system of 4-4-2, based around the defence of Gerado and Julio Alberto and the superb German midfielder Bernd Schuster. Unfortunately for the Englishman, after losing the European Cup final to Steaua Bucharest in 1986, he was sacked in September 1987 after Real Madrid had resumed their dominance of La Liga. Johann Cruyff returned to manage FC Barcelona in 1988. When did he win take them to their first European Cup? 1992. FC Barcelona dominated La Liga during the early 1990s, winning the La Liga four times running from 1990/91 to 1993/94. Cruff established his 'Dream Team' around brilliant players such as Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup. During this time, FC Barcleona also won their first European Cup in 1992. Who were the ninth team to be crowned La Liga champions in 1999/2000? Deportivo la Coruna. Under the guidance of Javiar Irureta, Deportivo won their first, and so far only, La Liga title in 1999/2000. This title made up for the heartbreak of 1993/94, when a missed penalty in the final game of the season, cost the club their first title. The team of that title season was made up of stars such as Jorge Andrade, Pauleta, Roy Makaay and Djalminha. Valencia CF won their first title since 1971 in the 2001/2002 season. Who was the manager at the time? Rafael Benitez. Rafael Benitez steered the club to their first La Liga title in 2001/02, seeing off the challenged of Deportivo, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Further success came in 2003/04 with the La Liga and UEFA Cup titles. This was all after Valencia suffered heartbreak, losing two consecutive Champions League finals in 2001 (lost 3-0 to Real Madrid) and 2001 (further heartbreak, to Bayern Munich 5-4 penalties). What was the average league attendance for La Liga during the 2005/06 season? 29,029. La Liga has the third highest average attendance of the professional football leagues in Europe. The German Bundeliga has the highest average attendance, with 40,775 in 2005/06, with the English Premier League not far behind with 33,875. The sport with the highest average attendance is the American NFL, with an average of 67,593 in 2005/06. Who was top scorer in La Liga in 2004/05? Diego Forlan. After only scoring 17 goals in 95 appearances for Manchester United, Forlan's summer move to Villareal before the 2004/05 season revitalised his career. He scored 25 goals in his first season in La Liga, and shared the European Golden Boot with Arsenal player Theirry Henry. In the first 75 years of La Liga, who had never been relegated from the Primera Division? Athletic Bilbao. Along with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao were not relegated from the Primera from the foundation even until 2006. At times, Bilbao have flirted with relegation, but over the past 80 or so years, Bilbao had usually been at or near enough to the top. They also had a fantastic record in the Copa del Ray, with 24 Cup wins, their last being in 1984.

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Funny Football Facts

When Cristiano Ronaldo jumps he generates Five times more power than a Cheetah jumping in a Full fight.

When Tottenham last won the league: André Villas-Boas wasn't born Arsene Wenger was still at school Sir Alex Ferguson was in his 20s

Bale could buy the entire population of Belize a packet of Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire pudding mix.

Manchester United won 894 games and only lost 267 under Sir Sir Alex Ferguson. Drogba donates all the money he gets from sponsors to charity and medical help in Africa.

Last time Real Madrid won the Champions League Nokia 3310 was the best phone.

Manchester United were 11th in the PL in 2007-08 season, winning just 2 of the opening 5 games, went on to win the league by 4 points

David Moyes spent 11 years trying to get Everton above Man United and now he's finally achieved it.

Its 3060 days since Arsenal won a trophy. Luis Suarez has been banned for 25 matches since 2010 without receiving a red card.

Twitter is now 7 years old which means that no Arsenal fan has tweeted "we won a cup!"

David Moyes has never won a game at Anfield, Stamford Bridge or The Emirates

Bale can buy a Porsche 911 Turbo S every 4 days.

Follow @NeduSportsFacts When Luis Suarez was 11 he was invited to a youth national team camp, but he had to decline because he could not afford football boots.

Thursday, 3 October 2013

Laudrup not worried by Swansea home discomfort

- last updated Mon 30 Sep 2013

Swansea boss Michael Laudrup. Photo: PA

Michael Laudrup insists he is unconcerned by Swansea's poor home form in the Premier League.

Saturday's 2-1 Liberty Stadium defeat to Arsenal extended Swansea's streak without a league win on home turf to eight games.

The Welsh club's last home win was a 1-0 victory over Newcastle at the start of March, the week after they beat Bradford to lift the Capital One Cup at Wembley.

But the fixture list has not been kind to Swansea - their first three home games this term have seen them face Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, and Laudrup feels there is no need for panic so early in the season.

"It is not a worry," he said. "We have already won two Europa League games at home.

"This is a new season, and we only look at this new season and see the three teams we have played here have been top teams.

"One was the reigning champion and the other two have been at the top of the league. You know games like that will be difficult.

"Of course we would like to win here and it is a little strange for us that we haven't won at home for three games, even if they were top teams, but away from home we have won two out of three.

"But I can't stop to think about that right now as we have two games this week, one in Europe and Southampton away and, to be fair, I prefer to win against Crystal Palace than Arsenal, and against West Brom instead of Liverpool or Manchester United."

Swansea face a less demanding run of fixtures in October, but Laudrup, who is currently without the injured Ashley Williams, Angel Rangel and Pablo Hernandez, does not see that sequence of games as being key in terms of kick-starting their season.

"It is a little early to talk like that," he said.

"But of course I am watching the fixtures and making programmes. I always have to look at the next game but the bigger picture as well.

"But you never know what can happen. When we won against West Brom, a lot of people said 'Swansea did well but West Brom were really poor, they will really struggle'. Now they have won at Old Trafford."

Defender Ben Davies, who turned in an outstanding individual display against Arsenal, concurred with his manager's view and does not believe the Swans are starting to feel the pinch of their additional Europa League commitments.

He said: "People were only just talking about our good run of form before this game, so I don't think we can change our opinion too much.

"I don't think Europe will be an issue for us this year. It was just five minutes of switching off that cost us in this game, a lack of concentration.

"Every side will get that five minutes in a game where they will ask questions and you have to be organised and switched on and someone has to take responsibility and make sure we stay strong and keep the ball for that time. We didn't have that here and it cost us."

Swansea 1-2 Arsenal

Suarez stellar comeback no surprise to Rodgers – Luis wanted to stay and work

- last updated Mon 30 Sep 2013

Luis Suarez unloaded both barrels at the Stadium of Light. Photo: PA

Luis Suarez's match-winning heroics at Sunderland came as no surprise to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Uruguay international claimed a double at the Stadium of Light on his return to Premier League action following his 10-game ban as the Reds ran out 3-1 winners.

Rodgers revealed after the game that Suarez had spent his exile honing his skills to ensure he was ready to make an instant impact.

He said: "Listen, he hasn't been cocooned away out of the way and then just come into football.

"I gave him the opportunity to maybe go back to Uruguay for a bit and just come away from it because he is someone who loves football and I knew how much it would hurt him for him not to be playing.

"But he wanted to stay, he wanted to work. He did lots of extra sessions, finishing sessions, conditioning sessions because when he came back, he wanted to be up to speed.

"Of course, you are never going to be totally up to speed, but I think it would be very hard for anyone to say today that he wasn't very, very good, and that's a great credit to him and also our conditioning team, who have put him through his paces for a period of time."

Liverpool were already leading through Daniel Sturridge's 28th-minute opener - a mistimed header from a Steven Gerrard corner which went in off his arm - when Suarez struck for the first time.

Gerrard's superb long ball allowed Sturridge to race past Carlos Cuellar and cross to the far post for the South American to prod home with eight minutes of the first half remaining.

To their credit, Sunderland, who have now taken just a single point from their opening six league games, made a fist of it and gave themselves hope when Emanuele Giaccherini pounced after Simon Mignolet failed to hold Ki Sung-yueng's 52nd-minute shot.

But Suarez made sure at the death when he exchanged passes with Sturridge and steered a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.

For interim Black Cats head coach Kevin Ball, there were at least positives to take from the game.

He said: "Before the game today, we took the players for a walk along the seafront because I wanted them to see the people they play for, see the people they represent.

"When you saw the game today, I thought they put in a very good performance. Yes, we haven't come out with any points, but for me, there were a lot of pluses that we can take going forward to allow us things to build on, and I said that to the players as well."

Sunderland's search for a replacement for sacked manager Paolo Di Canio is ongoing, and Ball admits he does not know if he will remain in charge for Saturday's clash with Manchester United.

He said: "I would like to think the first thing I will be doing is concentrating on going over this game in the morning with the players.

"We have got a training session in the morning, we have got a game in the afternoon in which some of the players who haven't played today will be involved, and then I would like to think if the opportunity arises, I will speak to somebody after that."

Sunderland 1-3 Liverpool

John Terry has a future at Chelsea – Mourinho

- last updated Mon 30 Sep 2013

Chelsea stalwart John Terry. Photo: PA

Jose Mourinho has told John Terry he will earn a new contract with Chelsea if he maintains his current form.

Terry scored his first goal of the season on Saturday to snatch a point for Chelsea in a hot-tempered London derby against Tottenham which pitted Mourinho against his old protege Andre Villas-Boas.

Terry struggled to gain a regular place in the Chelsea side under Rafael Benitez last year, but the 32-year-old has played every minute of the Blues' Barclays Premier League campaign so far this term.

Chelsea left it until the end of last season before renewing Frank Lampard's contract, but Mourinho insists Terry need not worry about his future at the west London club.

"I think he always has a future the way he is playing - he has a future in here (at Chelsea), in China, or wherever he wants to have a future," the Chelsea manager said with a smile.

"I have always told him from day one - don't speak (publicly) about signing a new contract, just speak about working very hard from a physical point of view so you don't have the same kind of problems you have had in the past two years and then you play regularly.

"He is a very good player and very good players have no problems with their contracts."

Terry cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson's opener with a well-taken header from Juan Mata's free-kick.

The goal was a particularly enjoyable one for Terry, who was on the receiving end of abuse from Tottenham supporters throughout.

"I am absolutely delighted. I took a bit of stick here over the last few years so that's for the fans who have supported me over the years," Terry told Chelsea TV.

Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado had a relatively quiet game thanks to Terry and the former England captain offered a calming presence in the face of some pacy attacks from the home side.

Terry played a huge part in Mourinho's first spell at Chelsea, and the Blues boss believes his skipper's confidence is now back to its best.

"I think the fact that he knows that I like him has been important," Mourinho added.

"I trust the player. This is important. In his head he knows if I leave him out I am trying to do the best thing for him and the best thing for the team so he is not under this pressure he was in other years.

"Physically we are working very well with him. I think he is in good condition and he is a brilliant boy."

Fernando Torres will miss Chelsea's game against Norwich next Sunday following his sending-off for two bookings.

The second, which came after he clashed with Jan Vertonghen in the air, was harsh, but the Spaniard could have been given a straight red in the first period for scratching the Belgian defender's face.

Despite the dismissal, Torres had a fairly good game, putting in a full-blooded display against a Tottenham defence holding the joint-best defensive record in the league.

Mourinho thinks the 29-year-old is a much-improved player from the one who flopped so spectacularly in the immediate aftermath of his £50million move from Liverpool.

"On television I used to watch matches of Fernando at Chelsea and it looked to me that he was a bit heavy, a little slow," Mourinho said.

"Now he looks in fantastic shape. And I think he played a very good game against Spurs.

"He knows that I am very happy with his performance."

Chelsea's three strikers are yet to score a league goal this season, but Lampard is not concerned.

"Goals will come for the strikers, you have phases like that," the Chelsea midfielder said.

"Strikers can't always be firing goals in but they might have a patch now where they go and score 20 goals between them in the next 10 games.

"It's an old adage but you don't care who scores if you win games. The way Fernando played at Spurs with his presence, he will score goals and create goals for others."