Rec.Sport.Soccer - The WEB Page

Terminology

If you are new to the game or were too afraid to ask here is a brief list of commonly used terms and abbreviations.

FIFA

Short for 'Ferderation Internationale de Football Association', the international ruling body of our game.

UEFA

Union Europeene de Football Association, the European Federation.

CONMEBOL

CONfederacion sudaMEricana de futBOL, the South American Football Federation. The acronym was not CSF or similar because the organisers wanted to use the first, middle and last letters rather than just the initials.

CONCACAF

COnfederation of North, Central American and CAribbean Football.

EC1, EC2, EC3 (aka the European Champions Cup, European Cup Winners Cup, and the UEFA Cup respectively)

Each country usually has a league competition where each team in the division plays against every other team in the same division, several divisions are possible. The winner of the top division in each country is given a spot in the European Champions Cup in the following season.

In addition each country conducts a knockout tournament open to teams from all divisions, the most well known of these tournaments is the FA Cup. The winner of this tournament from each country is awarded a spot in the European Cup Winners Cup in the following season.

According to the performance of the clubs from various countries in these three competitions a number of places is allocated to each country in the UEFA Cup. Some countries will have no entries in this Cup and some will have 4. The team(s) who finish below the EC1 entrant and did not win a spot in EC2, may be eligible for EC3.

Used in reference to the European Championships, held every four years. The last tournament was in 1992 and was won by Denmark.

WC, WM, Mundial

This refers to the World Championship held every 4 years since 1930 (there were no 1942 or 1946 championships). Sometimes the year of the championship is affixed (eg WC'90), and is sometimes referred to by the name of the host (eg Italia 90 or USA 94). Only six teams have won this tournament, Uruguay (1930, '50), Italy ('34, '38, '82), Germany ('54, '74, '90), Brazil ('58, '62, '70), England ('66) and Argentina ('78, '86).

Bastard in Black

an affectionate name for the referee, also known as the 'Man in the Middle' or the poor sod required to enforce FIFA's latest directive. Linesmen are generally not considered worthy of such pet names.

Copa Libertadores

The Copa Libertadores de America (America's Liberators Cup) was created in 1960 as a tournament between the champions of the 10 FA's members in the CSF (South American Football Confederation). In 1966 its format was changed to allow the participation of two teams from each country, with 5 groups formed by pairs of countries. In most editions the group winers advanced to the semifinals together with the last champion, but in the current format (in force since 1989) 3 teams from each group advance to the next round, together with the last champion, starting a series of 4 knock-out rounds with home-away games (including the final). The cup has traditionally been won by teams from Argentina (15 times), Uruguay (8 times) and Brasil (7 times) but in the last years teams from Paraguay, Colombia and Chile have also managed to win it. The most successful teams have been Independiente (Argentina), with seven cups, and Pe%tildenarol (Uruguay) with five.

Copa America

The Copa America has traditionally been a tournament between the 10 national teams representing the FA's members in the CSF, but two invited teams from CONCACAF (Mexico and USA) will participate for the first time this year. Regularly played since 1917, this cup is one of the world's oldest international soccer events. Although it was officially played every 4 years (except for the 1971 edition, which was canceled), there have been many special editions so that the frequency has not been constant. However, since 1987 the tournament is played every two years, so that in years preceding a World Cup it also serves as a preparation for the qualifying groups which start a few weeks later. With the only exception of the 1975, '79, and '83 editions, which were played on a home-away basis, the tournament takes place in a host country. Most cups have been won by Argentina (the current champion) and Uruguay, which are virtually tied at the top of the ranking, followed far behind by Brazil, and with occassional wins by Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

Toyota Cup or Intercontinental Cup

The one-off game held between the winners of EC1 and the Copa Libertadores and played in Tokyo. It passes itself off as the World Club Championship, and although it is effectively only open to teams from Europe and South America there is a fair amount of substance to the claim. The South Americans hold an 18-13 lead over Europe in terms of Cups won.

IMHO, BTW, :-)

Not really soccer specific the first two stand for 'In my humble opinion' and 'By the way' respectively. The smiley, drawn sideways, is indicative of intended humour or a jest.

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This page maintained by Owen Garrett, Centre for Atmospheric Science.