Ball in and out of play

n 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 (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).

Duration and tie-breaking methods

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. The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signaled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between and Trailing 1–0 and with just two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty. Villa's goalkeeper kicked the ball out of the ground, and by the time the ball had been recovered, the 90 minutes had elapsed and the game was over

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as AC Milan and as just Milan in Italy, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and five other Englishmen^[2] and has since spent most of its history in the top flight of Italian football (only two years in Serie B in the eighties).

Milan have won 18 officially recognized international titles, tied with Boca Juniors as having the most in the world. The club have won what is today known as the UEFA Champions League on seven occasions; only Real Madrid have won it more times (9).^[3] As far as Italian competitions are concerned, Milan are the second most successful club with 17 league titles; only Juventus have won more (27).^[4] AC Milan have won four world titles, more than any other club in the world. They have won the Intercontinental Cup 3 times , and the FIFA Club World Cup once.

Other important titles won by Milan include the European Super Cup a record five times, and the Cup Winners' Cup twice; however, they have never reached the UEFA Cup final (only two semi-finals). This is the only official trophy in existence that AC Milan has never won. In Italy, they have won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as five Italian Super Cups. AC Milan is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represented eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs before its disbandment.^[5]

Their home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The ground, which is shared with rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with total capacity of 80,018.

Serie A (officially known as the Serie A TIM, for sponsorship reasons) is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top echelon of the Italian football league system operating for eighty years from 1929 to the present. It is regarded as one of the elite leagues of the footballing world.^{[citation needed]} Historically, Serie A has produced the highest number of European Cup finalists. In total Italian clubs have reached the final of the competition on a record of twenty-five different occasions, winning the title eleven times.^[1] As of 2008, Serie A is ranked third among European leagues by UEFA, based on the performance of Italian clubs in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup,^[2] and second in the IFFHS rating.^[3]

In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, to just one solid league for the 1929–30 season onwards; the Serie A system carries on today. The championship titles won before 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC as a championship in the same way the ones since then are.

The league hosted some of the world's most famous clubs: Juventus, Milan, Internazionale, Roma, Napoli, Fiorentina, Lazio. Juventus, Milan and Inter were all founding members of the G-14 a group representing the largest and most prestigious European football clubs; Serie A was the only league to produce three founding members.^[4] More players have won the coveted Ballon d'Or award while playing at a Serie A club than any other league in the world.^[5] Milan is one of two clubs with the most official international titles in the world

Real Madrid C.F.

simply as Real Madrid)are a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. It is the most successful team in Spanish football and was voted by FIFA as the most successful club of the 20th century, having won a record thirty-one La Liga titles, seventeen Spanish Cups, a record nine European Cups and two UEFA Cups. Real was a founding member of FIFA and the now-defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club Association.

Founded in 1902, Real Madrid has since spent all of its history in the top flight of Spanish football. In the 1940s, the club, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Ciudad Deportiva were rebuilt following the Spanish Civil War. The club established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s. In the 1980s, the club had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe (known as La Quinta del Buitre), winning two UEFA Cups, five Spanish championships in a row, one Spanish cup and three Spanish Super Cups.

The club's traditional home colours are all white. Its crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernise or re-brand; the current crest is a modified version of the one first adopted in the 1920. Real's home is the 80,354-person-capacity Santiago Bernabéu football stadium in downtown Madrid, where it has played since 1947. Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. Real is the world's richest football club (€366m) in terms of revenue.

Real Madrid started when football was introduced to Madrid by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, which included several Oxbridge graduates. They founded Football Club Sky in 1897, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. It split into two clubs in 1900: New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. The latter club split again in 1902, resulting in the formation of Madrid Football Club on 6 March 1902.^[3] Three years after its foundation, in 1905, Madrid FC won its first title after defeating Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup final. The club became one of the founding sides of the Spanish Football Association on 4 January 1909, when club president Adolfo Meléndez signed the foundation agreement of the Spanish FA. After moving between grounds the team moved to the "Campo de O'Donnell" in 1912.^[5] In 1920, the club's name was changed to Real Madrid after King Alfonso XIII granted the title of Real (Royal) to the club.^[6]

In 1929, the first Spanish football league was founded. Real Madrid lead the first edition until the last match, a loss to Athletic Bilbao meant they finished runners-up to Barcelona.^[7] Real Madrid won its first League title in the 1931–32 season. The Whites won the League again the following year, becoming the first side to have won the championship twice

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, based at Old Trafford in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and is one of the most popular football clubs in the world. The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of the 1974–75 season. Average attendances at the club have been higher than any other team in English football for all but six seasons since 1964–65.^[3]

Manchester United are the reigning English champions and European and Club World Cup holders, having won the 2007–08 Premier League, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. The club is one of the most successful in the history of English football and has won 21 major honours since Alex Ferguson became manager in November 1986. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as part of a Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008. The club also holds the record for the most FA Cup titles with 11.^[4]

Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world with the highest revenue of any football club,^[5] and is currently ranked as the richest and most valuable club in any sport, with an estimated value of £897 million (€1.333 billion / $1.8 billion) as of September 2008.^[6] Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs,^[7] and its replacement, the European Club Association.

List of English football transfers 2006–07

This is a list of English football transfers for the 2006-07 season. Only moves from the Premiership and Championship, as well as any other prominent moves from the lower leagues are listed.

The summer transfer window ran from the end of the 2005-06 season, with a few transfers taking place prior to the season's complete end, the first prominent move went through on May 2. The window closed on the August 31. The mid-season transfer window opened on January 1, 2007, and ran for the entire month, until January 31. Players without a club may join one, either during or in between transfer windows. Clubs below Premiership level may also sign players on loan at any time. If need be, clubs may sign a goalkeeper on an emergency loan, if all others are unavailable.

Chelsea broke the record for the highest transfer fee paid by an English club, as well as their own transfer record when they paid £30 million for Andriy Shevchenko, slightly eclipsing the £29.1 million Manchester United paid for Rio Ferdinand in 2002.^[1] It also became the sixth highest costing transfer of all time.^[1] Dietmar Hamann's transfer to Bolton Wanderers became the shortest in English footballing history, with him only being at the club for one day, before having a "change of heart" and joining Manchester City the following day.^[2] In total, Premiership clubs spent the highest amount on transfers in the summer since the transfer window system was introduced.

Current FIFA affiliates

There are currently 208 men's national football teams affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world's football governing body, through their national football associations. They are eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognized as official international matches. Based on their match results over the previous four-year period, the FIFA World Rankings, published monthly by FIFA, compare the relative strengths of the national teams.

Each of these national teams is also affiliated to one of the six confederations, according to their continental zones:

• Asia - Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
• Africa - Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)
• North and Central America and the Caribbean - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)