Peru – The Magic Country

PERUVIAN ANCESTRY:

Benjamin Bratt (actor): His movies include: Shadown Hunter (1992), Demolition Man (1993), Kill or Be Killed (1993), Woman Undone (1995) and Exiled (1998).

Yma Sumac (actress and singer): Sumac was born in Peru. She has American citizen.

Helena Christensen (Model): Like Fernanda Tavares, Elsa Benitez and Juncal Rivero, she was a spectacular super-model in Europe in the United States in the 1990s. In 1986 Helena had been elected Miss Denmark.

Alejandro «Alex» Olmedo (tennis player): Was born in Arequipa (Peru). Like Mary Jo-Fernandez, Richard «Pancho» Gonzalez, Alex became American citizen. He came to the United States from Lima as a schoolboy. He is the only Latin American who has won one Wimbledon Tournament (1959).Alejandro played many times for the United States and he won at the 1958 Davis Cup

DID YOU KNOW THAT ….

Peru is the first country which has had a President of Japanese ancestry. From 1990 to 2000, Alberto Kenya Fujimori, best known as «Chinese», was President of Peru. In 1992, Fujimori made history when he became dictator. During his dictatorship, he rewrote the Constitution.

Opposition and human rights groups accused Fujimori of violating human rights. Ironically, his government was an advocate for the women’s rights, anti-terrorism and tourism. In 1996, Miriam Schenone became minister of the Woman and Human Development.

Under his authoritarian rule, Fujimori received aid from the People’s of China and Japan. Protest marches against the dictatorship took place in 2000.That year, Fujimori fled to Japan, where he received asylum.

His style has been compared to Ferdinand Marcos, former dictator of Philippines….

FAMOUS ATHLETES:

Juan Carlos «Johnny» Bello (swimming): The most famous swimmer in the Peruvian history. Johnny decided to learn to swim at the age of seven. From 1965 to 1973, he won several international medals.

Teofilo Cubillas (football): Cubillas, best known for his nickname «Nene», has played in three World Cups (Mexico-70, Argentina-78 and Spain-82). Certainly, Peru was one of the best teams in the 1970s.He is now recognized as a symbol of South American football.

Cecilia Tait (volleyball): Peru’s most talented player appeared as a sub aged 18 at the Pan American Games in San Juan (Puerto Rico).Like Lang Ping (the People’s Republic of China) and Flora «Flo» Hyman (United States),she is one of the best players in the volleyball history. She has played more than 300 games for Peru in the 1970s and 1980s.Tait has become an icon for the Peruvian sport. She was a congresswoman.

Gabriela Perez del Solar (volleyball): She was one of the World’s most popular players because of her all out effort and humble personality. Made her debut in the 1984 South American Youth Cup in Chile. She, best known as «Gaby», has been described as one of the best athletes by Peruvian journalists. The 1993 South American Championship was her last international tournament. Currently, she is a congresswoman since 2006. She has projects about Olympic sports.

Edwin Vazquez Cam (shooting): Edwin made history when won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1948.He was one of the best shooters in the Third World. Latin America has produced many shooters, but none as Edwin Vazquez Cam. Like Marlene Ottey, Marlene Arehns, James Gilkes and Lloyd Labeach, he has become a symbol in the Latin American sport.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Shining Path, a group terrorist in Peru, has been called «The Khmer Rouge of Latin America. Abimael Guzman Reynoso, terrorist leader, has been compared to Pol Pot. The indigenous were victims of a delivete policy of genocide by Shining Path. More than 50,000 Peruvians have been killed by Shining Path.

FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN IN PERU:

Mario Vargas Llosa (writer)…Hernando de Soto (economist)…Cesar Vallejo (writer)…Daniel Alomia Robles (composer)…Fernando Belaunde Ferry (ex President)…Fernando de Szyslo (painter)…Chabuca Granda (singer)… Susana Baca (singer)…Luis Flores (designer)…Victor Delfín (sculpter)…Jose Carlos Mariategui (writer), Javier Perez de Cuellar (diplomatic), Alfredo Bryce Echenique (writer)…

REFERENCES

-Bach, Caled. «Mario Vargas Llosa mundo sin limites», Americas, Washington DC, abril 2004

-Bowen, Sally. El expediente Fujimori, Perú Monitor, Lima, 2000

-Compendio Histórico del Perú. Historia Política y Económica (1820-1998), Editorial Milla Batres, Madrid, 1998

-Diccionario Histórico y Biográfico del Perú Siglos XV-XX, Milla Batres, Lima 1986

-Elton, Catherine. «El retorno de Ayacucho», Americas, Washington DC, diciembre de 1999

-Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú, Peisa, Lima, 2001

-Guevara Onofre, Alejandro. Historia de la Mujer de los Estados Unidos, Cecosami

-Lama, Abraham. «Perú: difícil sendero», Nueva Sociedad, Caracas, septiembre-octubre 1988

-Lizarburu,Raúl. «El documental del terror», La República, Lima, 4 de julio 2005

-Orbegoso, Manuel Jesus. «Pérez de Cuéllar a Ghali: entrego la posta», El Dominical del Diario El Comercio, Lima, 5 de enero de 1992

-Perry, Ellen. Documental: La caída de Fujimori/ Estados Unidos/ 2005

-Yates, Pamela. Documental: Estado de miedo / Perú-Estados Unidos/2005

UEFA Reconsidering Standing At European Games

Standing during English football matches has been banned since April 15, 1989 when the Hillsborough disaster occurred. The unfortunate event took place at the Hillsborough Stadium located in Sheffield, England where 96 people, all Liverpool fans, were killed. Since then no one has been able to stand at a stadium during a football match.

Michel Platini, president of UEFA, has taken the issue into hand after fans have claimed that Werder Bremen allows standing during their domestic games. That is because standing is very much popular in domestic football in Germany and the country counts with many new stadia which offer a special section specifically designed for fans that prefer to stand up and is said to be completely safe by authorities.

The Veltins Arena, home for Schalke 04, has staggered barriers on every fourth step of the standing section and can be easily removed and replaced with seats to host international or European games. The seats in the Werder Bremen stadium have a system where the seats lock up to allow standing.

These are more modern than old terraces and some allege they are much more secure than standing in seated areas. UEFA spokesman told reporters the current rules apply and there are no immediate plans to reinstate standing, but they are willing to discuss the matter and look into new possibilities.

The conference was held in Nyon, Switzerland and included fan representatives from across Europe such as; England, Scotland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and the supporters Direct organizations from the United Kingdom and Germany.

William Gaillard, UEFA’s communications director, stated that to his and others opinions that sitting is the best way to view a football match, but they are open to review the fans’ concerns along with FIFA and they will keep their mind open to new options.

Premier League Match Time: Everton Vs Liverpool

One of the mouth watering prospects in store for football fans, when the Premier League returns after an International break, is a Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool.

Goodison Park will be the venue of a lunch-time kick off on Sunday in what promises to be an explosive match between two sides looking to prove themselves, after indifferent starts to their Premiership campaigns.

Coincidentally, both teams languishing near the bottom of the table, have six points each after seven matches. With new ownership looming for the Reds, Roy Hodgson will be keen to underline his managerial skills with a win. Especially after fans chanted for his removal in the Reds’ 2-1 home loss to Blackpool.

In some bad news for Liverpool (other than the off-field wrangles at Anfield), Dirk Kuyt is sidelined ahead of Sunday’s game, owing to an injury sustained by the striker in Holland’s Euro qualifier with Sweden on Tuesday, a match that the Dutch won convincingly. It could be a month before Kuyt returns to action.

But Hodgson will take cheer from Torres’ return to the team after the Spanish striker showed signs of recovery from an abductor strain.

Steven Gerrard, as ever, will the key man, and Hodgson will look for an inspired performance from the England midfielder in what is a must-win for the Anfield squad.

Everton on their part have injury worries too, with the sidelining of Victor Anichebe, Steven Pienaar, Louis Saha and Jack Rodwell. Manager David Moyes will hope that home advantage inspires the Blues to bank three points from the game, and move up the points table.

The Toffees will look to Tim Cahill to provide the momentum, even as the Reds are set to miss the services of Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio and Paul Konchesky due to injury.

The following players were in Everton starting eleven in their 2-0 win against Birmingham, on October 2: Tim Howard, Phil Neville, Sylvain Distin, Philip Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman, Marouane Fellaini, Mikel Arteta, Leon Osman, Tim Cahill, Yakubu.

The substitutes for the match were: Barkley, Jermaine Bedford, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, John Heitinga, Magaye Gueye, Tony Hibbert, Jan Mucha.

Liverpool included the following players in their last league match against Blackpool, a match that the Reds lost 2-1: Jose Manuel (Pepe) Reina, Glen Johnson, Sotiros Kyrgiakos, Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher, Christian Poulsen, Raul Meireles, Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, Fernando Torres.

The substitutes were: Milan Jovanovic, Lucas, David Ngog, Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly, Maxi Rodriguez, Brad Jones.

World Cup 2006 Preview – Italy

Outright Odds: 10/1

Group E Winners: 10/11

Italy are the grand masters of heart-breaking tragedy when it comes to major finals. In all three World Cups held in the 1990s, the Italians bowed out on penalties, including Roberto Baggio’s infamous miss against Brazil in the 1994 final.

They don’t fare a lot better in Europe either. With Euro 2000 in the bag, opponents France equalised four minutes into injury time and went on to win, while Euro 2004 saw Italy bow out in the group stage when Sweden and Denmark drew 2-2, the only result which would send both teams through at the Italians’ expense.

Italy have made failure when it matters the most an art form and are likely to provide plenty of high drama at this summer’s finals. However, they tend to bring it upon themselves more often than not.

In a move that would make wheeler-dealer manager Barry Fry proud, Italy coach Marcelo Lippi used an incredible 36 players in qualifying so it is arguable he has not yet found his best starting eleven. Howeever, after 10 qualifying matches in which no player appeared in more than eight matches, Italy may not have the stability to see them triumph in Germany.

Italy are notorious slow starters in major finals which will not help matters in what is potentially the toughest of all the groups. In qualifying they lost an early match in Slovenia and could come unstuck against unknown quantity Ghana in their opening match.

Following a minor blip in qualifying the Italians remained unbeaten for the rest of the campaign, proving they are solid if not spectacular and topped the group by five points. There is no value in them winning Group E at 10/11 or qualifying from it at heavy odds-on but given their history of being «there or thereabouts» they are likely to secure a spot in the last 16.

Their success will come from a watertight defence marshalled by Fabio Cannavaro, who missed the embarrassing defeat to South Korea in the 2002 finals and Alessandro Nesta.

Lippi also has a headache in who to play in attack. Veterans Alessandro Del Piero and Christian Vieri may give way to AC Milan’s Alberto Gilardino and Luca Toni of Fiorentina, who netted four goals in eight qualifying matches. Real Madrid’s Antonio Cassano is another option.

Recommended Bet:

An unpredictable line-up and a history of doing «just enough» to progress through the tournament rather than winning in style means there is more value in opposing Italy than backing them at odds-on to win the group or qualify from it. Their final match against the Czech Republic could end all square if a point is all that’s required for both sides to make the last 16.

Italy vs Czech Republic draw @ 11/5

Players of Manchester United – Peter Schmeichel

Peter Schmeichel was born on November 18, 1963 in Gladsaxe, Denmark. He retired from playing football in April 2003.

Schmeichel is Denmark’s most capped player, with 129, retiring from international football in April 2001. At his peak he was arguably the world’s best goalkeeper. A charismatic keeper with presence and excellent shot-stopping skills, Schmeichel was one of the key members of the Danish national team which won Euro Cup 1992. He also represented his country at Euro Cup 1996, World Cup 1998 and Euro Cup 2000.

Schmeichel’s first played professionally for Hvidovre IF. He subsequently signed for Brondby. Manchester United bought him in 1991 for 550,000 pounds and he played for them for the most part of his career which he enjoyed great success. With United, Schmeichel won 5 FA Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, the UEFA Champions League, and a League Cup. Well known for frequently shouting at defenders, especially Steve Bruce, although the two remain firm friends till now.

Peter Schmeichel’s finest moment came in 1999, when he won the Treble (the Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League), while captaining the team in the Champions League final on May 26, 1999 against Bayern Munich, which turns out to be his last game for the club. Schmeichel later moved to Sporting Lisbon, where he won the Portuguese league title in 1999/2000, then returned to the Premiership to Aston Villa in 2001/2. His last season was for Manchester City during the 2002/3 season.

He has a son, Kasper Schmeichel, who also plays as goalkeeper for Manchester City and was called up for the Danish U-19 squad in August 2003. Today Peter has a career working as a pundit for the BBC.

History of Soccer

As you probably know, soccer is the most played, watched and televised sport in the history of mankind. According to FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) there are currently 270 million people that are actively involved in the game of football. (That is about 4% of the world population) So why has this sport become such a grand interest for me and people alike? What is the history behind this widely spectated event?

Soccer which is referred as «football association» in Wikipedia is a sport that has roots dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century. The earliest form is said to have originated in China; a game called «cuju». FIFA, the governing body of football, officially stated that China was the birthplace of its game in 2004.

In the latter decades, many other forms of the sport have been spotted in other regions of the world, such as «Harpastum» (Roman), «Kemari» (Japan), and «Knattleikr». (Iceland) These games were of course a lot different from what modern football is all about. It was not until the 19th century that various forms of football became somewhat an organized event played mostly by prestigious public schools in England. There was much improvement in the course of the sport when Thomas Arnold (head of the ‘Rugby School’ helped to establish the first standardized rules of Rugby.

In Rugby, they allowed players to kick opponents legs below the knees (which was banned in the later years), handling the ball was also permitted. Following this development, football and rugby split on December, 1863. The modern game of football was born in England with the formation of the F.A. (Football Association) which is the governing body of football in England. Ebenezer Cobb Morley was a founding member of the Football Association in which he stressed out the importance of a governing body for football. After the F.A. was established he laid down the «Laws of football» that implemented the rules the game is played today. On January 9th, 1864, the first exhibition football game was played at the Battersea Park. In only eight years, the F.A. had 50 member clubs and grew rapidly allowing a competition to emerge in 1972. The F.A. Cup is the first football competition and in England regarded as the most prestigious one. The ‘Wanderers’ were the first team to win the cup, beating the ‘Royal Engineers’ 1-0.

Football popularized slowly in other countries with the help of British influence. It was not until 1889, other countries (Netherlands and Denmark) would embrace this wonderful game. Football started growing rapidly with the following countries; New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile, Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (1900), and Hungary (1901) adopting football associations of their own.

In 1904, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) was formed in Paris to regulate international fixtures and there were seven founding members (France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). The first international football competition was introduced at the 1908 London Summer Olympics with Great Britain winning gold, Denmark silver and the Netherlands bronze. The emergence of World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) brought the growing sport to a halt resuming years after the war. By 1950, FIFA had 51 member countries. Before the creation of the World Cup (the most prestigious football competition), FIFA organized a football competition within the Summer Olympics. In 1930, FIFA would manage their own tournament in Uruguay; the host nation to be the first football team to have won the cup that would be the most spectated than any other professional tournament today.

Football today, is a much growing sport with 208 national teams recognized by FIFA, in addition there are thousands of club teams competing with each other in various leagues and cups for global dominance. The sport has become an addiction for many people around the world, helping nations and people get together as they cheer their team away hoping one day, their team will bring home a trophy. The future of football always has room for improvement and hopefully will grow interest in the U.S. as elsewhere. «Fair-play» is the name of the game.