The A-League is the top Australasian professional association football (soccer) league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia (FFA), it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company Australia and Qantas, and is officially known as the Hyundai A-League. The league is contested by ten teams: nine in Australia and one from New Zealand. Related leagues include a National Youth League and the Women's Westfield W-League.

Prior to the 2009–10 season, a pre-season competition was held in August, as a precursor to the main season. In the Pre-Season Cup, the teams were evenly placed into two groups. Each team played the others in the group once over three rounds.

Beginning in 2006, an additional bonus round was then held, with each team playing a cross-over match with a team from a different group. In addition to the standard points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw), there were special bonus points on offer for the bonus round matches:

Ranko Despotović (Serbian Cyrillic: Paнкo Дecпoтoвић; born 21 January 1983) is a Serbian footballer who plays for Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan, as a striker.

Born in Loznica, Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Despotović made his professional debuts with local FK Loznica, aged only 17, and proceeded to score almost 30 goals overall in his first three years, subsequently being acquired by bigger FK Vojvodina.

After parts of seasons loaned to lowly FK Mačva Šabac, he returned, having a stellar 2006–07, helping the club to the third place in the league and coming up second in the domestic cup; to help achieve this, he topped the nation's goal charts, scoring 17 goals.

In January 2008, Despotović signed with FC Rapid Bucureşti, in Romania, and continued abroad for the ensuing summer, as he joined Spain's Real Murcia for three years and €1.5 million. He was brought to the club by then head coach Javier Clemente, who became aware of the player while coaching the national team of Serbia.

Michael L. Tan, PhD is a medical anthropologist and writer best known for his work among Non-governmental organizations in the Philippines, and for his column Pinoy Kasi, which appears twice a week in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Tan is currently the Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City. He has authored numerous books and articles, often focusing on: indigenous medical beliefs, sex and sexuality, reproductive and sexual health (particularly HIV/AIDS), pharmaceuticals, and health policy issues.

Michael Tan actually began his career as a veterinarian, earning his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of the Philippines. He has maintained ties with veterinarians, but has since "moved on to human public health and pharmacology...and eventually, medical anthropology."

He earned a Master of Arts in Anthropology from the Texas A&M University, and then obtained his PhD in social and political science from the Medical Anthropology Unit of the University of Amsterdam.

Daigo Umehara (Japanese: 梅原 大吾, Hepburn: Umehara Daigo^?, born 19 May 1981) is a Japanese arcade fighting video game player. He specializes in 2D arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the west and "Umehara" or "Ume" in Japan, Umehara is one of the world's most famous Street Fighter players and is often considered its greatest, as well. He currently holds a world record of "the most successful player in major tournaments of Street Fighter" in Guinness World Records.

Before properly being called a progamer from signing a sponsorship deal with MadCatz, Japanese media usually referred to Umehara as "God of 2D fighting games" (2D格闘ゲームの神 "2D Kakutou Game no Kami").

Umehara began going to an arcade game center and playing fighting games at around 10 years of age when he was an elementary school student, the same time when Street Fighter II and Fatal Fury: King of Fighters hit the game center. Because the SF2 cabinet had a very long line and also had older kids playing, his first fighting game is actually Garou Densetsu. Because there was usually a long line in his free time and he could not stay too late, Umehara first started challenging other players in Street Fighter II Dash (Champion Edition) even though he felt shy and had to ask for permission to challenge first, but that was also when he started to like playing with other players.

Steven George Gerrard MBE ( /ˈdʒɛrɑrd/; born 30 May 1980) is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 91 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfield role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger.

Gerrard, who has spent his entire career at Anfield, made his début in 1998 and cemented his place in the first team in 2000, succeeding Sami Hyypiä as team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, and two Super Cups. In 2005, Gerrard came third in voting for the Ballon d'Or.

Gerrard made his international debut in 2000 and has represented England at the Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals. Gerrard first captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand, who missed the tournament through injury. He was named again as England captain for the Euro 2012.