4–3 defense

In American football, a 4–3 defense is a defensive alignment consisting of four down linemen and three linebackers. It is probably the most commonly used defense in modern American football and especially in the National Football League.

History

Early in the history of the NFL, teams stacked the defensive line of scrimmage with seven linemen, typically using a 7-diamond or the 7-2. With the liberalization of the forward passing rules in 1933, the defenses began to evolve along with the offensive changes, and by the later 1930s, the standard defense in the NFL and college was the 6-2. The successes of the T formation and the introduction of free substitution (abolishing the one-platoon system) in the 1940s led to the almost universal adoption by 1950 of the five-man line. There were two versions popular in the NFL. The 5-3 was an older defense that remained popular through the 1940s and early 1950s. But by the late 1940s, Greasy Neale's defense was creating problems for offenses with a five-man line and four-man secondary. Roughly concurrently, Paul Brown had developed a vertical timing offense. The Browns won every championship of the rival All-America Football Conference from its inception in 1946 through 1949. In the first game of the 1950 season NFL Commissioner Bert Bell had the newly admitted Browns play the champion Philadelphia Eagles on a Saturday ahead of the rest of the league's scheduled Sunday games. The Browns handily won the game in Philadelphia 35–10 and showed they were a force to be reckoned with.

Penalty shoot-out (association football)

A penalty shoot-out (officially kicks from the penalty mark) is a method of determining the winner of an association football (soccer) match that is drawn after the regulation playing time. In a penalty shoot-out, each team takes turns attempting a specified number of shots (5 in FIFA-governed football) from the penalty mark that are only defended by the opposing team's goalkeeper, with the team scoring the most goals being declared the winner. Although the procedure for taking kicks from the penalty mark resembles that of a penalty kick, there are some differences. Most notably, neither the kicker nor any player other than the goalkeeper may play the ball again once it has been kicked.

The method of breaking a draw in a match requiring a winner is determined beforehand by the match organizing body. FIFA-sanctioned competitions and most professional level competitions employ kicks from the penalty mark following one or more extra periods of play ("extra time"); the length and number of extra periods as well as whether or not they are sudden death are also stipulated by the match organizing body. Although employed in football commonly since the 1970s, penalty shoot-outs remain unpopular with some, due primarily to their perceived reliance on luck rather than skill.

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan (Italian pronunciation: [assotʃatˈtsjoːne ˈkaltʃo ˈmiːlan]), commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30.

With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the second most successful club in the world in terms of number of international titles, together with Boca Juniors and Real Madrid, and behind Al Ahly with twenty titles. Milan has won a joint record of three Intercontinental Cups and one of its successor, the FIFA Club World Cup. Milan have also won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions, second only to Real Madrid. They have also won the UEFA Super Cup a joint record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice. Milan has won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the Europa League (in this competition they have lost two semi-finals in 1972 and in 2002). Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A behind Juventus (31 titles), along with local rivals Inter. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as six Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.

Milan

Milan (English /mᵻˈlæn/ or US /məˈlɑːn/;Lombard, Milanese variant: Milan [miˈlã]),Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno]), the second-most populous city in Italy, is the capital of Lombardy. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area (the 5th-largest in the EU) comprises an estimated 5 million people (former Provinces of Milan and Monza-Brianza, with other Comuni included in the former Province of Varese). The enormous suburban sprawl that followed the post-war boom of the 1950s–1960s has resulted in a polycentric metropolitan area, known as Greater Milan, of 7 to 10 million people, stretching over the provinces of Milan, Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, Varese and Novara. The Milan metropolitan region is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. In terms of GDP, Milan has the third largest economy among EU cities (after London and Paris) and the largest among European non-capital cities.

Juventus F.C.

Juventus Football Club S.p.A. (from Latin iuventūs, "youth"; Italian pronunciation: [juˈvɛntus]), commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve (pronounced [ˈjuːve]), is a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The club is the third oldest of its kind in the country and has spent the majority of its history, with the exception of the 2006–07 season, in the top flight First Division (known as Serie A since 1929).

Founded in 1897 as Sport-Club Juventus by a group of young Torinese students, among them, who was their first president, Eugenio Canfari, and his brother Enrico, author of the company's historical memory; they have been managed by the industrial Agnelli family since 1923, which constitutes the oldest sporting partnership in Italy, thus making Juventus the first professional club in the country.

Over time, the club has become a symbol of the nation's Italianità ("Italianness"), due to their tradition of success, some of which have had a significant impact in Italian society, especially in the 1930s and the first post-war decade; and the ideological politics and socio-economic origin of the club's sympathisers. This is reflected, among others, in the club's contribution to the national team, uninterrupted since the second half of the 1920s and recognised as one of the most influential in international football, having performed a decisive role in the World Cup triumphs of 1934, 1982 and 2006. The club's fan base is larger than any other Italian football club and is one of the largest worldwide. Support for Juventus is widespread throughout the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant presence of Italian immigrants.