Marcia Henin asked:


The Champions League tournament started for the first time in the year 1955. French sports journalist and editor, Gabriel Hanot suggested this continental competition for winners of the European national football leagues.

The competition used a two-leg knockout format. The teams played two matches, one at home, and one on the ground of the opponent. The team with the highest overall score qualified for the next round of the competition. Entry was restricted to the teams that won their national league championships. This qualification system continued until 1992.

In the 1992-93 seasons, the tournament became popular with the name UEFA Champions League. In the year 1997-98, the eligibility changed to include not just domestic champions but also the runners-up. The selection criteria for the winners of the European Cup are, however, not standard.

Champions League Final:

The European Cup or the UEFA Champions League Final is set to take place at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow on 21st of May 2008.

It is a seasonal club football competition. UEFA has been organizing this competition since 1955. The European Cup includes the most successful football clubs in Europe. The prize and the European Cup, is the most prestigious club trophy in the world of football.

The championship is varies from the less prestigious UEFA Cup and the defunct Winners’ Cup. The tournament consists of several stages.

In the present format, it begins in mid July with three preliminary knockout-qualifying rounds. The 16 surviving teams join 16 specified teams in a group stage. Eight winners and eight runners-up enter the final knockout rounds, and the tournament ends with the final match in May.

The current holder of the European Cup is AC Milan. They have beaten Liverpool FC by 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece on 23 May 2007.

How to Get Such Football League News:

Admirers of the European Cup may now easily get the league football news, scores, and events of their favorite sport through online web sites, as the Internet offers them with plenty of updated football news. It is 100% possible to get updated football news within a single mouse click. Hence, search now and know the current and happening affairs in the world of football leagues.

Grant Eckert asked:


Although Carly Rae Patterson was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on February 4, 1988, she is now living in Allen, Texas with her mother and sister. Carly is an incredibly accomplished athlete for her age. She is a former Olympic all-around Champion for the United States 2004 Olympic Team in Athens, Greece.

Due to injuries in her lower back, Carly is unfortunately not scheduled to make an appearance competing in women’s gymnastics with the U.S. 2008 Olympic Team. However, while Carly is one of the world’s most talented gymnasts, she was not always on the path to greatness.

It was at a young cousin’s birthday party in 1994 that Carly’s true gymnastic talent was noticed by a coach at a gymnastic club. Carly’s cousin belonged to a gymnastic club which hosted the birthday party. At that time, the coach saw the then six year old Carly tumbling around and immediately noticed her natural talent. Just six years later, Carly competed in Belgium’s Top Gym Tournament winning the silver medal in the all-around and the bronze for balance beam, which is undoubtedly Carly’s favorite event.

One year later, Carly competed in the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia. It was not her best performance, although she did rank second in the all-around competition before the final rotation. She was sick during the event and ended up finishing in seventh place. Despite an overall disappointing performance, her balance beam routine was almost flawless and featured what would become know as her signature move, “the Patterson”. This signature move is a double Arabian dismount from the balance beam.

By 2002, Carly Patterson became the U.S. Junior National All-Around champion and was considered to be one of the most important young female gymnasts of the time thus making her a viable candidate for the 2004 Olympic All-Around title. After her accomplishment in 2002, she went on to win almost every competition she entered. Unfortunately, due to a broken elbow in 2003, Carly had to sit out of the U.S. National Championships, but still went on to win the all-around silver medal at the World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California making her the first American woman to achieve this accomplishment since 1994. This helped solidify her place on the 2004 U.S. Gymnastics Team.

During the 2004 Olympic trials, Carly did not perform to her best standards and had two falls during her balance beam routine, which dropped her to third place. It was because of this that she was not automatically placed on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, however there was no doubt that she would end up competing in Athens that year.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Carly Patterson proved just how good she was, despite that already being clear to the world. She and her teammates won the silver medal for the team competition. During these events, Carly also won a silver medal for the balance beam, which is only fitting since she takes so much pride into each balance beam routine. In addition to winning two silver medals during these games, Carly also set a record. She became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the all-around during a fully attended Olympic Games. Her performances at the 2004 Olympics have placed Carly in the history books and paved the way for a very exciting life.

Shortly after her great achievements in the 2004 Summer Olympics, doctors found several bulging disks in Carly’s lower back. Due to this health issue, she was forced to reduce the amount of time dedicated to gymnastic training; however it has not stopped her on any other level. Carly continues to make appearances on talk shows, game shows, and television shows as well as participating in many autograph sessions and interviews each year. Partly due to her grueling schedule, Carly retired from gymnastics in 2006 and will not be competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics, much to the disappointment of many gymnastic enthusiasts. She will, however, be honored at the 2008 games by being inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Now that Carly has officially retired from the world of gymnastics, she continues to pursue many challenges. She recently served as the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Youth Ambassador for Give Kids a Smile (GKAS) as well as the ambassador for National Children’s Dental Access Day. She is one of many well known athletes to use her status in a positive way.

One of her current passions is her music career. In 2005, she discussed her wishes to pursue a career in music and announced that she would be working on a demo. That demo has apparently paid off as she has recently signed with Music Mind Records and will be releasing her first single, “Temporary Life (Ordinary Girl)” at the end of March 2008. Carly has also taken some time to write an autobiography discussing her life as a young gymnast through her Olympic competitions.