Soccer - ESFNA Los Angeles, CA

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Serie A

Is the top division of the Italian Football League, the highest football league in Italy. The division consists of 20 clubs from the 2004-05 season, with each team competing against each other team twice, round-robin style, for a total of 38 matches per season. The bottom three clubs in the league table are relegated to Serie B. The top two clubs from Serie B are promoted automatically, while the third- through sixth-place clubs enter a promotion playoff for the final place in Serie A. The promotion playoff, similar to that used for years in England's Football League, was first employed in 2004-05.

The 2005-06 season presents twenty teams. The first two teams will enter to the UEFA Champions League, while the third and fourth will compete for the qualification to the same tournament. The fifth and sixth teams, as well as the winner of the Coppa Italia, will enter into UEFA Cup. For the season 2005-06, the Italian teams playing Champions League are Juventus, Milan, Internazionale, and Udinese – the last two entered through qualification matches; Sampdoria, Palermo and Roma (as runner-up in Coppa Italia) will play in the UEFA Cup.

The Football League

Is a league competition for English football (soccer) clubs (though a few Welsh clubs also take part) containing three divisions (the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League Two) that occupy the second, third and fourth levels of the English football league system (below the FA Premier League, but above the Football Conference). In addition to the main competition, the League also organises two knockout cup competitions, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

The Football League's 72 member clubs are grouped into three divisions: the Football League Championship, Football League One, and Football League Two. Each division has 24 clubs, and in any given season a club plays each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. This makes for a total of 46 games played each season.

Clubs gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. At the end of the season, clubs at the top of their division may win promotion to the next higher division, while those at the bottom may be relegated to the next lower one. At the top end of the competition, three Championship clubs win promotion from The Football League to the FA Premier League, with the bottom three Premier League clubs taking their places. At the lower end, two League Two clubs lose their Football League status with relegation to the Conference National division of the Football Conference, while two teams from Conference National join League Two of The Football League in their stead.

Major League Soccer (MLS)

Is the top soccer league in the United States in the American Soccer Pyramid. It is sanctioned by the professional division of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or U.S. Soccer) and is a member of F édération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

MLS 2005

Los Angeles Galaxy grabs both the US Open Cup and the MLS Cup titles.
Taylor Twellman grabs both All Star Game and MLS Season X MVP crowns.
Youri Djorkaeff grabs 10 goals and 7 assists for his rookie year.

A few Ethiopians have had the pleasure of playing for the league over the years. We'll compile their names and profiles here shortly before ESFNA LA 2006.

List of foreign MLS players

List of current MLS players

In contrast to most other established professional sports leagues in the United States and abroad, but like most recently founded leagues, MLS is organized as a "single-entity" organization, in which the league (rather than individual teams) contracts directly with the players, in an effort to control spending and labor costs, share revenue, promote parity and maximize exposure. Each team has an owner/investor and the league allows an owner to have more than one team, although this may be more because of the lack of willing investors than the single-entity structure itself.

The full roster for each MLS team is limited to a maximum of 18 senior players, plus a maximum of ten roster-protected players. Of the 18 senior players, MLS teams are allowed a maximum of four senior (over the age of 25) international players on their active roster, as well as three youth international players (under the age of 25). In MLS, a player is not considered an international (regardless of eligibility to play for the U.S. National Team) if he is a U.S. citizen, is a resident alien (green card), or is under asylum protection. International players are so defined by U.S. Soccer to accord with U.S. Immigration and Naturalization laws, which prohibit an employer from limiting the number of permanent or temporary residents, refugees, and asylees.

As a result of these restrictions, most of the players in the league are from the United States, but some are renowned international players, with Latin America and the Caribbean being the home region for the largest number of international players.

External links

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