Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Spain. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Spain. Mostrar todas las entradas

domingo, 11 de marzo de 2012

Santiago Bernabéu


SANTIAGO BERNABÉU YESTE (08/06/1895 - 02/06/1978)
Santiago Bernabéu was a Spanish sportsman, one of the most important men in Real Madrid's history and the most important leader in the history of world football.



He is generally considered the one to whom much of the credit can be given for transforming Real Madrid C.F. from the second most successful club in Madrid into the most successful in Spain, and the most successful in Europe. 
The team's current stadium is named in his honour. He was the club's President between September 1943 and June 1978.

He was born in Almansa. His family moved to Madrid when he was very young, and Bernabéu himself joined the Real Madrid junior ranks in 1909 at age 14, after being a regular spectator at their matches for years. Mortenals as a striker, as well as wearing the captain's armband for years, before retiring as a player in 1927. He continued to be associated with the club until 1935, first as a director, before becoming assistant manager and finally manager of the first team.

With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, professional football ceased to be played in Spain. During the war he fought as a soldier under the general Agustín Muñoz Grandes.

When the war ended and football began again in Spain, Bernabéu found at Real Madrid what was, to all intents and purposes, a dead club. The old administration (several had been killed or disappeared during the war) and even some of the club's trophies from their early years had been stolen. What's more, at the time the establishment club was Atlético Madrid (re-named Atlético Aviación, the Air-Force's team) and Real Madrid did not initially receive any government help in rebuilding. Bernabéu proceeded to spend the next several months finding and contacting former players, directors, and club members, eventually restructuring the club.


In 1943, after fan violence following a Real Madrid victory over FC Barcelona the government imposed a solomonic solution, forcing the Presidents of both clubs to resign, and Bernabéu was elected President of Real Madrid - a position he would occupy until his death on June 2, 1978.


Success did not come immediately, however. The club was still in very poor shape and other clubs, such as the aforementioned Atlético, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao had very strong teams.

Bernabéu began to implant his ideas. He restructured the club at all levels, in what would become the normal operating structure of professional clubs in the future, giving every section and level of the club independent technical teams and recruiting people who were ambitious and visionary in their own right, such as Raimundo Saporta.

He then endeavoured to build what would become the stadium that today bears his name, at the time the largest stadium in all of Europe, it was remarked as being "too much of a stadium for so little a club". The Ciudad Deportiva, built so that the players could train without destroying the stadium's pitch, was also constructed during these years. Finally, he embarked upon an ambitious strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, the most prominent of them being the signing of Alfredo Di Stéfano, and built the world's first truly multinational side. During Bernabéu's presidency many of Real Madrid's most legendary names played for the club, including Molowny, Muñoz, Di Stéfano, Gento, Rial, Santamaría, Kopa, Puskás, Amancio, Pirri, Netzer, Santillana, Juanito, Camacho, del Bosque and many more.

In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the L'Equipe journalist Gabriel Hanot and building upon the Copa Latina (a tournament involving clubs from France, Spain, Portugal and Italy), Bernabéu met in the Ambassador Hotel in Paris with Bedrignan and Gustav Sebes and created what was at first a loosely-constructed exhibition tournament played among invited teams, but which over time developed into what is today the Champions League. Under the administration of UEFA, it is the world's premier club tournament.

Before dying, Bernabéu had been the club's president for 35 years, during which his club won 1 Intercontinental Cup, 6 European Cups, 16 League titles, and 6 Spanish Cups. He died in 1978, while the World Cup was being played in Argentina. In his honour FIFA decreed three days of mourning during the tournament.

In 2002 he was posthumously awarded with the FIFA Order of Merit.

jueves, 26 de enero de 2012

"The World of David the Gnome" (1985)



"The World of David the Gnome", originally titled "David el Gnomo" (also known as "David, the Gnome"), is a Spanish animated television series based on the children's book "The Secret Book of Gnomes", by the Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet.

The program was originally created in Spain in 1985 by BRB Internacional (who were also responsible for the "Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds" franchise and other cartoons like "Bobobobs" and "Around the World with Willy Fog") titled "David el Gnomo", and retains a sense of the lush illustrations of the original books.

Twenty-six episodes were produced. There was also a spin-off series entitled "Wisdom of the Gnomes".

The English language dub "The World of David the Gnome" was produced by Canadian studio Cinar (now Cookie Jar Entertainment), in association with Miramax Films. Christopher Plummer narrated, with the voice of David the Gnome being provided by Tom Bosley.

"David the Gnome" came to US television in 1987, airing weekdays on the Nickelodeon cable channel, and was part of the fledgling Nick Jr. lineup when that was created shortly thereafter until 1995. It also aired on The Learning Channel from September 30, 1996 until late 1998. The series is still frequently airing weekday mornings on Irish channel RTÉ Two as of 2006.

In Australia, it has aired on ABC, as well as the Australian branch of Nickelodeon, again as part of the Nick Jr. lineup.

The series does much to encourage children to treat the environment with respect. The first episode begins with real images of contamination and destruction, contrasted later with the anti-materialism and pacifism of the gnomes.
During the series, different animals are shown and information is given on their behavior and customs, which is usually well documented. The same thing happens with the medical situations David is faced with.
A lesson in the initial credits of each episode reminds us that nobody is better by being bigger.