In addition, FIFA will name the best footballer on the planet, which, most likely, for the second year in a row will be the Brazilian Ronaldinho, and also the Club World Cup will be held in Japan. In December, the participants of the Champions League playoffs (matches of the final round of the group stage – December 6/7) and the UEFA Cup (matches – December 1 and 14/15) will also be determined, as well as the leading national championships will reach the halfway point.
There will be one more event that Ukrainian sports fans are unlikely to be able to pass by. On December 15, the format of the final tournament of the 2006 European Youth Championship will be approved, where for the first time in its history the Ukrainian national team has also qualified. Then it will be determined in which country the final tournament will take place in the summer of 2006 – in Italy or Portugal. And on February 8, the group draw will take place. Let us recall that in addition to the mentioned national teams, Germany, France, Holland, Denmark and Serbia became finalists.
AUSTRIA
The Biathlon World Cup will take place in Hochfilzen from December 7 to 11.
ENGLAND
Oh, this crazy Premier League! Oh, these abnormal Englishmen! While all other European football championships take a break for Christmas and New Year holidays, the British continue to play. Moreover, as many as three rounds are scheduled for December 26-31, and another one for January 2. Are these normal people?
In the last three years, special attention in the English championship has been focused on the team whose owner is Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. London's Chelsea confidently leads the standings. And in December, not the easiest matches await it. In the 15th round (December 3) – at home with Middlesbrough. In the 16th (10th) – at home with Wigan. In the 17th (17th) – at Arsenal's field with Arsene Wenger's team. And finally, in the period from December 26 to 31 – with Fulham (in London), Manchester City (in Manchester) and Birmingham (in Birmingham).
As for the English championship as a whole, apart from the mentioned meeting between Arsenal and Chelsea, there is perhaps nothing more to highlight. Except maybe the matches Newcastle – Arsenal (16th round), Liverpool – Newcastle (18th). And, of course, the traditional Liverpool derby Everton – Liverpool (19th round, December 28).
GERMANY
The city of Leipzig has long become one of the most popular in the world. And this is not surprising, since on December 9 it is here that the draw for the final part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup will take place. As is known, the celebrations will stretch over several days and will be very lavish. The composition of the 'seeds' for the draw will be announced on December 6 at a meeting of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee chaired by UEFA President Lennart Johansson. The draw itself will take place from 22:20 to 22:50 Kyiv time. One or two representatives from each continent will pull the balls. The total number of guests at the ceremony is expected to be around four thousand people. The gala performance will last about an hour and a half. The ceremony will be broadcast by more than 150 TV and radio stations around the world. The presence of 800 journalists is expected.
The national football championship will go on a winter break on December 18, and before that time three rounds will take place in the Bundesliga. We will pay main attention to the club in which Ukrainian Andriy Voronin plays. Leverkusen's Bayer in the 15th round (December 3-4) will play at home against Hertha, a week later will go away to Nuremberg, and after another seven days will fight at home against Hannover.
Meanwhile, among the other matches of the 15th round, it is worth highlighting the match Stuttgart – Bayern. In the 16th round, the confrontations between Hamburg and Hertha, as well as Bayern and Kaiserslautern, should be interesting. Well, in the 17th round, three fundamental matches should be highlighted at once. First, the northern derby between Werder and Hamburg in Bremen. Second, the meeting of Stuttgart and Schalke. And finally, third, the match of two leaders of German football in the 90s – Borussia from Dortmund and Bayern.
In Berlin, at the Max-Schmeling Halle, on December 17, a fight for the WBA world heavyweight title will take place between American John Ruiz and Russian Nikolai Valuev. On the eve of this fight, a fight in a lighter category will take place between Alexander Povetkin and Ricardo Carter.
SPAIN
With four rounds in December, the Spanish football championship will complete the first part of the season. Barcelona, which is demonstrating stunning football, in the 14th round (December 4) will play away against Villarreal, and a week later – at home against Sevilla. In the 16th round (December 18), the Catalans will go to visit Cadiz, and on the 21st they will host Celta at their field. Another leading Spanish club – Real – will play at home against Getafe, away against Malaga, at home against Osasuna, and then once more at home – against Racing in the same period. Nothing more attractive is provided by the calendar in December.
ITALY
It is unlikely that any Ukrainian football fan is indifferent to the fate of Milan, which includes last year's best footballer in Europe, Andriy Shevchenko. At the end of November, the Ukrainian sniper scored four goals in one Champions League match – in Istanbul against Fenerbahce. And in December, together with Milan, he will have to continue the chase for Juventus in the Italian championship.
In the 14th round (December 4), Milan will play away in Verona against Chievo, and in a week the fans will have a traditionally unpredictable Milan derby. Inter will act as hosts. In the 16th round (December 18), Milan will host Messina, and three days later will go to Livorno.
The main competitor of Shevchenko's team – Juventus – will play these four rounds as follows. First, it will play in Florence against an implacable rival – Fiorentina, then host Cagliari, then meet Lazio in Rome, and finally, at its own field, test Siena.
From December 8 to 11, the European Swimming Championships will be held in the pools of the city of Trieste.
CANADA
The city of Vernon will host the Cross-Country World Cup, which begins on December 10 and ends on the 11th. Then on December 15, Canmore becomes the center of cross-country skiing. Competitions there will run through the 18th.
Starting December 26, the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship will take place in three Canadian cities – Vancouver, Kelowna, and Kamloops. The championship will end in the new year, on January 5.
RUSSIA
The Women's World Handball Championship will start in St. Petersburg on December 4. The Ukraine national team, led by Leonid Ratner, will also take part. Recall that the Ukrainian women, bronze medalists at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, held their final test of strength in late November in Kiev at an international tournament in memory of the great coach Igor Turchin. The Ukrainian team was drawn into one group (there are four in all) with France, Romania, Macedonia, Argentina, and Cameroon. The top three teams advance to the next round, where they will be split into two groups of six. Then four teams from each group go on to the playoffs, with places first through eighth decided. The decisive matches will be held on December 17. All games will take place in St. Petersburg arenas. It remains to add that the first group includes Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, and Uruguay; the second – Norway, Hungary, Slovenia, Angola, Korea, and Australia; and the third – Denmark, Poland, Austria, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, and Germany.
Moscow will host one of the stages of the Euro Hockey Tour – the ROSNO Cup, featuring the national teams of Russia, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden. On the first day, December 15, Russia will play Sweden; on the 17th they will meet Finland; and on the 18th – the Czech Republic.
SLOVAKIA
In the town of Osrblie, which has long been a winter sports center, biathletes will start on December 15 for the next stage of the World Cup. The competition will end on December 18.
On the same days, the Slovakia Cup in ice hockey will take place in the city of Piešťany, with the national teams of Slovakia, Switzerland, and Canada participating. The fourth participant in the tournament is not yet known.
FRANCE
In the country's football championship, the first half of the season will end by December 17; in fact, there will be three matchdays in the last month of the year. In the 17th round (December 3), the spotlight will be on the game between Lyon, the French champions of the last four seasons, and the ambitious capital club Paris Saint-Germain. A decent match in the same round will be held in Bordeaux, between the local club and Lille.
In the next round (December 10), attention will again focus on Lyon, who will play against Saint-Étienne, the most decorated club in France. The essence of this rivalry is that Lyon was long in the shadow of its more famous neighbors, but now the team from the City of Weavers is the trendsetter in French football. The game will take place in Saint-Étienne. Good matches could also be held in Marseille (Marseille – Auxerre), Paris (PSG – Rennes), and Lille (Lille – Lens).
In the final December round, on the 17th, one should also note another home game for Bordeaux (against Nantes), as well as the match Monaco – Toulouse.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Just before the New Year, on December 30-31, the town of Nové Město will host a stage of the Cross-Country World Cup.
SWITZERLAND
After the final participants of the UEFA Cup playoffs are determined on December 15, the draw for the Champions League round of 16 and the UEFA Cup round of 32 will take place in Nyon (the headquarters of UEFA – the Union of European Football Associations). Matches in these rounds will be played in February next year.
On December 19, the grand ceremony to honor the world's best football players will take place in Zurich (home to the headquarters of the International Federation of Football Associations – FIFA). The winner of the main prize will be chosen by the votes of head coaches and captains of national teams around the world. This year, FIFA, in order to exclude the appearance in the final list of little-known players who are sometimes included by representatives of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, has determined 30 nominees. Among them is Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko. The list has the most Brazilians – Adriano, Cafu, Kaká, Roberto Carlos, Robinho, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo. Interestingly, most nominees are Europeans. Other continents, besides Brazil, are represented by Argentine Riquelme, Nigerian Okocha, Cameroonian Eto'o, Ghanaian Essien, and Côte d'Ivoire's Drogba. The main contender for the victory is Brazilian Ronaldinho, who on November 28 was named Europe's best football player in a poll by the French magazine France Football. He was also named first by the world's coaches and captains last year.
JAPAN
Osaka will host one of the Grand Prix events in figure skating, the NHK Trophy, which begins on December 1 and ends on the 4th. Two weeks later, the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final will be held in Tokyo. The competition is scheduled for December 16-18.
In the middle of the month, Japan will host the Club World Championship, in which the best teams from their continents will participate. This is another attempt by FIFA to hold a club tournament of this level. Previously, at the same time in Japan, the Intercontinental Cup between the champions of Europe and South America was contested. The main sponsor of the tournament supported FIFA's initiative, and on December 11 the first Club World Championship will start. The matches will be held in Tokyo, Toyota City, and Yokohama. On the first day, December 11, representatives of Asia (Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia) and Africa (Al-Ahly from Egypt) will play in Tokyo. The next day in Toyota City, representatives of North America (Saprissa from Costa Rica) and Australia (Sydney) will meet.
Brazil's São Paulo will play the winner of the first pair on December 14 in Tokyo, and England's Liverpool will face the winner of the second on the 15th in Yokohama. These are the semifinal matches. The next day in Tokyo, the losers of the first two matches will meet. And on December 18 in Yokohama, the third-place match (between the semifinal losers) and the final will take place.