2016 Curtis Cup, Format
Each of the 20 matches is worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match is all square after the 18th hole extra holes are not played. Rather, each side earns 1⁄2 a point toward their team total. The team that accumulates at least 101⁄2 points wins the competition. In the event of a tie, the current holder retains the Cup.


2016 Curtis Cup, Teams
Eight players for the Great Britain & Ireland and USA participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.


2016 Curtis Cup, Teams
Six members of the Great Britain & Ireland team were selected automatically, the top four in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as of 27 April 2016 and the leading two players in the LGU’s Order of Merit not selected from the WAGR. The remaining two were picked by the LGU Selection Panel.


2016 Curtis Cup, Teams
The American team was selected by the USGA’s International Team Selection Committee. American captain Robin Burke is the wife of Jack Burke Jr..


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge
The 2016 Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC) was a challenge created by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in order to develop automatic defense systems that can discover, prove, and correct software flaws in real-time.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge
The event placed machine versus machine (no human intervention) in what was called the "world's first automated network defense tournament."


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge
The final event was held on August 4, 2016 at the Paris Hotel & Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada within the 24th DEF CON hacker convention.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge
It resembled in structure the long-standing "capture the flag" (CTF) security competitions, and the winning system indeed competed against humans in the "classic" DEF CON CTF held in the following days. The Cyber Grand Challenge featured, however, a more standardized scoring and vulnerability-proving system: all exploits and patched binaries were submitted and evaluated by the referee infrastructure


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Background
Races develop between criminals attempting to abuse vulnerabilities and analysts who assess, remediate, check, and deploy a patch before significant damage can be done. Experts adhere to a process that involves complicated reasoning followed by manual creation of each security signature and software patch, a technical process that requires months and dollars. This has resulted in various software insecurities favoring attackers. Devices such as smart televisions, wearable technologies, and high-end home appliances that are connected to the internet aren't always produced with security in mind and moreover utility systems, power grids, and traffic lights could be more susceptible to attacks, says the DARPA.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Background
To help overcome these challenges, DARPA launched in 2014  the Cyber Grand Challenge: a two-year competition seeking to create automatic defensive systems capable of reasoning about flaws, formulating patches and deploying them on a network in real time. The competition was split into two main events: an open qualification event to be held in 2015 and a final event in 2016 where only the top seven teams from the qualifiers could participate. The winner of the final event would be awarded $2 million and the opportunity to play against humans in the 24th DEF CON capture the flag competition.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Challenge binaries
Challenge Binaries ran on the full 32-bit Intel x86 architecture, albeit with a simplified ABI.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Challenge binaries
Reducing external interaction to its base components (e.g., system calls for well-defined I/O, dynamic memory allocation, and a single source of randomness) simplified both modeling and securely running the binaries in isolation to observe their behavior.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Challenge binaries
Internal complexity was however unrestricted, with challenges going as far as implementinga particle physics simulator,chess,programming/scripting languages,parsing of huge amounts of markup data,vector graphics,just-in-time compilation,VMs, etc.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Challenge binaries
The challenge authors were themselves scored based on how well they distinguished the players' relative performance, encouraging challenges to exercise specific weaknesses of automatic reasoning (e.g., state explosion) while remaining solvable by well-constructed systems.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Player systems
Each playing system -- a fully-automated "Cyber Reasoning System" (CRS) -- had to demonstrate ability in several areas of computer security:


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Player systems
Teams described their approach in various venues. Additionally, the third-place finisher (Shellphish) released their entire system's source code.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, Technology, Player systems
Due to the complexity of the task, players had to combine multiple techniques and do so in a fully-unattended and time-efficient fashion. For instance, the highest attack score was reached by discovering vulnerabilities via a combination of guided fuzzing and symbolic execution -- i.e., an AFL-based fuzzer combined with the , leveraging a QEMU-based emulation and execution-tracing system.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, CGC Qualification Event (CQE)
The CGC Qualification Event (CQE) was held on June 3, 2015 and lasted for 24 hours. CQE had two tracks: a funded-track for seven teams selected by DARPA based on their proposals (with an award up to $750,000 per team) and an open-track where any self-funded team could participate. Over 100 teams registered internationally and 28 reached the Qualification Event. During the event, teams were given 131 different programs and were challenged with finding vulnerabilities as well as fixing them automatically while maintaining performance and functionality. Collectively, all teams managed to identify vulnerabilities in 99 out of the 131 provided programs. After collecting all submissions from competitors, DARPA ranked all teams based on their patching and vulnerability-finding ability.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, CGC Qualification Event (CQE)
The top seven teams and finalists in alphabetical order were:


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, CGC Qualification Event (CQE)
Upon qualification, each one of the above seven teams received $750,000 in funding to prepare for the final event.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, CGC Final Event (CFE)
The CGC Final Event (CFE) was held on August 4, 2016 and lasted for 11 hours. During the final event, finalists saw their machines face against each other in a fully automatic capture-the-flag competition. Each of the seven qualifying teams competed for the top three positions that would share almost $4 million in prize money.


2016 Cyber Grand Challenge, CGC Final Event (CFE), Final Results
The winning systems of the Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC) Final Event were:


2016 Cypriot legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Cyprus on 22 May 2016 to elect 56 of the 80 Members of the House of Representatives.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Political system
The Republic of Cyprus is a unitary republic with a presidential system of government. The President of Cyprus, directly elected in the middle of the legislative term, is both head of state and head of government, presiding over the executive Council of Ministers. The multi-member proportional elections to the House of Representatives however accommodate a multi-party system, where the elected president's party usually joins forces with smaller parties to form a joint coalition government that usually adapts to parliamentary shifts after legislative elections.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Political system, Electoral system
The 80 seats in the House of Representatives are elected from six multi-member constituencies, with the number of seats allocated according to the population of each area. Of the 80 seats, 56 are elected by Greek Cypriots and 24 by Turkish Cypriots. However, due to the partition of the island in 1974, the 24 Turkish Cypriot seats are unfilled and the House of Representatives has de facto had 56 seats since its enlargement in the 1980s.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Political system, Electoral system
The elections are held using open list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the Hare quota. Any remaining seats are allocated to lists that won at least one seat or parties that received at least 3.6% of the vote. In the open list system, voters first select the list they want to vote for, and then select a number of candidates equal to a quarter of the number of seats in the constituency. Party leaders or other candidates heading coalitions are not required to receive preferential votes to be elected. Although compulsory voting had not been formally abolished at the time the elections took place (it was abolished in 2017), the law had not been enforced for years.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Background, 2011
The previous legislative election took place on 22 May 2011. President Demetris Christofias of the communist Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) had led a coalition consisting of his party as well as the centrist Democratic Party (DIKO) and the social-democratic Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK) since his election in 2008.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Background, 2011
After three years in power, AKEL scored 32.7% in the 2011 legislative elections, narrowly behind the opposition center-right Democratic Rally, which polled 34.3% of votes. Meanwhile, AKEL's partners DIKO and EDEK scored 15.8% and 8.9% respectively. A mere two months after the legislative election, the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion took place, triggering calls for President Christofias' resignation.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Background, 2013
Amidst widespread dissatisfaction and a deepening economic crisis, Christofias announced that he would not run for a second term in the presidential election in 2013. Ultimately, Nicos Anastasiades of DISY emerged victorious in the presidential election, taking 45.5% of the vote, against 26.9% for the AKEL-backed Stavros Malas and the EDEK-backed Giorgos Lillikas. In the second round, Anastasiades captured 57.5% to 42.5% for Malas. The Anastasiades administration took office on 28 February 2013, comprising DISY, DIKO and the European Party (EVROKO). The Democrats later pulled out of the coalition, however.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Background, 2014
Roughly a year into the presidency of Nicos Anastasiades, the Cypriot parties faced the electorate in European Parliament elections. Ahead of the election, DISY and EVROKO announced that they would participate in the election on a joint ticket; the social democrats in EDEK and the Ecological and Environmental Movement (KOP) also formed an electoral pact for the event. With the economic problems the country faced under Demetris Christofias' AKEL-led government fresh in the minds of voters, the party plummeted to 27.0% of the vote, a loss of 8.4% points. Meanwhile, the DISY-EVROKO pact garnered 37.8%. This election also served as the first electoral test of the Citizens' Alliance (SYPOL) party of former presidential candidate Giorgos Lillikas, which polled 6.8% but failed to win seats in the European Parliament. The decline of AKEL and the rise of anti-establishment parties continued into 2015 and 2016.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Background, 2016
Mere months before the 2016 legislative election, ex-DISY MEP Eleni Theocharous launched a splinter party, in opposition to Anastasiades' approach to the Cyprus issue. She advocated for tighter co-operation with other parties particularly DIKO and EDEK. The new party was dubbed the Solidarity Movement. On 11 March 2016, it was announced that EVROKO would merge into the new party, placing its candidates on its lists in the upcoming elections.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Electoral campaigns
A televised debate of DISY leader Averof Neophytou, AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou and DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos on 18 May 2016 turned into a heated exchange on economy issues and the question of reunification. Papadopoulos claimed that "behind closed doors", AKEL was trying to resurrect the 2004 Annan plan that was turned down by the Greek side in a referendum. While Neophytou and Papadopoulos criticized AKEL's judgment of the economic situation ahead of the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis, Kyprianou recalled his two rivals' assessments at that time. Back then in October 2008, Neophytou had expected things to go "very well", though "based on overconsumption", while Papadopoulos had gone even further off the mark stating: "Yes, our economy will be impacted, but certainly not our financial system, which is one of the most resilient in the world."


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Results, Analysis and reception
The election had the lowest turnout for a legislative election in the history of the Republic of Cyprus. "General apathy with public affairs, but likewise frustration with the credit crunch and disappointment with politicians" was cited in the Cyprus Mail for the low turnout, whilst political analyst Hubert Faustmann cited "dissatisfaction of the public with the bigger parties" and "that parliamentary elections in Cyprus are not that important, given the weakness of the Cypriot parliament".


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Results, Analysis and reception
AKEL was seen as the biggest loser of the election, possible reasons being cited as the party's failure to take up a "proactive" role and continued disillusionment with the Christofias administration. In contrast, an AKEL member, Irini Charalambidou, gained the highest number of votes for any candidate, following her stark critique of and fight against failing banks. The results were interpreted as a weakening of the front calling for a federal solution by the Turkish Cypriot press and political analyst Louis Igoumenides.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Results, Analysis and reception
Whilst the pro-solution parties, DISY and AKEL, still received a combined 56% of the votes against 40% obtained by anti-solution parties, in the case of a referendum the "yes" vote was expected by Igoumenides to be much lower, partly due to the refusal of fanatic voters of DISY and AKEL to collaborate.


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Results, Analysis and reception
In terms of economics, the Anastasiades government became dependent on smaller parties to pass important reforms. This was expected to impede the ability of the government to pass these reforms, economic analyst Fiona Mullen said "I think we can forget privatization altogether". This was also the first time the far-right party ELAM entered the parliament. Anti -racist NGO KISA called upon political parties in the parliament to counter ELAM and stated its "concern over the number of absentee voters and the rightward drift of the electorate towards political parties that espouse racism and nationalism" and Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog called the party "terrorist".


2016 Cypriot legislative election, Results, Analysis and reception
Cypriot electoral expert Yiannis Mavris said: "The electoral results herald a new political era for Cyprus. New small parties seem to be here to stay and will be exerting continuous pressure on traditional parties, which may find it difficult to win back their voters."


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup
The 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup was the ninth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. After being initially canceled due to schedule conflicts with both UEFA and AFC qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 SheBelieves Cup leaving many of the prior year's participants, including reigning champions England, unable to attend, the tournament was rescheduled with the Football Association of Finland as tournament organizers and a scaled-down field of eight national teams.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup
Austria defeated Poland in a final between two first-time participants in the Cyprus Cup.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format
The tournament consisted of a group stage held over three match days followed by a single day of classification matches to determine the final standings.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format
For the group stage, the eight teams were split into two groups of four teams. Each group played a round-robin tournament with each team playing one match against each other team in its group.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format
The classification day then had four matches: a first place match between the group winners, a third place match between the runners-up, a fifth place match between the third-placed teams, and a seventh place match between the bottom teams.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format, Tie-breaking criteria
For the group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions will be determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup, Teams
For the first time in Cyprus Cup history, all participants were from UEFA. Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Wales all made their first appearance in the tournament. Also for the first time, Finland was named "host nation" as the Football Association of Finland organized the tournament. Prior co-organisers the Netherlands were instead hosting the 2016 UEFA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, England instead competed in the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, and Scotland were controversially kept away by their performance director Brian McClair, who preferred to play a single friendly against Spain in Falkirk.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup squads
This article lists the squads for the 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup, the 9th edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup. The cup consisted of a series of friendly games, and was held in Cyprus from 2 to 9 March 2016. The eight national teams involved in the tournament registered a squad of 23 players.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup squads
The age listed for each player is on 2 March 2016, the first day of the tournament. The numbers of caps and goals listed for each player do not include any matches played after the start of tournament. The club listed is the club for which the player last played a competitive match prior to the tournament. The nationality for each club reflects the national association (not the league) to which the club is affiliated. A flag is included for coaches that are of a different nationality than their own national team.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup squads, Group A, Italy
The squad was announced on 22 February 2016. Sara Gama was replaced by Eleonora Piacezzi.


2016 Cyprus Women's Cup squads, Group B, Czech Republic
The squad was announced on 19 February 2016. On 28 February 2016, Adéla Odehnalová was replaced by Tereza Koubová.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt
The 2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt was an Iranian protest that took place at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great on Cyrus the Great Day.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt
The protest was triggered by governmental corruption and opposition to Islamic rule. The protest took place on Cyrus the Great Day at the tomb of Cyrus the Great as a celebration of Persia’s pre-Islamic glory. The Iranian government responded by jailing the event organizers and protesters as well as banning Cyrus the Great Day celebrations in subsequent years. The protest was Iran's largest after the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt, Background
The protests were caused by pre-Islamic Nationalism and admiration for the fallen monarchy that previously ruled Iran and discontent for Iran's Islamic rule.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt, Slogan and tactics
Iranian protesters chanted "Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father. The clerical rule is synonymous with only tyranny, only war," and "Freedom of thought cannot take place with beards. No Gaza, no Palestine, we will only sacrifice ourselves for Iran!" Many chants praised the former Pahlavi dynasty with many protesting in support of Iran's past monarchy of former Shah that was overthrown by the 1979 Revolution. Another chant was "Happy Birthday, O Prince!" referencing the Shah of Iran's son.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt, Slogan and tactics
Other slogans praised the late Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and expressed anti-Arab sentiment.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt, Government response
Protest organizers were arrested by the order of the government. Iranians have been banned from celebrating Cyrus the Great Day at Pasargadae, the site of Cyrus the Great’s tomb, despite thousands of Iranians returning in following years.


2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt, Government response
In years after the 2016 event crowds of Iranians have attempted to go back to rally at the tomb for Cyrus the Great Day, however state police and Iran's Revolutionary guard blocked all paths to the ancient tomb. There were also reports of government forces disguised in plain clothes beating Iranians who came to visit the site.


2016 Czech Lion Awards
2016 Czech Lion Awards ceremony was held on 4 March 2017. A Prominent Patient has won 12 awards, including Best picture film.


2016 Czech Pirate Party leadership election
The Czech Pirate Party leadership election of 2016 was held on 2 April 2016. Ivan Bartoš was elected the new leader. Members of the party were allowed to vote through internet.


2016 Czech Pirate Party leadership election, Background
Election was scheduled for meeting in Olomouc. The incumbent leader Černohorský decided to not run. Ivan Bartoš who previously led the party decided to run and was considered the front-runner.


2016 Czech Pirate Party leadership election, Voting
Voting took place on 2 April 2016. Members of the party voted via internet. Bartoš received 126 votes while Bajgar only 32. Bartoš became the new leader.


2016 Czech Rally Championship
The 2016 Czech Rally Championship season was an international rally championship. The championship was contested by a combination of regulations with Group R competing directly against Super 2000 and WRC cars for points.


2016 Czech Rally Championship
The championship began in Klatovy on 29 April and concluded in Příbram on 2 October. The championship was held over six events.


2016 Czech Rally Championship, Championship standings
The 2016 Czech Rally Championship for Drivers points was as follows:


2016 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2016 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2016 MotoGP season. It was held at the Masaryk Circuit in Brno on 21 August 2016.


2016 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round eleven has concluded.


2016 Czech Senate election
Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic on 7 and 8 October 2016, with a second round on 14 and 15 of October. The first round was held alongside regional elections and several municipal referendums, notably in a referendum in Brno on the location of the town's train station.


2016 Czech Senate election
The governing coalition of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), ANO 2011 and the Christian and Democratic Union (KDU-ČSL) retained a majority in the full Senate, with the KDU-ČSL making the largest gains, while the Social Democrats incurred the greatest losses, retaining only two of their twelve seats up for re-election. ANO 2011 won the first round with fourteen candidates advancing, but only three of them were elected, which was a disappointment to the party. The most successful opposition party was the centre-right Civic Democratic Party. It had 6 candidates advancing and four of them elected (including Zdeněk Nytra who ran as independent).


2016 Czech Senate election, Electoral system
One third of the 81-member Senate is elected every two years, giving Senators six year terms. The seats are elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system.


2016 Czech Senate election, Results, Re-run in Most
On 10 November the results in Most District were annulled due to the illegitimacy of Alena Dernerová's candidature. A re-run of the vote was organised for 27–28 January 2017, in which Dernerová was elected in the first round. Voter turnout was only 12%.


2016 Czech regional elections
Elections to regional councils in the Czech Republic in 13 regions (except Prague) were held on 7 and 8 October 2016.


2016 Czech regional elections
In one third of constituencies, the elections were combined with Czech Senate elections. Also, several municipal referendums were held, notably in Brno its Central station referendum.


2016 Czech regional elections, Background
Czech Social Democratic Party has won previous election while its main rival Civic Democratic Party saw large loss o support finishing third. Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia finished second. 2013 Czech legislative election resulted in political Earthquake as populist ANO 2011 finished second to Social Democrats while Civic Democratic Party was reduced to 5th place.


2016 Czech regional elections, Background
Czech Social Democratic Party was viewed as front-runner of the election while ANO 2011 was expected to finish second. Civic Democratic Party was expected to become largest right-wing party. Leader of ANO 2011 Andrej Babiš stated that his party is underdog of election and that he hopes to win in 5 regions. Babiš stated that he wants to break rule of Social Democrats and Communists in regions.


2016 D.C. United season
The 2016 D.C. United season was the club's twenty-first season of existence, and their twenty-first in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer.


2016 D.C. United season
The 2016 season began in February 2016, with United playing Liga MX club, Querétaro, in the quarterfinal series of the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League. United ultimately lost 1–3 on aggregate to Querétaro and were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the second consecutive season. United began the Major League regular season winless in their first five matches, before winning at home 4–0 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Through the spring and summer, United maintained a playoff bubble position in the Eastern Conference table.


2016 D.C. United season
Additionally, during this time, United was bumped from the fourth round of the 2016 U.S. Open Cup by NASL club, Fort Lauderdale Strikers. In the fall, United went on a regular season surge, which saw the Black-and-Red win four of their final five games, allowing them to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference and tied for ninth overall. This resulted in United qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season. In the preliminary round of the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, United lost at home to Montreal Impact, 2–4. The late October loss in the MLS Cup Playoffs was United's last competitive game of the year.


2016 D.C. United season
United's top scorers during the campaign came from newcomers, both of whom had previous played for MLS franchises: Lamar Neagle from Seattle Sounders FC lead the team with 10 goals across all competitions. Mid -season signee, Patrick Mullins, from New York City FC had eight goals during the campaign. Additionally, newcomer Luciano Acosta, a loanee from Boca Juniors lead United during the 2016 season with 11 assists across all competitions.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, Preseason, January
D.C. United entered 2016 in desperate need of a makeover in midfield. The team traded winger Chris Pontius to the Philadelphia Union, they were unable to reach a new agreement with long-time central midfielder Perry Kitchen. Kitchen's central midfield partner, Davy Arnaud seemed unlikely to make a recovery from a concussion suffered in September 2015. Also Michael Farfan was released. Although the team traded for two wingers, Lamar Neagle and Patrick Nyarko, they were still in need of help in the center of the pitch.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, Preseason, January
At the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, the team traded up two positions to select a Generation Adidas player from Syracuse University, midfielder Julian Buescher. The team then traded its own first round selection for a pick in the second round along with TAM money. The team used the pick to Select another midfielder, from 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game runner-up Clemson University, Paul Clowes. However, the team was still in search of more experienced players, and stories began surfacing that the team was trying to sign various foreign midfielders, including Leonardo Gil and Antonio Nocerino. The biggest news of the preseason, though, was probably the announcement that the team's star player, goalkeeper Bill Hamid had reinjured his knee during the off-season and was forced to have knee surgery that was expected to sideline him for several months.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, Preseason, February
Having set their sights on A.C. Milan player Antonio Nocerino, D.C. United found their negotiation was undermined when Orlando City S.C.'s Kaka apparently convinced his former teammate to reject United's offer and pursue a contract with Orlando. Fortunately, a plan B quickly emerged. The team filled the holding mid slot by trading for MLS veteran Marcelo Sarvas, and got a bit of an unexpected boost when the name of a former acquisition target, Boca Junior's midfielder/forward Luciano Acosta suddenly showed up on the transfer rumor wires.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, Preseason, February
Within a week, United had the diminutive midfielder signed and training in their Florida pre-season camp. The next day, Acosta even assisted on the lone goal in a match against Tampa Bay Rowdies. Reportedly, United agreed to a trade of a conditional draft pick to New York Red Bulls, who had gained discovery claim priority on Acosta, after United had relinquished its own. As preseason continued, the team released Conor Doyle to make way for a trialist from USL side Pittsburgh Riverhounds, winger Rob Vincent.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, Preseason, February
United took to the pitch for the first time in 2016, with a 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series against Querétaro F.C.. In a match in the Mexican mountain city, D.C. United mostly held its own. But, missed chances by the visitors opened the door for the home team, which scored twice in the final 20 minutes, to take a daunting 2-0 lead in the series.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, Preseason, March
For the second straight year, the D.C. team bowed out in the quarterfinals of CONCACAF play. An away goal in the 4th minute locked up the series for Querétaro, but United did manage to reclaim some dignity with an impressive late strike for a goal by rookie Julian Büscher. Unable to practice with the team because of lingering post-concussion symptoms, Davy Arnaud retired from playing and joined the coaching staff. Because he had a guaranteed contract, Arnaud's retirement was not expected to free up any salary cap space, but it did open a roster spot. United made a trade to acquire the rights to U.S. youth international goalkeeper, Charlie Horton, who had left his English team, Leeds United, to play closer to home.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, MLS regular season
In its 2016 Major League Soccer season opener, D.C. United started off well with a goal by newcomer Lamar Neagle to take a 1-0 lead over the LA Galaxy in the fifth minute. However, the Galaxy stormed back in the second half, led by former MLS MVP Mike Magee, and crushed D.C. 4-1. As D.C. traveled to Foxboro to face the New England Revolution, Andrew Dykstra was forced to sit out with back spasms, and Fabian Espindola was nursing a tender hamstring. The match ended in a scoreless draw. Dykstra later turned out to need back surgery that would sideline him for 10–12 weeks, joining Hamid on the injury list and leaving the netminding duties up to sophomore keeper Travis Worra and the recently signed Horton.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, MLS regular season
DC hoped to bounce back in their home opener against the Colorado Rapids, but the team only managed a 1-1 draw thanks to Espindola coming off the bench and chipping a rebound into the net in the 80th minute. The following week, Steve Birnbaum and Álvaro Saborío were called up to their respective national teams in the US and Costa Rica. D.C. faced off against an FC Dallas side that was suffering even more losses from injury and national call-ups, but were crushed 3-0 after Dallas took advantage of multiple mistakes between Bobby Boswell and Kofi Opare, who filled in for Birnbaum.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, April
D.C. United announced the signing of veteran MLS keeper Tally Hall to shore up their increasingly-wounded goalkeeping corps, which turned out to be a prescient move as Horton suffered a concussion during training and would not be ready in time for the next match. Still searching for their first victory of the season, D.C. instead found another draw in San Jose. Despite getting an early lead when Nyarko headed in a spectacular cross by Neagle, and seeing several miraculous saves from Worra, a mistake by Espindola late in the game quickly led to a game-tying goal by Adam Jahn.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, April
D.C. finally got its first win in 2016 when they returned home to face the Vancouver Whitecaps F.C. Espindola and Alvaro Saborio each scored a pair of goals, with the latter player's goals both assisted by Acosta late in the second half, to notch a 4-0 shutout. Unfortunately, the team's good fortune would be short-lived, when they allowed Sebastian Giovinco to score in the first minute of the very next game, leading to a 1-0 defeat against Toronto.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, April
On April 20, the MLS Disciplinary Committee suddenly announced that they would suspend manager Ben Olsen and fine him $500 for stepping onto the field during the Toronto match. With Chad Ashton as their acting manager, D.C. bounced back in their very next match with a 3-0 victory against New England.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, April
Neagle opened the scoring for D.C. and Saborio closed it out with another late insurance goal, but the most memorable moment of the game came when Lucho Acosta scored a fabulous goal—a long distance chip over the goalie that struck the bottom of the crossbar and went in the net for Acosta's first goal in a D.C. United uniform. The goal also earned Acosta the MLS Goal of the Week honor. United closed out the month on the road against the Chicago Fire. The Fire scored first on a free kick late in the first half, but D/C was able to level the score when Nyarko headed home a cross from Acosta.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, May
Despite missing several key players, D.C. United started off the month of May expecting three points in a home match against cellar-dwelling NYCFC, but the team missed some good chances to score in the first half and the visiting team punished them with 2 goals early in the second half, the first by Spanish star David Villa and the second by Khiry Shelton.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, May
5 days later, D.C. hosted the other team from the New York region, the potent New York Red Bulls The biggest home crowd of the season turned out for this rivalry match, and the home team responded with a strong overall effort. Nyarko sent Sarvas in on goal with a terrific through ball, and Sarvas unselfishly sent a pass across the goal to a waiting Saborio, who had an easy tap-in to take the lead.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, May
Worra delivered with several spectacular saves to maintain United's lead, and the team closed out the first half with a spectacular goal, as Neagle served up a sharp cross that Nyarko was able to turn into a goal with an impressive outside of the foot volley shot that sealed the 2-0 win.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, May
The team also made a couple of personnel changes during that short home-stand, acquiring a young striker from Sierra Leone, via Sweden, Alhaji Kamara. Kamara had been ruled out from UEFA competition due to the discovery of a congenital heart defect that was deemed to pose risk to the striker's life. However, cardiologists hired by both D.C. United and MLS  decided Kamara was healthy enough to safely participate in the sport. To make room for Kamara, the team waived Clowes.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, May
On the pitch, the team continued to struggle to produce offense, and dropped point when they surrendered a stoppage-point goal on a trip to the Philadelphia Union. Days after the 0-1 loss to the Union, the team announced that they had mutually parted ways with Markus Halsti, just as he was called up to the Finnish national team. Halsti had been plagued by injuries and fitness concerns, and only appeared in one match for the team in 2016, as a substitute in the second leg of the CCL against Querétaro.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, May
On the 27th, despite furious storms that nearly scuttled the match, D.C. United managed to sneak away with a victory when the newly signed Kamara subbed in for Neagle in the 85th minute, and then scored his first goal for the team less than a minute later, giving his new team a 1-0 victory over Sporting KC.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, June
United failed to build on the momentum of the Kansas City win, suffering a crushing 0-2 home loss to Seattle, on late goals by rookie Jordan Morris and Joevin Jones. The entire MLS went on break for the Copa América Centenario. Birnbaum and Saborio were called up to their respective national team squads for the USA and Costa Rica. During the league break, the team made an unusual move, adding 16-year old youth national team captain Chris Durkin as a Homegrown Player signing.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, June
Durkin was one of the youngest signings in league history, but the unusual deal did not add Durkin to D.C. United's MLS roster. Instead, he was available to play in a U.S. Open Cup match the next day, and would go out on loan after the match, first to Richmond Kickers, and then to resume his residency with the national team program in Bradenton as least until the USA U-17s finished their run at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Durkin did make his debut in the USOC match and by all accounts looked very much as if he belonged.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, June
However, the team was unable to break through against the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers defense, and the D.C. squad made a quick exit from the competition, after losing to the Strikers in a penalty kick shootout. When MLS league action resumed, United claimed 4 points in their final 2 matches of the month, including a dreary 0-0 draw in Houston that produced no excitement until stoppage time, when Bill Hamid was forced into two spectacular reaction saves. D.C. United turned in a stronger performance with some home cooking against the New England Revolution, as Neagle and Franklin turned in highlight reel goals, and the home team cruised to a 2-0 win.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, July
July began with another impotent showing from the United offense in a place where the team had long ago become accustomed to losing. Despite repeated jaw-dropping heroics by goalie Hamid, United fell behind in Utah to home team Real Salt Lake on a 52nd-minute goal. United seemed resigned to another road loss at Rio Tinto Stadium until Jeffrey scored a header on a stoppage time corner kick to gain the surprise point.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, July
That result, however, seemed a distant memory the next week, when United traveled to the Philadelphia Union, and suffered the team's worst loss to that franchise, a 3-0 drubbing with 2 first-half penalty kick goals and a second yellow-card ejection for Opare. starting in place of captain Boswell, who had been beaten several times in the previous match against RSL.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, July
D.C. United did bounce back the next week on a trip to Columbus. The game marked the first appearance for the D.C. side by long-time nemesis Lloyd Sam, acquired in a trade with the N.Y. Red Bulls. United seemed the more likely side for much of the match in Columbus, but surrendered a goal to the Crew's scoring sensation, Ola Kamara, in the 63rd minute. The D.C. team did catch a break 10 minutes later as Harrison Afful was shown a red card for a sliding challenge on Sarvas.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, July
That card was rescinded later by the Disciplinary Committee, but United was able to press the man advantage and gained a point when late substitute Fabian Espindola pounced on a loose ball and shot it past the reach of the Crew goalie.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, July
That thrilling moment proved to be the coda to Espindola's career with D.C. United as "Fabi" was traded the next week to the Vancouver Whitecaps in what amounted to a 3-way deal that saw former University of Maryland Terrapins star Patrick Mullins move from NYCFC to D.C. United, with the NYC side getting one of D.C.'s international roster slots. The acquisition of Mullins was one local fans had hoped for since the Hermann award winner left school.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, July
The team's long July road trip finished in Toronto, where Worra started for an injured Hamid. It was a tough lesson for Worra, who was beat for two free kick goals by Sebastian Giovinco in a 4-1 loss. When the team finally returned to RFK, the newly acquired Mullins made his first start for United and put his new team ahead with a header, but the team surrendered a late tying goal to the visiting Montreal Impact, not long after Montreal's star striker Didier Drogba had been sent off for a dead ball foul. The match also marked the first appearance for United by Kennedy Igboananike, who had just been acquired in a trade with the Chicago Fire.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
D.C.'s homestand continued with a match against the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Union. United took the lead when Kemp intercepted a pass in the defensive end, raced through the Union defense and beat the goalie to the far post. However, the Union tied the game on a free kick just before halftime. The visitors took the lead when Acosta was dispossessed as he tried to dribble out of the defensive end and former United star Chris Pontius continued a remarkable renaissance in his first season away from D.C. and put the Union ahead.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
United's coach, Ben Olsen was ejected late in the second half for protesting one of many uncalled fouls on Acosta. Despite missing their leader, United pushed hard for a tying goal. Despite having a couple of apparent goals waved off by the officials, the team finally found the tying goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Birnbaum got his head on the end of a service into the box by Nyarko. Despite being only a draw, it was a very emotional goal for the players and fans, but the home draw meant the team remained outside of playoff contention.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
After getting only 2 points on draws in the first two games of the four-game homestand, United was desperate for a win when Portland Timbers came to town. The start of the game was delayed an hour because of record-setting heat that exceeded 100 degrees (on the Fahrenheit scale), but United got off to a hot start themselves. An early corner was headed on by Boswell to Birnbaum, who took his chance on a sharp volley to give D.C. an early lead.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
The team doubled that lead in the 29th minute, just before a scheduled heat break, when Acosta finished a chance in front of goal, set up by a nifty chipped pass from Mullins. Thanks to the usual heroics by Hamid, the team held on for a 2-0 shutout win that lifted United ahead of New England and at least temporarily holding the sixth and final postseason spot in the East.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
The four-game homestand concluded with a Sunday afternoon national TV game against arch-rivals New York Red Bulls. Despite a pre-game shower during warm-ups and with inclement weather approaching, the teams kicked off on time, but the game was stopped just shy of the 8:00 mark, because a powerful storm was about to settle over RFK. After the torrential rains eased somewhat, grounds-crew tried to remove some of the bigger puddles of water and play resumed after a delay of about an hour and a quarter.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
Despite epically sloppy conditions, United was able to create some excellent chances to score, but their finishing was not up to the task. NYRB punished the home team's mistakes when Bradley Wright-Phillips finished off a play that opened up when Franklin whiffed on an attempted clearance due to poor footing. The visitors extended their lead in the second half on a shot by Felipe. As the team had done 2 weeks earlier, a desperate United team was able to rally to gain a home draw.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
First, Marcelo Sarvas scored on a penalty kick, earned by Lloyd Sam, who was playing against his old team for the first time. The tying goal was scored on a header by Patrick Mullins after Birnbaum headed a long corner kick back into the box. With a mid-week trip to Montreal looming, United were clinging to the final post-season slot, holding a tiebreaker edge over Orlando City SC.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
In Montreal, United got off to an early lead on a penalty kick goal by Neagle, but Neagle gave it away late in the match when his turnover in the defensive zone was quickly turned into the tying goal. Still, the point was enough to hold on to the playoff position spot in the table.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
D.C. United closed out an unbeaten August with some good home cooking and a 6-2 drubbing of the cellar-dwelling Chicago Fire SC. Acosta opened the scoring in the 25th minute, finishing off a cross through the box from Sarvas. Against the run of play,  Hamid surrendered the lead six minutes later, when he gave up a big rebound on a long shot and he was helpless to deny the follow-up shot. However, United was soon playing with a man advantage after a Fire player was ejected for dissent.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, August
Mullins then slotted home a Nyarko pass to put United ahead again, and just before halftime Mullins finished off a pass from Acosta to extend the lead to 2 goals. The Fire responded with a goal just before the whistle for halftime. However, in the second half, a Nyarko volley just got across the line to restore the two-goal lead. Mullins added another goal to get the first hat-trick of the year for United, and Deleon came off the bench to close out the 6-2 scoreline with a crisp shot past the outstretched Chicago goalie, which was Deleon's first goal of the year.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
D.C. United opened September with a Thursday match in Yankee Stadium against NYCFC without Steven Birnbaum, who was called up to play in his first United States Men's National Soccer Team World Cup qualifying match. Jalen Robinson played well over the first hour ad a quarter, as D.C. protected a 1-0 lead gained when Sam finished off a play started by Acosta and assisted by Nyarko. However, an errant back-pass by Luke Mishu, found its way to David Villa, who easily beat Hamid.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
In the 85th minute, Villa received a ball in the box and he was taken down by Robinson. Advantage was played when Frank Lampard collected the loose ball and beat Hamid with a laser shot. United seemed to have recovered for a draw, when Neagle headed in a corner kick by Büscher in stoppage time. However, the defense couldn't slow down the NYCFC attack and Lampard was able to get Robinson to slide early and then took the open shot to give NYCFC the 3-2 win in the third minute of stoppage time. In addition to the disappointing result for the team, Acosta received a yellow card which mean he would miss the next match due to an accumulation of yellow cards.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
Before the team's next match at NYRB, Andrea Mancini was released to join the New York Cosmos, freeing up an international roster slot, and allowing the team to activate Kamara, who had sat out over six weeks with a hamstring injury. Without Acosta, United seemed hopelessly overmatched by the potent NYRB in a match scheduled to honor the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
Indeed, the Red Bulls went ahead in the first half following a Nyarko defensive turnover that led to a historic goal by Bradley Wright-Phillips, giving BWP the most goals over a 3-year stretch by any player in league history. In the second half, Wright-Phillips caught Hamid leaning towards the far post and slammed it past him to the near side, giving NY a 2-0 lead. The New York team only turned up the pressure, but Hamid responded with multiple highlight reel saves to keep his team in the match.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
In the 89th minute, a loose ball in the box came to Birnbaum, and he delivered with a shot that narrowed the gap to 2-1. Then, in the 5th minute of stoppage time, a loose ball in the box came to Neagle for an easy tap-in, and United emerged with a shocking draw against the run of play. The result was the first time that NYRB had ever surrendered a 2-goal lead in Red Bull Arena.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
A short week two-game road trip concluded on a Friday in Chicago, where D.C. once again rescued a point in the final minutes. The game started brightly for the visitors, when they were awarded an indirect free kick just outside the Fire's 6-yard box. Rob Vincent scored his first MLS goal, with a blast through the defense, assisted by Acosta. However, the Fire responded quickly as Luke Mishu, playing for the injured Franklin, lost his mark on a corner kick and surrendered a header for goal.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
The Fire made it 2-0 not long thereafter, as David Accam dribbled around Birnbaum and took a long shot that found the corner of the goal. Down a goal, United turned in a tired display, and seemed destined for a defeat. As the game went into stoppage time, Mullins took a chance with a spectacular overhead volley that rang off the crossbar. The rebound went to Nyarko, who forced a save by the diving Sean Johnson, but Boswell headed that rebound in for the tying goal.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
The draw again put United ahead of Orlando City Soccer Club in the race for the final playoff position, – but only on the goal differential tiebreaker with a big home match against Orlando City looming the following weekend. Both teams actually trailed New England Revolution in that race, by two points, but the Revolution had played an additional game.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
The match against Orlando City was a hit at the box office, as the official attendance at RFK Stadium exceeded 25,000 for the first time in years. D.C. rewarded the big home crowd with a fluid performance that produced a 4-1 win and gave United a cushion over the visitors in the playoff chase. Mullins opened the scoring in the 34th minute, getting a foot on a cross across the goalmouth from Kemp, which followed a nifty back heel from Nyarko that created Kemp's chance.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
Two goals in quick succession put the game out of reach early in the second half. Sam got a header on a cross by Kemp, who had his second assist of the match. That was followed by Mullins' second goal, when the striker collected a pass from Nyarko, slipped wide of a defender, and cut the ball back just inside the far post. Orlando did get one back on a free kick in the 72nd minute,  but the rookie Julian Büscher, who subbed on for an injured Sarvas in the first half, capped off the scoring with a goal in the 90th minute. The goal was Büscher's first in MLS play.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
The midweek match at home against Columbus Crew SC was almost the opposite. Rain earlier in the day and a rainy forecast resulted in a small, but enthusiastic crowd. The visitors controlled play over most of the first hour, but United began to assert itself and seized control when Acosta was able to deliver the ball to Sam just outside the six-yard box. Sam created a shooting lane and took advantage with a shot that put United in the lead, even as Neagle stood at midfield waiting to come on for Sam.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
Fifteen minutes later, it was Neagle whose shot found the back of the net. He finished off a play that began when Nyarko got on the end of a long kick by Hamid and passed to Büscher. Then, Büscher passed to Neagle, who was unmarked inside the 18-yard box. A 3-0 victory was in the books after Neagle collected a long outlet pass by Hamid and then set up Saborio in front of the goal in the 90th minute.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, September
The Costa Rican had not played in over a month but showed no sign of rust as he neatly beat the Crew goalie. It was the first time in 2016 that D.C. had won two games in a row, and it stretched the team's home unbeaten streak to 8 games. The win solidified United's hold on 6th place and a playoff spot, stretching the lead over New England to four points, but United also trailed Montreal by only a point and Philadelphia by only two points, with three games remaining in the regular season.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
For D.C. United, the final month of MLS' regular season began the way the prior month ended—with a victory, one that extended the winning streak to three games in a row. Following the midweek win over the Crew, United traveled to Toronto, where they faced a Toronto F.C. squad that had struggled since their star Giovinco was injured. Jozy Altidore, however, continued his hot streak. as he dribbled past both Birnbaum and Hamid and scored to stake the home team to a lead in the 36th minute.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
But, Neagle scored on a header three minutes later to level the score, when a goalmouth scramble forced a saved by the Toronto goalie that found its way to Neagle in front of the goal. Neagle made it two in the second half when he got on the end of a Sam pass and touched it beyond the keeper's reach. Pending the next day's Montreal Impact match, the win catapulted D.C. at least temporarily into 4th place in the Eastern Conference. The Toronto match was followed by a break for international games, and both Birnbaum and Hamid were called into the national team. Birnbaum made the trip to Cuba where he was a second-half substitute, but a kick to the face left him bloody and needing stitches.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
Despite the incident in Havana, Birnbaum was in the starting lineup when NYCFC came to RFK in the final home game of the regular season for DC. Playing before an announced crowd of over 30,000, United played as strong a half as the team had at any time under Coach Ben Olsen. Patrick Mullins put DC out in front as he finished a Lloyd Sam cross in the 27th minute. Four minutes later, Boswell headed in a Sam corner kick to give the home team a much deserved 2-0 lead.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
Just before halftime, a defensive error allowed United to extend the lead to 3-0. An errant back pass found its way to Mullins, who then found Rob Vincent at the top of the box, leaving Vincent with a wide-open goal to shoot at for his second MLS goal. NYCFC got one back after the 70' mark, when David Villa drew a soft penalty call, and then beat Hamid on the penalty kick. The 3-1 win clinched a postseason spot for United and left them a point ahead of Montreal in the race for 4th place and a home-field advantage in the play-in game.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
D.C. closed out the regular season in Orlando knowing that they would be hosting the play-in round match four days later so long as the Montreal Impact did not win at New England, so it probably should not have surprised anyone that Coach Olsen started a line-up made of entirely of reserves and a few players returning from lengthy injury spells. Not surprisingly, Orlando City dominated the match, winning 4-2, despite United goals by Saborio and Igboananike, who notched his first goal for United, with Büscher assisting on both goals. Montreal fell to defeat to the Revolution, however, so D.C. would host the Impact in the mid-week play-in match.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
United's season came to a crashing end in the playoff match against Montreal Impact. In the 3rd minute, captain Bobby Boswell made a huge mental mistake, ignoring his goalie's pleas to allow a missed shot to bounce over the end line and under no pressure, Boswell played it out for a corner. Montreal converted on the set piece as Laurent Ciman ran onto the cross and volleyed to give the visitors the early lead.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
United was frustrated by the Impact defense, and finally surrendered a second goal late in the first half after a failed clearance gave the Impact a chance to run at the D.C. defense. Ignacio Piatti chipped the ball behind the back line and Matteo Mancosu ran on to the pass and slotted it in for a 2-0 lead. The lead grew to 3-0 when a Mancosu header beat Hamid. United began showing some life late, but two Birnbaum headers were cleared off the line.


2016 D.C. United season, Background, October
The result was put beyond any doubt when Mancosu and Piatti combined on a breakaway, with Piatti getting the goal. D.C. did manage to make the scoreline more respectable in the closing moments, as Neagle headed in a Nyarko cross for a goal in the 90th minute and Kemp scored unassisted in stoppage time with a screamer inside the post from 25 yards. Though the team showed the same late-game fire they had for the last 3 months, they had dug too deep a hole, and a 4-2 loss began the long off-season.


2016 D.C. United season, Competitions, CONCACAF Champions League, 2015–16
D.C. United advanced to the Quarterfinals after dominating their Group with three wins and one draw. Lamar Neagle was ruled ineligible to play, as he had previously played in the Group Stage with the Seattle Sounders before being traded to D.C., and could not represent two different teams in the same competition. Miguel Aguilar was suspended from the first match due to yellow card accumulation in the Group Stage.


2016 D1 Grand Prix series
The 2016 D1 Grand Prix series is the sixteenth season for the D1 Grand Prix series and the eleventh for the D1 Street Legal spinoff series. The season began on March 26 at Odaiba Tokyo Street Course for the D1GP and ended on October 23 at the same course with Daigo Saito winning his second Championship and began on April 16 for D1SL at Bihoku Highland Circuit. and ended on November 20 at Nikko Circuit with Katsuhiro Ueo winning his first D1SL Championship by cancellation, due to a fatal incident that happened during morning practice.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final
The 2016 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal, the 73rd season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 21 May 2016 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final
Borussia Dortmund, who had lost in the two previous finals, faced Bayern Munich, the record title-holders. Bayern won 4–3 on penalties, as the match had finished 0–0 after extra time, giving Bayern their 18th title.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final
With the win, Bayern completed the domestic double, and therefore played away to 2015–16 Bundesliga runners-up Dortmund in the 2016 DFL-Supercup on 14 August 2016. Because Bayern had already qualified for the Champions League, the sixth-placed team in the Bundesliga, Mainz 05, earned automatic qualification for the group stage of next year's edition of the UEFA Europa League, and the league's third qualifying round spot went to the team in seventh, Hertha BSC.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final, Background
It was Bayern's twenty-first final, with a record of seventeen wins, the most of any club, and three losses prior. Bayern's last final won was in 2014. It was Dortmund's eighth overall and third consecutive final, with a record of three wins and four losses prior. Dortmund's last final won was in 2012. This was the ninth match between Bayern and Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal, and the fourth final between them, all within the last eight years, having previously met in 2008, 2012, and 2014, making it the most common final. Of these, Bayern have won two (in 2008, winning 2–1 after extra time, and 2014, winning 2–0 after extra time), while Dortmund have won once (in 2012, winning 5–2).


2016 DFB-Pokal Final, Background
Bayern and Dortmund also met each other in the semi-finals of the previous season of the DFB-Pokal. The match finished 1–1 after extra time, and Dortmund won 2–0 on penalties. The other matches between these two sides took place in 1966, where Bayern won 2–0 in the qualification round, 1981, where Bayern won 4–0 in the third round, 1992, where Dortmund won 5–4 on penalties in the second round as the match finished 2–2 after extra time, and 2013, where Bayern won 1–0 in the quarter-finals. This makes for a total of five wins for Bayern, and one win and two penalty shoot-out wins for Dortmund.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final, Background
The game was Bayern coach Pep Guardiola's final match, after three years in charge of the team. Guardiola will go on to replace Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City. For Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel, it was his first season in charge as coach. Guardiola praised Tuchel for an impressive season, finishing second in the Bundesliga and making it to the cup final.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final, Background
On 10 May 2016, it was announced that Dortmund defender Mats Hummels would be leaving the club at the end of the season. The cup final would be his last match for Dortmund, against his future club Bayern, whom he signed a five-year contract with, starting 1 July 2016. Hummels himself was a Bayern youth product, but he only made one senior appearance before moving to Dortmund in 2008, initially on loan. The transfer to Bayern was received negatively by many Dortmund fans, as he was the third Dortmund player to move to Bayern since 2013.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final, Route to the final
The DFB-Pokal began with 64 teams in a single-elimination knockout cup competition. There were a total of five rounds leading up to the final. Teams were drawn against each other, and the winner after 90 minutes would advance. If still tied, 30 minutes of extra time was played. If the score was still level, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.


2016 DFB-Pokal Final, Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


2016 DFL-Supercup
The 2016 DFL-Supercup was the seventh edition of the German Super Cup under the name DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. The match was played on 14 August 2016 at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.


2016 DFL-Supercup
It featured Bayern Munich, the winners of the 2015–16 Bundesliga (and the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal), who had lost the three previous super cups and last won in 2012, and 2015–16 Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund, who last won in 2014. Dortmund qualified as league runners-up by virtue of Bayern winning the league and cup double.


2016 DFL-Supercup
Bayern Munich won the DFL-Supercup 2–0 for their fifth title.


2016 DFL-Supercup, Teams
In the following table, matches until 1996 were in the DFB-Supercup era, since 2010 were in the DFL-Supercup era.


2016 DFL-Supercup, Background
It was Dortmund's eighth DFL-Supercup, with a record of five wins and two losses prior. It was Bayern's fifth consecutive and tenth overall DFL-Supercup, with a record of four wins and five losses prior. This was the fifth DFL-Supercup between Dortmund and Bayern, having previously met in 1989, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Of these, Dortmund have won three (in 1989, 2013, and 2014), while Bayern have won once (2012).


2016 DFL-Supercup, Background
This was the first official match for Carlo Ancelotti as head coach of Bayern.


2016 DFL-Supercup, Match, Summary
Arturo Vidal scored the opening goal for Bayern Munich in the 58th minute with a low right foot finish from six yards out after his initial shot from just outside the penalty box was parried by goalkeeper Roman Bürki back into his path. Thomas Müller got the second in the 79th minute with a close range finish from inside the six yard box after a knock down header from Mats Hummels following a corner.


2016 DHB-Pokal
The 2016 DHB-Pokal was the 40th edition of the tournament.


2016 DHB-Pokal, Format
The first round was split in a north and a south part and played in mini tournaments where only the winner advanced to the round of 16. From there on a knockout system was used to determine the winner. The final four was played on one weekend in Hamburg.


2016 DHB-Pokal, Final four
The final four was held on 30 April and 1 May 2016 at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg.


2016 DPR Korea Football League
Statistics of DPR Korea Football League in the 2016 season.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Overview
The Highest Class Football League champions was Kigwanch'a, with April 25 and Amrokkang finishing second and third respectively.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Overview
Unusually, the competition was played with a play-off format to decide the championship. Ryŏmyŏng made their Highest Class League debut. Eight teams advanced to the quarter-finals; the only results known are that on 25 October Kigwancha beat Hwaebul 2–1, and Amrokkang defeated Sobaeksu 3–1; both these matches were played at Sŏsan Stadium in P'yŏngyang. It is known that April 25 won their quarter-final match, but their opponent is unknown, as is the match-up of the fourth quarter-final match; the semi-final matches are likewise unknown. Kigwancha went on to defeat April 25 in the final.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Overview
Sobaeksu player Kim Su-hyŏng was listed third on North Korea's list of top ten athletes of 2016, and Ryŏmyŏng manager Sin Jŏng-bŏk was listed fourth on the list of top ten managers (across all sports) in the same year.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Cup Competitions, Hwaebul Cup
The 2016 edition of the Hwaebul Cup began on 27 July 2016 and held at Sŏsan Stadium, with thirteen teams participating: Amrokkang, April 25, Chebi, February 8, Hwaebul, Kyŏnggong'ŏp, Myohyangsan, Rimyŏngsu, Ryongaksan, Ryongnamsan, Sobaeksu, Sŏnbong, and Wŏlmido. The final was played on 28 August, in which April 25 defeated Hwaebul 3–2 on penalties, after extra time ended with the teams level at 2–2.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Cup Competitions, Man'gyŏngdae Prize
The 2016 edition of the Man'gyŏngdae Prize was won by Rimyŏngsu, who defeated Kigwanch'a in the final with a score of 1–0. The final was played at Kim Il-sung Stadium in P'yŏngyang.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Cup Competitions, Paektusan Prize
The 2016 edition of the Paektusan Prize was won by Hwaebul; Sobaeksu were the runners-up.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Cup Competitions, Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize
The final of the 2016 edition of the Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize, played at Kim Il-sung Stadium, saw Amrokkang defeat Sobaeksu 2–1.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Cup Competitions, Osandŏk Prize
The second competition for the Osandŏk Prize was held in December, with fourteen teams playing a group round-robin, followed by a knockout competition which was won by Hwaebul.


2016 DPR Korea Football League, Representatives at AFC club competitions
For the first time since Rimyŏngsu took part in the 2014 AFC President's Cup, two North Korean teams were selected to take part in the 2017 AFC Cup – Kigwanch'a and April 25, the first and second place finishers in the league.


2016 DV1
2016 DV1 is a near-Earth asteroid estimated to be roughly 29–65 meters (95–210 feet) in diameter. It is a fast rotating asteroid of the Apollo group which was first observed  by the Mount Lemmon Survey on 28 February 2016, just days before it passed Earth at 1 lunar distance (LD) on 3 March 2016. The elongated fast rotator has a rotation period of 303 seconds. It was recovered in February 2021 as it was about to pass Earth on 3 March 2021 at a distance of 0.0053 AU (2.1 LD; 790,000 km; 490,000 mi).


2016 DV1, Orbit
2016 DV1 orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.7–3.0 AU once every 2 years and 6 months (913 days; semi-major axis of 1.84 AU). Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.63 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. It has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 0.001 AU (0.39 LD; 150,000 km). Due to its eccentric orbit, 2016 DV1 is also a Mars-crosser, crossing the orbit of the Red Planet at 1.66 AU.


2016 DV1, 2016 discovery
It was first observed by the Mount Lemmon Survey on 28 February 2016, when the asteroid was about 0.04 AU (6,000,000 km; 3,700,000 mi) from Earth and had a solar elongation of 174°. The last optical image was at 3 March 2016 03:08 UT. Bistatic Solar System Radar (GSSR) with DSS-13 and the Green Bank Observatory were used to image the asteroid. It passed closest approach to Earth on 3 March 2016 05:17 UT at a distance of 0.00264 AU (1.03 LD; 395,000 km; 245,000 mi) and was quickly approaching the glare of the Sun thus preventing further optical observations.


2016 DV1, 2021 approach
It was recovered on 17 February 2021 by Pan-STARRS when the uncertainty in the asteroid's sky position covered about 1.2° of the sky.


2016 DV1, 2021 approach
By early February 2021 the asteroid was brighter than apparent magnitude 24, which still placed it near the limiting magnitude of even the best automated astronomical surveys. It came to opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) around 26 February 2021 at around magnitude 19. On 3 March 2021 it passed 0.0053 AU (2.1 LD; 790,000 km; 490,000 mi) from Earth. It was not listed on the Sentry Risk Table because the line of variation (LOV) did not pass through where Earth will be.


2016 DV1, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
In March 2016, a rotational lightcurve of 2016 DV1 was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Station (U81) at the Center for Solar System Studies in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 0.084148±0.000005 hours (or 302.9 seconds) with a high brightness variation of 0.56±0.04 in magnitude, indicative of an irregular shape (U=3). On the following night, European astronomers Siegfried Eggl, William Thuillot, Maria Kudryashova, and Raoul Behrend determined a similar period of 0.08435±0.00005 hours (or 303.7 seconds) and an even higher amplitude of 1.02±0.03 magnitude. (U=3).


2016 DV1, Physical characteristics, Diameter
The diameter can only be estimated. Based on a generic absolute magnitude-to-diameter conversion, 2016 DV1 measures approximately 40 meters (130 feet) in diameter given an absolute magnitude of 24.8 and an assumed albedo of 0.14. Since the near-Earth population shows a bimodal distribution with two albedo-peaks at 0.25 and 0.05, 2016 DV1 may measure 29–65 meters (95–210 feet) in diameter, for a corresponding stony and carbonaceous composition, respectively.


2016 Dabiq offensive
The 2016 Dabiq offensive was a military offensive and part of the third phase of Operation Euphrates Shield launched by the Turkish Armed Forces and factions from the Free Syrian Army (FSA, a Syrian rebel group) and allied groups, with the goal of capturing the town of Dabiq, north of Aleppo from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It began in September and resulted in the capture of Dabiq by Turkish/FSA-allied forces on 16 October.


2016 Dabiq offensive, Background
In anticipation of the offensive, ISIL reinforced Dabiq with 800 fighters. An ISIL defeat at Dabiq was seen as a potential ideological blow since it has a central place in ISIL's interpretation of Muslim theology. According to ISIL, a battle at Dabiq between Islamic and "infidel" Christian forces would herald the beginning of the apocalypse. The beginning of the Turkish military intervention in Syria also correlates to the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Marj Dabiq, when the Ottoman Empire led by Selim I entered northern Aleppo at Dabiq and conquered much of northern Syria.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, First week
On 28 September, the Turkish military stated that it destroyed an ISIL command post, a weapons dump and an ammunition depot in the Ihtemlat and Uwayshiyyah areas of Aleppo Governorate, while 82 targets were struck by shells. It also stated that the rebels recaptured the Al Eyyubiyah residential area of al-Rai, while ISIL temporarily recaptured the Tal-ar area, before rebel and Turkish forces once again seized it in addition to Ziadiyah.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, First week
Between 29 September and 2 October, the rebels captured seven more villages from ISIL and had started advancing on Dabiq, with troops from U.S. Special Forces reported to be among them. By this point, the rebel and Turkish force was some three kilometers from Dabiq.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, First week
On 3 October, advancing rebel forces ran into hundreds of landmines at the village of Turkman Bareh, on the way to Dabiq, leaving 15–21 rebels dead and another 29–35 wounded. Between 4 and 5 October, rebels captured Turkman Bareh and five more villages, including three to the east of Akhtarin. Meanwhile, Turkish fighter jets reportedly killed a regional ISIL commander in air-strikes near Akhtarin and al-Qubtan.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, Second week
The town of Akhtarin was captured by the rebels on 6 October. An ISIL counter-attack two days later briefly recaptured the town, along with four other villages, including Turkman Bareh, before reportedly being repelled. According to the Turkish military, 38 ISIL militants were killed in clashes and airstrikes during 8 to 9 October.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, Second week
Between 9 and 11 October, the rebels captured 17 villages from ISIL, bringing them within two and a half kilometers of Dabiq. 30 rebels and 20 ISIL fighters were killed during the fighting. However, a subsequent ISIL counter-attack on 11 October, recaptured two villages. The Turkish military reported it had destroyed 98 ISIL targets during the clashes. Meanwhile, activists and eyewitnesses reported that shelling carried out by the rebels and Turkish Army on ISIL-held Duwaybiq village resulted in the deaths of at least 10 civilians and wounded many others.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, Third week
On 12 October, the rebels captured Duwaybiq and also retook a village they lost the previous day. Meanwhile, the Turkish military stated that 109 militants had been killed and 77 ISIL targets destroyed between 11 and 13 October, with 10 rebels also being killed and at least 22 wounded in the clashes.


2016 Dabiq offensive, The offensive, Third week
On 15 October, the rebels captured three more villages, with Dabiq at this point being almost fully surrounded. The next day, both Dabiq, the nearby town of Sawran and seven other villages were seized by the rebels.


2016 Dakar Rally
The 2016 Dakar Rally was the 38th edition of the event and the eighth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 2, then ran through Argentina and Bolivia.


2016 Dakar Rally
Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen made their debuts in rally-raid, driving for Peugeot and MINI respectively.


2016 Dakar Rally
The victory in cars category was contested in court by runner-up X-Raid Team.


2016 Dakar Rally, History
ASO soon faced problems planning the 2016 rally. Chile refused to take the rally, the first time since Dakar is being held in South America, and then, with just 4 months to the start, Peru also refused to take the rally. Without Atacama Desert and Andes, the rally was mainly based in Argentina with many fast stages on closed narrow tracks WRC style, and a lack of stages in full open terrain with heavy navigation issues.


2016 Dakar Rally, History
The biggest issue that the competitors faced was the weather phenomenon El Niño which shortened most of the stages due to heavy rain (in first week) and massive heat (in the second one). All these problems led to a big criticism and made Dakar director Étienne Lavigne announce a possible change of the rally to Southern Africa, aiming to put pressure on South American countries. Later, he would announce that the rally would remain in South  America, and was looking for new countries.


2016 Dakar Rally, History
The rally was won by 2015 rookie Toby Price, continuing the KTM dominance, with Honda still suffering from a lack of reliability. Patronelli brothers dominated in Quads (this time by Marcus), while Peugeot returned with a better car than the rivals, as the Peugeot 2008 DKR led from the first real stage until the end of the rally. The debutant Sébastien Loeb dominated the first week, but in the end, the victory went to Mr. Dakar Stephane Peterhansel. Gerard de Rooy won the Dakar again, putting an end to Kamaz dominance.


2016 Dakar Rally, History
Honda was the biggest disappointment of the rally, showing it is still far from KTM. The difference between Mini and the new Peugeot was huge, and the best Toyotas ever, are still away from its competitors. After dominating the last Dakar last races, it was a surprise to see Kamaz so far from the lead.


2016 Dakar Rally, History, Controversies
Most of the following stages were modified due to rain or heat which caused the competitive sectors to be shortened. In addition to the discussion regarding the need for the cancellations, the most controversy was generated by the [apparent] double standards of the organization. In stage seven, the ASO decided to cancel the second timed sector, although 22 riders had already reached the finish line, with all bike and quad riders staying within the time of the first sector. In stage 9, there was another cancellation of the second timed sector when 12 bike riders had already finished.


2016 Dakar Rally, History, Controversies
But this time ASO initially considered the time of the first sector, and then changed the stage classification, with the time at the end of the second sector for those 12 riders who finished and assigning the remaining riders a theoretical time of 34 minutes more than the first contestant. Then at the end of the next stage, the penalty to Paulo Gonçalves for repairing his bike in the previous stage was given and taken away. He was out of the race because his bike broke at the end of the first sector, but when the second sector was canceled, he was again in the race. Then more than 24 hours later, he received a penalty for repairing the bike after the second sector.


2016 Dakar Rally, History, Controversies
This Dakar was also marked by several accidents involving assistance trucks, causing some deaths among the local population. The reason given by the crews was the lack of sleep since in most of the stages they had to drive for about 20 hours between bivouacs.


2016 Dakar Rally, History, Controversies
The most controversial moment was reserved for the finish with X-Raid appealing to the French Sports Court, claiming Stephane Peterhansel had an illegal refuel in stage 8, leaving the victory decision to be taken in the court. In stage 8, Peterhansel took advantage of a neutralized section and started the race with less fuel, refueling in the neutralized section. X-Raid immediately contested the decision, since several drivers such as Nasser Al-Aiyah or even Sainz and Loeb had to reduce the pace in order to save some fuel, due to the extension of the stage, but ASO stewards acquitted Peterhansel.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary
The race started with an 11 km prologue in Buenos Aires, marked by an accident when a car driver went through the spectators injuring 10 people, with the organization neutralizing the race for the remaining competitors. The first "real" stage was cancelled due to bad weather. Due to the same reason, the second and third stages were shortened about 100 km. The third stage for trucks was shortened a second time after a part of the track collapsed due to the heavy rain.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary
The fourth and fifth stages were the two legs of 2016 Dakar first Marathon stage, with the innovation this year of vehicles entering a closed park at the end of the first leg, with the competitors being unable to do repair and maintenance work, even without assistance. Stage 7 was one of the most dramatic. First, the return to Argentina and El Niño, cancelling the second time sector for Bikes and Quads. Then  of Matthias Walkner's serious accident and the crash of Lionel Baud's Mitsubishi, killing one spectator in Bolivia. The extreme heat led to stages 9 and 11 being shortened while the last 33 km of stage 10 was cancelled due to rain-flooded rivers.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Bikes
Ths was the first race without Cyril Despres and Marc Coma who had dominated the 10 previous editions. It was expected a full open race with a large group of candidates to the victory across KTM and Honda but soon Husqvarna (competing with KTM bikes) reinforced by the candidate Ruben Faria joined for the victory while Yamaha (which lost some of its most valued competitors but assisted of the return of Hélder Rodrigues) played a secondary role. Sherco was also expecting for a surprise mainly from Alain Duclos


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Bikes
Joan Barreda started the rally with a strong pace, as usual, and won the prologue, setting the fastest time in the 3rd and 4th stages, but was given two penalties for speeding in the connections. This led to the victory of the Argentinian rookie Kevin Benavides and the leadership of the privateer Štefan Svitko in the 3rd stage. In stage 4 a double for Portugal with Paulo Gonçalves winning the stage ahead of Ruben Faria, and securing the lead. Victories on stages 5 and 6 for KTM Toby Price but Gonçalves was still in the lead. On stage 6, an accident led to the retirement of Ruben Faria with a broken wrist when he was 7th overall, and Joan Barreda lost all the chances of winning the 2016 Dakar when mechanical problems caused a finish five hours behind Price.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Bikes
In stage 7, the retirement of two victory candidates: Joan Barreda,  who refused to continue after the heavy loss of time the day before, despite the bike being in good condition and  Matthias Walkner, who had an accident which led to his retirement with a broken femur. Gonçalves was the first rider to arrive and stayed until the medical rescue arrived. Later the organization took out the 10,53 minutes he stayed with his rival. Antoine Méo won the stage and Gonçalves increased the lead over Toby Price. Svitko was third before the rest day.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Bikes
In stage 8, another victory for Price, while Gonçalves, who suffered a spectacular accident but still took his Honda to finish second in the stage. In the next stage more problems for Gonçalves with a puncture in the heat exchanger in the second sector. He managed to pull through the bivouac, losing 30 minutes and falling to third place overall. Since it was a marathon stage (but without closed-park as stage 4), Gonçalves repaired the bike with the help of Honda teammates and the Portuguese Mário Patrão, without replacing the motor and avoiding the respective penalty. However, the organization still applied an almost 40-minute penalty at the end of stage 10, ending Gonçalves victory aspirations.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Bikes
In stage 10 Price managed his huge lead and the private driver Štefan Svitko took the victory. In the following stage another dramatic day for Gonçalves. Being informed of the penalty due to stage 9, Gonçalves attack from the beginning of the stage, but soon he crashed, crashing again at km 118, and suffering a head trauma leading to his retirement. Svitko and Benavides lost time to Antoine Méo and Price.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Bikes
In stage 12 the first win for a bike that was not  KTM or Honda - the Hélder Rodrigues Yamaha, while stage 13 was the time of Pablo Quintanilla's Husqvarna.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Quads
2016 was the return of the Patronelli brothers, who have dominated the South American Dakar between 2010 and 2013. But it was the 2014 champion Ignacio Casale who dominated the start of the race sweeping the first stages. The rookie Brian Baragwanath was the hero of stage 3, winning after being second on stage 2. In stage 4, what could have been the first win for Marcus Patronelli was later a win for Italian, Juan Carlos Carignani, after the organisation cancelled the last timed section.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Quads
The marathon's second stage leg promoted a revolution on quads ranking, with some crashes and mechanical problems leading to many withdrawals such as Marcelo Medeiros (third overall) Rafal Sonik (defending champion) and Qatari Abu-Issa. The 2014 winner, Ignacio Casale lost a huge amount of time to Alexis Hernandez, the winner of the day. The surprising Russian rider, Sergey Karyakin took the lead. In stage 6, finally, the return of Patronelli brothers, with Marcos winning ahead of Alejandro, who climbed to the top of the general classification, on the day of Casale's retirement due to a broken clavicle after a crash. In stage 7, the victory went for Lucas Bonetto, with no significant changes overall.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Quads
In the second week of the race, the Patronelli brothers finished almost all stages in the top-3 increasing their lead.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
The Mini army faced the South African Toyotas and the return of Peugeot with a fully renovated 2008 DKR after the 2015 in race tests. In 2016, the Peugeot 2008 DKR dominated the race with 9 stage wins out of 12 run stages, leading from the first real stage till the end. The prologue was just a warm-up with the competitors finishing with little differences, but in the WRC style stages 2 and 3, the debutant Sébastien Loeb showed his class, in a 1-2 finish for Peugeot, despite the track being more favorable to the 4WD vehicles.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
In the high mountain stage 4, a 1-2-3 for Peugeot (first win for Stéphane Peterhansel with a Peugeot, its 33rd win in cars, 66th overall and 50th stage win for Peugeot) who secure also the fifth place, with just the Nasser Al-Attiyah's Mini in the middle, demonstrating the profit of 2008 DKR improvements. Fifth stage, one more win for Sébastien Loeb (his third) and one more 1-2-3 for Peugeot. In the sixth stage, another double for Peugeot with Peterhansel finishing ahead of Carlos Sainz. Loeb had to change two flat tires and lost the leadership to Peterhansel.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
Stage 7 and 7 wins for Peugeot, this time for Carlos Sainz. Peterhanse was 4th and lost the lead for Loeb (second on the stage). Al-Attiyah was the best non-Peugeot (third in the stage, fourth overall behind the French army). The prologue winner saw his Toyota burning to the ground and went home earlier.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
After the rest day the problems started for Loeb, sticking first in the sand and then capsizing his cars in a dry river. He managed to drive to the end, but losing 1h30min. It was the first Mini victory, for Al-Attiyah, third overall, behind Peterhansel and Sainz. In stage 9 Loeb got stuck again while Peterhansel suffered a puncture. Al-Attiyah was only fifth, while Sainz won the ahead of Erick Van Loon and Hirvonen, both on Mini, and took the race lead.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
In stage 10 both Van Loon and Al-Attiyah capsized their Mini's while Sainz had to retire with gearbox problems. Peterhansel took the lead again, with one hour over Al-Attiyah (second) with the most difficult stages completed. in the following stage Peterhansel managed his lead, while Loeb suffered again with mechanical problems, being towed by Després, but still finishing second on the stage. Nasser Al-Attiyah had transmission problems, finishing the stage with only two driving wheels, but winning anyway.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
at the end of the stage, the electric car Aciona, had to retire after 11 stages, stopping at each 200 km to charge its 14.000 batteries. In stage 12 the first win for Hirvonen ahead Nasser, in the first day without a Peugeot on top-3. Loeb finish the rally as he started it: winning stage 13.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Cars
Thus, Loeb won 4 stages, Petehansel 3, Sainz 2, Al-Attiyah 2 and Hirvonen 1.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Trucks
After the dominance of Kamaz in the previous editions, it was a great surprise to see the Russian monsters in the middle of the rankings in the first stages. The race for the Dakar heavy-weights, didn't start before stage 2 (due to a car accident in Prologue which stopped the remaining competitors to race, and the cancelation of stage 1 due to bad weather). MAN dominated the first stages, with Hans Stacey setting the fastest time in stage 3, but received a 2-minutes penalty. He and his teammate Peter Versluis alternated in the leadership in the first stages.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Trucks
Victories for the Martin Kolomý's Tatra in stage 3 and de Rooy's Iveco in stage 4 showed the competitiveness of 2016 Dakar. Former rally driver Federico Villagra with an amazing regularity was the best Iveco (and non MAN), in third position. In stage 5, the retirement of Ales Loprais and the return of Kamaz to the victories, with Eduard Nikolaev. Villagra took the leadership, but lost some time in stage 6, and Hans Stacey took the victory and the race leadership. On stage 7 another victory for Nikolaev and his Kamaz. Stacey lost some time and fell into fifth position, while Versluis climb to first, followed by De Rooy and the two Kamaz. Villagra also had problem in the stage and fell to sixth.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Trucks
De Rooy won stage 8 while Versluis, Stacey and Villagra lost much time. On stage 9 another victory for De Rooy and more problems for Versluis (only 12 on the stage). Like Peterhansel, De Rooy was very close to final victory, leading all his rivals, finishing behind the surprise Pascal de Baar Rennault's. De Rooy was one hour ahead everybody on overall.


2016 Dakar Rally, Summary, Trucks
In stage 11 De Rooy managed his lead and the stage win went for Nikolaev Kamaz. Versluis won stage 12 but he was far away from overall top-3.


2016 Dalian Transcendence F.C. season
The 2016 Dalian Transcendence F.C. season is their 1st season to compete in China League One.


2016 Dalian Transcendence F.C. season, Background
After promoted from League Two, the team claimed that their goal in the new season was to balance their cost, and to prevent from relegation. Liu Zhongchang stayed as the manager, but resigned after just a few matches due to a claimed"physical issue". They signed Ermin Siljak, former Dalian Wanda F.C. player, as their manager, and later sacked him to replace again with his assistant manager, Rusmir Cviko.


2016 Dalian Transcendence F.C. season, Player information, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open
The 2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament which was part of the 2016 WTA 125K series and took place in Dalian, China, from 6 to 11 September 2016.


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open, Singles draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open, Singles draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry by a lucky loser spot:


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open, Doubles draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open – Doubles
Zhang Kailin and Zheng Saisai were the defending champions, however Zheng chose not to participate. Zhang was scheduled to partner Han Xinyun, but withdrew before the tournament began, after retiring in her first round singles match due to injury.


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open – Doubles
Lee Ya-hsuan and Kotomi Takahata won the title after defeating Nicha Lertpitaksinchai and Jessy Rompies 6–2, 6–1 in the final.


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open – Singles
Zheng Saisai was the defending champion, but chose not to participate.


2016 Dalian Women's Tennis Open – Singles
Kristýna Plíšková won the title after her opponent Misa Eguchi retired in the third set with the score at 7–5, 4–6, 2–5r.


2016 Dalian Yifang F.C. season
The 2016 Dalian Yifang F.C. season is the seventh season in club history.


2016 Dalian Yifang F.C. season, Background
Before the season, Yifang announced that Mikael Stahre will continue his job. The team and the manager himself claimed that the team will try to gain promotion into the 2017 Chinese Super League.


2016 Dalian Yifang F.C. season, Background
In July 2016, Yifang made changes of critical personnel including chairman and technical staffs, replacing their manager Mikael Stahre with Milinko Pantić from Atletico Madrid B, and signed Lin Lefeng as the chairman, hoping to improve their performance, but it failed. After just 8 matches, Pantić was replaced with Sergio Piernas Cárdenas, his assistant coach.


2016 Dalian Yifang F.C. season, China League One, Dalian Derby
Yifang had experienced local derby back in the 2012 season against Dalian Shide, in the Chinese Super League. However, Shide was disbanded after the 2012 season. In this season, Yifang saw chances to compete with an alternate local team Dalian Transcendence. Yifang won by 2–0 in the first leg, but lost by 1–2 later.


2016 Dalian Yifang F.C. season, Player information, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season
The 2016 Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's 57th season in the National Football League, the eighth playing their home games at AT&T Stadium and the 6th full season under head coach Jason Garrett.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season
After losing their first game to the New York Giants, the Cowboys went undefeated for 11 straight games. The streak ended with them losing again to the same team in week 14, making this the first time since 2011 that the Cowboys would get swept by the Giants. With division rivals Washington Redskins losing to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13, the Cowboys clinched a playoff berth after missing the playoffs the previous year.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season
Following the Giants' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16, the Cowboys became NFC East champions for the second time in three years and clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs for the first time since 2007. The 13–3 record is tied for the best record in team history, which was also set in 1992 and 2007 after a disastrous 2015 season.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season
However, despite having the NFC's top seed as well as home-field advantage, the Cowboys suffered a devastating loss in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 31–34, ending their season and preventing them from reaching the NFC championship game for the 22nd straight year. This was also QB Tony Romo's last season in the NFL, as he announced his retirement on April 4, 2017.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season, Offseason, Background
Coming into the offseason the Cowboys had a few positions that concerned them as a result of injuries, suspensions, and players potentially leaving the team. The positions that were of most concern were quarterback, defensive back, and pass rusher. The Cowboys had a total of eighteen players entering the free agency, which meant the players were free to negotiate with and sign a contract to play with any team in the league. Of the eighteen players, two of them were restricted free agents, which meant they could get offers from other teams, and the Cowboys would have opportunity to match the offer and keep the player on their roster. The free agency process officially started on March 9 for all thirty-two teams.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season, Offseason, Background
After losing ten out of the eleven games without Romo in 2015, the Dallas Cowboys wanted to find a reliable back up quarterback, either through the draft, or by signing a veteran free agent. The Cowboys met with the top three quarterbacks entering the draft:  Jared Goff, Carson Wentz,  and Paxton Lynch, all of whom were projected to be drafted in the first round. Another prospect for the Cowboys was Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, who met with the team on four separate occasions leading some to believe he would be their target in the middle rounds of the draft.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season, Offseason, Background
Including Prescott, Goff, Wentz and Lynch, the Cowboys had pre-draft meetings with a total of seven quarterbacks entering the draft. Cowboys also looked at veteran quarterback Matt Moore, having him visit with the organization in March before he re-signed with the Miami Dolphins later in the month. After a mediocre performance in the previous year quarterback Matt Cassel entered the free agency. Tight end James Hanna re-signed with the Cowboys with a three-year contract worth $8.2 million on March 11. Running back Lance Dunbar re-signed to a one-year contract worth $1.7 million on March 17. After the window to receive offers from other teams while being a restricted free agent closed, guard Ronald Leary re-signed with the Cowboys for a one-year deal worth $2.5 million on April 28.


2016 Dallas Cowboys season, Offseason, Background
On the defensive side of the team the Cowboys were coming off a year where they only had 8 interceptions, and needed to make improvements with their defensive backs. Orlando Scandrick who was a starting cornerback for the team in 2013 and 2014, was still recovering from the ACL and MCL injury that happened during practice in 2015 causing him to miss the entire season. Cornerbacks Josh Thomas and Morris Claiborne both were unrestricted free agents and could potentially be signed by another team.