Top Greatest Player Football

Michael Laudrup One in ballTop Greatest Player Football

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:01:00 +0000

Michael Laudrup One in Top Greatest Player Football

Michael Laudrup Greatest Footballers

Michael Laudrup Photo

Best Image of Michael Owen

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Best Image of Michael Owen

Best Photo of Michael Owen

Michael Owen Celebrate Goal

Didier Deschamps Popular French Football Players

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Didier Deschamps Popular French Football Players

Didier Deschamps Legend Players Football

Didier Deschamps The Victory

Giuseppe Bergomi Legend of Internazionale

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Giuseppe Bergomi Legend of Internazionale

Giuseppe Bergomi Greatest Defender of Italy Team

Giuseppe Bergomi Famous Football Players

Alan Shearer Top Striker in the World

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Alan Shearer Top Striker in the World

Alan Shearer Top Player Football

Alan Shearer Famous Football

Paul Gascoigne Greatest English Players

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Paul Gascoigne Greatest English Players

The Clown Paul Gascoigne

Paul Gascoigne Photo

Robbie Fowler Top Greatest Player Football

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Robbie Fowler Top Greatest Player Football

Robbie Fowler Celebrate Goals

Robbie Fowler Wallpaper

Francesco Totti Famous Italy Player Football

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Francesco Totti, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI (born September 27, 1976 in Rome), is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Italian Serie A club Roma. His position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as a second striker. Totti, who has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history.
Totti was born and raised in Rome's Porta Metronia neighborhood. He idolized ex-Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini, and regularly played football with older boys. His mother refused a lucrative offer from Milan, and he joined the Roma youth squad in 1989. Totti is known for his dazzling footwork and improvisation.
Roma's new coach for the 2005-06 season, Luciano Spalletti, went with a 4-2-3-1 formation, during which Totti would not remain forward waiting for crosses or passes, instead going back to take the ball, and thus creating spaces for the attacking midfielders. In this new position Totti began to score more frequently than the past, and he scored fifteen goals in 24 matches, during which the team won eleven consecutive games.
On February 19, 2006, Totti suffered a fracture of his left fibula and ligament damage during a match against Empoli after being fouled by Richard Vanigli. Totti risked missing the 2006 World Cup, but returned to the side on May 11, 2006 as a substitute in Roma's 3-1 Coppa Italia final defeat to Inter. A metal plate had been attached to his ankle during surgery, but doctors decided not to operate again and remove it following Totti's return, after concurring that it would not affect his gameplay.

The 2006-07 season was a personal high for Totti, as he finished as Serie A's top scorer with 26 goals as Roma finished runners-up to Inter but exacted revenge on the Nerazzurri as they took home the 2007 Coppa Italia. Totti also was the recipient of the ESM European Golden Shoe award as the top European goalscorer. Despite being the highest active goalscorer in Serie A, he was not among the finalists for the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year due to his national team absence, though he was nominated for the 2007 Ballon d'Or, finishing tenth in the voting.
Totti scored his 200th goal with Roma in a 4-0 Coppa Italia win over Torino on January 16, 2008. He was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for the fifth time in his career on January 28. He suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee during a 1-1 draw with Livorno on April 19. Tests revealed a tear of his ACL that required surgery, and he is expected to miss up to four months.
Roma won their ninth Coppa Italia with a 2-1 victory over Internazionale on May 24. Though Totti did not play, he was still allowed to lift the cup as the team's captain. He said, "Winning the Coppa at home gives us immense satisfaction, because our fans deserve this. This victory shows that now we're really competitive." With this win, Totti also became the most successful captain in team history.
Totti first came into international prominence while playing in the UEFA youth tournaments and won the UEFA under-21 championships in 1996. After starring with the Azzurrini in Italy's Under-19 and Under-21 sides, he earned his first cap for Italy during a Euro 2000 qualifying victory against Switzerland on October 10, 1998. Though Italy lost to France in the final, Totti was named the man of the match.
Disappointment followed at the 2002 World Cup, with Totti failing to make a significant impact and then being sent off during Italy's second-round loss to South Korea after being handed a second yellow card by Byron Moreno.
Totti acquired a measure of infamy at Euro 2004 after he spat at Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen in a goalless draw on June 14, 2004. He was subsequently banned until the semifinals, but never made it back to action and finished the competition scoreless due to Italy's elimination in the first round.(wikipedia)

Francesco Totti Famous Italy Player Football

Francesco Totti One of Legend Player Football

Michael Ballack Top Germany Football Players

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Michael Ballack (born 26 September 1976 in Görlitz, Saxony) is a German footballer. A midfielder, he is the current captain of the German national team, and plays club football for Chelsea in the English Premier League. In all the teams he has played in, he has always possessed the number 13 shirt.
On 26 March 1996, Ballack debuted for the national U21 team's encounter with Denmark, shortly after signing for Chemnitz. In all, he played 19 matches for this side, scoring four goals. Then, following his move to Kaiserslautern, national coach Berti Vogts called him up to the senior team.
Ballack's first appearance, however, did not come until 28 April 1999, when he came on as a substitute for Dietmar Hamann in a match against Scotland.
Ballack only played 63 minutes at Euro 2000. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup he scored in matches against USA and South Korea during the knock-out rounds as Germany reached the final. However he was booked for a tactical foul during the semifinal match against South Korea and was suspended for the final; Germany went on to lose 2-0 to Brazil.
Following Euro 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann replaced Rudi Völler at the helm of the national team and made Ballack the side's captain.
In the 2006 FIFA World Cup he was unable to start in Germany's first game against Costa Rica due to a calf strain, but appeared in the following five matches. Germany were eliminated in the semi-finals, but they managed to clinch 3rd place. He was named Man of the Match in the games against Ecuador and Argentina,[9] and was included in FIFA's World Cup All Star Team.
On 6 February 2008, Ballack played his first match since returning from injury in a 3-0 friendly win over Austria.
Ballack started and captained Germany's first game of the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament against Poland. He scored a free kick against Austria to secure Germany a 1-0 win and a place in the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals he scored a header against Portugal to make the score 3-1 in their 3-2 win after feed by Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick in 60th minute, helping Germany to advance to the semi-finals. After Germany beat Turkey 3-2, he captained them in the final, losing 1-0 to Spain. He was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.
Ballack can boast that Germany have never lost a game when he has scored all the way dating back to December 2004.(wikipedia)

Michael Ballack Top Germany Football Players

Michael Ballack Top Germany Player Soccer

Michael Ballack for Chelsea

Javier Saviola Argentine Professional Football

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:50:00 +0000

Javier Pedro Saviola (born December 11, 1981 in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine professional football player, who plays for Real Madrid. His usual position is as striker. He is known for his speed and ability to score from almost any position. He has scored 12 goals in 44 games for the Argentina national team, and represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In 2005, he was the youngest named on the FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers. Saviola also holds Spanish nationality.
Saviola starred in the 2001 edition of the World Youth Cup, held in Argentina. He was top scorer and was voted player of the tournament, as the Argentine youth national team won the competition. With 11 goals in seven games, he became the record goal-scorer in World Youth Cup history. His vintage performance earned himself an offer from the European clubs, but surprisingly, he failed to get a call up of the Argentina national football team to take part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Two years later, Saviola played in the 2004 Olympic Games and won the Olympic Gold Medal with the Argentine squad. Under coach Marcelo Bielsa, Saviola was given few playing opportunities for Argentina, but after Bielsa's resignation in 2004, new coach José Pekerman, who was the Argentine youth national team in 2001, gave Saviola more chance to play for the national team.
Saviola was called up to represent Argentina at the 2006 FIFA World Cup by José Pekerman. Striker Luciano Figueroa and winger Luciano Galletti were in contention for a place on the roster, but Saviola's excellent form for Sevilla, scoring a handy 20 goals in 55 games and winning UEFA Cup with the Andalusian team, secured his place in the squad. Saviola made his presence felt at the tournament, as he scored a goal against Côte d'Ivoire in Argentina's opening game, and made two assists in the 6-0 victory against Serbia and Montenegro.(wikipedia)

Javier Saviola Argentine Professional Football

Javier Saviola Football Star

Hernán Crespo Top Argentine Footballer

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Hernán Jorge Crespo (born July 5, 1975 in Florida, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine footballer who is currently playing for Internazionale.
Crespo has 66 caps and 35 goals with Argentina. He won his first cap in a friendly match against Bulgaria in February 1995, but then had to wait sixteen months for his second cap and more than two years for his first goal. He was called up to the final roster for the 1998, 2002, and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In June 2005, Crespo scored twice in Argentina's 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over archrivals Brazil in Buenos Aires, which made him Argentina's career scoring leader in World Cup qualifiers. He finished the 2006 competition as the Silver Shoe Award winner.
On June 28, 2007, he scored twice in Argentina's 4-1 victory over the United States in their 2007 Copa América Group C opener, tying Diego Maradona's team scoring record. He finished with a total of three goals.(wikipedia)

Hernán Crespo Top Argentine Footballer

Hernán Crespo Top Footballer

Hernán Crespo Soccer Star

Alessandro Del Piero Top Greatest Living Footballers

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:14:00 +0000

Alessandro Del Piero, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI (born November 9, 1974 in Conegliano Veneto) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He currently plays for Juventus in Italy.
Pelé named Del Piero in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations while Brazilian star Ronaldinho proclaimed that Del Piero is his idol. Del Piero was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000, Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue. Currently, Del Piero is still the highest earning Italian Player.
Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability.
Del Piero usually plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position. Although he is not very tall, Del Piero's playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching." His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded.[11] Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special " Del Piero Zone", approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.

In terms of goalscoring, Del Piero holds the all-time record at Juventus. On April 6th, 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time highest-capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. He is in sixth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records. Within the Italian national team, he is currently joint fourth with Roberto Baggio in the all-time scoring records.
In 1993, he transferred to Juventus F.C., and has been there ever since. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia in September 1993, scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana after appearing as a substitute, and then grabbed a hat-trick against Parma on his first start. Juventus claimed their first Scudetto in eight years in his first season and success continued to follow. With the Turin club, he won the Serie A championship seven times (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006), the Champions League (1996), and the Intercontinental Cup (1996). His best season was in 1997-98, when he scored 21 goals in Serie A and finished top scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals, which included a peach of a freekick against Monaco in the semi finals.
Del Piero struggled for form at the beginning of the 1998-99 season, whilst doping allegations were aimed at Juventus (they were later found innocent). In October he picked up a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Udinese. This kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Juventus struggled without him and limped home to a lowly 6th place in the league.
His nickname is Pinturicchio, in reference to a joke by Gianni Agnelli when he compared the emerging Del Piero to Baggio in a parallel between the student Pinturicchio from Perugia and the teacher Perugino. He's also been nicknamed by the fans "Il Fenomeno Vero" meaning "The Real Phenomenon", in a sort of comparison with Ronaldo, who was nicknamed "Il Fenomeno" by rival supporters of Internazionale.
One of Del Piero's greatest strengths as a footballer is his versatility, which allows him to play in a variety of attacking positions. While he started his club career playing as a full-fledged striker, he settled into a deeper role as a support-striker. He has also been positioned as a playmaker in the central slot behind the forwards. Under Marcello Lippi's reign as Juventus coach Del Piero played in the "trident-attack" formation along with veterans Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli. After that, he took a role in a combination with Zinedine Zidane behind Filippo Inzaghi. As Juve's playing style changed in Lippi's second stint with Juventus starting 2001, Del Piero partnered with Zidane's replacement Pavel Nedvěd in midfield and David Trezeguet upfront.

Del Piero is currently the all-time top scorer for Juventus scoring 254 goals, in all competitions he has also made over 580 appearances in official matches for the club breaking the record of Gaetano Scirea who has 552 appearances for Juventus. Alessandro is still Juventus' main strike force.
On May 17, 2008, against Sampdoria in the final round of the season, Del Piero at last clinched his first Serie A golden boot by scoring his 20th and 21st.
On October 21, 2008, he scored in Juve's Champions League match at home against Real Madrid. In the 5th minute, he knicked in the ball giving Casillas no chance, with Amauri scoring the second in the first few minutes of the second half.
In the return fixture on November 5, he scored two goals, the latter of which was a sublimetrademark free-kick, which looped over the heads of the crumbling wall-of-defenders to nestle in the corner of Iker Casillas' goal. In this occasion the Real Madrid's fan granted to Del Piero a standing ovation for his performance. This fine display put Juventus through to the next round of the UEFA Champions League with 10 Points, and leave Real Madrid fighting it out with Zenit St. Petersburg and BATE for the final qualifying spot.
Del Piero scored his 250th goal for Juventus during a match against Reggina on November 29, 2008.
Del Piero is currently the team's fourth all-time leading scorer. His tournament debut was Euro 96, but made his only appearance in the first half of a match against Russia before being substituted at halftime. Del Piero competed with fan favorite Roberto Baggio for a spot on the 1998 FIFA World Cup final roster while struggling to recover from injury suffered during the 1998 Champions League final with Juventus. He also missed two chances in Italy's 2-1 loss to France in the Euro 2000 final.

He returned to the international scene in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, after a season in Serie A in which Juventus won the Scudetto. Del Piero scored the decisive goal against Hungary, which sealed the Azzurri's qualification for the finals. He instantly scored against Mexico after coming on as a substitute to send Italy through to the second round, where they were eliminated. After Euro 2004, Marcello Lippi was replaced by Fabio Capello as Juventus coach. Capello was not convinced of Del Piero's abilities and frequently benched him in favor of new signing Zlatan Ibrahimović, but Del Piero still managed to score 14 goals as Juventus won their 28th league title thanks to his spectacular overhead assist to teammate David Trezeguet which proved decisive in a crunch match against AC Milan at San Siro.
Del Piero began the 2006 World Cup on the bench, appearing in two out of three group stage matches, and made his first start of the competition in a 1-0 round-of-16 win over Australia on June 26. On July 4, Del Piero entered as a substitute near the end of regulation and scored Italy's second goal in a 2-0 semifinal win over host Germany. In the final against France, which ended 1-1 after extra time, Del Piero scored a penalty in the shootout as Italy won the tournament for the fourth time. He admitted afterwards that winning the World Cup was his childhood dream.
As of 2008, Del Piero has captained Italy seven times (including the world cup in 2006 and Euro 2008) . He also regularly wore the number 10, but later gave it to Francesco Totti and switched to the number 7, as it was the first number he wore at the start of his career. Even though the number 10 was vacated after Totti retired from the national team in July 2007, Del Piero denied any interest in taking back the number, saying he was satisfied with the number 7. On May he was recalled by popular demand to Italy's UEFA Euro 2008 squad after nine-month absence from international duty, and thus became the second Italian player to participate in 7 major international tournaments (EURO 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008; World Cup 1998, 2002, 2006).
Del Piero was called up to Italy's squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 Championship in Austria and Switzerland. On June starts just one game at UEFA Euro 2008 as Italy go out in quarter-finals. Italy qualified through the group stage in second-place behind Holland, eliminating Romania and France. In the quarter-final against Spain, Del Piero made a substitute appearance during extra-time, and with the game ending in a 0-0 draw, it was decided by a penalty shootout. Spain won 4-2. On 20 August 2008 wins 90th cap for Italy in friendly against Austria - only fifth Azzurri player to reach this landmark and after few days announces that he will carry on playing until he is 40 years old. Due to his great playing and record number of appearances and goals he is referred to as "The Old Master" and "Il Padrino".(wikipedia)

Alessandro Del Piero Top Greatest Living Footballers

Alessandro Del Piero Poster

David Beckham Top English Soccer

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:27:00 +0000

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English football midfielder currently playing for Milan (on loan from Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy) and the England national team. Beckham's stint with Milan is a two-month loan, which began 7 January 2009, in order to retain his fitness levels during the MLS offseason. Beckham earned his much-publicised hundredth cap for England against France on 26 March 2008.
He has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer. He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004. Such global recognition has made him an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon. Beckham was captain of England from 15 November 2000 to 2 July 2006. He made 58 appearances as captain, and ended his tenure in that role after the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, however, continued to make contributions for the England national team in competitions after this.
Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons.[15] While at Madrid, Beckham became the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. In his final season, Real clinched the 2006–07 La Liga championship title—Beckham's only major trophy with the club—in the final game of the season on 17 June. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy.

Beckham's contract with Los Angeles Galaxy became effective on 1 July 2007 and gave him the highest player salary in MLS history.[18] He debuted for the team on 21 July in a friendly versus Chelsea at The Home Depot Center,[19] and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the 2007 SuperLiga semi-final.[20] His first league start then came on 18 August in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.
Beckham is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. The couple have three sons and currently reside in Beverly Hills, California.
Beckham made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September 1996, in a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova. He became an automatic first-choice player at United during the 1996–97 season, helping them to retain the Premier League championship, and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.
Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in France, but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament, and he did not start in either of England's first two matches. He was picked for their third match against Colombia and scored from a long-range free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England.
In the second round (last 16) of that competition, he received a red card in England's match against Argentina.[71] Beckham, after having been fouled by Diego Simeone, kicked Simeone whilst lying on the floor, striking him on the calf. Simeone later admitted to trying to get Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along with other members of his team, urging the referee to send Beckham off. The match finished in a draw and England were eliminated in a penalty shootout. Many supporters and journalists blamed him for England's elimination and he became the target of criticism and abuse, including the hanging of an effigy outside a London pub, and the Daily Mirror printing a dartboard with a picture of him centred on the bullseye. Beckham also received death threats after the World Cup.

The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, a match where Beckham set up two goals, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match. Beckham responded with a one-fingered gesture and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop abusing him.[75]
On 15 November 2000, following Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager in October, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He helped England to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals, with their performances including an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2–2 draw against Greece on 6 October 2001. England needed to win or draw the match in order to qualify outright for the World Cup, but were losing 2–1 with little time remaining. When Teddy Sheringham was fouled eight yards (7 m) outside the Greek penalty area, England were awarded a free-kick and Beckham ensured England's qualification with a curling strike of the kind that had become his trademark. Shortly afterwards, he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001. He once again finished runner-up, to Luís Figo of Portugal, for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
He was partially fit by the time of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played in the first match against Sweden. Beckham scored the winning goal of the match against Argentina with a penalty, causing Argentina to fail to qualify for the knockout stage. England were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil. The following month, at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Beckham escorted Kirsty Howard as she presented the Jubilee Baton to the Queen.

Beckham played in all of England's matches at Euro 2004, but the tournament was a disappointment for him. He had a penalty saved in England's 2–1 defeat to France and missed another in a penalty shootout in the quarter final against Portugal. England lost the shootout and went out of the competition.
Beckham became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in January 2005 and was involved in promoting London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.[76] In October 2005, Beckham's sending off against Austria made him the first ever England captain to be sent off and the first (and only) player to be sent off twice while playing for England. He captained England for the 50th time in a friendly international against Argentina the following month.
In England's opening game at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, against Paraguay on 10 June 2006, Beckham's free kick led to an own-goal by Carlos Gamarra, and England won 1–0. In England's next match, played against Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June 2006, Beckham's cross in the 83rd minute led to Peter Crouch's goal, which put England into the lead 1–0. Beckham gave another assist to Steven Gerrard. In the end they won 2–0. He was named Man-of-the-Match by tournament sponsor Budweiser for this game.
During England's second round match against Ecuador, Beckham scored from a free kick in the 59th minute, becoming the first ever English player to score in three World Cups, and giving England a 1–0 victory and a place in the quarter-finals. He was sick before the game and vomited several times as a result of dehydration and illness after he scored the winning goal.
In the quarter-final against Portugal, Beckham was substituted following an injury shortly after half time and the England team went on to lose the match on penalties (3-1), the score having been 0–0 after extra time. After his substitution, Beckham was visibly shaken and emotional for not being able to play, being in tears at one point.
A day after England were knocked out of the World Cup, an emotional Beckham made a statement in a news conference saying that he had stepped down as England captain,[78] saying, "It has been an honour and privilege to captain my country but, having been captain for 58 of my 95[79] games, I feel the time is right to pass on the armband as we enter a new era under Steve McClaren". (Beckham had actually won 94 caps up to that point.) He was succeeded by Chelsea captain John Terry.
Having stepped down as captain after the World Cup, Beckham was dropped completely from the England national team selected by new coach Steve McClaren on 11 August 2006. McClaren claimed that he was "looking to go in a different direction" with the team, and that Beckham "wasn't included within that". McClaren said Beckham could be recalled in future. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kieran Richardson and the World Cup alternative to Beckham, Aaron Lennon, were all included, although McClaren eventually opted to employ Steven Gerrard in that role.
Beckham takes the free kick against Brazil from which John Terry scored.
On 26 May 2007, Steve McClaren announced that Beckham would be recalled to the England squad for the first time since stepping down as their captain. Beckham started against Brazil in England's first match at the new Wembley Stadium and put in a positive performance. In the second half he set up England's goal converted by captain John Terry. It looked as though England would claim victory over Brazil, but newcomer Diego equalised in the dying seconds. In England's next match, a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia, Beckham sent two trademark assists for Michael Owen and Peter Crouch, helping England to prevail 3-0.

Beckham had assisted in three of England's four total goals in those two games, and he stated his desire to continue to play for England after his move to the MLS.
On 22 August 2007, Beckham played in a friendly for England against Germany, becoming the first ever to play for England while with a non-European club team. On 21 November 2007, Beckham earned his 99th cap against Croatia, setting up a goal for Peter Crouch to tie the game at 2–2. Following the 2–3 loss, England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 Finals. Despite this, Beckham said that he has no plans to retire from international football and wanted to continue playing for the national team. After being passed over by new England coach and Beckham's former manager at Real Madrid, Fabio Capello, for a friendly against Switzerland which would have given him his hundredth cap, Beckham admitted that he was not in shape at the time, as he had not played a competitive match in three months.
On 20 March 2008, Beckham was recalled to the England squad by Capello for the friendly against France in Paris on 26 March. Beckham became only the fifth Englishman to win 100 caps. Capello had hinted on 25 March 2008 that Beckham had a long term future in his side ahead of crucial qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[85] On 11 May 2008, Capello included an in-form Beckham in his 31 man England squad to face the USA at Wembley Stadium on 28 May before the away fixture with Trinidad and Tobago on 1 June. Beckham was honored before the match by receiving an honorary gold cap representing his 100th cap from Sir Bobby Charlton, and was given a standing ovation from the crowd. He played well and assisted John Terry on the match-winning goal. When substituted at half-time for David Bentley, the pro-Beckham crowd booed the decision..[86] In a surprise move, Capello handed Beckham the captaincy for England's friendly against Trinidad & Tobago on 1 June 2008. The match was the first time since the 2006 World Cup that Beckham had skippered England and marked a dramatic turnaround for Beckham. In two years, he had gone from being dropped completely from the England squad to being reinstated (though temporarily) as England captain.
During the 2010 World Cup Qualifier against Belarus in which England won 3-1 in Minsk, Beckham came off the bench in the 87th minute to earn his 107th cap making him England's 3rd highest capped player in history over-taking Sir Bobby Charlton in the process.(wikipedia)

David Beckham Top English Soccer

Pavel Nedved Best Czech Soccer

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:11:00 +0000

Pavel Nedvěd (pronounced Cs-Pavel Nedved.ogg [ˈpavɛl ˈnɛdvjɛt] (help·info); born August 30, 1972 in Cheb) is a Czech football midfielder currently playing for Italian Serie A club Juventus F.C. He was the recipient of the prestigious Ballon D'or in 2003.
He is best known for his fierce shooting and his stamina.
Nedvěd got his international breakthrough when he was part of the Czech national team which went to the final of Euro 96, where they lost to Germany. Nedvěd's performance did not go unnoticed; despite having a verbal agreement with PSV Eindhoven, Nedvěd decided to move from Sparta Prague to Lazio Roma in the Serie A in 1996.

Nedvěd's first international tournament came in the Euro 1996 where he helped the national team to second place. In the Euro 2004 semi-final against Greece, Nedvěd was injured when he slammed his knee into Kostas Katsouranis's backside while jumping for the ball. Though he continued on the pitch for a while, he was eventually replaced by Vladimír Šmicer. Some observers of the match considered Nedvěd's injury to be a key factor in the Czechs' defeat. The injury also led him to retire from the national team in September 2004.
He came out of international retirement to help the Czechs in their 2006 World Cup qualifying playoff against Norway in November 2005. The Czechs won both matches 1-0, first in Oslo and then in Prague, to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first FIFA World Cup appearance for the Czech team since the partition of Czechoslovakia. Nedvěd chose to remain eligible for national selection, and was named to the Czech World Cup squad. Despite an impressive start against the USA, the Czechs failed to qualify for the knock-out stages after losing against Ghana and Italy. He then retired for good shortly after the World Cup, his last international match ending 3-1 against Serbia in August 2006.
Nedvěd refused to come out of retirement for the Euro 2008 despite pleas from national team coach Karel Brückner, teammates and fans.(wikipedia)

Pavel Nedved in Action

Pavel Nedved Best Czech Soccer

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Oliver Kahn Best Germany Goalkeeper

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:36:00 +0000

Oliver Rolf Kahn (born 15 June 1969 in Karlsruhe) is a former German football goalkeeper. He started his career at Karlsruher SC and in 1994 was transferred to FC Bayern Munich, his last professional club. He is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight German championships, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup (both 2001). His individual contributions have earned him four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, three IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year awards and two German "Footballer of the Year" trophies. He played for the German national team (from 1994 to 2006), where he was starting goalkeeper of the 2002 World Cup squad which reached the Finals and won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball for his performance. Kahn is nicknamed "King Kahn"or "The Titan" due to his formidable presence and influence.
He made his last professional appearance for FC Bayern Munich on 27 May 2008 at the Salt Lake Stadium (Yuvabharati Krirangam), Kolkata in a friendly against Mohun Bagan AC of India during Bayern's Asian tour of 2008. Around 120,000 people turned up for the match. The match ended 0-3 in favour of Bayern and Michael Rensing substituted 'King Kahn' in the 55th minute.[3] He is considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of the game and is the only goalkeeper in the history of football to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (in World Cup 2002).

Kahn’s international debut for Germany came in a match against Switzerland on 23 June 1995; however, it was some time before he became the team’s primary goalkeeper. Initially Kahn was the reserve keeper as Germany were victorious in Euro 96 in England. He spent the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France on the bench, and it was not until Andreas Köpke announced his retirement at the end of the tournament that Kahn was finally given his chance in the No. 1 shirt. Euro 2000 was a difficult period for then-defending champions Germany, as they made an embarrassing exit in the group stage, having scored only one goal. The team drew with Romania and suffered losses to England and Portugal. Afterwards, Kahn became captain of the national team, succeeding Oliver Bierhoff.
Kahn put in what was perhaps his worst performance of his international career against England in Munich in 2001. Germany were favored to win by many as they had beaten England in 2000 1-0 at Wembley stadium. Many in the media were touting Kahn's remarkably fast reflexes. Despite a strong start from Germany, they were routed 5-1 by a fantastic hattrick by Michael Owen. After the match, Kahn called the defeat a "catastrophe" but still was optimistic Germany would qualify. Kahn's German team managed to make the World Cup by winning a playoff against Ukraine. Despite criticism, Kahn remained as Germany's number one for the upcoming World Cup. Kahn was also named the best goalkeeper in the world by IFFHS for the second time in his career.

Expectations for Germany were comparatively low entering the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but it was Kahn’s shot-stopping prowess and leadership that carried the team to a surprise appearance in the finals, and allowed only three goals in the course of the competition. Despite playing much of the final match with torn ligaments in his right ring finger, Kahn was still blamed (perhaps unfairly due to the injury) for losing the championship after allowing the first goal by Brazilian striker Ronaldo off a rebound in the 67th minute. Kahn nevertheless won the Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament, and became the first goalkeeper in history to win the Golden Ball for the best individual performance. He also became the 1st German goalkeeper to keep five clean sheets in a World Cup tournament. Kahn maintained his number one spot for Euro 2004, but Germany were once again eliminated in the group stage. Oliver Kahn gave up his captaincy to Michael Ballack after the tournament.
Since then, Kahn had lost his status as the first choice goalkeeper for the national team, with team manager Jürgen Klinsmann rotating the number one spot between Kahn and his longtime competitor whom he had been attempting to fend off, Jens Lehmann of Arsenal F.C.. On 7 April 2006 Klinsmann announced to use Lehmann as the first-choice goalkeeper in the 2006 World Cup. Kahn decided to stay on as a backup for the competition. Despite their acrimonious pre-tournament battle for Germany’s starting role, Kahn openly accepted Klinsmann’s decision. Kahn and Lehmann embraced and shook hands as the former offered words of encouragement before the quarter-final penalty shootout against Argentina. In the postgame conference, Kahn publicly praised Lehmann for his two decisive penalty saves.
After Germany was eliminated in the semifinals by Italy, Kahn was given the start for the Third Place play-offs held on 8 July 2006. Kahn was also the captain of the team in the absence of the injured Michael Ballack, and so earned his last international appearance for Germany, which defeated Portugal 3-1. Although overshadowed by Bastian Schweinsteiger’s game-winning performance in the match, Kahn played to a high standard, pulling off several saves throughout the match. Kahn deflected a shot by Portuguese forward Pauleta after he beat the German defence, and he later saved Deco’s kick made from just inside the box. Following the match, Oliver Kahn announced his retirement from the German National Team. Throughout his international career he earned 86 caps for Germany, including 49 as team captain. He never won a World Cup, but finished as runner-up in 2002 and third in 2006.(Wikipedia)

Germany's goalkeeper Oliver Kahn Picture

Oliver Kahn Wallpaper

Jorge Burruchaga Picture Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:22:00 +0000

Jorge Luis Burruchaga (born 9 October, 1962 in Gualeguay, Entre Ríos) is a former Argentine professional football player, and currently a football coach. He played both as an attacking midfielder and striker and is famous for scoring the winning goal in the final of the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Burru was part of the team that won the 1986 FIFA World Cup, scoring the goal that gave Argentina the 3:2 victory against Germany in the final match. also participated in all Argentine matches at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He scored a total of 13 goals for Argentina in 59 games between 1983 and 1990.

With Independiente he won an Argentine league in 1983, a Copa Libertadores (top scorer with 6 goals), and an Intercontinental Cup in 1984.

After joining the French championship and FC Nantes in 1985, he was banned for two years from French football in 1994, accused of passive corruption while playing for US Valenciennes-Anzin in a match-fixing scandal involving his side and Olympique de Marseille.

Burruchaga coached Arsenal de Sarandí since its arrival to first division in 2002, and succeeded in keeping the team far from the bottom of the standings. For the 2005/06 season, he signed with Estudiantes de La Plata. In May 2006, he moved to Independiente and resigned on April 2007.

Jorge Burruchaga Picture

Jorge Burruchaga Wallpaper

Jorge Burruchaga Poster

Dennis Bergkamp Best Dutch Footballers

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:08:00 +0000

Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (born May 10, 1969 in Amsterdam) is a retired Dutch professional footballer. At club level he played for Ajax, Internazionale, Arsenal and also represented the Netherlands at international level. Bergkamp played most of his best games as a support striker, where his tactical awareness and deft passes made him a great exponent of the game from the 'hole'.
He was selected by Pelé as one of the FIFA 125 greatest living players and is widely regarded as one of the English Premier League's all-time greatest players. In 2007 he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, the first and thus far only Dutch player ever to receive the honour. He has also finished third in the FIFA Player of the Year award twice.
Raised in a flat in western Amsterdam, Bergkamp was one of four sons of a Catholic plumber. His parents, who were football fanatics, named him after Manchester United, Manchester City and Scotland striker Denis Law.
Bergkamp made his international debut for the Netherlands against Italy on September 26, 1990. His first major tournament was Euro 92, where the Dutch were defending champions. Bergkamp impressed, but the Dutch lost on penalties in the semi-finals to the team that would go on to win the tournament, Denmark, despite Bergkamp scoring both in regular time and in the penalty shoot-out.

Bergkamp also impressed in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, playing in all of his side's matches, scoring a spectacular goal against Brazil, a match the Dutch ultimately lost 3-2. The Netherlands disappointed in Euro 96, with the squad riven by in-fighting, although Bergkamp still scored once, and set up Patrick Kluivert's consolatory goal against England that got the side into the quarter-finals.
Bergkamp scored three times in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including a memorable winning goal in the final minute of the quarter-final against Argentina. Bergkamp took a leaping first touch to instantly control a long 60-yard aerial pass from Frank de Boer, brought the ball down through Argentine defender Roberto Ayala's legs, and finally finished by firing a volley with the outside of his right foot past the keeper at a tight angle from the right. With three intelligent right-footed touches in a matter of seconds, he was able to turn the game and send his national squad into the semifinal round.
The Netherlands joint-hosted Euro 2000 and were one of the favourites. After progressing through the "group of death", they lost on penalties to Italy in the semi-finals. Bergkamp didn't score at all during the tournament but still played an important role. After the defeat, Bergkamp announced his retirement from international football, because the next major tournament, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, would be played in Japan and South Korea and Bergkamp's aviophobia (see below) would prevent him from travelling there. He did not play the qualification matches, since he thought that it would be unfair to do so.
He ended his international career first on the all-time list of goal scorers for the Dutch national team, with 37 goals in 79 games, although his record has since been passed by Patrick Kluivert.(Wikipedia)

Dennis Bergkamp Wallpaper

Dennis Bergkamp Picture

Gianfranco Zola

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Gianfranco Zola OBE (born 5 July 1966 in Oliena, Sardinia) is a retired Italian footballer and, since 11 September 2008, manager of English Premier League side West Ham United, having been assistant coach of the Italy national under-21 football team under Pierluigi Casiraghi.
He spent the first decade of his career playing in Italy, most notably with Napoli, alongside the legendary Argentinian Diego Maradona and Brazilian striker Careca, and at Parma, before moving to English side Chelsea, where he was voted Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1997 and Chelsea's greatest ever player.
He was capped 35 times for Italy.
ola signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. In 1986 he moved to Torres from Sassari, and three years later he signed for Napoli in Serie A. The young and talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Italian title in 1990. Maradona would prove to be a big influence on Zola's career. The two would spend hours practising free kicks together after training and Zola later said that "I learned everything from Diego. I used to spy on him every time he trained and learned how to curl a free-kick just like him. "He helped Napoli to win the Italian Super Cup in 1991 and he made his debut for the Italian national side under coach Arrigo Sacchi in the same year, winning his first cap against Norway in November. In 1993, Zola left Napoli and joined fellow Serie A side Parma. He won the UEFA Cup with Parma and they were runners-up in Serie A and the Italian Cup in 1995. It was with the blue and yellow club that he cemented his reputation as a creative player. However, coach Carlo Ancelotti came to see Zola as a "square peg" unable to fit into his rigid system. Zola was played out of position and ultimately made available for transfer.

Zola played for his country at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, making one appearance in the second round against Nigeria. He was sent off after only a few minutes and was suspended for the two subsequent World Cup matches.
He played in all three group games at Euro 96, and missed a penalty against Germany as Italy surprisingly crashed out in the first round. He scored the only goal of the game in a World Cup qualifying match against England at Wembley in February 1997, and won his final cap for Italy in the return fixture against England in Rome in October 1997. He retired from international play after he was not called up for the 1998 World Cup, finishing with 35 total caps and ten goals.(Wikipedia)

Gianfranco Zola Celebrate Goal

Gianfranco Zola in Parma

Bert Trautmann Top Goalkeeper Germany

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:25:00 +0000

Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann OBE (born 22 October 1923) is a German football goalkeeper who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Raised during times of inter-war strife in Germany, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper. He fought at the Eastern Front for three years, earning five medals including an Iron Cross. Later in the war he was transferred to the Western Front, where he was captured by the British as the war drew to a close. One of only 90 of his original 1,000-man regiment to survive the war, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire. Trautmann refused an offer of repatriation, and following his release in 1948 he settled in Lancashire, combining farm work with playing as goalkeeper for local football team St Helens Town.
Performances for St Helens gained Trautmann a reputation as an able goalkeeper, resulting in interest from Football League clubs. In October 1949 he signed for Manchester City, a club playing in the highest level of football in the country, the First Division. The club's decision to sign a former Axis paratrooper sparked protests, with 20,000 people attending a demonstration. Over time he gained acceptance through his performances in the City goal, playing all but five of the club's next 250 matches.

Named FWA Footballer of the Year for 1956, Trautmann entered football folklore with his performance in the 1956 FA (Football Association) Cup Final. With 15 minutes of the match remaining Trautmann suffered a serious injury after diving at the feet of Birmingham City's Peter Murphy. Despite his injury he continued to play, making crucial saves to preserve his team's 3–1 lead. His neck was noticeably crooked as he collected his winners' medal; three days later an X-ray revealed it to be broken.
Trautmann continued to play for Manchester City until 1964, making 545 appearances. After ending his playing career he moved into management, first with lower-division sides in England and Germany, and later as part of a German Football Association development scheme that took him to several countries including Burma, Tanzania and Pakistan. In 2004 he was appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for promoting Anglo-German understanding through football.
Trautmann was born on 22 October 1923 in Walle, a middle class area in west Bremen, living with his father Carl, who worked in a fertiliser factory by the docks, and his mother Frieda, a housewife. He had one brother, Karl-Heinz, three years his junior, with whom he enjoyed a close relationship. The bleak economic climate of the early 1930s forced the Trautmanns to sell their house and move to an apartment block in the working class area of Gröpelingen, where Bernhard lived until 1941. The young Bernhard had a keen interest in sports, playing football, handball and völkerball (a form of dodgeball). To this end he joined the YMCA and football club Blau und Weisse. He took to playing for the football club with enthusiasm, but the YMCA activities did not hold his attention to the same extent. In August 1933 he joined a new organisation instead, the Jungvolk, a precursor to the Hitler Youth. The following year, he won several local junior athletics events, and was awarded a certificate for athletic excellence signed by Paul von Hindenburg, the President of Germany. At the onset of the Second World War, Trautmann was working as an apprentice motor mechanic.

Manchester City returned to the top flight at the first attempt, and in the following years Trautmann established himself as one of the best keepers in the league, playing all but five of his club's next 250 league matches. By 1952 his fame had spread to his home country, leading Schalke to offer Manchester City £1,000 for his services. The offer was flatly refused, the club responding that they thought Trautmann to be worth twenty times more.
In the mid-1950s Manchester City manager Les McDowall introduced a new tactical system using a deep-lying centre-forward, which became known as the Revie Plan after Don Revie, who played the centre-forward role. The system depended on maintaining possession of the ball wherever possible, which required Trautmann to make use of his throwing ability. For goalkeepers of Trautmann's era it was usual to kick the ball as far as possible downfield after making a save. In contrast Trautmann, influenced by the Hungarian goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, sought to start attacks by throwing the ball to a wing-half, typically Ken Barnes or John McTavish. The wing-half would then pass to Revie, who developed the attack further. Using this system the club reached the 1955 FA Cup Final, in which Trautmann became the first German to play in an FA Cup final. City faced Newcastle United, the winners of the cup in 1951 and 1952. Nerves affected the City players, and they went behind to a Jackie Milburn goal after only 45 seconds. Further problems were caused by the loss of Jimmy Meadows to injury after 18 minutes, leaving City with 10 men. The man advantage meant Trautmann's ability to start attacks from throws was limited. Though City equalised in the first half, they struggled in the second, and after 57 minutes Trautmann was outwitted by Bobby Mitchell, who scored Newcastle's second goal. The match finished as a comfortable 3–1 win for Newcastle, and Trautmann gained only a runners-up medal.

Wembley Stadium, the venue for the 1955 and 1956 FA Cup finals
Though defeated in the 1955 final, Manchester City had another strong season in 1955–56, finishing fourth in the league and again reaching the FA Cup final, in which they faced Birmingham City. Trautmann was one of the team's most prominent performers. He had won the FWA Footballer of the Year Award shortly before the 1956 cup final, the first goalkeeper to win the award. Two days later Trautmann stepped out onto the Wembley pitch for the match that gained him worldwide acclaim. Nervousness about the events of the previous year contributed to the opposition scoring an early goal. The City team were more settled on this occasion however, and scored an early goal themselves, a left footed strike by Joe Hayes. Birmingham equalised on 14 minutes. The match remained level until midway through the second half, when Jack Dyson and Bobby Johnstone scored two goals in as many minutes to give Manchester City a 3–1 lead. Birmingham attacked strongly in the next ten minutes. In the 75th minute Trautmann, diving at an incoming ball, was knocked out in a collision with Birmingham's Peter Murphy in which he was hit in the neck by Murphy's right knee. No substitutes were permitted, so Trautmann, dazed and unsteady on his feet, carried on. For the remaining 15 minutes he defended his net, making a crucial interception to deny Murphy once more. Manchester City held on for the victory, and Trautmann was the hero of the final due to his spectacular saves in the last minutes of the match. His neck continued to cause him pain, and Prince Phillip commented on its crooked state as he gave Trautmann his winner's medal. Trautmann attended that evening's post-match banquet despite being unable to move his head, and went to bed expecting the injury to heal with rest. As the pain did not recede, the following day he went to St George's Hospital, where he was told he merely had a crick in his neck which would go away. Three days later, he got a second opinion from a doctor at Manchester Royal Infirmary. An X-ray revealed he had dislocated five vertebrae in his neck, the second of which was cracked in two. The third vertebra had wedged against the second, preventing further damage which could have cost Trautmann his life.

Trautmann's convalescence took several months, resulting in him missing a large part of the 1956–57 season. Jack Savage deputised during his absence. At the start of December Trautmann played two reserve matches, but lacked confidence. He was restored to the first team on 15 December for a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but conceded three goals. He continued to struggle for form in the remainder of the season, leading to some calls from fans and media for him to retire. Others criticised the club, believing that Trautmann had been forced to play while still not fully recovered from injury.
The 1957–58 season was an unusual one for Manchester City, who became the first and thus far only English team to both score and concede 100 goals in a season. Trautmann played in 34 of these matches, and though he did not play in the 9–2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion, an 8–4 defeat to Leicester City was a record for the most goals conceded by Trautmann in a match at any point in his career, and in the entire season he kept only two clean sheets.
He appeared in 545 matches for City during the 15-year period between 1949 and 1964. Though recognised as one of the leading goalkeepers of his era, he never played for his country. Trautmann met with German national coach Sepp Herberger in 1953, who explained that travel and political implications prevented him from selecting a player who was not readily available, and that he could only consider including Trautmann if he was playing in a German league. Consequently, Trautmann's international isolation prevented him from playing in the 1954 World Cup, in which his countrymen were victorious. Trautmann's only experience of international football came in 1960, when the Football League decided to include non-English players to represent the Football League in representative matches for the first time. Trautmann captained the League against the Irish League, and also played against the Italian League.
In 1964 he finished his career with a testimonial in front of an official crowd of 47,000, though the actual figure was estimated to be closer to 60,000. Trautmann captained a special joint Manchester City & Manchester United XI that included Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, against an England team that included Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews and Jimmy Armfield.(Wikipedia)

Bert Trautmann Photo

Bert Trautmann Wallpaper

Roberto Baggio Top Italian Footballers

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:44:00 +0000

Roberto Baggio (born 18 February 1967) is a retired Italian footballer, among the most technically gifted and popular players in the world throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He played for the Italian national team in three World Cups, and is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups. He missed a penalty in the final of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which contributed to Italy losing the trophy to Brazil on penalties. He won both the European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) and the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1993.
Baggio began his professional career at native club Vicenza in Serie C1 during 1982. Fiorentina snapped him up in 1985, and during his years there, he rose to cult status among the team's fans who consider him to be one of their best ever players. He made his Serie A debut on 21 September 1986 against Sampdoria. He scored his first league goal on 10 May 1987 against Napoli in a match best remembered for Napoli winning the Scudetto for the first time in their history.
He was sold to Juventus amid outcry from Fiorentina fans in 1990 for €12 million (US$19 million), the world record transfer for a football player at the time. Following the transfer, there were full scale riots on the streets of Florence where fifty people were injured. Baggio replied to his fans saying: "I was compelled to accept the transfer".

In 1993 he won his lone European club trophy, helping Juventus to the UEFA Cup. His performances earned him both the European Footballer of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year titles.
Baggio won his first Scudetto with Juventus in 1995. This was the first of many league titles to come for Juventus in the 1990s.
After strong pressure from AC Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi, he was sold to the Milanese club. At this time, he had been linked with Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, but no firm offers were made from either of these clubs.
He helped the club win the Serie A title, becoming the first player to win the scudetto in consecutive years with different teams[citation needed]. Baggio really joined Juventus in a depressed period in their history, and it was revealed years later, in 2005, that he was all set to join Milan when his agent done a deal with Juventus instead, without Baggio knowing about it.
In 1997, when he was thought to be on the downside, Baggio transferred to Bologna in order to resuscitate his career, and after scoring a personal best 22 goals that year, was included in Italy's starting eleven for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in place of the younger and favoured Del Piero. Cesare Maldini has since been severely criticised for starting Del Piero ahead of Baggio, who was clearly in the better form, for the quarter-final match against France. When Baggio did come on for Del Piero, Italy seemed to play a lot better. Cesare Maldini later apologized to Baggio for not giving him the playing time he deserved.

After the 1998 World Cup, Baggio signed with Inter Milan. This proved to be an unfortunate move, as the then coach Marcello Lippi did not favour Baggio and hardly played him. This caused Baggio to lose his place in the national team. In his autobiography, Baggio later declared that Lippi had effectively dumped him after Baggio had refused to point out which Inter's players had expressed negative opinions about the coach. His last contribution to Inter Milan was two goals against Parma in the playoff for the last remaining UEFA Champions League place.
After two years with Inter, in order to be called up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he transferred to previously unfashionable Brescia. At the start of 2001-02 season, he scored eight goals in the first nine games. Unfortunately, during that season, he tore anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee; despite this severe injury, he came back three games before the end of the season, making a 76 days only recovery. In his first game after comeback, he scored two goals against his former team Fiorentina, the first of them after only two minutes from the start of the match. Then he scored again against another team he played for, Bologna. However, Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni did not take Baggio to Korea and Japan, considering him not fully recovered from injury. Fans and pundits criticised the omission of Baggio, and Italy without the inspiration of Baggio was eliminated before reaching the quarter-finals, failing to reach expectations.

Baggio continued playing at Brescia until his retirement in 2004. He played his last game on May 16, 2004 at the San Siro against Milan. In the 88th minute, Brescia coach Gianni De Biasi subbed Baggio off so he could get his curtain call. The 80,000 present at the San Siro gave him a standing ovation. He ended his career with 205 goals in Serie A, making him the fifth-highest scorer of all time behind Silvio Piola, Gunnar Nordahl, Giuseppe Meazza and José Altafini. His number 10 jersey was retired by Brescia. He scored his 300th career goal on 16 December 2002 in Brescia's 3-1 home victory over Piacenza. He is the first player in over 50 years to reach this milestone, behind only Piola (364) and Meazza (338).
Baggio totalled 27 goals in 56 caps for his national team, the fourth-highest of all time for Italy. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups, with a total of 9 career World Cup goals which puts him even with Christian Vieri and Paolo Rossi as Italy's top World Cup scorers. For all his talent he was never rewarded with a victory in an international competition.(Wikipedia)

Roberto Baggio Photo

Ronaldo Best Brazilian Footballers

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:31:00 +0000

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima (pronounced [xo'nawdʊ lu'iz na'zaɾjʊ dʒɪ 'limɐ]; born September 18, 1976. in Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro), generally referred to simply as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian professional footballer.
Having begun his professional career at Brazilian side Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, Ronaldo signed with PSV Eindhoven in 1994, and after that he had tenures with FC Barcelona, F.C. Internazionale Milano, Real Madrid C.F., and A.C. Milan.
A former member of the Brazil national football team, Ronaldo has played 97 international matches, and was part of the Brazilian squads that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. He is the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with 15 goals, having surpassed Gerd Müller's previous record of 14 at the 2006 tournament.

Ronaldo has won three FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 1996, 1997, 2002 and is one of two men to have won the award three times, along with former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane. He also won two "Ballon d'Or" awards in 1997 and 2002. Ronaldo has been nicknamed "The Phenomenon" (Portuguese: O Fenômeno, Spanish: El Fenómeno). Pelé named him one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In 2007 France Football named him in their best starting XI of all time.
Ronaldo made his international debut for Brazil in 1994, in a friendly match in Recife against Argentina. He went to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA as a 17-year-old but did not play. He came to be known then as Ronaldinho, since Ronaldo Rodrigues de Jesus, his older team-mate on the tournament, was too called Ronaldo (and nicknamed Ronaldão to further distinguish them). Another Brazilian player, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, who is widely known as Ronaldinho, would come to be called Ronaldinho Gaúcho when he joined the Brazilian main national team in 1999.

In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ronaldo played with the name Ronaldinho ("little Ronaldo") on his shirt, since centre back Ronaldo Guiaro, two years his senior, was one of his teammates. Ronaldo won bronze medal in Atlanta.
Voted the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, he scored four goals and made three assists during the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The night before the final, he suffered a convulsive fit. He was initially removed from the starting lineup 72 minutes before the match but he requested to play and was later reinstated by coach Mario Zagallo. Ronaldo did not perform well and he was injured in a collision with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Brazil lost the final to hosts France 3-0. Adrian Williams, professor of clinical neurology at Birmingham University, said that Ronaldo should not have played, saying that he would have been feeling the after effects of the seizure and that "there is no way that he would have been able to perform to the best of his ability within 24 hours of his first fit -- if it was his first fit."

Ronaldo won the Golden Shoe as the top scorer in the 2002 FIFA World Cup with eight goals. He scored against every team he came up against except England in the quarter finals and scored two in the final against Germany, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. He also equaled Pelé's Brazilian record of 12 World Cup goals, adding to the four he scored in the 1998 tournament.
On June 2, 2004, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick of penalties for Brazil against archrivals Argentina in a CONMEBOL qualifier for the 2006 World Cup.
In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although Brazil won their first two group games against Croatia and Australia, respectively, Ronaldo was repeatedly jeered for being overweight and slow (Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva questioned the national coach "Ronaldo is fat or isn't he?"). Nonetheless, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept him in the starting lineup in face of calls to have Ronaldo replaced. With his two goals against Japan in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups. Ronaldo scored in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. On June 27, 2006, he broke the all-time World Cup Finals scoring record of 14, held by Gerd Müller after scoring his 15th World Cup goal against Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Round of 16. He also equaled a much less talked about mark: with his third goal of the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became only the second player ever (Jürgen Klinsmann being the other) to score at least three goals in each of three World Cups. However, Brazil were knocked out by France 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
The fallout after Brazil's disappointing performance in the World Cup saw Brazil appoint former captain Dunga as manager. His attempt to end the star culture of the Brazilian national team saw him drop Ronaldo not only from the starting line-up but from the squad altogether. He hasn't been selected since. He is fifteen goals away from becoming Brazil's all-time top-scorer.(Wikipedia)

Ronaldo Photo

Ronaldo

Preben Elkjær Legend Danish Footballers

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:19:00 +0000

Preben Elkjær Larsen (born 11 September 1957 in Copenhagen) is a former Danish professional football player, simply referred to as Preben Elkjær. He was a striker and his aggressive style of play was well combined with the calmness and vision of the younger Michael Laudrup when they played side by side on the Danish national team from 1982–1988.
In 1984 he finished 3rd and in 1985 2nd in the Ballon D'or awards. Both times surpassed by Michel Platini and once by Jean Tigana.
Elkjær was known as a notorious smoker — to much dismay for his varying coaches. His playing style, though, was not short of breath, and was dominated by a rock-like determination. He never seemed to give up on a "lost" ball — from time to time resulting in a goal, when the opponent had deemed the ball over the line and out of play, only to see Elkjær chase it down.

He is one of the few players in the history of football who combined a tank-like physique with great dribbling abilities. Going on his own was one of his trademarks, sometimes to the frustration of his team mates, though more often to their joy, as he would often win a game all on his own. His aggression was matched by few and whenever he would receive the ball with his back to the goal he would immediately turn with the ball and attempt to head for goal. His shear will and determination mixed with his marvellous abilities made him a true inspiration for his team mates and a fan-favorite whereever he would play.
At international level, Elkjær made his international debut for Denmark on 22 June 1977, aged 19 years 284 days, at home against Finland, scoring both goals in a 2–1 win for his country. He played a prominent role in the UEFA Euro 1984, scoring two goals for the Danish team which paved the way for his move to Italian football. During the tournament the Danes looked promising, and played attractive attacking football, but they went out at the semi-final stage, losing to Spain on penalties. Elkjær most famously missed his penalty kick, sending the ball high over the goal.
Elkjær then played in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where Denmark surprised many observers by progressing from the first round before being once again knocked out by Spain. In that tournament Elkjær scored four goals, including a hat-trick against Uruguay. He won the adidas Bronze Ball as the third best player in the tournament. In 1988, Elkjær received the last cap for his country on 14 June 1988, aged 30 years 277 days, when Denmark lost 2–0 to West Germany in the Euro 88 tournament. In total, he played 69 times for Denmark and scored 38 goals, and became one of the most loved footballers Denmark has ever seen. Elkjær had a famously no-nonsense and spirited approach to his role as a fox-in-the-box always lurking for a scoring opportunity. This coupled with a broad grin and cheeky humour endeared him to the crowds — if not the referees — and to this day he is regarded of as one of Scandinavia's all-time greatest forwards.(Wikipedia)

Preben Elkjær Photo

Preben Elkjaer Wallpaper

Luigi 'Gigi' Riva Rambo di Tuano Italian Footballer

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:33:00 +0000

Luigi Riva (born November 7, 1944), best known as Gigi Riva or by his nickname Rombo di Tuono (Thunder), is a former Italian footballer, the all-time leading scorer for the Italian national team. He was one of the best forwards of his time and had a fantastic scoring record for Cagliari thanks to his great heading ability, fantastic left foot and composure in front of goal.
Riva was born in Leggiuno, in the province of Varese, Lombardy.
His career started in 1962 when he joined Legnano. He was acquired by Cagliari the next season and was to stay there for the rest of his career, despite the attention of Brentford F.C. He made his league debut for Cagliari on September 13, 1964, when the team lost 12-1 against Roma. He was Serie A top-scorer one time with Cagliari, in 1970. His only Serie A title came in 1970.

He made his international debut on June 27, 1965 in a 2-1 defeat against Hungary. He would go on to become Italy's top-goalscorer of all-time, with 35 goals in just 42 matches and would win the 1968 European Championships. In the 1970 World Cup in Mexico the Italian team finished runners up after losing 4-1 to Brazil in the final, before Mexico 70 he had scored 19 goals in 16 matches. However he was Italy's topscorer in the competition and he netted the crucial extra-time goal - his 22nd in 21 internationals - against Germany in the semi-final.
He turned down a move to Juventus in 1973 at the age of 29 in order to remain with Cagliari, but, together with many other members of the Italian squad, displayed a series of disappointing performances at the 1974 World Cup, and he was eventually dropped for the last game against Poland.
His career was blighted by major injuries. He broke his left leg playing for the national side against Portugal shortly before the 1966 World Cup. He broke his right leg, again on international duty, this time against Austria just after the 1970 World Cup. In 1976, he ruptured a tendon in his right thigh playing for Cagliari against Milan. He never successfully recovered and, despite comeback attempts, eventually retired in 1978. He became an executive with Cagliari. He is currently a team managing staff member for the Italian national football team, and was also a member of the Italian national team who won the 2006 World Cup under his supervision. For his performances at Cagliari his No.11 jersey was retired.(Wikipedia)

Luigi 'Gigi' Riva Rambo di Tuano Italian Footballer

Luigi 'Gigi' Riva Photo

David Ginola Legend French Football

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:19:00 +0000

David Ginola (born 25 January 1967 in Gassin, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) is a former French international football player who has also worked as an actor and model.
He began his football career in his native France before moving to England in 1995 when he signed for Newcastle United and stayed in the country until retiring seven years later, having subsequently turned out for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton. He was also a regular player for the French national team during the 1990s.
During his career he cultivated a reputation as a stylish maverick, often clashing with his coaches. Since his retirement from the game in 2002 he has become involved in several new pursuits, including acting.
Ginola played at club level for Toulon (1985–88), Racing Club Paris (1988–90), Brest (1990–92), Paris Saint-Germain (1992–95), Newcastle United (1995–97), Tottenham Hotspur (1997–2000), Aston Villa (2000–2002) and Everton (2002).

Ginola made his first senior appearance for Sporting Toulon as a eighteen year-old in a 1985 2-0 victory away at Metz. He played fourteen times in his first season, and by 1986 he was a regular in the Toulon line-up.
In 1988 he moved to Racing Club Paris, where he remained until signing for Brest in 1990 and Paris-Saint Germain in 1992.
Although Ginola was a very prominent French player, he did not see much action with the French national team, having been capped only 17 times in his career.[1]
In qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, France needed only a draw at home to Bulgaria in their final game, with the match poised at 1–1 Ginola lost possession instead of holding onto the ball and the move resulted in Emil Kostadinov scoring a surprise winner to knock France out. The French manager Gérard Houllier blamed Ginola for the defeat, and he was subsequently branded an assassin of French football. After being barracked by French fans, Ginola moved to England with Newcastle United

Aimé Jacquet did not select Ginola for any major tournaments. Ginola played his last match for the national team in 1995. He played no part in the French FIFA World Cup winning squad of 1998, nor the side that won the European Championship in 2000.
Ginola was renowned for his "magical" touch on the ball and his ability to get past players from any type of position and then manage to score a goal. His ability to do that was shown in games for Tottenham and Newcastle, with his most memorable goal in Newcastle's stunning 5–0 win over Premier League giants Manchester United on 20 October 1996, becoming a flamboyant part of the memorable "Entertainers" Newcastle side of his era, which also featured other highly acclaimed players including Les Ferdinand, Rob Lee and Keith Gillespie.
In 1999 before the Euro 2000 tournament, Dutch legend Johan Cruiff remarked that it was his belief that Ginola was currently the best player in the world.(Wikipedia)

David Ginola Picture

David Ginola Legend French Football

José Luis Chilavert Best Paraguayan Football

noreply@blogger.com (rian) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:12:00 +0000

José Luis Félix Chilavert González (born July 27, 1965 in Luque, Departamento Central) is a Paraguayan former football goalkeeper and free kick specialist. He was a three-time IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award winner. Chilavert was also known for his skills as a free kick specialist, and often took penalties. His pioneering of this expertise in his position made him the all-time leading scorer among professional keepers until Brazilian Rogério Ceni passed him in 2006. He scored 62 goals in his professional career, many of them crucial, including eight in international matches. Four of his international goals were scored during Paraguay's qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Chilavert was also known for his eccentricity and at times fiery temper, which brought him his fair share of controversies; most notorious among which was being sent off for brawling with ex-Newcastle player Faustino Asprilla.
Chilavert made his debut as a football player at the age of 17, with the team Sportivo Luqueño, who were a second division team at that time. In 1989, he played for the Paraguayan national team for the first time. By then he had already reached division one football, with Argentina's San Lorenzo.

He later moved to Spain, where he played with for Real Zaragoza. He then returned to Argentina, where he played with Vélez Sársfield, helping them win the Argentine championship four times as well as the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup, both in 1994. In 1999, he became the first goalkeeper to score a hat-trick in the history of football, while playing for Vélez against Ferro Carril Oeste, scoring all three goals through penalties. He also scored a memorable free-kick from behind the half-way line against River Plate.
He was voted World Goalkeeper of the Year by the IFFHS in 1995, 1997, and 1998. In 1998, he participated in the World Cup, where he became the first goalkeeper ever to take a direct free kick in World Cup finals (almost scoring), against Bulgaria; he received an ovation when he crossed the pitch to try to score. With two clean sheets in the first round, he helped take Paraguay to the round of sixteen, where the team lost to France on a golden goal. Chilavert had made boasts about being the Cup's best goalkeeper before the tournament.
After a qualifying game for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he spat on Brazil's Roberto Carlos, an action which caused FIFA to give him a three-match suspension and forced him to watch the first game of the World Cup from the stands.
He had 74 international caps for Paraguay and a goalkeeper-record of eight international goals.(Wikipedia)

José Luis Chilavert Picture

José Luis Chilavert Best Paraguayan Football