STARS OF THE GAME

Ralf Schumacher

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:23:00 +0000

Ralf Schumacher

Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975 in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German racing driver, and the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher. His own Formula One career spanned 11 seasons from 1997 to 2007, during which time he won six races from 180 starts and achieved 27 podium finishes, before retiring from Grand Prix racing after failing to secure a drive for 2008. Since 2008 he has been racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series with Mercedes.

Early career

Born in Hürth-Hermülheim near Cologne he started racing at age three on his parents' go-kart track in their home town of Kerpen. After finishing runner-up in the national karting series, Schumacher graduated to the German Formula Three championship in 1995. Finishing runner up in this series was not the highlight of the year for him though, as he also won the Macau street race, a feat also accomplished by his brother Michael. In the race, he beat future F1 teammate Jarno Trulli, Pedro de la Rosa and Norberto Fontana, the driver he finished runner-up to in German Formula 3.

Schumacher then moved on to the Japanese Formula Nippon series in 1996, which he won, earning himself a Formula One drive with Jordan for the following year.

Formula One Career

At Jordan

Ralf Schumacher made his Formula One debut in 1997 with the Jordan team. In his first race, Ralf qualified 12th on the grid. He made up a couple of positions in the race and was holding 8th place before retiring with a gearbox failure after just two laps. The young Schumacher finished on the podium in just his third race, at Argentina. However Schumacher retired in more than half his races that season and ended up behind team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella having also been out-qualified 10 times during the season by the Italian. The two had an uneasy relationship after Schumacher took Fisichella out of the Argentine Grand Prix when they were competing for 2nd place. They collided again at the Luxembourg Grand Prix later in the season. Schumacher finished 11th in the drivers championship standings with 13 points, behind Fisichella.

The following season, Jordan was powered by Honda and proved capable of race wins when Schumacher followed team mate Damon Hill to second place in the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix. Schumacher was reportedly unhappy at not being allowed to pass Hill late in the race as team orders demanded he hold station. He finished 3rd in the next race at the Italian Grand Prix. Ralf finished 10th overall in his second Formula One season.

At Williams

1999

In the knowledge that a deal had been done with BMW in 1999 he changed to the Williams team and scored three podium finishes and sixth in the World Drivers Championship with the underpowered, obsolete Supertec engine. A tyre puncture at the European GP prevented him from achieving his first Grand Prix win. Schumacher was regarded among the paddock as the next future star for his determination in an underachieving Williams car. However, Heinz-Harald Frentzen who replaced him at Jordan scored two wins and four podiums that year.

2000

Schumacher's performance in the 2000 season was considered by many to be a disappointment. Running the powerful new BMW engine, he was expected to compete for wins, but he was only able to match the three podium finishes of the previous year, despite being the senior driver in the team and suffering only four mechanical failures.

2001

In 2001, Ralf emerged as a future star achieving his first three Grand Prix wins at Imola, Montreal and Hockenheim. The San Marino Grand Prix was the first win for the Williams team since 1997. Montreal was the first sibling 1-2 in the history of Formula 1. This time Michael Schumacher was out-raced by his younger brother Ralf who had a much more powerful car for this race. The Schumacher brothers would finish 1-2 in the 2003 edition as well. At his home Grand Prix, Ralf earned an easy win finishing 46 seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher finished the 2001 Drivers Standing in 4th position ahead of team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.

2002

In 2002, Williams was left fighting for podiums as Ferrari's domination prove to be unstoppable during the season. Still Ralf managed to score Williams only win of the season at the Malaysian Grand Prix from 4th on the grid. This race marked as one of only 2 of the 17 races not won by Ferrari that year. Ralf collected another 5 podiums including a second place at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He finished the championship again in 4th, this time behind team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.

2003

Ralf Schumacher driving for the Williams-BMW F1 team in 2003.After a slow but confident start and despite scoring at every race, Ralf did not manage to get onto the podium until the eighth round in Montreal, where he finished 2nd. By then, he seemed, for much of the European season, to have perhaps the only realistic shot at the drivers' title of his career after he won the European Grand Prix (at the Nürburgring) and the French Grand Prix within the space of a week. However, his form and luck eluded him subsequently and his challenge had faded by the time of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The final six races of the season yielded just one points finish. An accident in testing at Monza ended his championship hopes. Schumacher finished the season 5th and his contribution, alongside Juan Pablo Montoya did, however, help the Williams team to finish second in the Constructors Championship in 2002 and 2003, narrowly missing out on the title to Ferrari on the latter occasion.

Crash At Indianapolis

On 20 June 2004, Schumacher was seriously injured in an accident at the United States Grand Prix. The deceleration was measured at 78 g (765 m/s²), one of the most severe in all of motor racing history, resulting in a concussion as well as two minor fractures to his spinal column. He was taken to a nearby hospital and spent almost four days there and several months at home in bed. This caused him to be sidelined for the majority of the season. He crashed in almost the same manner in 2005, revealing the tyre troubles that would lead to the fiasco at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

Toyota: 2005 to 2007

Schumacher driving for Toyota at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth. In 2005, Schumacher transferred to the Toyota F1 team after Williams refused his salary demands. In the first races of the season he was out-performed by team mate Jarno Trulli, however in Spa-Francorchamps, he was able to challenge for the lead most of the race and ended up setting the fastest lap. Schumacher earned his first podium with Toyota F1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing in third place, less than a second behind his brother. The Toyota team brought the "B" specification of their TF105 car to the last three races of the season. Schumacher took pole position in Japan after a wet one-shot qualifying session prevented many drivers from setting competitive laps. He then finished the Chinese Grand Prix in third position a week later. This modified version of the car secured sixth position in the Drivers' Championship for Schumacher, two points ahead of Trulli, and helped the team finish fourth in the constructors championship, 12 points behind Ferrari.Schumacher leading Jarno Trulli at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix

Michael and Ralf

Schumacher remained with Toyota for 2006, however the team was off the pace in early races, though he managed eighth in Malaysia. At the third race of the season in Australia he finished a strong third. He never mounted the podium again that season, although opportunities to do so were lost through mechanical failure. A fourth position in France was his only other significant finish in 2006, while he scored 6th place in Hungary, and earned seventh place in both Turkey and Japan. Overall, he outscored Trulli again, but admitted it was a disappointing season for himself and for the Toyota F1 team, as he finished only 10th in the drivers' championship.

Ralf Schumacher earned Toyota their first point of the 2007 season by finishing in eighth place in the Australian Grand Prix, one place ahead of team-mate Jarno Trulli. However, Trulli then finished in seventh place in both of the following two races in Malaysia and Bahrain, scoring 2 points in each. Schumacher, meanwhile, failed to score in either. In the Spanish Grand Prix, he was involved in a collision with Alexander Wurz of Williams, dropping him to the back of the field. He eventually retired with a mechanical problem. Monaco proved to be another struggle for Schumacher, as he qualified 20th and finished the race in 16th, 0.9 seconds behind Trulli. It was rumoured at this point that the Toyota team were unhappy with his performance, and seemed likely to drop the driver when his contract expired at the end of the 2007 season.

Schumacher in his third season with Toyota, at the 2007 British Grand Prix

Schumacher scored a point by finishing 8th in the Canadian Grand Prix, a race from which Trulli was forced to retire after crashing out. This was not enough to prevent Toyota Motorsport vice-chairman Tadashi Yamashina publicly urging Schumacher to up his game or risk losing his seat,[4] having only qualified for the race in 18th place. He then lost control at the first corner of the next race, removing himself from the race as well as the cars of Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. In an attempt to retain his place at Toyota for 2008, he offered to accept a $17m pay cut.[5] He retired from top 10 positions in both the British Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix. The first was due to mechanical failure and the latter was caused by a collision with the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.

A change in fortunes seemed to occur at the Hungarian Grand Prix (the scene of his first podium finish for Toyota). Schumacher started 5th on the grid after setting the 6th fastest time (Fernando Alonso was relegated to 6th). He held off Alonso for much of the race until the third sector and went on to finish 6th. This fortune, however, was short lived as at the Turkish Grand Prix Schumacher put in an inexpicably poor qualifying performance to start 16th for the race while Trulli was up in 9th. Schumacher finished 12th and ahead of his team mate but only after Trulli was punted off the track at the first corner of the race by Giancarlo Fisichella. On 1 October, Schumacher announced that he would be leaving Toyota at the end of the 2007 season for a new challenge. That year, he had the second biggest salary after Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen.

Retirement from F1

Before and after Schumacher's official resignation from Toyota, there were rumours linking him to several Formula One teams. He approached McLaren to enquire about the seat being vacated by Fernando Alonso, but was turned down.He held talks with long-time mentor and Scuderia Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost about a possible drive for that team, but Toro Rosso instead opted for Sebastian Vettel and Sébastien Bourdais. Despite this, Schumacher remained certain he would be racing in Formula One in 2008.

Schumacher's final outing in a Formula One car came in December 2007 when he participated in a test for the Force India outfit in a bid to secure the second race drive alongside Adrian Sutil. However, after being the slowest of all the Force India testers on the day he tested, Schumacher stated that he was no longer interested in driving for that team,and that he would likely not be back into another Formula One car in 2008. The seat eventually went to Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher's team mate during his debut Grand Prix season in 1997.

After two seasons away from the sport, Schumacher's experience made him a target for new teams US F1, Hispania (HRT), Virgin and Lotus for 2010, all of whom he rejected, however rumours continued to link him with Renault and Scuderia Toro Rosso, although both teams have confirmed their lines up, Renault with Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov, and Toro Rosso with Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. But aspiring F1 team Stefan GP and Schumacher had been in good contact, but their lack of an entry meant they could not compete in 2010. Even if they were racing, Schumacher would have not been driving for them. It would have been Kazuki Nakajima and Jacques Villeneuve with Pastor Maldonado as the test/reserve driver.

DTM career

Schumacher at Brands Hatch in 2008 with (Mücke Motorsport) AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2007 DTM car.

On 17 January 2008, Schumacher participated in a test for the Mercedes Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) team at Estoril Circuit in Portugal. It was his first outing with an AMG Mercedes since 20 July 1997 when he was a guest driver in a race of the FIA GT Championship in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium with an AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR. This was also Schumacher’s last opportunity to drive a race car with a roof.

Early in February Schumacher participated in a second test for the Mercedes team at Estoril. Later in the month, he announced that he would race for Mercedes during the 2008 DTM season.

About his switch to DTM for the 2008 season, Ralf had much to say: "Of course I know that neither the media nor the spectators consider me the greatest race driver of all times and this is not what I’m aiming for.” “During my last three years in Formula 1, I didn’t have much success and it almost sounded strange to me when Norbert mentioned in our conversation, that short before this time I had managed to win two Formula 1 Grands Prix within only eight days.” “However, I am still the same Ralf as at those times, the same racer who has fun in motor sports and who wants to compete with the best.”

Schumacher at the 2010 season-opener at Hockenheim.

“Now I am able to do so in the DTM which I know very well since the mid-nineties when I was a young up-coming driver racing in Formula Junior and Formula 3 which had been staged as a supporting programme of the DTM. Then I dreamed of racing in the main event sometime.” “I like the series, I like the environment, I like the enthusiastic and positive spectators. And I like Mercedes – with them I got my first chance to test a Formula 1 car in 1996 and who knows how my Formula 1 career had turned out if I had accepted the McLaren Mercedes offer to become their test driver for 1997.“

Add caption

“But then I wanted to drive races, and that’s what I still want today, more than ten years later.” “I will learn in the DTM, I will work hard and I will put it behind me if people will criticize me if I should have problems during the first couple of races.”

Ralf made 2 point-scoring appearances in the 2008 DTM season, highlighting a 7th place in Barcelona and 8th place at the Nurburgring. He quietly finished his rookie DTM season in 14th place, with 3 points as the second best driver in a year old Mercedes C-Class behind Gary Paffett.

Helmet

Ralf Schumacher helmet's design is similar to his brother's, Ralf's helmet being yellow with a black top circled with astroids, rather than white with a blue top. Like Michael, Ralf changed helmet color in 2000, changing the top circle colour from black to yellow.

Personal life

In October 2001, Schumacher married Cora-Caroline Brinkmann, a former model.[18] On 23 October 2001, their son David was born.

Ralf Schumacher will continue to race for Mercedes-Benz in the 2012 DTM season.

The German driver, the younger brother of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael, made his DTM debut in 2008 and next season will mark his fifth campaign in the series.

Schumacher will remain with Mercedes, having scored his first two podium finishes - at Hockenheim and the Red Bull Ring - this season.

According to Mercedes Motorsport, his six wins between 1997 and 2007 when he competed in Formula 1 make him the third-most successful German F1 driver after his brother, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS driver Michael Schumacher, and double champion Sebastian Vettel.

Between now and the start of the 2012 season, Schumacher will be heavily involved in the development and testing programme for the new DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé.

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Ralf Schumacher isn’t only the best-known driver in the DTM, he’s also one of the most-liked and most successful in international motorsport. I rate very highly the fact that Ralf walked the difficult road from Formula One to the DTM, boosted the series’ popularity and continuously improved until he scored his first podium.

Ralf Schumacher: “DTM is a fantastic championship and, after four years as part of the Mercedes-Benz family, I feel in the best place possible. So I’m all the more delighted to be starting a new era next year together with Mercedes-Benz. With the new technical regulations and the arrival of BMW on the scene as the third premium manufacturer alongside Audi and Mercedes-Benz, DTM has an exciting future, and I feel privileged to be playing my part in development of the new DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé. My first impressions from testing are positive, and I’m very excited about racing this car next year. At the start of this season, I was determined to take the next step forward in my DTM career, and I feel I have accomplished that by finishing on the podium twice – at Hockenheim and Spielberg. During testing this winter, we intend to lay the groundwork to ensure that I can improve my results even further with the new C-Coupé in 2012.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Ralf Schumacher isn’t only the best-known driver in the DTM, he’s also one of the most-liked and most successful in international motorsport. I rate very highly the fact that Ralf walked the difficult road from Formula One to the DTM, boosted the series’ popularity and continuously improved until he scored his first podium. Ralf is now one of the drivers aiming for his first win and he has shown that everything is possible with talent, determination and hard work. That approach is a perfect fit with Mercedes-Benz and that’s why we are delighted to extend Ralf’s DTM contract beyond 2011. We and the fans have a lot of enjoyment ahead of us as we watch him racing."

OK, has that not done it for you? Well, maybe this will: “Between 1997 und 2007, Schumacher completed eleven seasons in Formula One – a total of 180 Grand Prix races. His six wins during this period make him the third-most successful German F1 driver after his brother, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS driver Michael Schumacher, and double champion Sebastian Vettel.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:23:00 +0000

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

In the late 90s and during Greg Chappell’s coaching era, when heads were tumbling through the Indian team’s turmoil, it seems all that MS Dhoni did was chalked out a plan on how things would change for better. When granted the opportunity to lead, he showed himself ready and became the solution to most of India's problems, enough to finally fulfill expectations of a long-suffering crowd of supporters.

An Adam Gilchrist-inspired Mahendra Singh Dhoni was drafted in 2004 to solve India's wicketkeeper-batsman crisis following the failure of the Dravid experiment. His start was anything but legendary - getting out for a duck. It was his fifth outing when at home against Pakistan in 2005, that a blistering 148 which set up India for a win, made everyone take notice. It came after India had lost opener Tendulkar early and it was a performance which both calmed nerves and steered the ship - two qualities which would be Dhoni's hallmark in years to come. A mammoth 183 to chase a high Lankan total later in the year reiterated his value. By the end of 2005, Dhoni donned the all-whites to earn a maiden Test cap against Sri Lanka, holding both ODI and Test spots ever since. After India's failure in the 2007 World Cup, Rahul Dravid resigned as captain. In the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 that followed, Dhoni was chosen to lead a young Indian side. Under his guidance, the team quickly turned disappointment to joy by lifting the coveted trophy, to the surprise of both fans and detractors. His ability to excel in leadership was quickly recognized and within a year, he was appointed Indian skipper in all forms of the game.

Under Dhoni's captaincy, India posted successful Test series victories home and away against England (2008), New Zealand (2009) and Sri Lanka (2009). Throughout his first five years as a Test player, India had lost only two away series, a record which helped them top the Test rankings. Under his leadership, a renewed spirit emerged among players with youngsters Raina, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Gambhir showcasing fearless determination that had been missing since the 80s.

The biggest accomplishment of his career came in 2011 when he powered Team India to a remarkable World Cup victory with his extraordinary leadership skills that proved his worth as a successful captain. It was after a long gap that India won the Cup, thanks to a bunch of hardworking and enthusiastic cricketers led by a young and exceptionally astute skipper. He played a captain’s innings in the final against Sri Lanka, where his brilliant knock of 91 runs sealed the most memorable victory for his team and his country. He may have won the Man of the Match award in that ultimate encounter, but for a cricket-crazy nation, MS Dhoni will forever be the man who led from the front and fulfilled a billion dreams of seeing the Cup return after 28 long years.

MSD with WORLD CUP

Fast Facts

MS Dhoni was the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

He led India to victory in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.

From the time Dhoni took over as the Test captain (2008), India had not lost a single Test series until August 2011, when England whitewashed India 4-0.

He is one of only 3 Indian skippers to notch above 10 wins in Tests.

Dhoni became the first wicket-keeper to have ever led India in Tests.

He's the third most successful (highest run getter) wicket-keeper batsman in ODIs, behind Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara.

Dhoni represented his district and club for badminton and football and was a goalkeeper.

His football coach sent him to play cricket for a local cricket club where he impressed with the gloves.

Dhoni became the first wicket-keeper captain in international cricket to bag 100 catches in both Tests and ODIs.

He is also holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper captain in Tests and ODIs.

Stats

Matches Innings Runs NO Avg. SR 100's 50's HS

Test 66 104 3495 12 37.98 60.11 5 24 148

ODI 196 175 6497 48 51.15 88.52 7 43 183*

T20 28 27 480 8 25.26 109.84 0 0 46

IPL 59 51 1425 15 39.58 138.61 0 8 70*

CLT20 10 9 137 4 27.4 108.73 0 0 31*

Dhoni's Old Photo

Career Span:

Test:

2005-2012

ODI:

2004-2011

T20:

2006-2011

IPL:

2008-2011

CLT20:

2010-2011

Test

Debut:

India Vs Sri Lanka at MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk), Chennai (Madras) - Dec 02, 2005

Last played:

India Vs Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney - Jan 03, 2012

ODI

Debut:

India Vs Bangladesh at Chittagong Stadium (MA Aziz Stadium), Chittagong - Dec 23, 2004

Last played:

India Vs England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata - Oct 25, 2011

T20

Debut:

India Vs South Africa at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg - Dec 01, 2006

Last played:

India Vs England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata - Oct 29, 2011

IPL

Debut:

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali - Chandigarh - Apr 19, 2008

Last played:

Chennai Super Kings Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai - May 28, 2011

CLT20

Debut:

Chennai Super Kings Vs Central Stags at Kingsmead, Durban - Sep 11, 2010

Last played:

Chennai Super Kings Vs New South Wales at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai - Oct 04, 2011


Dhoni and Sakshi

Whats happening to dhoni now??

Currently he is leading India in Border-Gavaskar Tophy against Australia in Australia. But last day every one in the press conference area was taken by surprise when Team India skipper Mahinder Singh Dhoni said that he will retire from one format of the game by the end of 2013 and most probably Test cricket. Dhoni said, if he has to play the 2015 World Cup cricket he has to retire from one format of the game.

"If I want to see the 2015 World Cup, I'll have to retire from one of the formats," Dhoni said. "It's too early right now. I am not that old. I am just 30. There is still time. We will see by 2013, and by 2013, I mean the end of 2013," Dhoni said after the practice session in Perth.

The Indian skipper said that he doesn't want to delay his decision beyond next year and take a hard look at defending his World Cup. "That's something I need to see," he said. "I will take it as the time comes. What I really meant was by 2013 I would have to see where I stand when it comes to my body, whether I will be able to survive until the 2015 World Cup. Of course form is a factor.

"Also, what I need to see is, if I play till 2014 and all of a sudden say I can't survive till the World Cup, and then all of a sudden you have a new wicketkeeper coming in who has not played more than 30 international games. So by end of 2013 I need to decide if I am fit enough to proceed in one of the formats. It's not personal interest. What I want is an individual who, if he is taking my place, should have played at least 60 to 100 ODIs before he goes into the World Cup. It's what my personal thinking is. We will see accordingly. Lots of time before that."

Possible reasons for Dhoni's revelation

Known for being practical and forthright, Dhoni must have analysed his Test record off late. In the 66 Tests he has played so far, his record has been gradually moving southwards. While the tour of England was a disaster as a player, in Australia he has additionally come under criticism for his captaincy as well. Contrast this with his stellar performance in limited over games – both as a player and skipper – and one can see reason in Dhoni’s contention.

Dhoni is the reigning World Cup champion and IPL champion. His recent performance in Tests is sullying that image. Off the field, as a champion ODI and T20 player, Dhoni is among the biggest brands in Indian advertising. With his falling performance in Tests and captaincy under criticism, the situation is neither helping the team nor his personal equity.

Dhoni’s timing of this announcement, a day before the crucial Perth 3rd Test, is bit of a mystery. But sources in the BCCI indicated that the board and the team management were in the loop. Board officials say that it is already working on various options to available as replacement for Dhoni as captain to begin with. Virender Sehwag's name has been suggested by some as the future Test captain.

If Dhoni pulls out of Tests all together, the Board will have to look for a wicket keeper as well. Top BCCI officials are not happy with Indian Team's performance in England and Australia so far. Team India will not play any difficult away series till the end of 2013 until India tours South Africa. Dhoni’s announcement today could also mean he may opt out of the tough Test series against South Africa.

Virender Sehwag won't be a long term solution for sure as he is ageing as well and the BCCI will have to look for younger player who would not only be able to lead the side in Tests but should be interested also in doing the job on a long term basis. With the IPL’s commitment for the top Indian players getting bigger every year and the World Cup looming in two years, to find a young player interested in Tests would be a tough job for the BCCI.

Indian team’s stability in the recent years can also be attributed to the fact that Dhoni has alone led the side in all three formats of the game – Tests, ODIs and T20. Next year that could change and like in England, Indian cricket also could see different captains in different formats of the game.

Lionel Messi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:02:00 +0000

Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a forward. Messi received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 (2009 Ballon d'Or and 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year), 2010 (2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or) and 2011 (2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or). He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. His playing style and small stature has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor."
Messi began playing football at a young age and his skill and potential was soon realized by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke his team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honors soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in the 2006–07 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the 2008–09 season, in which he scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. This record-breaking season was then eclipsed in the following 2009–10 campaign, where Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record again in the 2010–11 season with 53 goals in all competitions.
Messi has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, scoring in two of those finals, against Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011. He was not on the pitch as Barcelona defeated Arsenal in 2006, but received a winners' medal from the tournament. After scoring 12 goals in the 2010–11 Champions League, Messi became only the third player (after Gerd Müller and Jean-Pierre Papin) to top-score in three successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. However, Messi is the first one to win the Champions League top scorer titles for three consecutive years after Champions League changed its format in 1992.. Messi is the fourth football player to win three Ballon d'Ors, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballon d'Ors, after Michel Platini (however, two of his Ballon d'Ors are FIFA Ballon d'Ors, which he won consecutively).
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. At international level Messi scored 19 goals in 66 games.

Early life

Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, to parents Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner. His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883. He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol. At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. The traditional River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition which cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial. Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin. Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy.

Club career

Barcelona

Messi is Barcelona's second highest goalscorer surpassing László Kubala on 194 goals and now only is behind César Rodríguez Álvarez on 235 goals in all official competitions.
Messi played in Barcelona's junior Infantil B and Cadete B & A teams from 2000 to 2003 (scoring 37 goals in 30 matches in Cadete A). Season 2003–04 saw him in record five different teams: He started one match in Juvenil B (one goal) and got promoted to Juvenil A (14 matches, 21 goals). Later he debuted for FC Barcelona C team (Tercera División) on 29 November 2003 and for FC Barcelona B (Segunda División B) on 6 March 2004. He played for both teams during the season (eight matches, five goals and five games, zero goals, respectively). Even before these two debuts, Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a friendly match against Porto.
Less than a year later the debut, Frank Rijkaard let him make his league debut against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga. This record was broken by Bojan Krkić in September 2007. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist. Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen." During the season, Messi played also in Barcelona B (Segunda División B) scoring 6 goals in 17 matches.

2005–06 season

"The Maradona and Pelé polemics will end"

—Diego Maradona, on the consequences if Messi won the 2010 World Cup

On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract; this time it was improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014. Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on 26 September 2005 and was finally able to make his debut in the season's Spanish First Division. Messi's first home outing in the Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club Udinese. Fans at Barcelona's stadium, the Camp Nou, gave Messi a standing ovation upon his substitution, as his composure on the ball and passing combinations with Ronaldinho had paid dividends for Barcelona.
Messi netted six goals in 17 league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea. Rijkaard's Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

2006–07 season

In the 2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches. On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal, ruling him out for three months. Messi recuperated from his injury in Argentina, and his return to action came against Racing Santander on 11 February, where he came on as a second-half substitute. On 11 March, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw, equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in injury time. In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in El Clásico. Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season came from the last 13 games.

Messi also proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by nearly replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season. On 18 April 2007, he scored two goals during a Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's famous goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century. The world's sports press drew comparisons with Maradona, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona". He ran about the same distance, 62 metres (203 ft), beat the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before. In a press conference after the game, Messi's team-mate Deco said: "It was the best goal I have ever seen in my life." Against RCD Espanyol Messi also scored a goal which was remarkably similar to Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England in the World Cup quarter-finals. Messi launched himself at the ball and connected with his hand to guide the ball past the goalkeeper Carlos Kameni. Despite protests by Espanyol players and replays showing it was clear handball, the goal stood.

2007–08 season

During the 2007–08 season, Messi scored five goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. On 19 September he scored once as Barcelona defeated Lyon 3–0 at home in a Champions League match. He scored two goals against Sevilla FC on 22 September and then on 26 September, Messi scored another two goals in a 4–1 victory over Real Zaragoza. Next goal came in 4–1 away win against Levante UD in 29 September 2007. His second Champions League goal of the season came against VfB Stuttgart. On 27 February, Messi played in his 100th official match for Barcelona against Valencia.
Messi was nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward. A poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper Marca had him as the best player in the world with 77 percent of the vote. Columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport stated that the Ballon d'Or should be given to Messi, a view supported by Franz Beckenbauer. Football personalities such as Francesco Totti have declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.
Messi was sidelined for six weeks following an injury on 4 March when he suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic. It was the fourth time in three seasons that Messi suffered this type of injury. After coming back from the injury Messi scored his last goal of 2007–08 season against Valencia CF on 4 May 2008 in a 6–0 win. When the season was over Messi managed to score 16 goals and assisted 13 times in all competition.

2008–09 season

Upon Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey. On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes, after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn a 1–0 deficit to a 2–1 victory for Barcelona. The next league game was versus Atlético Madrid, a match billed as a friendly battle between Messi and his good friend Sergio Agüero. Messi scored a goal from a free kick and assisted another as Barça went on to win the match 6–1. Messi netted another impressive brace against Sevilla scoring a volley from 23 metres (25 yd) and then dribbling round the goalkeeper and scoring from a tight angle for the other. On 13 December 2008, during the first Clásico of the season, Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2–0 win over Real Madrid. He was also named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points.
Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1. Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal. In the 28th round of La Liga, Messi scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions, helping his team to a 6–0 victory over Málaga CF in the process. On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition. On 18 April, Messi notched his 20th league goal of the season in a 1–0 win at Getafe, allowing Barcelona to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the league table over Real Madrid.
As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930. After scoring each goal, he ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read Síndrome X Fràgil, Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction. Messi was involved in the build-up to Andrés Iniesta's injury time goal against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final to send Barcelona through to face Manchester United in the final. He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals. Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe. This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League in the one season, and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the treble.

2009–10 season

After winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen. On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, along with Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly. Four days later, on 22 September, Messi scored two goals and assisted another in Barça's 4–1 win over Racing Santander in La Liga. He scored his first European goal of the season on 29 September in a 2–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv, and then took his goal tally to six goals in seven games in La Liga with a strike during a 6–1 routing of Real Zaragoza at Camp Nou.
Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233. Afterwards, France Football magazine quoted Messi as saying: "I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me."

On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year. Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award, beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinean to ever receive this honour. On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla.
Messi then started an impressive run scoring 11 goals in five games. First he scored on the 84th minute against Málaga CF for a 2–1 win, then he scored two goals against UD Almería in a 2–2 tie. He continued his spree with an impressive week where he scored eight goals; he started by scoring a hat-trick against Valencia CF in a 3–0 home win, then he scored two goals against Stuttgart, in a 4–0 win that secured Barcelona's qualification to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and finally he scored another hat-trick against Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win, becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga. He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against Osasuna on 24 March 2010.

"Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace."

"He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make."

Arsène Wenger after Barcelona won 4–1 against Arsenal.

On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi's career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. This also saw him overtake Rivaldo as Barcelona's all time greatest scorer in the competition. On 10 April, Messi scored his 40th goal of the season when he netted the first goal in a 2–0 away win against title-rivals Real Madrid in El Clásico. On 1 May, Messi played his 50th game of the season and scored two goals on a 4–1 away win against Villarreal. Just three days later, on 4 May, Messi scored two goals in another 4–1 win at home against Tenerife. Messi scored his 32nd goal of the La Liga season on 8 May, during an away win against Sevilla, and in the final match against Valladolid, he scored two goals in the second half to tie Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a single league season, set in 1996–97, and to finish four goals behind the all-time record held by Telmo Zarra. He was named La Liga player of the year for the second year in a row on 3 June 2010.

2010–11 season

On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC in the Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss. He also began his league season with a goal, scoring after just three minutes against Racing Santander on 29 August 2010. He then continued his excellent form into the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Panathinaikos where he scored two goals, assisted another two and also hit the frame of the goal on two separate occasions.
On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle. Team-mate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt". The incident caused widespread media attention and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game.
When Messi recovered he scored in a 1–1 tie against RCD Mallorca. He then scored another brace on the UEFA Champions League against København and helped the team to a 2–0 home win. He continued his impressive scoring run with braces against Zaragoza and Sevilla. After a prolific October, he started November scoring on an away 1–1 tie against København and an away 3–1 win against Getafe where he also assisted team-mates David Villa and Pedro Rodríguez. In the next fixture against Villarreal CF, he scored combining with Pedro, which gave Barcelona a 2–1 lead. He scored another goal and Barcelona won 3–1. This was the 7th consecutive match in which Messi scored, breaking his own previous record of 6. He also achieved the feat of scoring 50 goals in the calender year of 2010 with the 1st goal, while with the second goal, he achieved the same feat again, this time considering the goals he scored wearing a Barcelona shirt in 2010. Against Almería he scored his second hat-trick of the season in an impressive 8–0 away win, the second goal was his 100th La Liga goal. He scored on his ninth game in a row (10th including a friendly against Brazil) on a 3–0 away win against Panathinaikos.

Messi's goalscoring run ended on 29 November at El Clásico but Barcelona still managed to win 5–0 with Messi assisting Villa twice. The next match day he scored a brace and gave an assist against Osasuna. He followed with another brace against Real Sociedad. In El Derbi, a match Barcelona won 1–5, he assisted teammates Pedro and Villa to score one goal each. His first goal in 2011 came against Deportivo La Coruña with a free kick on a 4–0 away win, where he once again assisted both Pedro and Villa.
Messi won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Iniesta. Messi had been nominated for the awards for the fourth consecutive year. Only two days after he won the award he scored his first hat-trick of the year and third of the season against Real Betis. He began the second round of the league with a goal, scoring his second penalty against Racing Santander. After scoring the penalty kick, Messi revealed a message on his undershirt that said, "Happy birthday, mami.". He continued his goalscoring form with a brace against Almería in the Copa del Rey semifinal, and followed it up with another brace less than a week later against Hércules CF. On 5 February, Barcelona broke the record for most consecutive league wins with 16 victories after they defeated Atlético Madrid 3–0 at the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to ensure the victory for his side and after the match he stated, "it's an honor to be able to pass a record set by a great like Di Stéfano" and "if the record has been around for so long is because it's very complicated to achieve and we have reached it by defeating a very difficult team who's going through a bad situation, which makes it even more difficult."
After two scoreless games, he scored the winner against Athletic Bilbao in which Barcelona won 2–1. The next week he scored the first header of the season against RCD Mallorca on a 3–0 away win. This victory was the equalising a La Liga record set by Basque club Real Sociedad in the 1979–80 campaign with a 19 unbeaten away matches. The record was broken after three days later when Messi scored the only goal on an away victory over Valencia. On 8 March, Messi scored two goals against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League match at the Camp Nou, helping Barcelona win 3–1 and qualify to the quarter-finals of the competition. After failing to score for a month he scored a brace against UD Almería; the second goal was his 47th of the season, equalling his club record return of the previous season. He surpassed his record on 12 April 2011 by scoring the winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League game, which put him in the record book as all time top scorer in a single season for Barcelona. He scored his eight goal on El Clásico on a 1–1 tie at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. On 23 April, Messi scored his 50th goal of the season against CA Osasuna in a 2–0 home victory which he came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.
In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, he gave a memorable performance, scoring twice against Real Madrid in a 2–0 win, the second goal (a dribble past several players) being acclaimed as one of the best ever at that stage of the competition. At the Champions League Final at Wembley, Messi scored the eventual game-clinching goal to give Barcelona their third title in six years and fourth overall.

2011–12 season

Messi started the season by lifting the Spanish Supercup with Barcelona, scoring three goals and providing two assists in a 5–4 aggregate win against Real Madrid. His vital interventions continued in the next official match played against Porto when he scored again following a weak back pass from Fredy Guarín before setting up Cesc Fàbregas to give Barcelona a 2–0 victory and the UEFA Super Cup, the only official competition that remained for him to score in. Messi's La Liga campaign began with two goals against Villarreal CF and he would go on to score hat-tricks in back to back home games against CA Osasuna and Atlético Madrid.
Messi showed in a league game against CA Osasuna on 17 September, why he is considered the best footballer in the world, on and off the field. After scoring his first goal of an eventual hat-trick in an 8–0 rout, Messi produced his special celebration for Soufian, a 10-year-old Moroccan boy with Laurin Sandrow syndrome, a rare medical condition that can eventually lead to the loss of the lower extremities. Whilst Messi usually points to the sky after scoring a goal, Messi slapped his thighs as a dedication to Soufian.
On 28 September, Messi scored his first two Champions League goals of the season against BATE Borisov, becoming Barcelona's second highest goalscorer in its history, tying László Kubala, at 194 goals in all official competitions. He surpassed that record when he scored two goals against Racing de Santander. He came just one goal from the 200 mark after another home hat-trick against RCD Mallorca and became second in Barcelona's La Liga goalscorers list with 132 goals, one more than Kubala. He scored his 200th Barcelona goal and two more as part of a hat-trick in his next game against Viktoria Plzeň in the Champions League. He scored his first goal ever at San Mamés with an injury time equalizer for a 2–2 draw against Athletic Bilbao. He followed that with a goal against Real Zaragoza. He scored a penalty in a 3–2 away win against Milan in the 2011–12 Champions League group stage. He also scored for the first time against Rayo Vallecano on a 4–0 home win. Followed by a goal against Levante UD on a 5–0 home win.
Messi scored a brace on the Club World Cup Final against Santos and was recognized as the man of the match and also awarded the Golden Ball for his performance during the tournament.
Messi won the 2011 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, beating his FC Barcelona team-mate Xavi Hernández and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi won the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his FC Barcelona team-mate Xavi Hernández and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. By winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or again, Messi become the fourth player to win three Ballon d'Ors, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballon d'Ors, after Michel Platini (however, two of his Ballon d'Ors are FIFA Ballon d'Ors, which he won consecutively).

International career

In June 2004, he debuted for Argentina, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In 2005 he was part of a team that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. There, he won the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe, scoring in the last four of Argentina's matches and netting a total of six for the tournament.
He made his full international debut on 17 August 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off on the 65th minute because the referee, Markus Merk, found he had headbutted defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt. The decision was contentious and Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated. Messi returned to the team on 3 September in Argentina's 1–0 World Cup qualifier away defeat to Paraguay. Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit short." He then started his first game for Argentina against Peru; after the match Pekerman described Messi as "a jewel"
On 28 March 2009, in a World Cup Qualifier against Venezuela, Messi wore the number 10 jersey for the first time with Argentina. This match was the first official match for Diego Maradona as the Argentina manager. Argentina won the match 4–0 with Messi opening the scoring.
On 17 November 2010, Messi scored a last-minute goal against South American rivals Brazil after an individual effort to help his team to a 1–0 win in the friendly match, which was held in Doha. This was the first time that he had scored against Brazil at senior level. Messi scored another last-minute goal on 9 February 2011 against Portugal in a penalty kick which he give his side a 2–1 victory in the friendly match, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

2006 World Cup

The injury that kept Messi from playing for two months at the end of the 2005–06 season jeopardised his presence in the 2006 World Cup. Nevertheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the tournament on 15 May 2006. He also played in the final match before the World Cup against the Argentine U-20 team for 15 minutes and a friendly match against Angola from the 64th minute. He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the substitute's bench. In the next match against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in the 74th minute. He assisted Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and also scored the final goal in the 6–0 victory, making him the youngest scorer in the tournament and the sixth youngest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup. Messi started in Argentina's following 0–0 draw against the Netherlands. In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute in the 84th minute, with the score tied at 1–1. He appeared to score a goal, but it was ruled offside with Argentina needing a late goal in extra time to proceed. Coach José Pekerman left Messi on the bench during the quarter-final match against Germany, which they lost 4–2 on a penalty shootout.

2007 Copa América

Messi played his first game in the 2007 Copa América on 29 June 2007, when Argentina defeated United States 4–1 in the first game. In this game, he showed his capabilities as a playmaker. He set up a goal for fellow striker Hernán Crespo and had numerous shots on target. Tevez came on as a substitute for Messi in the 79th minute and scored minutes later.
His second game was against Colombia, in which he won a penalty that Crespo converted to tie the game at 1–1. He also played a part in Argentina's second goal as he was fouled outside the box, which allowed Juan Roman Riquelme to score from a freekick, and increase Argentina's lead to 3–1. The final score of the game was 4–2 in Argentina's favor and guaranteed them a spot in the tournament's quarterfinals.
In the third game, against Paraguay the coach rested Messi having already qualified for the quarter-finals. He came off the bench in place of Esteban Cambiasso in the 64th minute, with the score at 0–0. In the 79th minute, he assisted a goal for Javier Mascherano. In the quarter-finals, as Argentina faced Peru, Messi scored the second goal of the game, from a Riquelme pass in a 4–0 win. During the semi-final match against Mexico, Messi scored a lob over Oswaldo Sánchez to see Argentina through to the final with a 3–0 win. Argentina went on to lose 3–0 to Brazil in the final.

2008 Summer Olympics

Having barred Messi from playing for Argentina in the 2008 Olympics, Barcelona agreed to release him after he held talks with newly appointed coach Josep Guardiola. He joined the Argentina squad and scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over Ivory Coast. He then scored the opening goal and assisted Ángel di María in the second to help his side to a 2–1 extra-time win against the Netherlands. He also featured in Argentina's match against rivals Brazil, in which Argentina took a 3–0 victory, thus advancing to the final. In the gold medal match, Messi again assisted Di María for the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Nigeria.

2010 World Cup

Messi played the entire game on Argentina's opening match in the 2010 World Cup, the 1–0 victory against Nigeria. He had several opportunities to score but was repeatedly denied by Vincent Enyeama. Messi started in Argentina's following 4–1 win against Korea Republic; he participated in all of the goals of his team and helped Gonzalo Higuaín score a hat-trick. On the third and last group stage match Messi captained during Argentina's 2–0 win over Greece, again being the centrepoint of Argentina's play and was voted man of the match.
At the Round of 16 he assisted Carlos Tévez for the first goal in a 3–1 win against Mexico. The referee awarded the goal even though it was a clear offside. The World Cup ended for Argentina with a 4–0 loss against Germany in the quarter-finals.
Messi was nominated in ten player shortlist for Golden Ball award by FIFA Technical Study Group. The group identified Messi with words: "Outstanding in his pace and creativity for his team, dribbling, shooting, passing – spectacular and efficient".

2011 Copa América

Messi took part in the Copa América in Argentina, where he failed to score a goal but notched three assists. He was selected man-of-the-match in matches against Bolivia (1–1) and Costa Rica (3–0). Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out against Uruguay (1–1 a.e.t.), with Messi scoring as the first penalty taker.

Outside football

Personal life

Messi was at one stage romantically linked to Macarena Lemos, also from his hometown of Rosario. He is said to have been introduced to her by the girl's father when he returned to Rosario to recover from his injury a few days before the start of the 2006 World Cup. He has in the past also been linked to the Argentine glamour model Luciana Salazar. In January 2009 he told "Hat Trick Barça", a programme on Canal 33: "I have a girlfriend and she is living in Argentina. I am relaxed and happy". He was seen with the girl, Antonella Roccuzzo, at a carnival in Sitges after the Barcelona-Espanyol derby. Roccuzzo is a fellow native of Rosario.
Messi has two cousins also involved in football: Maxi, a winger for Club Olimpia of Paraguay, and Emanuel Biancucchi, who plays as a midfielder for Spain's Girona FC.

Charity

In 2007, Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children. In response to Messi’s own childhood medical difficulties, the Leo Messi Foundation has offered Argentine children diagnosed with illnesses treatment in Spain and funds covering the transport, hospital and recuperation costs. Messi’s foundation is supported by his own fundraising activity with additional assistance from Herbalife.
On 11 March 2010 Messi was announced as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. Messi’s UNICEF ambassador activities are aimed at supporting children’s rights. Messi is supported in this by Barcelona, who also have a strong association with UNICEF.

Wealth

In March 2010, France Football ranked him at the top of its list of the world's richest footballers, with £29.6 million in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. His net-wealth is estimated at £170 million ($250 million).

Media

An example of Messi's worldwide popularity and influence. Photographed in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India

Messi was featured on the front covers of the video games Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 and is also involved in promotional campaigns for the games. Messi, along with Fernando Torres, is the face of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, and was also involved in the motion capturing and the trailer. However, in November 2011 Messi was confirmed as the new face of PES's rival football series FIFA with his debut as a cover star of the series coming in 2012's FIFA Street. Messi is sponsored by the German sportswear company Adidas and features in their television advertisements. In June 2010, Messi also signed a three–year contract with Herbalife which further supports the Leo Messi Foundation.
On April 2011, Messi was named in the 2011 Time 100, the magazine's annual list of the most influential people in the world.
Also in April 2011, Messi launched a Facebook page and within a few hours, his page had attracted more than six million followers. His Facebook page had over 28 million followers in December 2011.

Honors

Barcelona

Spanish League (5): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
Spanish Cup (1): 2008–09; Runner-up 2010–11
Spanish Supercup (5): 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011
UEFA Champions League (3): 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11
UEFA Super Cup (2): 2009, 2011; Runner-up 2006
FIFA Club World Cup (2): 2009, 2011

Argentina

FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
Olympic Gold Medal: 2008
Copa América: Runner-up 2007

Cristiano

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:21:00 +0000

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (born 5 February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive player in football history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he was to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, made him the highest-paid football player in the world at the time, and his buyout clause was valued at €1 billion as per his contract.

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo`s precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003.

The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup and played at Euro 2004 with Portugal. Ronaldo scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, although Greece won 2–1. Portugal reached the final, which they again lost to Greece.

Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the competition`s top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies, only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro, World Soccer and Onze d`Or Footballer of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United`s first Ballon d`Or winner in 40 years.

Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against FC Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United. Three-time Ballon d`Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

On 15 May 2011, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in a season in the history of Real Madrid with 51 goals, surpassing the club`s previous high of 49 by Ferenc Puskás. He would later finish the season with a total of 53 goals, making him the first Real Madrid player to ever reach and surpass 50 goals in a season. Six days later, Ronaldo broke the record of most goals ever scored in a season in La Liga with 40, surpassing Telmo Zarra`s mark established in 1951 and Hugo Sanchez`s mark matched in 1990. Ronaldo also broke Zarra`s record of most goals per minute, with a goal scored every 70.7 minutes. The newspaper Marca, the official deliverer of the Pichichi Trophy (the top La Liga goalscorer award), claimed that Ronaldo scored 41 goals. By doing so, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different championships.

Early life

Ronaldo was born in Santo António, a neighbourhood of Funchal, Madeira, the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener.[12] His second given name "Ronaldo" was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father`s favourite actor.[13] He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.[3] His great-grandmother Isabel da Piedade was from Cape Verde.

Club career

Early career At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.

Sporting CP

Ronaldo joined Sporting`s other youth players who trained at the Academia Sporting, the club`s football academy, in Alcochete. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting`s under-16, under-17, under-18, B-team, and the first team, all within one season.He scored two goals in his league debut on 7 October 2002, which Sporting CP won 3–0 against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the 2002 European Under-17 Championship. When he was 15, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that might have forced him to give up playing football. The Sporting staff were made aware of the condition and Ronaldo`s mother gave her authorisation for him to go into hospital. While there, he had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he resumed training only a few days later.

He was first spotted by then-Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier at the age of 16, but Liverpool declined to take him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills.[19] However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo`s performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.

Manchester United 2003–2006

Ronaldo became Manchester United`s first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for €15 million[21] (£12.24 million) after the 2002–03 season.[22] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I`d like. I said 28. But Ferguson said `No, you`re going to have No. 7,` and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour." Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United`s 3–0 FA Cup final victory over Millwall. He scored United`s 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough.[25] He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award in 2005.

He was sent off in the Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium on 14 January 2006 (a game which United lost 3–1) for kicking City`s former United player Andrew Cole. Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football in the 2005–06 season, scoring the third goal in Manchester United`s 4–0 Football League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic.

2006–2009

The 2006–2007 season proved to be the breakout year for Ronaldo, as he broke the 20 goal barrier for the first time and picked up his first league title with Manchester United. In November and December 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996.
He scored his 50th Manchester United goal against city rivals Manchester City on 5 May 2007 as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years, and he was voted into his second consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award at the end of the year.

Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo,[30] he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week (£31 million total) extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.

Ronaldo`s 2007–08 season began with a red card for a headbutt on Portsmouth player Richard Hughes during United`s second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban.[34] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future.[35] After scoring the only goal in a Champions League away match against Sporting, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their Champions League group.

He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon d`Or,and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi. Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table.[39] He scored his twenty-third league goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Reading, equalling his entire total for the 2006–07 season.[40] During a 1–1 Champions League first knockout round draw against Lyon on 20 February, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA.[41] One month later, Lyon were fined CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.

On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained United for the first time in his career in a home win over Bolton, scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory.[43] The second of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, which set a new club single-season scoring record by a midfielder and thus topped George Best`s forty-year-old total of 32 goals in the 1967–68 season.[44] Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa on 29 March, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo`s scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007–08 European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of Mallorca`s Dani Güiza.

In the 2007–08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals Chelsea, Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equaliser in the 45th minute as the match ended 1–1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6–5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans` Man of the Match, and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling four short of Denis Law`s team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season.

On 5 June 2008, Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year.[ Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA on 9 June over Madrid`s alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action.[48][49] Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at United for at least another year.

Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 7 July.[51] He returned to action on 17 September in United`s UEFA Champions League goalless group-stage draw with Villarreal as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung, and scored his first overall goal of the season in a 3–1 League Cup third round win over Middlesbrough on 24 September.

In a 5–0 win over Stoke City on 15 November 2008, Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st goals in all competitions for Manchester United, both from free kicks.[53] The goals also meant that Ronaldo had now scored against each of the other 19 teams in the Premier League at the time.[54] On 2 December, Ronaldo became Manchester United`s first Ballon d`Or recipient since George Best in 1968. He finished with 446 points, 165 ahead of runner-up Lionel MessiHe was awarded the Silver Ball after finishing with two goals as United won the Club World Cup on 19 December.

On 8 January 2009, Ronaldo was uninjured in a single-car accident in which he wrote off his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in a tunnel along the A538 near Manchester Airport. A breathalyser test he gave to police officers at the scene was negative, and he attended training later that morning.[57] Four days later, he became the first Premier League player ever to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to being the first Portuguese player to win the award since Luís Figo in 2001.[58] Ronaldo scored his first Champions League goal of the season, and first since the final against Chelsea, in a 2–0 victory over Internazionale that sent United into the quarter-finals.[59] In the second leg against Porto, Ronaldo scored a 40-yard game-winning goal as United advanced to the semi-finals. He later called it the best goal he had ever scored.[60][61] Ronaldo participated in his second consecutive Champions League final, but made little impact in United`s 2–0 loss to Barcelona. He finished with 53 appearances in all competitions, which was four higher than the previous year, but scored sixteen fewer goals (26) than his career-best total of 42 from the previous season.

On 11 June, Manchester United accepted an unconditional offer of £80 million from Real Madrid for Ronaldo after it was revealed that he again had expressed his desire to leave the club.[62] It was confirmed by a representative of the Glazer family that the sale was fully condoned by Ferguson.[63] When Ronaldo had eventually completed his transfer to Real, he expressed his gratitude towards Ferguson for helping him develop as a player, saying, "He`s been my father in sport, one of the most important factors and most influential in my career."

Real Madrid 2009–10 season

On 26 June 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Ronaldo would join the club on 1 July 2009 from Manchester United for £80 million,[65] after agreeing terms and signing a six-year contract.[66] Ronaldo`s contract is worth €11 million per year[4] and it has a €1 billion buy-out clause. He was presented to the world media as a Real Madrid player on 6 July,[68] where he was handed the number 9 jersey.[69] The shirt was presented to him by Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano.[70] Ronaldo was welcomed by 80,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, surpassing Diego Maradona`s record of 75,000 fans when he was presented in Italy, after he was transferred from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984.[71]

Ronaldo made his Madrid debut on 21 July in a 1–0 win over Shamrock Rovers. His first goal came one week later with a penalty in Madrid`s 4–2 win over LDU Quito. On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real`s second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña.[73] On 15 September, Ronaldo scored two free-kicks in a 5–2 away victory over Zürich, his first Champions League goals for Real.[74] He broke a Madrid club record when he scored in a league match against Villarreal and thus became the first ever player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.[

An ankle injury suffered on 10 October, while Ronaldo was on international duty with Portugal against Hungary, kept him out until 25 November, which in turn caused him to miss both of Madrid`s Champions League group stage matches against Milan. Ronaldo made his first post-injury start in a 1–0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on 29 November. On 6 December, he was sent off for the first time in his Madrid career in Madrid`s 4–2 victory against Almería, a match which also saw him miss a penalty. He was carded first for removing his shirt during a goal celebration, then for kicking out at an opponent three minutes later.[77]On 5 May 2010 Ronaldo scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick in an away game against Mallorca. Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaínscored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real`s highest scoring league duo in their history.

2010–11 season

With the departure of Raúl during the summer of 2010, Ronaldo was handed the No. 7 jersey for Real Madrid.[79] On 23 October 2010, Ronaldo scored four goals against Racing de Santander,[80] the most goals he has ever scored in a single match. This completed a goalscoring run of six consecutive matches (three in La Liga, one in the Champions League, and two for Portugal) in which Ronaldo scored in each match, totalling 11 goals, which is the most Ronaldo has scored in a single month. Before Real Madrid`s 5–0 defeat by Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Ronaldo scored his second La Liga hat-trick of the season in a 5–1 win over Athletic Bilbao. His final match of the calendar year saw him score a hat-trick in a 8–0 trashing of Levante in the Copa del Rey.[83]

Ronaldo began the 2011 with a very promising outlook, especially after Real Madrid acknowledged he had broken numerous goalscoring records, previously settled and held by classic players such as Alfredo Di Stéfano, Hugo Sánchez, and Manuel Alday.[84][85] Ronaldo began his scoring spree by scoring two vital goals in a tight 3–2 victory away to Getafe.[86] He then consolidated his massive performances by scoring a hat-trick and assisting Kaká to score his first league goal after his return from injury, in a 4–2 victory over Villarreal on 9 January. One game away from the middle of the season, Ronaldo had a very clear chance of breaking Telmo Zarra`s and Hugo Sánchez`s record of 38 League goals in a single season, since he was the league`s top scorer with 22 goals, above Lionel Messi.
However, shortly after, Ronaldo experienced the biggest goal drought in his entire career, scoring only 2 goals in more than a month. During this period, Real Madrid acknowledged to have hit the crossbar more than 12 times in the season, most of the shots belonging to Ronaldo and almost all having happened during crucial moments in drawn matches.[89] Ronaldo then made a massive comeback by scoring a hat-trick in a 7–0 trashing of Málagaon 3 March 2011, but was affected by a muscle injury at the end of the match, which forced him to spend 10 days on the sidelines.

In April he made another massive comeback from injury, sustaining a three-game scoring streak (including 2 goals in Champions League quarter-finals against Tottenham Hotspur), thus arriving to the first of a historical series of four El Clásico encounters two goals short of breaking his personal record of 42 goals in all competitions in a single season, achieved at Manchester United in the 2007–08 season.

During the second league edition of El Clásico, Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot and took his tally to 41 goals, also taking his scoring streak to four games. On 20 April, Ronaldo scored the winning goal against Barcelona in the 103rd minute of the Copa del Rey final.[90] This goal would later be chosen as both Ronaldo`s and Real Madrid`s best goal in the season by several fan polls, including those of Marca[91] and Real Madrid`s website.[92] 7 May saw Real travel to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to take on Sevilla, where Ronaldo led the thrashing of a woeful Andalusian side, scoring four goals in a 6–2 victory. These four goals took him to 46 for the season which surpassed his previous record of 42 in a season playing for Manchester United.[93] Three days later he reached 49 goals for the season, by scoring another hat-trick in a 4–0 home win against Getafe. On 15 May, after scoring two free-kick goals in a 3–1 win over Villarreal, he equalled the La Liga record with most goals in a season with 38, a record previously held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez.

On 21 May, he scored two goals in the last league match of the season against Almería, taking his Pichichi total to 41, and La Liga total to 40, becoming the first and only player to score 40 or more goals in a La Liga season. By doing this, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different leagues. The sports newspaper Marca, who awards the Pichichi Trophy, included the goal scored on 18 September 2010 to Real Sociedad in Ronaldo`s goal count, which officially attributed to Pepe[94]. Should this goal be granted to Ronaldo, his goal count in the Pichichi Trophy would tally 41 goals. However, careless of this goal polemic, Ronaldo`s record-breaking figures became a source of major attention from public media, something that granted Ronaldo awards like Sports Illustrated XI,[95] rating him as one of the world`s best footballers. Accounting for all competitions, Ronaldo ended the season with a total of 53 goals (not granting him the controversy goal from Pepe), having scored 25 goals with his right foot (excluding free-kicks and penalty-kicks) and 9 with his left foot.

2011–12 season

Real Madrid`s pre-season began with a 4–1 victory over MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy,[97] with goals from Callejón, Joselu, Ronaldo, and Benzema.[98] Four days later Ronaldo scored a second half hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Guadalajara. Ronaldo`s preseason performance was highly praised as world media kept hailing Ronaldo`s extreme competitiveness and motivation, even during friendly matches. On August 17, 2011, Ronaldo scored his 100th goal with Real Madrid with a first-half equalizer against Barcelona in the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Supercup in the Camp Nou. On August 27, 2011, he opened the 2011–12 La Liga season with a hat-trick in a 6–0 win at Real Zaragoza.

In the first weeks of September, Ronaldo`s physical performance was subject to scrutiny by world media, after Castrol released a television film named "Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit" where he was put to test in several fields, including mental and physical. Conclusions from the movie and doctors on the weeks following claimed that Ronaldo was one of the best athletes in the world, excelling in Soccer and outstanding in almost every other category. Several sources drew comparisons between him and other top-athletes, such as world record holder Usain Bolt. Later in September, after returning from a positive performance with Portugal, Ronaldo converted a penalty and assisted Karim Benzema`s second goal in a 4–2 victory over Getafe. On September 24 Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (including two penalties) in Real Madrid`s 6–2 drubbing of Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu. This was his ninth La Liga hat-trick and tenth hat-trick for Real Madrid. On September 27 Ronaldo scored Real`s opening goal in a 3–0 defeat of Ajax in the Champions League.

International career

Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1–0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003.[99] Euro 2004 Ronaldo was called up for Euro 2004,[100] scoring in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece[101] and in a 2–1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.[102] He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.[103]He also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[104][105] 2006 World Cup Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals, and scored his first World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.
During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo`s United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo`s decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney`s dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney`s infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.

The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,[1 and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.[110] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.[
Ronaldo was booed during Portugal`s semi-final defeat to France and missed out on the competition`s Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans. Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA`s Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany`s Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo`s behaviour as a factor in the decision.

Post-World Cup

One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007 This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture... [he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."

Euro 2008
Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal`s UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, behind Poland`s Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany. When Carlos Queiroz was named Portugal`s new coach in July 2008 he appointed Ronaldo as team captain.

2010 World Cup
On 15 June 2010, in Portugal`s opening World Cup match against Côte d`Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo`s yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected

Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal`s 7–0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June, which marked his first international goal in 16 months. Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the Round of 1

KIMI RAIKKONEN : The ICEMAN Returns

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

The ICEMAN, KIMI RAIKKONEN: As a sports-hungry 11 year-old, Kimi Raikkonen’s youthful enthusiasm for karting quickly developed into his chosen career. The young Finn swiftly stamped his authority on the local opposition before making his mark in international events. Surprisingly, he never won a karting title, but his early racing days singled him out as a future star.

In 2000 - ten years after he had first got behind the wheel of a kart - Raikkonen made the switch to single-seaters. Choosing the UK Formula Renault series as his springboard, the previously title-less driver took the championship with seven wins, 316 points and six pole positions. Indeed, the Finn was so dominant that year, several Formula One teams, convinced of his raw talent, began to court him.

Sauber were the first to make a concrete offer and after a successful three-day test, Raikkonen landed a race drive with the Swiss squad for 2001. Given that he had only 23 single-seater race starts to his name, many questioned Peter Sauber’s confidence, but from the outset Raikkonen’s pace and consistency blew such criticisms out of the water. He ended his first Formula One season with nine championship points - and the admiration of much of the paddock, including, most notably, Ron Dennis.

The McLaren boss was on the look out for a driver capable of filling the shoes of his retirement-bound double champion, Mika Hakkinen. Recognising Raikkonen’s rising star, Dennis swiftly signed him on a lengthy five-year contract to replace his original ‘flying Finn’. Now the question on everybody’s lips was whether Raikkonen could handle a top-flight team so early in his career.

But as before at Sauber, he quickly silenced the sceptics and his first season with McLaren was widely regarded as a success. Although, like team mate David Coulthard, he did not win a race, Raikkonen scored four podium finishes and 24 championship points, an impressive tally considering his 10 retirements. True, Coulthard scored almost twice as many points, but the McLaren veteran of six years found himself outclassed by his new colleague in qualifying.

The following year in Malaysia Raikkonen enjoyed his first taste of victory, and a further ten podiums saw him come within two points of upsetting Michael Schumacher’s run of drivers’ titles. But then, just as it seemed Raikkonen was indeed the new Hakkinen, reliability problems hit McLaren and at the start of 2004 he retired from all three opening races. Only a pole at Silverstone later in the year and a dominant victory in the Belgium reaffirmed the Finn’s reputation and put the fading Coulthard still further in the shade.

Coulthard’s exit in 2005 marked the arrival of Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren, but like his Scottish predecessor, the Colombian would generally fail to match Raikkonen. After the team’s bleak start to the season, again marred by poor reliability, they gradually gained momentum and Raikkonen ultimately enjoyed five poles, five podiums and seven wins. But Renault and Fernando Alonso retained the edge in the title chase, leaving Raikkonen to finish runner-up for a second time in three years. It was a bitter blow for a driver widely regarded as the fastest on the grid - over a single lap at least - and it was no coincidence that rumours soon began to surface of a possible move away from McLaren.

Despite the speculation, Raikkonen’s driving remained as determined and consistent as ever in 2006. Oblivious to the distractions of Montoya’s unscheduled exit for NASCAR, he scored in every race he finished. However, he also retired six times and finished a downhearted fifth in the drivers’ championship. By then, though, the worst-kept secret in the paddock had already been confirmed - Raikkonen’s move to Ferrari for 2007, to replace Michael Schumacher. A hard act to follow perhaps, but few expected Raikkonen to notice the pressure - he is known as ‘the iceman’ after all - and so it proved.

After winning on his Ferrari debut in Australia, Raikkonen kept a watching brief throughout the ’07 season, waiting until the very last round to regain the championship lead and hence steal the drivers’ title from under the nose of previous employers McLaren. It was a trick he was unable to repeat in 2008, however, as his winning form - and critically his qualifying pace - all too often deserted him, ultimately leaving him in a supporting role to team mate Felipe Massa.

He seemed to initially fare little better at the start of the 2009 season and his lacklustre early form prompted some critics to suggest he'd lost interest in the sport. But he returned himself to the podium with a third place in Monaco and a second place in Hungary, before claiming Ferrari’s only 2009 win at the Belgium round.

As the team stopped pushing the development of the F60, however, he dropped off the pace once again. Raikkonen subsequently agreed to leave Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season despite having a year of his contract still to run, in order to make way for Fernando Alonso.

He switched Formula One racing for the World Rally Championship in 2010, where he spent two seasons, during which time he also competed in one NASCAR Truck series race and one Nationwide event. In November 2011 rumours he would join Williams proved unfounded and he instead confirmed he would make his Formula One comeback in 2012 with the Lotus team.

Career in short:

1998

Finnish karting champion, plus strong performances in numerous international karting series.

1999

Competes in British Formula Ford and Formula Renault, winning the latter's winter series.

2000

British Formula Renault champion. Competes in three rounds of the European Formula Renault championship and takes two wins, two poles and two fastest laps.

2001

A strong debut season for Sauber. He takes nine points to finish 10th in the drivers' championship and manages ten top-ten qualifying performances.

2002

Joins McLaren and takes three third places and a second in his first season with the team.

2003

Takes maiden Grand Prix win in Malaysia and a total of ten podium finishes. Emerges as Michael Schumacher's most consistent title challenger. Runner-up in the drivers' championship, just two points behind the German.

2004

Early-season reliability problems put an early end to championship hopes, but he proves his resilience with pole position at Silverstone and a superb victory over Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in the Belgian Grand Prix.

2005

Five poles, seven wins, five podiums, but only second in the championship due to reliability issues. Greatest victory arguably at Suzuka, where he starts 17th on the grid and passes Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap to win.

2006

Fails to win a race in final season for McLaren, whose car is unable to match the performance of Renault's and Ferrari's. Nevertheless scores in every round he finishes to take fifth in the standings. Signs new deal with Ferrari for 2007.

2007

Wins on his very first appearance for Ferrari in Australia and goes on to take a further five victories, including a vital win at the final round in Brazil, which sees him come from behind to take his first drivers' title by a single point.

2008

Strong start to season before championship-winning form of 2007 deserts him, particularly in qualifying. Ends year playing supporting role to team mate Felipe Massa, despite a record-equalling 10 fastest laps. Re-signs for a further two seasons with Ferrari.

2009

Lacklustre early form prompts critics to suggest he's lost interest, but breaks back onto podium with third place in Monaco, second in Hungary and then Ferrari's only 2009 win in Belgium. Drops off the pace in latter races as team halt F60 development. Loses drive to Fernando Alonso for 2010.

2010

Leaves Formula One racing to pursue a career in rallying. Competes in 11 rounds of the World Rally Championship. Bset finish is seventh in Germany.

2011

Competes for a second season in the World Rally Championship. Struggles to make much of an impression and signs to make his Formula One comeback with Lotus in 2012.

Kimi's Return:

After two years away from the sport, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is thrilled to be back in a Formula One factory preparing for a new season. Raikkonen spent Thursday at Lotus’s UK base in Enstone meeting engineers and having a seat fitting, before his new team’s winter test schedule gets underway next month.

“There has been quite a bit of noise in the press about my comeback and there have been a lot of rumours,” the 32 year-old Finn told Lotus's website. “For me, coming back to Formula One is a good thing and I hope it will be for the team and the fans also!

"I love this time of the year at the factory. There’s a real buzz surrounding the new car, every single department is working flat out in order to have everything ready on time. You can really feel people’s dedication and it’s nice to be a part of it.”

Although he’d briefly sat in a cockpit when he visited his new employer last, Raikkonen’s Thursday seat fitting was the first time he’d properly got behind the wheel of a Formula One machine since bidding adieu to his Ferrari at 2009’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

“The last time I was at Enstone I quickly jumped into a seat, but this is indeed the first time I have properly sat in an F1 car with a helmet on since the last race of 2009,” he explained. “It felt a bit odd at first because the cockpit seems a bit small, but that’s normal.

"It’s just like in the past when I have done seat fittings - it feels a bit strange when you first step into the car but you quickly adjust. You spend so much time sitting in the car so the position is really crucial, it needs to be 100 percent right.

"I’d rather spend a lot of time getting it right at this time of the year because there are many races in the season and you sit behind the wheel a lot. Getting it right the first time is imperative. It will be nice to get back to racing.”

Raikkonen, and new team mate Romain Grosjean, are expected to begin testing at the opening session of the winter schedule, which will take place at the Spanish circuit of Jerez from February 7-9.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:12:00 +0000

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar,the world famous Indian cricketer was born on 24 April 1973 in Mumbai. He is the most experienced player of Team India right now and plays as an opener in ODI and middle order batsman in Tests. He is a right handed batsman and bowls right arm leg-spin, off-spin and medium pace. He is well known as Little Master, Master Blaster and is nicknamed Tendlya. He is one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.

Sachin: The Individual

His father, Mr.Ramesh was a Marathi novelist & mother Mrs.Rajni ,worked in an insurance company. Sachin started playing cricket from his childhood days. His brother Vijay was the main motivation behind him taking cricket as a profession.To begin with, he started training under Ramakant Achrekar his coach at Sharadashram Vidyamandir. Then he joined MRF Pace Academy in pursue of becoming a fast bowler but some of the greats of cricket advised him to focus on batting.

Sachin & Anjali

Then he started playing at school level where he was involved in a record 664 run unbroken stand with Vinod Kambli.

He married Anjali a doctor by profession in 1995 and they have a son Arjun and a daughter Sara.

Cricket Career:

He made his first class debut for Bombay against Gujarat making a century at just 15 years and 232 days thus becoming the youngest player to score a century on debut. He also represented Mumbai in Duleep and Irani trophy.

Kambli & Sachin after the record partnership.

Tendulkar made his International debut during the 1989 tour of Pakistan. He played his first test against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989 and handled the pace attack of Pakistan constituting of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram with ease and caution. He was then regarded as becoming one of the greats.
He made his ODI debut against Pakistan on December 18, 1989. He made his maiden test century (119*) against England at Old Trafford thus becoming the second youngest player to score a test century at the age of 16. Wisden described that innings as one of the disciplined mixed with maturity.
From there on Tendulkar rose through the ranks and went on to become one of the greatest to have played the game of cricket.
His maiden ODI century came in his 79th match against Australia on September 9, 1994 in Srilanka. Imagine that and now he is has the highest number of centuries both in tests and ODI. His good form didn’t stopped there as he went on to become the leading run scorer in 1996 world cup.
Tendulkar achieved his peak form in the year 1998 when he showed his strength and easiness to murder spin attack. He made a mark on Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson mauling them by occasionally dancing down the track and drive over the infield. He scored three consecutive centuries in the series against Australia.
He again tormented Australia especially Shane Warne in Sharjah with two most unbelievable knocks of his career and helping India win the Sharjah Cup. He scored two back to back centuries (semifinal and final) as India beat Australia.

Today Sachin Tendulkar holds every record possible in cricket. He is also ranked as the second best test batsman and ODI batsman of all time by Wisden.

He was the first to reach 10,000 runs in ODI and 12000, 13000 and 14000 runs in Test Cricket.
He also holds the record of highest run scorer in ODI and Test.
He has the highest number of centuries in ODI (48) and Test (51).
Highest Individual score in an ODI innings (200*) against South Africa.
First man on the planet to score a double century in ODI.
Player of the Tournament in ICC Cricket World Cup 2003

Awards:

Arjuna Award, 1994
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 1997
Wisden Cricketer of the Year, 1997
Padma Shri, 1999
Maharashtra Bhushan Award, 2001
Padma Vibhushan, 2008

Records:

Most Centuries in ODI (48)
Highest number of Man of the Match awards (56)
Most Man of the Series (14) awards
First cricketer to score 10,000 runs and to get passed 16,000, 17000 and 18000 runs.
Highest number of runs in a World Cup (1,796 @ 59.87)
Most number of Man of the Match awards in World Cup matches.
Most number of ODI fifties
Most ODIs played (453)
Only player to be in top 10 of ICC rankings for 10 years.
Most Test Centuries (51)
Only cricketer to receive Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards.
Sachin Tendulkar century has been a unique feature in his debut games of Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy. No other batsmen have done it yet.
First overseas player to play for English County Yorkshire .
Only cricketer to receive Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padma Shri and Arjuna Award.
Most runs scored in a single calendar year (1894 runs in the year 1998)
First batsmen to score 50 & 75 international centuries.
Most number of international runs in all forms of the game. (33409 runs in ODI+Test+T20s)
Involved in 6 200+ partnerships in One Day Internationals – most by any batsman.
Most centuries in 1 Calendar year (9 centuries in 1998)
Least number of innings required by Sachin Tendulkar to score 10,000 runs in One Day Internationals (259). Also, Sachin Tendulkar batting average is highest among the batsmen with more than 10,000 runs.
Played in most number of stadiums around the world. (90)
Most number of successive ODI appearances (185)
When Sachin Tendulkar centuries reached the mark of 5, he was the youngest to do so. This is still a record.
Highest score by an Indian captain in a Test innings (217 against New Zealand )
Highest number of runs scored on foreign soil (over 7,000 runs)
Most number of Test appearances for India
Most number of Test appearances (177)
First batsman to score 30000, 31000 and 32000 international runs
Sachin is the only player to have 150+ ODI wickets and over 18,000 runs
Only player to have taken 40+ wickets and score 14,000 runs in Test Cricket..
First man on the planet to score a double century in ODI.
First player to play 300 innings in Test Matches.

Surpassed Allan Border of Australia in terms of half centuries(64) in Tests in the ongoing Test Series against Australia.He is currently playing for Team India in Australia and looking forward for his 100th ton.