Super Soccer

Biography Ronaldo

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:14 PST

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima (pronounced [xo'nawdʊ lu'iz na'zaɾjʊ dʒi 'limɐ]; born September 18, 1976 in Rio de Janeiro), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Italian Serie A club AC Milan. He has been nicknamed "The Phenomenon" (Portuguese: O Fenômeno, Spanish: El Fenómeno). Pelé named him one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In 2007 France Football named him in their best starting 11 of all time.

Ronaldo has enjoyed success at the international level, winning the 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cups with Brazil. Ronaldo has won three FIFA World Player of the Year awards (1996, 1997, 2002). He and former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane are the only two men to have won the award three times.

Football career

Ronaldo was born in Bento Ribeiro, a poor neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. Like many of his friends, he began to play football in the streets of his neighborhood. Ronaldo's actual date of birth is September 18, however, his father did not register his birth certificate until September 22,[citation needed]so some discrepancy has existed as to his actual birth date. His football abilities were first recognised when he was 14. He was recommended to the Brazil youth team by World Cup winner Jairzinho, who also arranged for his own former club, Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, to sign him when he was old enough for a professional contract.[citation needed]

Ronaldo scored 12 goals in 13 games in the Brazilian National Championship, and in the Minas Gerais State Championship he scored all three goals in Cruzeiro's 3-1 victory against arch-rival Atlético Mineiro. After being scouted by Piet de Visser, he was soon transferred for US$6 million to PSV Eindhoven, where he scored 42 goals in 46 league games and reached a total of 55 goals in 57 official appearances. Later he attracted the attention of FC Barcelona. He played for Barça in the 1996-97 season, scoring 47 in 49 (including appearances in the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup) on the way to leading the Catalan side to UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph (where he capped the season with the winning goal in the cup final itself). Inter Milan swooped to sign him the following year, and Ronaldo duly helped them repeat his former side's cup-winning run, this time in the UEFA Cup. As of 2006, Ronaldo is the last player to score more than 30 goals in 1 season in the Spanish La Liga.

On 21 November 1999, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the pitch. Medical exams after the match confirmed that the striker had ruptured a tendon in his right knee and would require surgery. [1]During his first comeback on April 12, 2000, he played only seven minutes during the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.[2]

After two operations and 20 months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002 he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid for approximately €39 million. Even though he was sidelined through injury until October 2002, fans continued to chant his name in the stands. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals and the La Liga Championship title for 2003, which Ronaldo had previously failed to win while with Barcelona.

A.C. Milan

On 18 January 2007 it was reported that Ronaldo has agreed terms with A.C. Milan for a transfer of about €7.5 million.[3] Ronaldo was forced to pay for the remaining period on his contract which tied him to Real Madrid, only because the latter did not accept to release him, while A.C. Milan were not ready to pay such a sum. On Thursday, 25 January Ronaldo flew from Madrid to Milan to watch A.C. Milan in a cup tie against AS Roma. Statements on the club's website said that Ronaldo was in Milan for a medical, and that a meeting had been arranged for Monday with Real Madrid officials to discuss and finalize his transfer to Milan. On January 26 Ronaldo successfully completed his medical tests at the Milanello training complex under the supervision of club doctors, and the transfer completed on 30 January[4] and got the jersey number 99. He made his debut as a substitute for Milan on 11 February 2007, during the 2-1 victory over Livorno. The next game at Siena on 17 February 2007, Ronaldo scored twice and assisted on a third goal in his first start for Milan as they won an exciting game 4-3. In his first season at Milan, Ronaldo scored 7 goals in 14 appearances. [5]

After his move to A.C. Milan, Ronaldo joined the list of the few players to have played for both Inter Milan and A.C. Milan in the Milan derby and is the only player to have scored for both sides in the derby game (for Inter in the 98/99 season and for Milan in the 06/07 season). Ronaldo is also one of the few players to have started for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, which also boasts a heated rivalry. However, Ronaldo has never transferred directly between the teams in the derby. Ronaldo has only played 300-plus minutes for Milan this season and before a Champions League game against Benfica he pulled a calf muscle while warming up. This has put negotiations of signing a new contract under threat as the Milan coaching and general staff are becoming frustrated with his fitness, which his current one run until June 2008. Ronaldo's only goals in the 2007/2008 season, besides his goal against Lecce in pre-season, came in a 5-2 victory against Napoli at the San Siro, where he scored an emotional brace. It was also the first time Milan's much hyped attacking trio of Kaka, Pato and Ronaldo, known as Ka-Pa-Ro played together. Despite his tremendous success over the past decade, Ronaldo never won the UEFA Champions League in his club career. During the 2006-07 season, though Milan won the 2006-07 title, Ronaldo was cup-tied with Madrid and ineligible to take part. The closest that he has even been was in 2003 when he helped Real Madrid to the semi-finals, in which they lost to Juventus F.C..

On February 13, 2008, Ronaldo suffered a severe season-ending knee injury while jumping for a cross in Milan's 1-1 draw with A.S. Livorno Calcio, and was stretchered off and taken to a hospital. Milan confirmed after the match that Ronaldo had ruptured the kneecap ligament in his left knee. It marked the third such occurrence of this injury, which he suffered twice to his right knee in 1998 and 2000. [6]

Over a month after his season-ending knee injury with AC Milan, the three-time FIFA World Player of the year ruled out the possibility of retirement and told calciomercato.it that he is certain he will play again. [7]

International career

Ronaldo made his international debut for Brazil in 1994, in a friendly match in Recife against Argentina. He went to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA as a 17-year-old but did not play. He came to be known then as Ronaldinho, since Ronaldo Rodrigues de Jesus, his older team-mate on the tournament, was too called Ronaldo (and nicknamed Ronaldão to further distinguish them). Another Brazilian player, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, who is widely known as Ronaldinho, would come to be called Ronaldinho Gaúcho when he joined the Brazilian main national team in 1999.

In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ronaldo played with the name Ronaldinho ("little Ronaldo") on his shirt, since centre back Ronaldo Guiaro, two years his senior, was one of his teammates.

Voted the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, he scored four goals and made three assists[8] during the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The night before the final, he suffered a convulsive fit. He was initially removed from the starting lineup 72 minutes before the match but he requested to play and was later reinstated by coach Mario Zagallo. Ronaldo did not perform well and he was injured in a collision with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Brazil lost the final to hosts France 3-0.[9] Adrian Williams, professor of clinical neurology at Birmingham University, said that Ronaldo should not have played, saying that he would have been feeling the after effects of the seizure and that "there is no way that he would have been able to perform to the best of his ability within 24 hours of his first fit -- if it was his first fit."[10]

Ronaldo won the Golden Shoe as the top scorer in the 2002 FIFA World Cup with eight goals. He scored against every team he came up against except England in the quarter finals and scored two in the final against Germany, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. He also equaled Pelé's Brazilian record of 12 World Cup goals, adding to the four he scored in the 1998 tournament.

On June 2, 2004, Ronaldo scored an unusual hat-trick for Brazil against arch-rivals Argentina in a CONMEBOL qualifier for the 2006 World Cup, scoring all three of Brazil's goals from the penalty spot, winning all the penalties himself.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although Brazil won their first two group games against Croatia and Australia, respectively, Ronaldo was repeatedly jeered for being overweight and slow (Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva questioned the national coach "Ronaldo is fat or isn't he?"). Nonetheless, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept him in the starting lineup in face of calls to have Ronaldo replaced. With his two goals against Japan in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups. Ronaldo scored in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. On June 27, 2006, he broke the all-time World Cup Finals scoring record of 14, held by Gerd Müller after scoring his 15th World Cup goal against Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Round of 16. He also equaled a much less talked about mark: with his third goal of the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became only the second player ever (Jürgen Klinsmann being the other) to score at least three goals in each of three World Cups. However, Brazil was eliminated by France 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

The fallout after Brazil's disappointing performance in the World Cup saw Brazil appoint former captain Dunga as manager. His attempt to end the star culture of the Brazilian national team saw him drop Ronaldo not only from the starting line-up but from the squad altogether. He hasn't been selected since. He is eleven goals away from becoming Brazil's all-time top-scorer.

Ronaldo is currently the fourth highest all-time goalscorer of the Brazil national football team, with 62 goals. He trails third place Zico, 66, second place Romario, 71, and first place Pelé, 77. [11]

Personal life

In April 1999, Ronaldo married Milene Domingues. The marriage lasted four years and ended in divorce. The couple had a son, Ronald (born 2000). In 2005, Ronaldo got engaged to Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli, who became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage; their relationship lasted 3 months after their engagement. He ended his relationship with Brazilian supermodel Raica Oliveira in December 2006. Writer Andrew Downie asserted a correlation between Ronaldo's personal life and performance on the pitch, noting that his most prolific periods of goalscoring have coincided with the times when he was happily married.[12]

In 2005, Ronaldo became co-owner of A1 Team Brazil, alongside Brazilian motorsports legend Emerson Fittipaldi. The team participates in the A1 Grand Prix series, with Nelson Piquet, Jr., Tony Kanaan and João Paulo Oliveira as drivers for the debut season.

On April 29, 2008, it was alleged that Ronaldo, who had returned to Brazil to continue his injury rehabilitation, had employed the company of three transvestite prostitutes in a Rio de Janeiro motel.[13] Police told a news conference they were also looking into an accusation by the player that one of the three transvestites tried to extort $29,600 in return for not telling the media about the incident.

Philanthropy

Ronaldo became a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador in 2000. "No one should be doomed to a life of poverty, whether by birth or as a consequence of war", Ronaldo said.[14][15]

Ronaldo has also supported numerous Palestinian children's charities.[16]

from wikipedia.org

Biography Alessandro Del Piero

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:14 PST

Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI[2][3] (born November 9, 1974 in Conegliano Veneto) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He is the captain of Juventus where he holds several club records and he is a member of the Italian national team.

His footballing ability is highly regarded and he has won critical recognition. Pelé named Del Piero in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. He was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000 Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue.[4] Currently, Del Piero is still the highest earning Italian Player.[5]

As well as earning respect for his playing, Del Piero has won several accolades for his character. Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct[6][7] he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability.[8]

Usually, Del Piero plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position. Although he is not very tall, Del Piero's playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching."[9] His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded.[10] Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special " Del Piero Zone", approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.[11]

In terms of goalscoring, Del Piero holds the all-time record at Juventus.[12] On April 6th, 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time top capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. He is in sixth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records.[13] Within the Italian national team, he is currently joint fourth with Roberto Baggio in the all-time scoring records.

Childhood and early career

Del Piero is the son of Gino, an electrician, and Bruna, a housekeeper. He regularly played football in the backyard with three friends, Nelso, Pierpaolo, and Giovanni-Paolo as a child, all three dreamed of becoming a footballer but only Del Piero would eventually manage to do so.[14] Alessandro's older brother, Stefano, briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before injury struck him. The family lived in a rural home in San Vendemiano, while growing up Del Piero's family didn't have much money for travelling abroad, so he was considering being a lorry driver in order to see the world.[15]

While playing for the local youth team of AC San Vendemiano from the age of 7,[16] Del Piero used to play as a goalkeeper because he could play a lot more football that way. His mother thought it would be better for him if he played as a goalkeeper, since he wouldn't sweat and the possibility of him getting injured was less likely. His brother Stefano told their mother: "Don't you see that Alex is good in the attack?" and Del Piero switched position.[17]

It was while playing with his local side of AC San Vendemiano in 1988 that Del Piero was first spotted by scouts — he left home at the young age of 13 to play in the youth side of Padova Calcio. He got his first chance at professional football in 1991 where he played in the Italian Serie B league four times. The following season he played ten games for Padova and scored his first professional goal.

Juventus

In 1993, he transferred to Juventus F.C., and has been there ever since. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia in September 1993, scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana after appearing as a substitute, and then grabbed a hat-trick against Parma on his first start. Juventus claimed their first Scudetto in eight years in his first season and success continued to follow. With the Turin club, he won the Serie A championship seven times (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006[18]), the Champions League (1996), and the Intercontinental Cup (1996). His best season was in 1997-98, when he scored 21 goals in Serie A and finished top scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals, which included a peach of a freekick against Monaco in the semi finals.

Del Piero struggled for form at the beginning of the 1998-99 season, whilst doping allegations were aimed at Juventus (they were later found innocent). In October he picked up a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Udinese Calcio. This kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Juventus struggled without him and limped home to a lowly 6th place in the league.

His nickname is Pinturicchio, in reference to a joke by Gianni Agnelli when he compared the emerging Del Piero to Baggio in a parallel between the student Pinturicchio from Perugia and the teacher Perugino. He's also been nicknamed by the fans "Il Fenomeno Vero"[19] meaning the real "Phenomenon".
A commemorative shirt, celebrating Del Piero's 500th Juventus appearance
A commemorative shirt, celebrating Del Piero's 500th Juventus appearance

One of Del Piero's greatest strengths as a footballer is his versatility, which allows him to play in a variety of attacking positions. While he started his club career playing as a full-fledged striker, he settled into a deeper role as a support-striker. Because of his great technical ability, accurate passing skills and impressive vision, he has also been positioned as a playmaker in the central slot behind the forwards. In any zone surrounding the penalty area, his prowess as a creator of goals came to the fore. Under Marcello Lippi's reign as Juventus coach, Del Piero's creative abilities were on display whatever the coach's formation was. Del Piero showed his class in the lethal "trident-attack" formation along with veterans Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli. After that, he took a leading role in a creative combination with Zinedine Zidane behind Filippo Inzaghi. As Juve's playing style changed in Lippi's second stint with Juventus starting 2001, Del Piero was still vital as his partnerships with Pavel Nedvěd in midfield and David Trezeguet upfront has contributed enormously to Juve's continued success in Italy and Europe.

Del Piero is currently the all-time top scorer for Juventus, in all competitions he has also made over 500 appearances in official matches for the club. And is still Juventus' main strike force with Trezeguet and newly bought from Udinese in the summer Vincenzo Iaquinta

International career

Despite huge success on the club level, he has been somewhat disappointing playing for Italy, although he is currently the team's fourth all-time leading scorer. His tournament debut was Euro 96, but made his only appearance in the first half of a match against Russia before being substituted at halftime. Del Piero competed with fan favorite Baggio for a spot on the 1998 FIFA World Cup final roster while struggling to recover from injury suffered during the 1998 Champions League final with Juventus. He also missed two chances in Italy's 2-1 loss to France in the Euro 2000 final.

He returned to the international scene in the 2002 FIFA World Cup on the back of an impressive season in Serie A, in which he led Juventus to the Scudetto.[20] Del Piero scored the decisive goal against Hungary, which sealed the Azzurri's qualification for the finals.[21] He instantly scored against Mexico after coming on as a substitute to send Italy through to the second round, where they were eliminated.[22] After Euro 2004, Marcello Lippi was replaced by Fabio Capello as Juventus coach. Capello was not convinced of Del Piero's abilities and frequently benched him in favor of new signing Zlatan Ibrahimović, but Del Piero still managed to score 14 goals as Juventus won their 28th league title.

Del Piero began the 2006 World Cup on the bench, appearing in two out of three group stage matches, and made his first start of the competition in a 1-0 round-of-16 win over Australia on June 26. On July 4, Del Piero entered as a substitute near the end of regulation and scored Italy's second goal in a 2-0 semifinal win over host Germany. The final whistle blew 8 seconds after he scored.[23] In the final against France, which ended 1-1 after extra time, Del Piero scored a penalty in the shootout as Italy won the tournament for the fourth time. He admitted afterwards that winning the World Cup was his childhood dream.[24]

As of 2006, Del Piero has captained Italy five times (including the world cup in 2006) . He also regularly wore the number 10, but later gave it to Francesco Totti and switched to the number 7, as it was the first number he wore at the start of his career. Even though the number 10 was vacated after Totti retired from the national team in July 2007, Del Piero denied any interest in taking back the number, saying he was satisfied with the number 7. [25]

2006-07 season and onwards

Experts agree that Del Piero was back to his best in the 2005-06 season[26] having scored 20 goals in all competitions. His most memorable goal this season was the free kick which won the match against bitter rivals Internazionale. However, his role at Juventus changed in the following season, as coach Fabio Capello preferred to use him as a substitute for an "immediate impact", as Capello put it.[27] In 2006 Del Piero equalled José Altafini's Serie A record of 6 goals as a substitute after scoring in the final minute of Juventus's final game of the 2005-06 season. Del Piero himself is ambivalent about his ability to get goals off the bench, stating that "I want people to know me for more than being able to come off the bench to change a game", and in late March of 2006 revealed his openness to finishing his career with a club outside of Italy if it would guarantee him a place as a starting forward.

On January 10, 2006 Del Piero became the all time leading goalscorer for Juventus when he scored three times in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina and took his total goals for the club to 185. The previous record holder was Giampiero Boniperti, who scored 182 goals for the club.[28] Del Piero scored the last goal for Juventus in their latest Scudetto for the 05/06 Season.

Due to the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus were demoted to Serie B and their last two Scudetti were revoked. Del Piero announced that he will stay to captain the team in Serie B. He underlined that players should stick with the team, explaining that “The Agnelli family deserve this, as do the fans and the new directors".[29]

Del Piero's first appearance after the World Cup's triumph was in the Coppa Italia match against Cesena on August 23, 2006. Since Juventus will be playing in Serie B for the 2006-07 season, the Coppa Italia campaign became increasingly important for the club in order to achieve a Uefa Cup spot. Having being in vacation beforehand, Del Piero started from the bench. Juventus and Cesena were locked on 1-1 when Del Piero entered in the 74th minute and after 9 seconds scored the winning goal for Juventus.[30]

Del Piero then came in as a substitute at the 61st minute for Juve's next Coppa Italia match on August 27 vs. S.S.C. Napoli. Again Juventus was behind but Del Piero scored twice to give Juve the lead. In the end the match went into penalties, Del Piero scored a decisive one, but Napoli eventually won 5-4 in the shoot-out.[31]

This followed his signing of a new contract with Juventus after months of fractious negotiations with the club. This turnaround in fortunes for Del Piero was quite staggering, as only two weeks earlier, he was dropped by Claudio Ranieri for the Serie A match with ACF Fiorentina, and was then axed from Roberto Donadoni’s Italy squad for the games with Georgia and South Africa. However Alessandro has since turned his fortunes around and won a starting spot in the Juventus squad again. He scored two goals away at Lazio and was named to two consecutive Serie A teams of the week.

Personal life

Del Piero is married to Sonia Amoruso, the two have been together since 1999 and married in 2005.[32] The couple announced in July 2007 that they are expecting their first baby.[33] On October 22, 2007, Amoruso gave birth to baby boy Tobias Del Piero at 0:20 at Sant'Anna hospital in Turin.[34][35]

Del Piero has used his fame and money to promote and support cancer research; in recognition of this he has received from the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro a prize of "Believe in Research" during November 2006.[36]

When the Olympic Flame for the 2006 Winter Olympics passed through Turin, Del Piero was a torchbearer.[37] He has an interest in sports outside of football and in turn has gained fans outside of just football, sport icons such as NBA star Steve Nash and cycling legend Eddy Merckx have stated that they are fans of Del Piero.[38][39]

As well as an interest in other sports, Del Piero also has a keen interest in music. He has even recorded some albums of his own.[40] Del Piero is an Oasis fan and is a friend of Noel Gallagher and appeared in the video for the groups single Lord Don't Slow Me Down; Del Piero claimed Gallagher was Italy's lucky mascot in their 2006 World Cup success and invited him to the final and the team hotel after victory.[41] Along with Marco Materazzi, Del Piero appeared on stage at a Rolling Stones show in Milan shortly after Italy's World Cup win.[42]

from wikipedia.org

Biography Paolo Maldini

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:14 PST

Paolo Maldini (born 26 June 1968 in Milan) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club A.C. Milan. The son of Cesare Maldini, he has spent his entire career with Milan, and is the most-selected player in both the history of the club and Serie A. He was named among Pelé's top 125 living footballers in 2004. On 16 December 2007, after winning the FIFA Club World Cup over Boca Juniors, he announced that he will retire at the end of the season,[1] but later stated that he may reconsider his retirement.[2]

Maldini predominantly plays as a centre back although he sometimes plays at left back. He is widely considered one of the all time greats.

Club career

Maldini made his league debut on 20 January 1985, at the age of sixteen, against Udinese Calcio as a halftime substitution for the injured Sergio Battistini.[3][4] It would be his only league appearance of the campaign, but he was in the starting eleven the following season.

The 1987–88 Scudetto marked Maldini's first major trophy, and the first of seven league titles, with the club.[5] He was also part of AC Milan's undefeated "Dream Team" from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

In addition to winning his third Champions League and reaching the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, Maldini became the first defender ever to win World Soccer magazine's annual World Player of the Year Award. During his acceptance speech, Maldini called his milestone "a particular matter of pride because defenders generally receive so much less attention from fans and the media than goalscorers. We are more in the engine room rather than taking the glory."[6] He then singled out Milan captain Franco Baresi as a player who "really [deserved] to receive the sort of award I have received."[6]

Maldini played his 600th Serie A match on 13 May 2007, in a 1–1 draw at Calcio Catania.[7] On 25 September 2005, Maldini broke Dino Zoff's Serie A appearance record after playing his 571st league match against Treviso F.B.C.;[8] seven days earlier, he had played his 800th game in all competitions for Milan. On February 16, 2008, Maldini reached 1,000 senior games with AC Milan and Italy when he entered as a substitute against Parma.[9]

Maldini has participated in eight UEFA Champions League finals during the course of his career, which is more than any other active player, and close to the record held by Francisco Gento. He has lifted the trophy five times, the latest coming in Milan's 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the 2007 CL final on 23 May 2007, in Athens. In an interview with ESPN that aired prior to the broadcast of the 2007 final, he labeled the 2005 final, which Milan lost on penalties to Liverpool in extra time after blowing a 3–0 lead, the worst moment of his career, even though he had scored the fastest-ever goal in a European Clubs' Cup final just 51 seconds into the match, in the process also becoming the oldest player ever to score in a final. Though Maldini had stated his desire to end his career by winning his sixth European championship, it was not to be. His European career concluded in 2008 when Milan were defeated by Arsenal FC in the UEFA Champions League 2007-08 knockout stage.

In November 2005, he announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2006-07 season, but relented and decided to stay on for one more year. Milan plan to retire his number 3 shirt, but it will be bequeathed to one of his sons if he makes the club's senior side.[10][11] His eldest son, Christian, is 12 years old and is currently playing for the Milan youth squad.

In 2007, Maldini announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2007–08 season, saying that he will do so with 'no regrets'.[12] However, following Milan's elimination from the Champions League by Arsenal F.C. in March, Maldini stated that he will delay his retirement for at least a further year.[13]

International career

most capped player with 126 appearances, and all seven of his career international goals were scored in home matches. He spent over half of his 16 years as an international as team captain, and is also one of three current Milan players who have earned the most caps for their national teams, along with Cafu and Dario Šimić.

However, he never won a major title with the Azzurri. After Italy finished third as the host nation in the 1990 World Cup, Maldini played in his first and only World Cup final in 1994, which Italy lost to Brazil on penalties. Maldini also played a part in the less successful 1998 and 2002 World Cup campaigns, being eliminated in the quarterfinals and last 16, respectively.

Maldini was also a finalist in Italy's Euro 2000 squad that lost to France in the final. He had previously taken part in Euro 1988 and Euro 1996, while Italy failed to qualify for Euro 1992.

He announced his international retirement after Italy's exit from the 2002 World Cup. He later rejected Giovanni Trapattoni's request to return for Euro 2004 and subsequently rejected a similar request from Marcello Lippi for the successful 2006 World Cup campaign.

from : wikipedia.org

Biography Kaka

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:14 PST

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982 in Brasília, Brazil), simply known as Kaká, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazil and the Serie A club A.C. Milan. He is one of the budding young stars in world football.

Family
Kaká's younger brother Rodrigo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, known as Digão, followed in his brother's footsteps and is currently on loan with Serie B team Rimini, after having spent some time in the AC Milan youth squad.

Nickname
The nickname Kaká, from his native Portuguese, is pronounced as it is spelt. The accent would signify that the stress is on the second syllable. In Italian, the language of his current team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kakà, which is used for Italian television graphics. However, the player's shirt name is spelt KAKA' (with an apostrophe, rather than an accented 'A') for both Brazil and Milan. An internet discussion forum explains the nickname as a commonly used shortened form of "Ricardo" in Portuguese. Kaká is supposed to have got his nickname because his little brother Rodrigo could not pronounce the word "Ricardo" when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca\ Kaká suffered an accident when he made a faulty jump off a diving-board, resulting in a vertebra fracture. This could have meant the end of his football career, but he believes that Jesus allowed him to recover and become the successful footballer he is now. When AC Milan won the Serie A title in 2004, Ricky, as he is called by his team-mates, sported a shirt with an "I Belong to Jesus" slogan. He also points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks every time he scores, for apparently the same reason.

Marriage
Kaká married Caroline Celico on 23 December 2005 at the evangelical Reborn in Christ Church in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a wedding attended by fellow players from his national team, as well as other well known international players. Guests included Ronaldo, Adriano, Cafu, Dida, Julio Baptista and Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline and Kaká first met in 2002, and started dating soon after. The relationship survived Kaká's move from Sao Paulo to Italy in 2003, while Caroline was still at school. It is likely that Caroline will stay in Brazil in the short-run, but the couple plan to live together in Italy very soon.

from Wikipedia.org

Biography Michael Ballack

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:14 PST

From Wikipedia

Michael Ballack (born September 26, 1976 in Görlitz, Saxony) is a German football player. A midfielder, he is the current captain of the German national team, and plays club football for Chelsea F.C. in the English Premier League, captaining them on some occasions. He is known for his strength and precision passing, with a powerful shot.

Biography

Ballack first gained attention at Bayer Leverkusen where he operated as the central midfielder, taking on both defensive and attacking responsibilities. Later in his career, at FC Bayern Munich, under the guidance of Ottmar Hitzfeld and Felix Magath, Ballack played in a deeper role, where he went forward less often and instead concentrated on protecting the back four and distributing the ball. However, he remained a box-to-box midfielder for the German national team. Ballack is one of the most versatile soccer players in the world: he can easily play defensively as well as offensively.

He is capable with both his left and right foot, as well as in the air. These attributes earned him the German player of the year award on three occasions (2002, 2003, 2005). He is one of Germany's leading sports icons of recent times. Pelé named Ballack among the world's greatest 125 living footballers in FIFA's 2004 FIFA 100

Then, in 2004, the national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann elected Ballack as captain. Following Germany's third place finish in the World Cup in summer 2006, the new Germany head coach Joachim Löw chose to keep Ballack as his national team captain. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every club that he has played for, as well as the German national team.

Ballack and his life partner Simone Lambe have three children: Louis (born August 16, 2001), Emilio (September 19, 2002), and Jordi (born March 17, 2005).[1]

Career

Chemnitz

His parents sent him to train with the side when he was seven years old. He later moved on to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt (renamed Chemnitzer FC in 1990). His father had played second-division football himself in Germany. Unusual for his early age was Ballack's ability to use both feet with equal authority.

In 1995, Ballack earned his first professional contract, thanks to his impressive performances in the role of central midfielder. He was dubbed the "Little Kaiser", in reference to Franz Beckenbauer, who was nicknamed "The Kaiser". His professional debut came on 4 August 1995, on the first day of the new Second Bundesliga season. Chemnitz lost the game 2–1, against VfB Leipzig.

At the end of the season, during which Ballack made fifteen appearances, Chemnitz were relegated to the multi-tiered, regional third division. For Ballack himself, however, that season held one great success: on 26 March 1996, he made his debut for Germany's Under-21 side.

The following season, Ballack became a regular first-team player and almost helped Chemnitz to bounce straight back. He did not miss a game and scored ten goals for the "Sky Blues". It was not enough for Chemnitz to go up, but Ballack managed to win his own, personal promotion: in the summer of 1997, decorated German coach Otto Rehhagel of just-promoted 1. FC Kaiserslautern, signed Ballack at their return to top flight football.

Kaiserslautern

It was during the seventh game of the 1997–98 season, away to Karlsruher SC, that Rehhagel decided to throw young Ballack into the Bundesliga for the first time, if only for the final five minutes of the encounter. On 28 March 1998, Ballack found himself in the starting line-up for the first time – the opponents were Bayer Leverkusen, and the manager charged him with the crucial task of marking playmaker Emerson, his future team-mate, out of the game.

Ballack made sixteen appearances for his new team during the season and thus played a part in Kaiserslautern's success – the club became the first-ever newly promoted team to lift the league title. In the following season, Ballack became both a regular (he made 30 appearances, scoring four goals) and one of the side's leading players. Kaiserslautern reached the quarter finals of the Champions League, but were knocked out by Bayern Munich.

On 1 July 1999, some two months after his first full international, Ballack moved to Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 22, for a transfer fee of 8 m Deutsche Mark (€4.8 m).

Bayer Leverkusen

It was at Bayer Leverkusen that Ballack made his big breakthrough. Coaches Christoph Daum and Klaus Toppmöller granted him the whole of the pitch as his sovereign territory. With Bayer, Ballack was the man who pulled the strings in the centre of the pitch, making late runs into the opponents' penalty box, and also the reliable finisher upfront. Over his three seasons at the BayArena, he scored 27 goals in the league, and a further nine goals in Europe.

Ballack and Leverkusen teammates Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow, and Oliver Neuville were even beaten finalists with Germany in the 2002 World Cup, although Ballack was suspended for the Final itself. Ballack finished with 17 league goals, and his remarkable season led to him being voted into the uefa.com users' Team of 2002 as well being named Germany's Footballer of the Year.

Bayern Munich
Ballack playing for Bayern Munich
Ballack playing for Bayern Munich

In spite of Spanish giants Real Madrid's interest, Ballack decided to sign with Bayern Munich in a €12.9 m deal in 2002 after his fantastic performance in the World Cup almost single handedly guiding Germany to the final. Bayern won the Bundesliga in his first season with 75 points, they also won the German Cup. In his second season however, Bayern were unlucky as they lost their Bundesliga crown to Werder Bremen along with the cup.

In his third season with the Bavarian giants, Ballack enjoyed success in the 2004/05 season as Bayern Munich completed another double. New coach Felix Magath stated he was the only automatic starter in their midfield.[2] In four seasons at Bayern, Ballack won three Bundesliga and German Cup doubles and scored 47 goals in 135 matches. Between 1998 and 2005, Ballack notched up 61 goals in his domestic league.

However, Ballack's critics noted his frequent choking in important UEFA Champions League matches, as well as continually looking for a big international move. This resulted in open public criticism from club general manager Uli Hoeness, communications director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and club president Franz Beckenbauer (all former Bayern players). Beckenbauer later went as far as to accuse Ballack of "saving his strength" for prospective employers after Ballack turned in an average performance in the 2006 DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt.[3]

During his few final games for Bayern, supporters at the stadium jeered at Ballack, angering him because he felt that he honoured his contract and conducted himself professionally on and off the pitch as a Bayern player. Shortly after his transfer to Chelsea, Ballack proclaimed sarcastically that the acrimony surrounding his departure made him glad as it proved how important he had been to Bayern. Ballack also rubbished accusations that money was his primary motivation in moving to Chelsea, stating that he earned well at Bayern. Ballack stated that he joined Chelsea to fulfill his dream of playing abroad. He also stated that Chelsea's fellow Premiership club Manchester United had made an approach, but he decided that Chelsea were a more attractive team to join. It could be said that United were in more need of such a player after the departure of Roy Keane, but the appeal of living in London probably made the decision for Ballack.[4]

Chelsea

Ballack agreed to join Chelsea on a Bosman transfer on May 15, 2006.[5] During his last season as a Bayern player there were rumours of interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid and A.C. Milan,[6] but Ballack instead chose to go to Stamford Bridge. Shortly after arriving at Chelsea, Ballack stated that he hoped to end his career at Stamford Bridge.

Ballack's Chelsea debut came on Monday July 31, 2006, during a practice match at UCLA's intramural football pitch. Chelsea presented him to the media the following day where the club also gave him his favoured number 13 shirt, worn throughout his career. On August 27, 2006, Ballack earned his Premiership debut for Chelsea against Blackburn Rovers, and his UEFA Champions League debut for Chelsea against Werder Bremen.
Ballack with Chelsea
Ballack with Chelsea

Ballack scored his first goal for Chelsea on September 21, 2006 in the Champions League group stage match against SV Werder Bremen. He received his first straight red card of his career in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Liverpool on September 17, 2006, after being judged to have stamped on Mohamed Sissoko's leg. Ballack scored his first Premiership goal on October 21, 2006 against Portsmouth in a home game at Stamford Bridge with a header. His first FA Cup goal came in the 109th minute in a match against Blackburn Rovers on April 15, 2007. This goal resulted in Chelsea progressing into the FA Cup final. He scored eight goals in all competitions for the club in the 2006–07 season, including a fantastic free-kick against Everton at Goodison Park, as well as a superb half-volley against FC Porto which sent Chelsea through to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.

On April 28, 2007, Chelsea released a statement on their official website, informing fans that Ballack had undergone ankle surgery in Munich. As a result of the surgery, Ballack did not play in the FA Cup Final against Manchester United, which Chelsea won 1–0 through Didier Drogba's extra time goal. This was Ballack's second trophy this season, his first being the Carling Cup.

On August 4, Spanish media reported that Real Madrid was close to signing Ballack and/or his Chelsea teammate Arjen Robben. Madrid coach Bernd Schuster told Spanish radio, "Hopefully, we'll be able to announce the signing of one or two big players soon." Schuster is said to have demanded Ballack, while Madrid's president Ramon Calderon, is known to favor Robben.[7]

On August 7, Ballack released a statement on Chelsea FC's official website, saying:
“ I am totally committed to Chelsea. I came here to win trophies and be successful in English football, I want to assure the Chelsea fans of that. I am very happy in London professionally and for my family. The speculation about me leaving is not true. I have no interest in leaving Chelsea and I have had no contact with Real Madrid whatsoever. I am frustrated by my injury at the moment but I am working hard to be fit and hope to be back very soon to join my team-mates. ”

Chelsea left Michael Ballack out of their Champions League squad for the 2007/08 Group Stage as they realised that his injury would prevent him from playing any useful part and preferred to select the fully-fit Steve Sidwell. The German international had an ankle operation in the summer and Chelsea could not take the risk of him not regaining full fitness before the end of the Group Stage. Thus, Ballack could not play in the Champions League before the knockout stages began in February.[8] The club was only able to select 23 out of a possible 25 players for their Champions League squad due to the new UEFA regulations on 'association-trained players' and 'club-trained players'. Due to this regulation Chelsea were also unable to select young player Scott Sinclair and could only pick 23 players as their only 'club-trained player' was John Terry. For this reason it was deemed unwise to gamble on Ballack being fit at some point.[9]

He was absent for eight months with an ankle injury, during which he feared that his football career may be in danger of ending as he was getting older. He made his return to the side in Chelsea's 2–0 Carling Cup win over Liverpool on December 19. Ballack tallied an assist late in the game to striker Andriy Shevchenko. On December 26, Ballack made his league return in a thrilling game against Aston Villa which ended 4–4. He came on for Frank Lampard in the 26th minute after the latter had picked up a thigh injury. In first-half stoppage time, he won a penalty after being brought down in the box by Zat Knight which Andriy Shevchenko converted. In the 88th minute, with the scores tied at 3–3, Ballack stepped up to take a free-kick which he buried into the bottom left corner of the goal, capping off an excellent league return, but the match ended in a 4–4 draw.

Ballack captained the Chelsea team in the absence of captain John Terry, vice captain Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba in a 2–1 win over Newcastle on December 29, 2007. Ballack then played his 50th game in a Chelsea shirt in a 2–1 win against Fulham in which he scored the winning goal for Chelsea. He also scored the only goal that won the match for Chelsea against Reading to extend the blues' winning streak to a record of 9. Ballack has since become an influential player at Stamford Bridge and is credited with the new dawn of Avram Grant. Ballack is the only person in the team with the physique from the midfield and is credited for an outstanding attack. Despite initial doubts over the partnership with Frank Lampard in midfield, the pair seemed to have shrugged off the initial problems and they are working well together. Michael Ballack, is now part of the new look Chelsea. On March 1 Ballack scored against West Ham in Chelsea's 4–0 win. And, on March 5, he scored again, this time against Olympiacos CFP in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 in a 3-0 win.

With Chelsea's progress to the 2007–2008 Champions League Quarter-Finals, Michael Ballack is the only player to have reached the Champions League Quarter-Finals with four different clubs. He scored the winning goal in the 2-0 win in the 2nd leg of the Quarter-Finals against Fenerbahçe S.K., a victory that secured Chelsea a place in the Semi-Finals.

Ballack continued to score vital goals and on April 26, 2008, he scored a header and a penalty to give Chelsea a 2-1 win over Manchester United. He was named Man of The Match in another outstanding performance. It brought the two teams level in the race for the Premier League title only two matchdays before the end of the season.

International career
Ballack taking on a penalty kick for Germany in 2005
Ballack taking on a penalty kick for Germany in 2005

On March 26, 1996, Ballack debuted for the national U21 team's encounter with Denmark, shortly after signing for Chemnitz. In all, he played 19 matches for this side, scoring four goals. Then, following his move to Kaiserslautern, national coach Berti Vogts called him up to the senior team.

Ballack's first appearance, however, did not come until April 28, 1999, by which time the man in charge was Erich Ribbeck. Germany was playing Scotland on that day, and Ballack came on after sixty minutes to replace Dietmar Hamann.

Ballack only played 63 minutes at Euro 2000. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup he scored in matches against USA and South Korea during the knock-out rounds as Germany reached the final, from which he was suspended.

Following Euro 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann replaced Rudi Völler at the helm of the national team and made Ballack the side's captain. Ballack is one of four national team captains in the current Chelsea team, along with Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast captain), Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine captain), and Claudio Pizarro (Peru captain). In the 2006 FIFA World Cup he was unable to start in Germany's first game against Costa Rica due to a calf strain, but appeared in the following five matches. Germany were eliminated in the semi-finals, but they managed to clinch 3rd place. He was named Man of the Match in the games against Ecuador and Argentina,[10] and was included in FIFA's World Cup All Star Team.

In 2007, he scored many important goals for the national team, proving his worth and leadership qualities as Germany cruised through the Euro 2008 qualifying stages and were the first team to qualify for the tournament.

On 6 February 2008 Ballack played his first match for the national team after he suffered a serious injury, Germany won against Austria in a friendly match 3–0 and Ballack assisted Klose to score Germany's second goal.

Biography John Terry

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:15 PST

From Wikipedia

John George Terry (born December 7, 1980 in Barking, London) is an English professional footballer. Terry plays as a centre back and is the captain of Chelsea in the English Premier League and officially for the England national football team. He has an older brother, Paul, who is also a professional footballer with fellow London club Leyton Orient.

Terry was voted best defender in the 2005 UEFA Champions League,[1] PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2005,[2] and was included in the FIFPro World XI for 2005,[3] 2006[4] and 2007.[5] He was also named in the all-star squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only English player to make the team.[6] He wears the number 26 shirt for Chelsea and the number 6 shirt for England.

In 2007, he became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in Chelsea's 1–0 win over Manchester United, and also the first player to score a full international goal there, scoring a header in England's 1–1 draw with Brazil.[7]

Biography

Terry was born in Barking, East London and attended Eastbury Comprehensive School. Terry played initially for Senrab F.C.. The side then featured many future stars of the English game, including current Premiership players Bobby Zamora, Ledley King and Jlloyd Samuel. Terry joined Chelsea's youth system at 14, playing for the club's youth and reserve teams as a midfield stalwart. It was due to a shortage of central defenders that he was moved to centre-half, the position he plays today.

Chelsea

Terry made his Chelsea debut on 28 October 1998 as a late substitute in a League Cup tie with Aston Villa; his first start came later that season in an FA Cup third round match, a 2–0 win over Oldham Athletic. He spent a brief period on loan with Nottingham Forest in 2000 to build up his first team experience.

Early in his career, Terry was involved in an incident at a West London nightclub with Chelsea team mate Jody Morris and Wimbledon's Des Byrne. He was charged with assault and affray, but later cleared.[8] During the affair, he was given a temporary ban from the England national side by the FA.[9] Previously, along with Chelsea team-mates Frank Lampard, Jody Morris, Eidur Gudjohnsen and former team-mate Frank Sinclair, in September 2001 Terry was fined two weeks wages by Chelsea after drunkenly harassing grieving American tourists in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.[10][11]

Terry began to establish himself in the Chelsea first team from the 2000-01 season, making 23 starts, and was voted the club's player of the year.[12] He continued his progress during 2001-02, becoming a regular in the defence alongside club captain and French international Marcel Desailly. That season saw Chelsea reach the FA Cup final, though a virus denied Terry a place in the starting line-up, although he did come on as a second-half substitute. Chelsea lost the game 2–0.
Terry Playing for Chelsea in 2006.
Terry Playing for Chelsea in 2006.

In season 2001/02, Terry was handed the captaincy for the first time, in a League match against Charlton Athletic on 5 December 2001.

In season 2003-04, his performances led to him being handed the captain's armband by manager Claudio Ranieri who later joined Valencia,when Desailly was out of the side. He played well in the absence of the French international, establishing himself as a genuine contender for a first team slot and forming a strong defensive partnership with William Gallas.

Following Desailly's retirement, new Chelsea manager José Mourinho chose Terry as his club captain, a choice which was positive throughout the 2004-05 season as Chelsea won the FA Premier League title in record-breaking fashion with the best defensive record in Football League history, the most clean sheets and the most points accrued.[13]

Terry was voted Player of the Year by his fellow professionals in England[2] and scored eight goals, including a late winner against FC Barcelona, in the UEFA Champions League. He was voted the best defender in the latter tournament.[1]

Along with Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Claude Makélélé and Petr Čech, Terry is regarded as a part of the "spine" of the Chelsea team.[14] Being an English player who came through the club's youth system, he is especially popular with Chelsea fans.[15] In September 2005 he was selected as a member of the World XI at the FIFPro awards. The team was chosen by a vote of professional footballers based in 40 countries.[3]

In a match on 14 October 2006 against Reading F.C., Terry had to take over in goal for Chelsea after both of Chelsea's usual keepers, Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini were injured in the game. He wore the number 40 shirt belonging to third-choice goalkeeper Henrique Hilario. However, as the game continued for only a little over a minute, Terry did not have a single save to make — in fact, his goalkeeping experience was limited to taking a free-kick from inside the penalty area. Chelsea managed to hang on to a one goal lead and win the game.

In a match on 5 November 2006 against Tottenham Hotspur, Terry was sent off for the first time in his Chelsea career. He received two yellow cards as Chelsea lost at White Hart Lane for the first time since 1987. Later, Terry was charged with misconduct by the F.A. for questioning the integrity of match referee Graham Poll, who allegedly gave Terry different reasons for why he was given his second yellow during and after the game.[citation needed] Poll was also acquitted of saying inappropriate things to Chelsea players. On 10 January 2007, John Terry was ordered to pay £10,000 for the inappropriate conduct after he changed his mind and pleaded "guilty" to the FA. He has been asked to apologise publicly to Poll.
Terry celebrating with Chelsea and England team-mate Frank Lampard.
Terry celebrating with Chelsea and England team-mate Frank Lampard.

Recently[when?] Terry has missed four premiership matches for Chelsea due to a recurring back problem. After the tie to Reading F.C. on 26 December 2006, José Mourinho stated that his captain may require surgery to fix the problem. In the games that he has missed, Chelsea have conceded six goals, in all this season they have conceded 15 goals (the equivalent to the goals they conceded in the 2004/05 season). On 28 December Chelsea released a press statement saying Terry had had back surgery: "The operation to remove a sequestrated lumbar intervertebral disc was successful."[16].

Although he was expected to return at the game against Wigan Athletic, Terry was missing once again, due to the recurring back problem. He made his return against Charlton Athletic on February 3, 2007. He played his first 90 minutes of football for nearly three months against Middlesborough and received much applause from the Chelsea faithful. Playing in the UEFA Champions league last sixteen away against FC Porto, he suffered another injury, this time to his ankle, and was set to miss the upcoming Carling Cup Final (2007) against Arsenal, but managed to recover from the injury within days.

Terry made the starting line-up for Chelsea in the Carling Cup final. Going forward for a corner in the second half, he threw himself at the ball with a diving header; Arsenal's Abou Diaby, in an attempt to clear the ball, kicked Terry in the face. Terry was unconscious for several minutes at which point he nearly swallowed his tongue. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and immediately transferred to the University Hospital of Wales, where he was successfully treated. Terry discharged himself the same day and returned to the Millennium Stadium to celebrate his team's 2–1 win. The only recollection Terry has of the second half is walking out onto the pitch and does not remember the 10 minutes he played prior to his injury.[17]

After spending two weeks on the sidelines, Terry made his return to the side against Blackburn in March. He has since captained Chelsea to the semi-finals of the 2006-2007 UEFA Champions League, the third time in four years that Chelsea have made it to the final four of the competition.

In May 2007, Terry captained Chelsea to the FA Cup, in the first final at the new Wembley Stadium.

Despite failing to agree terms to a new contract immediately following the 2006-2007 season, Terry stated on several occasions that he had no intention of leaving Chelsea. In late July he signed a new five-year contract[18] with a base salary of between £131,000[19] and £135,000[20] per week, making him the highest-paid player in Premier League history.[21]

On 16 December 2007 whilst playing against Arsenal, while going to clear a ball Terry's foot was stepped on by Emannuel Eboue and Terry had suffered 3 broken bones in his foot. He was expected to be out for at least three months but made a speedy recovery and therefore managed to captain Chelsea to the finals of the Carling Cup on 24 February 2008 against Tottenham, but Chelsea lost 2-1.

He scored the winner in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Sunderland A.F.C. at the Stadium of Light on March 16th 2008. His first goal for the club since the opening day of the 2006-07 Premier league season.[1] Terry is on course to be the first ever Chelsea captain in a UEFA Champions League Final, after he led the Blues to a 4-3 aggregate victory over Liverpool F.C.

England

Terry was the captain of the England national team under Steve McClaren and he made his debut in June 2003 against Serbia and Montenegro. His main defensive partner is Rio Ferdinand. He played for his country at Euro 2004, and England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson stated that Terry was the first-choice centre back, ahead of Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell.[citation needed]

In a FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Poland, Terry had the honour of wearing England's captain armband, replacing Michael Owen as captain after the latter was subbed.

He has cemented his place in the England squad by being selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In a warm-up match for that tournament against Hungary on May 30, 2006, Terry scored his first goal for England, the team's second in a 3–1 victory. Despite an injury scare in a friendly against Jamaica, he recovered to play in England's opening fixture against Paraguay, a 1–0 victory.

In the next match against Trinidad and Tobago, Carlos Edwards beat England's Paul Robinson to a cross and as Stern John bundled a header towards the goal, Terry cleared the ball off the line with an overhead kick. In the quarter-finals match against Portugal, Terry played the entire match, but England lost on penalties and he was left in tears with his fellow players. Six days later, he was the only English player to be named in the tournament's all-star squad.[6]

On 10 August 2006, Steve McClaren named John Terry as the England captain, succeeding David Beckham. McClaren said "Choosing a captain is one of the most important decisions a coach has to make. I’m certain I’ve got the right man in John Terry. I’m convinced he will prove to be one of the best captains England has ever had."[2] Terry scored a goal on his debut as the England captain, in a friendly international against Greece. This was the first goal of the match and, as such, the first goal during McClaren's reign as manager. When celebrating he kissed his new captain's armband. However, with Terry as captain, England did not qualify for Euro 2008 - their first absence from a tournament finals since the 1994 World Cup. Midway through the qualification campaign, Terry had accepted that he would bear "full responsibility" should England fail to qualify.[22]

On 1 June 2007, Terry became the first player in the senior England team to score an international goal at the new Wembley Stadium when he scored England's goal in a 1–1 draw with Brazil. He scored from a header in the box after a free kick cross by David Beckham.

It isn't known if Terry will remain England captain. Fabio Capello has stated that he will not make a decision about the permanent captain until England begin to play competitive matches.

Sponsorship

John Terry is the main face alongside Michael Owen for the Umbro sportswear brand often introducing new brand lines and products as well as new England kits. He has also appeared in adverts for Samsung, Nationwide and Swedish betting company Svenska Spel, as well as being in a sponsorship deal with football gaming series Pro Evolution Soccer. On the UK version of Pro Evolution Soccer 6, he appears on the front cover with Brazil international Adriano.

Personal life

Terry currently lives in Oxshott, Surrey. He and his wife Toni Poole Terry are the parents of twins, a boy (Georgie John) and a girl (Summer Rose) born on 18 May 2006. Terry celebrated their birth when scoring for England against Hungary, when he performed a "baby-rocking" celebration.

The couple married at Blenheim Palace on 15 June 2007[23] in a magazine coverage deal, and requested Harrods gift vouchers as wedding presents. After the wedding, the couple enjoyed a two week honeymoon on Roman Abramovich's super yacht Pelorus in the Mediterranean.[24] His hobbies include golf, swimming, football and squash .

Honours

Chelsea

* FA Premier League (2004-05, 2005-06)
* FA Cup (2000, 2007)
* League Cup (2005, 2007)
* FA Community Shield (2005)

Personal honours

* PFA Player of the Year (2004-05)
* 2005 UEFA Champions League Best Defender
* FIFA World Cup squad of the tournament (2006)
* FIFPro World XI Team (2005, 2006, 2007)
* Captain of England national football team (2006-present)

Biography Ryan Joseph Giggs

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:15 PST

From Wikipedia

Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE[1] (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973 in Ely, Cardiff) is a Welsh footballer who has played for Manchester United in the English Premiership for the entirety of his club career to-date.

Giggs played for the Welsh national team prior to his retirement from international football on 2 June 2007.

As well as the many honours Giggs has received within football, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List.[2]

Alessandro Del Piero has said of Giggs: "This is embarrassing to say but I have cried twice in my life watching a football player; the first one was Roberto (Baggio) and the second was Ryan Giggs"

Biography

Giggs is the son of Danny Wilson, a noted Rugby League player, and his mother is Lynne Giggs. Although born in Cardiff, he was raised in Pendlebury, England and speaks with a Mancunian accent. His father is of mixed race (of Sierra Leonean and Dutch ancestry) and Giggs has always expressed pride at his mixed heritage.[3] However, in an infamous interview with the Daily Telegraph, Giggs described his father as a "real rogue". After his parents separated during the 1980s, he dropped the surname Wilson and began to use his mother's family name, Giggs.

Early Years

Giggs began his football career as a junior member of Deans Sports F.C. in Swinton and was spotted as a 14-year-old by Manchester City. His dribbling skills were compared to legendary players such as George Best, Diego Maradona, and Johan Cruyff. His talent became widely recognised, and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson went to his house personally to urge him to sign for Manchester United instead of Manchester City, and he joined them on 29 November 1987 - his 14th birthday. He persuaded Giggs by waiving YTS forms with the opportunity to turn professional in three years. Giggs ended up signing with Manchester United.

Similarly, England Under-21 coach Lawrie McMenemy checked to see whether he was eligible to play for the nation.

Manchester United first team

Overview

Giggs is Manchester United's longest-serving current player.[citation needed] He made his first appearance for the club during the 1990-91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991-92 season. He has played the highest number of competitive games for the club , and holds the club record of team trophies won by a player (23).[4] Since 1992, he has collected nine Premier League winners' medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, two League Cup winner's medals and one Champions League winner's medal. He also has runners-up medals from two FA Cup finals and two League Cup finals, as well as being part of four United teams who have finished second in the league. He has worn the squad number 11 since squad numbering came into effect in 1993.[citation needed] He is currently vice-captain to Gary Neville.

Beginnings

Giggs turned professional on 29 November 1990 (his 17th birthday) and made his League debut against Everton F.C. at Old Trafford on 2 March 1991, as a substitute for Denis Irwin. In his first full start, Giggs was credited with his first ever goal in a 1-0 win in the Manchester derby, though it appeared to be a Colin Hendry own goal.

He became a first-team regular early in the 1991-92 season, and collected his first piece of silverware on 12 April 1992 as United defeated Nottingham Forest in the League Cup Final, after Giggs had set up Brian McClair to score the only goal of the game. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year, and United finished second in the league.

Superstardom

By the start of the 1992-93 season - the first season of the newly-formed FA Premier League, Giggs was firmly established as United's first choice left winger, and became known as one of British football's most prodigious young players. His emergence and the arrival of Eric Cantona heralded the dominance of United in the new Premier League. His manager was very protective of him, refusing to allow Giggs to be interviewed until he turned 20, eventually granting the first interview to the BBC's Desmond Lynam for Match of the Day.

His ability to consistently dribble past opposing players by using his own exceptional balance, pace, and skill became the most noticeable aspect of his game. He was also renowned for pre-meditating celebrations with team-mates, such as Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis. He was afforded many opportunities which were not normally offered to footballers at his young age, such as hosting his own television show, Ryan Giggs' Soccer Skills, which was a hit with ITV and Granada in 1994. A book based on the series was also released. During the same year, the BBC described Giggs as "one of the most photographed persons" in Great Britain. Giggs, or "Giggsy", as he is known, was also hailed as one of the FA Premier League's biggest stars and could often be found as the picture-book merchandising icon of the league's early years. He (along with Jamie Redknapp and Lee Sharpe) was part of the league's attempt to market itself globally, re-forging its image after the hooliganism-affected years of the 1980s.

Ryan Giggs chants often heard from the fans during the Manchester United games include:

"Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Running down the wing, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Running down the wing, Feared by the Blues, Loved by the Reds, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs"

and:

"Giggs, Giggs will tear you apart, again"

the former adapted from the Robin Hood theme; the latter from the Mancunian band Joy Division's song, 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'.

His goals were regularly shortlisted for various Goal of the Season awards, and tended to be memorable, particularly the ones against QPR in 1993, Tottenham in 1994, Everton in 1995, Coventry in 1996, and the most remarkable of all, his amazing solo-goal against Arsenal in the replay of the 1999 FA Cup semi-final. During extra time, Giggs picked up possession just after Patrick Vieira had given the ball away, then ran away from the half-way line, dribbling past the whole Arsenal back line, including Tony Adams and Martin Keown before launching his left-footed strike just under David Seaman's bar and beyond him. It has been hailed as the best FA Cup goal of all time by some sections of the media and football fans. It does have the distinction of being the last ever goal scored in an FA Cup Semi-Final Replay as, from the following season, the FA Cup Semi-Finals have been decided in a single game, with extra time and a Penalty Shoot Out if required.

By the late 1990s, with the retirement of Cantona and the emergence of more younger players like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Philip Neville and Nicky Butt, his popularity and fame gradually evened out and attention was paid to some of the younger stars, with Beckham receiving particularly high levels of media attention on and off the field. However, his football skill was still marked genius, and he developed into a more mature senior player by the time United won their record breaking and unprecedented "Treble" in 1999. Giggs missed several games due to injury, but his form was consistently excellent and he played in both cup finals that the club reached that season. Memorable moments were his extra-time goal in the FA Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Arsenal (see above) to give United a 2-1 win, and his 90th minute equalizer in the home leg of the Champions League semi-final against Juventus.

Giggs set up the equalising goal scored by Teddy Sheringham in the UEFA Champions League final that set United on their way to the treble. Giggs was also the man of the match as United beat Palmeiras to claim the Intercontinental Cup that year. In November 2003, Giggs was mentioned in an episode of The Simpsons, entitled "The Regina Monologues", which takes place in England. In response to Marge complaining that Homer punched out three people on the street, Homer replies, "That was over soccer results. Can you believe they gave Giggs a yellow card in the box?!". Giggs therefore has the distinction of being the only Premiership footballer to be mentioned in the show.

The later years

Giggs was one of United's most experienced and senior players at United when Denis Irwin left in May 2002, and he became a pivotal part of the club, despite still being only 28 years old. According to a BBC Sport article in 2003, "the trajectory of Giggs' United career follows that of the club almost exactly", underlining his importance to United.

Giggs continued to excel in the four years that followed the treble triumph of 1999. United were Premier League champions in three of the four seasons following the treble, as well as reaching the Champions League quarter-finals three times and the semi-finals once. He celebrated his 10-year anniversary at Old Trafford with a testimonial match against Celtic at the start of the 2001-02 campaign. A year later, he bagged his 100th career goal in a draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

He played in his fourth FA Cup triumph on 22 May 2004, making him one of only two players (the other being Roy Keane) to have won the trophy four times, while playing for Manchester United. He has also finished with a runners-up medal three times (1995, 2005 and 2007).

His participation in the victory over Liverpool in September 2004 made him the third player to play 600 games for United, alongside Sir Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game. During the first half of the 2004-05 season, Giggs was linked in a transfer speculation with Newcastle United, a club his best friend at United, Nicky Butt, had left for. However, no move was made before the transfer window closed on 31 January 2005.

After that season, Giggs signed a two-year contract extension with Manchester United when chairman David Gill relented on his normal policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than one year. This will keep him at Old Trafford until at least June 2008.

Giggs has reinvented himself and continues to contribute positively to the Manchester United cause even after team-mates like David Beckham and Roy Keane had left. Giggs has also benefited from being largely injury-free aside from a series of hamstring problems which, according to his autobiography, prevents him from running at full throttle to this day.

Ryan Giggs made his 700th appearance for Manchester United on 3 March 2007 in a Premier League match against Liverpool, which Manchester United won 1-0.

On 6 May 2007, with Chelsea only able to manage a 1-1 with London rivals Arsenal, Manchester United became the champions of England. In doing so Ryan Giggs set a record of nine league titles thus beating the previous record of eight he shared with Alan Hansen and Phil Neal (who won all of their titles with Liverpool).

Giggs played a starring role in Manchester United's 2007 Charity Shield victory after netting in the first half to bring the game to a 1-1 draw, which led to penalty triumph for the Red Devils after keeper Van Der Sar saved all of Chelsea's first 3 penalties.

In the 2007-08 season, Alex Ferguson adopted a rotation system between Giggs and newcomers Nani and Anderson; however he was the favoured choice for the anticipated clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford and put in a glorious cross with the outside of his boot for Carlos Tevez to score his first Manchester United goal.

The following week Giggs signed a contract extension that will keep him at Old Trafford until the end of the 2008-09 season, when he will be in his 36th year.

Sir Alex Ferguson has stated he believes Giggs can carry on playing for United beyond this date. In his subsequent match, after the international break, Giggs dribbled past two defenders and netted a deflected shot (his first league goal of the season) in the second half of a 4-1 Manchester United romp away to Aston Villa. The goal means that along with Gary Speed (currently at Sheffield United), Giggs has scored in every single Premiership season since its inception in 1992. Giggs scored his 100th league goal for Manchester United against Derby County on 8 December 2007, which Manchester United won 4-1.

On February 20, 2008 he made his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League against Lyon in the first leg of the first knock out round.

International career

Giggs captained England Schoolboys (which all schoolboys in England are eligible to play for, regardless of nationality), but played for the Welsh national team as an adult. At the time of his début in 1991, Giggs (still only 17 at the time) was the youngest player to represent Wales at the highest level.

Giggs won 64 caps and scored 12 goals for the Welsh national team between 1991 and 2007. However his international career was frustrating as, like Alfredo Di Stéfano and George Best, he did not play in either a European Championship or a World Cup finals, because Wales failed to qualify. He was appointed captain of Wales in 2004.

Giggs received criticism for his reluctance to participate in friendly international matches. Since his début in 1991 against West Germany, Giggs failed to attend a friendly international until some nine years later, missing a massive 18 consecutive friendly games. The official reason given for such absences was that Giggs was injured on each occasion, however Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in fact had a policy of refusing to release the player for friendly games[5]

In September 2006, Giggs put in a dazzling performance in a friendly against Brazil at White Hart Lane. Such was his display that, following the 2-0 win for Brazil, Brazil coach Dunga paid Giggs the ultimate compliment by stating he would not look out of place playing for the five-time world champions alongside stars such as Kaká and Ronaldinho.[6]

Giggs announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday 30 May 2007 at a press conference held at The Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, drawing the curtain on a 16-year international career. His final game for Wales, and as captain, was the Euro 2008 Qualifier against the Czech Republic on 2 June at Cardiff. He earned his 64th cap in this game and won the Man of the Match award as Wales drew 0-0.[7]

Discipline

Giggs had a very good disciplinary record during his early career receiving relatively few bookings. His only red card came in 2001 in an international match against Norway which Wales lost. In November 2003 he was found guilty of improper conduct by the FA due to his behaviour following a game against Arsenal, his punishment was a £7,500 fine and a warning about his future behaviour. In the same week Giggs received a two match suspension from international football for deliberately elbowing Russian player Vadim Evseev in the face, the offence was missed by the referee but he was later charged using video evidence

Personal life

Other than his notorious spate of womanising as alleged in tabloids such as the Daily Mirror over the years, Giggs has otherwise managed to avoid the limelight of celebrity trappings that tagged his earlier years. In his autobiography, Giggs: The Autobiography, he revealed possible reasons for his aversion to attention, and accounted for his quiet and bashful demeanour. The biography told of the racial taunts that Giggs endured as a child because he was the product of a mixed marriage. Although he admired his Rugby league-playing father's sporting gifts (Giggs attributes his speed and balance to his father's genes), he hated the impact his "bullying aggressive nature" had on his family.

Giggs was involved in controversy when his then-girlfriend Davinia Taylor alleged he assaulted her in a nightclub, claiming he punched her in the stomach and face.[8]

Giggs is considered by many as a player who, unlike Lee Sharpe and George Best, achieved considerable fame despite a relatively low profile overall as a celebrity. He has hosted adverts for Reebok, Sovil Titus, Citizen Watches, Givenchy, Fuji, Patek Phillipe, Quorn Burgers and Celcom, and has been used for video-mapping in computer game simulations like EA Sports' FIFA 2003, for which he also did a commercial.

According to an article by BBC Sport: "In the early 1990s, Giggs was David Beckham before Beckham was even holding down a place in the United first team. If you put his face on the cover of a football magazine, it guaranteed you the biggest sales of the year. Why? Men would buy it to read about 'the new Best' and girls bought it because they wanted his face all over their bedroom walls. Giggs had the million-pound boot deal (Reebok), the lucrative sponsorship deals in the Far East (Fuji) and the celebrity girlfriends (Dani Behr, Davinia Taylor) at a time when Beckham was being sent on loan to Preston North End."[9]

Giggs married his long-term partner Stacey Cooke in a private ceremony on 7 September 2007.[10] They have two children; a daughter Liberty, who was born in 10 April 2003, and a son Zach who was born in October 2006.

Giggs has a younger brother, Rhodri, also a winger, who currently plays for Curzon Ashton in the Northern Premier League Division One North. He was released by F.C. United of Manchester, the non-league club set up by disaffected Manchester United fans after Malcolm Glazer's takeover of United, in August 2007.

Giggs also has a younger half-sister, Bethany, who was born in 1991 to his mother and her second husband.

He was a pupil at Moorside High School in Swinton from 1985 until 1990.

Campaigner

In recent years, Giggs has also become a UNICEF representative, launching a campaign to prevent landmines from killing children in 2002.

Giggs, who had visited UNICEF projects in Thailand, told the BBC: "As a footballer I can't imagine life without the use of one of my legs...Sadly this is exactly what happens to thousands of children every year when they accidentally step on a landmine."[11] Giggs is also an active campaigner in the fight against racism in football, alongside fellow mixed-raced players like Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry.

He told the Football Anti-Racism site 'Stop the BNP' the following in 2004: "A lot of people don't know that my father is black. He was a professional rugby player in the area that I played as a youngster. So a lot of people who I went to school with knew who he was and knew that he was black. So I would get racist taunts in school."[3]

He also added in the French sports newspaper, L'Equipe, "Looking at me from the outside, it is not very obvious, I know but half my family is black and I feel close to their culture and their colour. I am proud of my black roots and of the black blood that runs in my veins. I do not wish to hide my origins, nor do I seek to make it a subject of conversation. I am what I am."[1]

Giggs is also a patron of the Manchester-based 'five Star Scanner Appeal', a charity that aims to raise £1m to fund a new scanner at a new Manchester Children's Hospital due to be built ready for 2009.

Biography Eric Cantona

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:15 PST

from wikipedia

Éric Daniel Pierre Cantona (born 24 May 1966 in Paris raised in Marseille) is a French former footballer of the late 1980s and 1990s. He ended his professional footballing career at Manchester United where he won four Premiership titles in five years (being suspended the season without title), including two League and FA Cup "doubles". Cantona is often regarded as having played a major talismanic role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing powerhouse and he enjoys iconic status at the club. In 2001 he was voted their player of the century, and to this day United fans refer to him as "King Eric".

Career

France

Cantona's first club was Auxerre, where he spent two years in the youth team before making his debut in 1983.

The whole of 1984 saw Cantona's footballing career put on hold as he carried out his national service. After discharge he was loaned out to Martigues in the French Second Division. Rejoining Auxerre and signing a professional contract in 1986, his performances in the First Division were good enough to earn him his first full international cap. However, the first of his disiplinary problems had already begun when in 1987 he was heavily fined for punching team mate Bruno Martini in the face [2]

The following year Cantona was again in trouble because of a dangerous tackle on Nantes player, Michel Der Zakarian, resulting in a three month suspension from the game [3] He was part of the French under-21 side that won the 1988 U21 European Championship and shortly after that success, he transferred to Marseille, the club he supported as a boy, for a French record fee. Cantona had quite often shown signs of being 'short tempered' in his career to date, and in January 1989 during a friendly game against Torpedo Moscow he kicked the ball at the crowd and ripped off and threw away his jersey after being substituted. His club responded by banning him for a month. Just a few months earlier, he had been banned from international matches for one year after insulting the national coach on TV.[4]

Having struggled to settle at Marseille, Cantona moved to Bordeaux on a six-month loan and then to Montpellier on a year-long loan. At Montpellier, he was involved in a fight with team-mate Jean-Claude Lemoult and threw his boots in Lemoult's face. The incident led to six players demanding that Cantona be sacked. However, with the support of team-mates such as Laurent Blanc and Carlos Valderrama, the club retained his services though banned him for ten days [5]. Cantona was instrumental as the team went on to win the French Cup and his form persuaded Marseille to take him back.

Back at Marseille, Cantona initially played well under the new coach Franz Beckenbauer. However, the Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie was not satisfied with the results, and replaced Beckenbauer with Raymond Goethals with whom Cantona did not see eye-to-eye. Cantona was also continually at odds with Tapie and despite helping the team win the French Division 1 title, he was transferred to Nîmes the following season.

In December 1991, during a match for Nîmes he threw the ball at the referee, having been angered by one of his decisions. He was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the French Football Federation and was banned for one month. Cantona responded by walking up to each member of the hearing committee in turn and calling him an "idiot". His ban was increased to 3 months. For Cantona this was the last straw and he announced his retirement from football in December 1991.

The French national team coach Michel Platini was a keen fan of Cantona, and persuaded him to make a comeback. On the advice of Gérard Houllier, he moved to England to restart his career.

England

Leeds United

On 6th November 1991 after Liverpool's 3-0 victory over Auxerre in a UEFA Cup 2nd round 2nd leg tie at Anfield, Graeme Souness, the manager of Liverpool at the time was met by Frenchman Michel Platini at the end of the game, and told him he had a player that would like to play for Liverpool, he said his name was Eric Cantona. Souness told him thank you but he did not want any trouble and declined his offer. In January 1992 Cantona came to England for a trial with Sheffield Wednesday, managed by Trevor Francis. When offered an extension to the trial, he found this insulting and subsequently joined Leeds United A.F.C., where he was an important part of the team that won the final old First Division championship in 1991-92. He was also inspirational in the Charity Shield 4-3 win over Liverpool in 1992, scoring a hat-trick.

He however left Leeds before the end of the 1992-93 season, which saw them finishing 17th out of 22 in the newly formed Premier League, moving to Manchester United in November 1992 for the relatively small fee of £1.2 million, much to the disgust of the Leeds fans, although Howard Wilkinson, the Leeds United manager, was eager for him to leave.[citation needed]

Manchester United

Cantona's first appearance for Manchester United was against Benfica in Lisbon, in a friendly match to mark the 50th birthday of Eusébio. He made his competitive debut as a second half substitute against Manchester City at Old Trafford, on December 6th, 1992. United won 2-1, though Cantona made little impact that day.

United's season had been disappointing up to Cantona's signing. They had had problems scoring goals: Brian McClair and Mark Hughes were off form, and summer signing Dion Dublin had broken his leg early in the season. However, Cantona quickly settled into the team, not only scoring many goals but also creating chances for the other players. His first United goal came in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 19th 1992. It was against Tottenham Hotspur on January 9th 1993, that Cantona really showed his class, scoring one and having a hand in the other goals in a 4-1 victory. However, controversy was never far away and on his return to Eland road to play Leeds he spat at a fan and was fined £1,000 by the FA [6].

For the next two years, United went on an amazing run, winning the inaugural Premiership in 1993. By winning that title, Cantona became the only player ever to win back-to-back titles with different clubs. They retained the Premiership and with Cantona's two penalties helping them to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Cantona was voted PFA Player Of The Year in 1994. However, his serious disciplinary problem had not dissipated, being sent off a record 4 times in the Premier league season. [1]
Éric Cantona kicks Crystal Palace fan Simmons.
Éric Cantona kicks Crystal Palace fan Simmons.

In the following season Cantona became infamous for an incident that occurred on 25 January 1995. In an away match against Crystal Palace, after being sent off by the referee for a vengeful kick on Palace defender Richard Shaw (after Shaw had pulled his shirt), he launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against a Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons followed by a series of punches. Simmons was later tried for threatening language and behaviour, and attacked the prosecution counsil after being found guilty, leaping over a bench and executing a flying kick of his own. He was sentenced to seven days in jail, but only served 24 hours of his sentence.[7] At a press conference called later, Cantona gave what is perhaps his most famous quotation. Referring to how journalists would constantly monitor his behaviour, Cantona said, in a slow and deliberate manner:

"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown in to the sea"

He then got up from his seat and left, leaving many of the assembled crowd bemused. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after an appeal court overturned a 2 week prison sentence for assault. He was suspended by The Football Association from world football until the following October and fined £10,000. The FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly desribed his attack as "a stain on our game" that brought shame on football [8]. Manchester United also fined Cantona two weeks wages [9] and he was stripped of the French captaincy; his club eventually lost the Premiership title to Blackburn.

There had been much speculation that Cantona would leave English football when his ban finished, but Alex Ferguson persuaded him to stay in Manchester and Cantona was once again inspirational. United had sold several key players at the start of the season and replaced them with players from the club's youth team and their prospects of winning the league were not looking good. Much hype surrounded Cantona's return game, against Liverpool on 1 October 1995. In the match, Cantona set up a goal for Nicky Butt inside 2 minutes, and then scored a penalty after Ryan Giggs had been upended. Eight months without competitive football had inevitably taken its toll and Cantona struggled for form prior to Christmas. Things then changed, however, with his goals helping United to recapture the league having been twelve points behind Newcastle United in January 1996. There was a spate of important 1-0 wins for United, with Cantona the goal scorer, but a 0-3 victory against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium decided the title. Fittingly, it was the same 1-0 scoreline, and the same scorer, in that year's FA Cup Final against Liverpool, with Cantona becoming the first foreign player to lift the FA Cup as captain. The strike of that match happened with 5 minutes remaining and was perhaps Eric Cantona's most famous goal of his career. A corner from the left side troubled Liverpool keeper David James who attempted to fist the ball out of the box. Instead, the ball was deflected down the middle to the top of the box. Cantona, who had backed away when the corner was sent, lined up and took an extremely athletic twisting volley with his right foot firing the ball through a sea of defenders into the net. The game was won. His redemption was complete after the scandals and lows of a year earlier. Cantona gave a post-match interview saying: "You know that's life. Up and down." Manchester United became the first team to win "the double" twice.

Cantona galvanised the United team to greater success with the likes of Ryan Giggs and youngsters David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville emerging under his influence. As United retained the league in the 1996-97 season, Cantona had won four league titles in five years with United (six in seven years including those won with Marseille and Leeds United), the exception being the 1995 season which he had largely missed through suspension. At the end of an admittedly lacklustre season by his standards, which was fuelled by United's elimination at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, he announced that he was retiring from football at the age of 30 which came as a surprise, and was met with great dismay by United fans. His final competitive game came against West Ham on 11th May 1997, and his final appearance before retiring was five days later on Friday 16th May in a testimonial for David Busst against Coventry City at Highfield Road, in which Eric scored twice in a 2-2 draw. Cantona scored a total of 64 league goals for Manchester United, 11 in domestic cup competitions, and 5 in The Champions League.

In 2004 Cantona was quoted as saying, "I'm so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. I fear it because I love it. And everything you love, you fear you will lose."

In 2006 The Sun newspaper reported Cantona as saying that Manchester United had lost their soul and that the current players were a bunch of sheep. The Old Trafford idol reckoned the days of maverick entertainers like himself and George Best were gone and feared the Red Devils were betraying their past by putting out boring, functional teams. However on the Contrary he was interviewed in the Number 7's issue of 'United Magazine' in August 2006 stating he will only come back to Manchester United as 'Number 1' (meaning not return as assistant manager or coach) and would create a team like no other and play the way he thinks football should be played.

Cantona opposed the Malcolm Glazer takeover of Manchester United, and has stated that he will not return to the club, even as a manager, while the Glazer family is in charge. This will come as a disappointment to the many United fans who voted him as their choice for United's next manager in survey over the summer of 2000.[10]

French National Team

Eric Cantona was given his full international début against West Germany in August 1987 by the then national team manager Henri Michel. In September 1988, angered after being dropped from the national team, Cantona insulted Michel in a post-match TV interview and was indefinitely banned from all international matches. However, Michel was sacked shortly after that having failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup.

The new coach was Michel Platini and one of his first acts was to recall Cantona who was a favourite of his. He claimed that Cantona would be selected as long as he was playing competitive top-class football; Platini had initiated Cantona's move to England to restart his career. France qualified for the 1992 European Football Championship held in Sweden, but failed to win a single game despite the striking partnership of Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin. Platini resigned after the finals to be replaced by Gérard Houllier.

Under Houllier, France then failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. after losing the final game 2:1 at home to Bulgaria when a draw would have sufficed. David Ginola gave away possession in the game which led to Bulgaria's winning goal by Emil Kostadinov. Cantona was reportedly angry with Ginola after the game. Houllier resigned and Aimé Jacquet took over.

Jacquet began to rebuild the national team in preparation for Euro 96 (the 1996 European Championship) and appointed Cantona as the captain. Cantona remained the captain until the Selhurst Park incident in January 1995. The suspension which resulted from this incident also prevented him from playing in international matches.

By the time Cantona's suspension had been completed, he had lost his role as the team's playmaker to another star, Zinedine Zidane, as Jacquet had revamped the squad with some new blood and built it around Zidane. Cantona, Papin and Ginola were never again selected for the French team and missed Euro 96. Though there was criticism about Cantona's omission, as he was playing his best football in the FA Premier League, Jacquet himself stated that the team had done well without Cantona, and that he wanted to keep faith with the players who had taken them so far.[11] The decision was vindicated as Les Bleus subsequently won the World Cup in 1998.

To this day, Cantona still harbours resentment for the people at the head of his national team but also admiration for his adopted football country; at Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he supported England and not France.[2].

[edit] Career in "retirement"

Cantona's subsequent career has mostly been in the French cinema, primarily as an actor although he has also directed a short film Apporte-moi ton amour in 2002; outside of France, he had a role as the French ambassador in the movie Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett in 1998. See filmography below.

Since retiring from professional football Cantona has appeared in numerous European television advertisements, especially for Nike. Cantona made cameos in two memorable commercials, one starring the Brazilian national team playing football in an airport, and another involving the national teams of both Brazil and Portugal. In a worldwide advertising campaign during the run-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he starred as the organiser of "underground" games (branded by Nike as "Scorpion KO") between football players like Thierry Henry, Hidetoshi Nakata, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Luís Figo. In an earlier UK Nike commercial, he appeared playing "amateur" football on Hackney Marshes with other stars including Ian Wright, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler. In a Nike campaign in the advance of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, nearly ten years after his retirement, Cantona appears as the lead spokesman for the "Joga Bonito" organization, an association attempting to eliminate acting and fake play from football. He also starred in an Irish EuroMillions advertisement. He has gained a considerable amount of weight since retiring from professional football, rendering him almost unrecognizable from his playing days.

Shortly after his departure from Manchester United, Cantona became captain of the French National Beach Football team. Cantona has continued his interest in beach soccer games in southern Asia and at the Inaugural Kronenbourg beach soccer in 2002, in the city of Brighton. He managed the French Team which won the inaugural FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro. He also coached the 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup French National Team, which finished in third place.

In 1998, the Football League, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Cantona on its list of 100 League Legends.

Cantona's achievements in the English League were further marked in 2002 when he was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame.

Biography David Beckam

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:15 PST

From Wikipedia

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder. He currently plays for and captains Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy[3] and is also a member of the England national team. He earned his 100th cap for England against France in March 2008.

He has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer.[4] He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004.[5] Such global recognition has made him an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon.[6][7] Beckham was captain of England from 15 November 2000 to 2 July 2006. He made 58 appearances as captain, and ended his tenure in that role after the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. He continued to make contributions for the England national team in 2007 competitions.[8] Beckham captained Manchester United for the first time on October 21st 2000 in a Premiership match against Leeds United. He came on as a substitute for regular captain Roy Keane, who was injured. Beckham went on to score a free-kick in this match, which finished 3-0.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons. While at Madrid, Beckham became the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. In his final season, Real clinched the 2006-07 La Liga chamionship title (Beckham's only major trophy with the club) in the final game of the season on 17 June. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.[2]

Beckham's new contract with the Galaxy, effective 1 July 2007, gave him the highest salary of any MLS player in history. He debuted for the team on 21 July in a friendly versus Chelsea at the Home Depot Center,[9] and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the 2007 SuperLiga semi-final. His first league start then came on 18 August in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.[10]

Childhood and early career

Beckham was born at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England; the son of David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, July-September 1948), a kitchen fitter and Manchester United fan, and wife (m. London Borough of Hackney, 1969) Sandra Georgina West (b. 1949),[11] a hairdresser. He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford as a child. He attended Chase Lane Primary School and Chingford Foundation School as a child. His maternal family is Jewish,[12] and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish"[13] and spoken of the influence the religion has had on him, although he is not known to practice Judaism or any other faith. In his book Both Feet on the Ground, he stated that growing up he always attended church with his parents and his two sisters, Joanne and Lynne.

His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel to Old Trafford from London to attend Manchester United's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session at FC Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. As a child he played for a local youth team called the Ridgeway Rovers - coached by his father, Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby.

He was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's, which was the first club he played for, school of excellence. During a two-year period in which he played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990.[14] He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his fourteenth birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.

Club career

Manchester United

He was part of a group of young players at the club who guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, with Beckham scoring in the second leg[15] of the final against Crystal Palace. He made his first appearance for United's first-team that year, as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and signed his first professional contract shortly afterwards. United reached the final of the Youth Cup again the following year, with Beckham playing in their defeat by Leeds United, and he won another medal in 1994 when the club's reserve team won their league.

He went to Preston North End on loan in the 1994–95 season to get some first team experience, then made his first Premier League appearance for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a goalless draw against Leeds United.

United manager Alex Ferguson had a great deal of confidence in the club's young players. When experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis left the club after the end of the 1994–95 season, his decision to let youth team players replace them instead of buying star players from other clubs, drew a great deal of criticism. The criticism increased when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa,[16] with Beckham scoring United's only goal of the game; however, United won their next five matches and the young players performed well. Beckham became a regular player on the team and helped them to win the Premiership and FA Cup double that season, scoring the winner in the semi-final against Chelsea and also provided the corner that Éric Cantona scored from in the FA Cup Final. Despite playing regularly for Manchester United, Beckham did not break into the England squad before Euro 96.[17]

At the beginning of the 1996-97 season David Beckham was given the number 10 shirt that had most recently been worn by Mark Hughes. On 17 August 1996 (the first day of the Premier League season), Beckham became something of a household name when he scored a spectacular goal in a match against Wimbledon. With United leading 2–0, Beckham noticed that Wimbledon's goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way out of his goal, and hit a shot from the halfway line that floated over the goalkeeper and into the net.[18]

On 18 May 1997, Eric Cantona retired as a player and left the coveted number 7 shirt free, and with Teddy Sheringham arriving from Tottenham Hotspur, Beckham left his number 10 shirt for Sheringham and picked up the number 7 jersey. Some fans had felt the number 7 shirt should be retired after Cantona had himself retired. United started the 1997–98 season well, but erratic performances in the second half of the season saw United finish second behind Arsenal.[19]

In the 1998–99 season, he was part of the United team that won the treble — Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a unique feat in English football. There had been speculation that the criticism that he had received after being sent off in the World Cup would lead to him leaving England, but he decided to stay at Manchester United.

To ensure they would win the Premier League title, United needed to win their final league match of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur, but Tottenham took an early lead in the match. Beckham scored the equaliser and United went on to win the match and the league.

Beckham played centre-midfield in United's FA Cup final win over Newcastle United and for the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, since United's first string centre-midfielders were suspended for the match. United were losing the match 1-0 at the end of normal time, but won the trophy by scoring two goals in injury time. Both of the goals came from corners taken by Beckham. Those crucial assists, coupled with great performances over the rest of the season, led to him finishing runner up to Rivaldo for 1999's European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
Beckham in a match against Bristol Rovers F.C.
Beckham in a match against Bristol Rovers F.C.

Despite Beckham's achievements in the 1998–99 season, he was still unpopular among some opposition fans and journalists, and he was criticised after being sent off for a deliberate foul in Manchester United's World Club Championship match against Necaxa. It was suggested in the press that his wife was a bad influence on him, and that it might be in United's interests to sell him,[20] but his manager publicly backed him and he stayed at the club.

The relationship between Ferguson and Beckham began to deteriorate, possibly as a result of Beckham's fame and commitments away from football. In 2000, Beckham was given permission to miss training to look after his son Brooklyn, who had gastroenteritis, but Ferguson was furious when Victoria Beckham was photographed at a London Fashion Week event on the same night, claiming that Beckham would have been able to train if Victoria had looked after Brooklyn that day. He responded by fining Beckham the maximum amount that was permitted (two weeks' wages – then £50,000) and dropping him for a crucial match against United's rivals Leeds United. He later criticised Beckham for this in his autobiography, claiming he had not been "fair to his team mates".[21] Beckham had a good season for his club, though, and helped United to win the Premier League by a record margin.

Following an injury early in the 2002–03 season, Beckham was unable to regain his place on the Manchester United team, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær having replaced him on the right side of midfield. His relationship with his manager deteriorated further on 15 February 2003 when, in the changing room following an FA Cup defeat to Arsenal, a furious Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot that struck Beckham over the eye, causing a cut that required stitches. The incident led to a great deal of transfer speculation involving Beckham, with bookmakers offering odds on whether he or Ferguson would be first to leave the club.[22] Although the team had started the season badly, their results improved greatly from December onwards and they won the league. He was still a first-choice player for England, however, and he was awarded an OBE for services to football on 13 June.[23]

On 10 April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruña, breaking the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. There was speculation in the British media that the injury might have been caused deliberately, as the player who had injured Beckham was Argentinean Aldo Duscher, and England and Argentina were due to meet in that year's World Cup.[24] The injury prevented Beckham from playing for United for the rest of the season, but he signed a three-year contract in May, following months of negotiations with the club, mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The income from his new contract, and his many endorsement deals, made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time.[25]

Beckham had made 265 Premier league appearances for United and scored 61 goals. He also made 81 Champions league appearances, scoring 15 goals. Beckham won 6 Premiership titles, 2 FA Cup's, one European Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FA Youth Cup in the space of 12 years.

Real Madrid
Beckham (top) and Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid
Beckham (top) and Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid

Manchester United had been keen to sell Beckham to Barcelona[26] but instead he signed a four-year contract with Real Madrid, with the transfer fee being about €35 million (£25m).[27] The transfer was completed on 1 July 2003 and made him the third Englishman to play for the club after Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman. Although Beckham had worn the number seven shirt for Manchester United and England, he was unable to wear it at Madrid as Raúl had the right to wear it written into his contract. He decided to wear number 23 instead, citing his admiration of basketball player Michael Jordan, who also wore the number 23 shirt, as the reason behind his decision.[28]

Real Madrid finished the season in fourth place, and were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage. But, Beckham immediately became a favourite with the Real Madrid supporters, scoring five times in his first 16 matches (including scoring less than 3 minutes into his La Liga debut), but the team, whose club president expected them to win either the Spanish league or the Champions League each season, did not match expectations.

In July 2004, while Beckham was in pre-season training in Spain, an intruder scaled a wall at the Beckhams' home while carrying a can of petrol. Victoria and their children were in the house at the time, but security guards apprehended the man before he reached the house.[29] Beckham made more headlines on 9 October 2004 when he admitted intentionally fouling Ben Thatcher in an England match against Wales in order to get himself booked. Beckham was due to receive a one-match suspension for his next caution, and had picked up an injury, which he knew would keep him out of England's next match, so he deliberately fouled Thatcher in order to serve his suspension in a match that he would have had to miss anyway. The Football Association asked Beckham for an explanation of his actions and he admitted that he had "made a mistake" and apologised.[30] He was sent off shortly afterwards, this time in a league match for Real Madrid against Valencia CF. Having received a yellow card, he was judged to have sarcastically applaud the referee and was given a second yellow card, causing an automatic dismissal, although the suspension was cancelled on appeal two days later. He was sent off for the third time that season on 3 December 2005 in a league match against Getafe. Although there is the notable fact that Beckham led La Liga in assists for the season.

Real Madrid finished second to Barcelona in the 2005-06 La Liga, albeit with a large 12 point gap, and only reached the last sixteen in the Champions League after losing to Arsenal by one goal.
Warming up with Real Madrid.
Warming up with Real Madrid.

During the season, Beckham established football academies in Los Angeles and east London and he was named a judge for the 2006 British Book Awards.[31]

In 2007, Real Madrid won their first Spanish La Liga title in 3 years because of their superior head-to-head record against Barcelona, giving Beckham his first title since he joined Real Madrid. Initially out of favour with manager Fabio Capello, Beckham started only a few games at the beginning of the season, as Jose Antonio Reyes was normally preferred on the right wing. In the first nine matches Beckham started, Real lost seven.

On 10 January 2007, after prolonged contract negotiations, Real Madrid's sporting director Predrag Mijatović announced that Beckham would not remain at Real Madrid after the end of the season. However, he later claimed that he was mistranslated and that he actually said that Beckham's contract had not been renewed yet.[32]

On 11 January 2007 Beckham announced that he had signed a five-year deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy beginning 1 July 2007. On 13 January 2007 Fabio Capello said that Beckham had played his last game for Real Madrid, although he would continue to train with the team.[33] Capello backtracked on that statement and Beckham rejoined the team for their match against Real Sociedad on 10 February 2007 – he scored and Real Madrid won.[34] In his final UEFA Champions League appearance, Real Madrid were knocked out of the competition (by the away goals rule) on 7 March 2007. Beckham had made a total of 103 appearances in the Champions League, the third highest number of any player at the time.

On 17 June 2007, the last day of the La Liga season, Beckham started in his final match for the club, a 3-1 win over Mallorca, which saw them clinch the title from Barcelona. Although he limped off the field and was replaced, his sub made two goals and the team won the season's La Liga title, their first since Beckham had signed with them. Although both finished level on points, Madrid took the title because of their superior head-to-head record, capping a remarkable six-month turnaround for Beckham.

A month after the conclusion of Beckham's Real career, Forbes magazine reported that he had been the party primarily responsible for the team's huge increase in merchandise sales, a total reported to top $600 million US during Beckham's four years at the club.[35]

L.A. Galaxy

It was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that David Beckham would be leaving Real Madrid to join MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy. The following day, Beckham's official press conference was held in conjunction with the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.[36] Beckham told reporters, "I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football... I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference."[37]

Beckham's contract with Los Angeles Galaxy took effect on 1 July, and on 13 July, was officially unveiled as a Galaxy player at the Home Depot Center. Beckham chose to wear number 23, explaining it was because NBA legend Michael Jordan also wore 23. It was announced that Galaxy jersey sales had already reached a record figure of over 250,000 prior to this formal introduction.[38]

On 21 July, Beckham made his Galaxy début after coming on in the 78th minute in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea during the World Series of Football tournament.[39] Two weeks later, Beckham made his league début as a substitute on 9 August versus D.C. United.[40]
Beckham (centre) scores his first goal for LA Galaxy
Beckham (centre) scores his first goal for LA Galaxy

Beckham returned to the pitch the following week, again facing D.C. United, in the SuperLiga semi-final on 15 August. During this game he had many firsts with the Galaxy; his first start, first yellow card and first game as team captain.[41] He also scored his first goal for the team, from a free kick, and also made his first assist, for Landon Donovan in the second half. These goals gave the team a 2-0 victory, and a place in the North American SuperLiga final versus CF Pachuca on 29 August.

During the SuperLiga final against Pachuca, Beckham injured his right knee, with an MRI scan revealing that he had sprained his medial collateral ligament and would be out for six weeks. He returned to play in the final home match of the season. The Galaxy were eliminated from the playoffs on 21 October, in the final MLS match of the season, a 1-0 loss to Chicago Fire. Beckham played as a substitute in the match, bringing his season-totals to; eight matches played (5 league games), one goal scored, and three assists.

Beckham trained with Arsenal from January 4, 2008 for three weeks, until he returned to LA Galaxy for pre-season training.[42]

Beckham scored his first league goal with the Galaxy on April 3 against the San Jose Earthquakes in the ninth minute.[43]

International career
Beckham as England captain.
Beckham as England captain.

Beckham made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September 1996, in a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova.[44] He became an automatic first-choice player at United during the 1996–97 season, helping them to retain the Premier League championship, and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.[45]

Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in France,[46] but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament,[47] and he did not start in either of England's first two matches. He was picked for their third match against Colombia and scored from a long-range free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England.

In the second round (last 16) of that competition, he received a red card in England's match against Argentina.[48] Beckham, after having been fouled by Diego Simeone, kicked Simeone, striking him on the calf. Simeone later admitted to trying to get Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along with other members of his team, urging the referee to send Beckham off.[49] The match finished in a draw and England were eliminated in a penalty shootout. Many supporters and journalists blamed him for England's elimination and he became the target of criticism and abuse, including the hanging of an effigy outside a London pub, and the Daily Mirror printing a dartboard with a picture of him centred on the bullseye. Beckham also received death threats after the World Cup. [50]

The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, a match where Beckham set up two goals, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match.[51] Beckham responded with a one-fingered gesture and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop abusing him.[52]

On 15 November 2000, following Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager in October, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He helped England to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals, with their performances including an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2–2 draw against Greece on 6 October 2001. England needed to win or draw the match in order to qualify outright for the World Cup, but were losing 2–1 with little time remaining. The rest of the England team were playing relatively poorly, and it was Beckham's inspirational performance that lifted his team mates. When Teddy Sheringham was fouled eight yards (7 m) outside the Greek penalty area, England were awarded a free-kick and Beckham ensured England's qualification with a curling strike of the kind that had become his trademark. Shortly afterwards, he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001. He once again finished runner-up, to Luís Figo of Portugal, for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

He was partially fit by the time of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played in the first match against Sweden. Beckham scored the winning goal of the match against Argentina with a penalty, causing Argentina to fail to qualify for the knockout stage. England were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil. The following month, at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Beckham escorted Kirsty Howard as she presented the Jubilee Baton to the Queen.

Beckham played in all of England's matches at Euro 2004, but the tournament was a disappointment for him. He had a penalty saved in England's 2-1 defeat to France and missed another in a penalty shootout in the quarter final against Portugal. England lost the shootout and went out of the competition.

Beckham became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in January 2005 and was involved in promoting London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.[53] In October 2005, Beckham's sending off against Austria made him the first ever England captain to be sent off and the first (and only) player to be sent off twice while playing for England. He captained England for the 50th time in a friendly international against Argentina the following month.

In England's opening game against Paraguay on 10 June 2006 Beckham's free kick led to an own-goal by Carlos Gamarra, and England won 1-0. In England's next match, played against Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June 2006, Beckham's cross in the 83rd minute led to Peter Crouch's goal, which put England into the lead 1-0. Beckham gave another assist to Steven Gerrard. In the end they won 2-0. He was named Man-of-the-Match by tournament sponsor Budweiser for this game.

During England's second round match against Ecuador, Beckham scored from a free kick in the 59th minute, becoming the first ever English player to score in three World Cups,[54] and giving England a 1-0 victory and a place in the quarter-finals. He was sick before the game and vomited several times as a result of dehydration and illness after he scored the winning goal.

In the quarter-final against Portugal, Beckham was substituted following an injury shortly after half time and the England team went on to lose the match on penalties (3-1), the score having been 0-0 after extra time. After his substitution, Beckham was visibly shaken and emotional for not being able to play, being in tears at one point.

A day after England were knocked out of the World Cup, an emotional Beckham made a statement in a news conference saying that he had stepped down as England captain,[55] saying, "It has been an honour and privilege to captain my country but, having been captain for 58 of my 95 [56] games, I feel the time is right to pass on the armband as we enter a new era under Steve McClaren". (Beckham had actually won 94 caps up to that point.) He was succeeded by Chelsea captain John Terry.[57]

Having stepped down as captain after the World Cup, Beckham was dropped completely from the England national team selected by new coach Steve McClaren on 11 August 2006. McClaren claimed that he was "looking to go in a different direction" with the team, and that Beckham "wasn't included within that". McClaren said Beckham could be recalled in future. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kieran Richardson and the World Cup alternative to Beckham, Aaron Lennon, were all included, although McClaren eventually opted to employ Steven Gerrard in that role.
Beckham takes the free kick against Brazil that John Terry scored from.
Beckham takes the free kick against Brazil that John Terry scored from.

On 26 May 2007, Steve McClaren announced that Beckham would be recalled to the England squad for the first time since stepping down as their captain. Beckham started against Brazil in England's first match at the new Wembley Stadium and put in a positive performance. In the second half he set up England's goal converted by captain John Terry. It looked as though England would claim victory over Brazil, but newcomer Diego equalised in the dying seconds. In England's next match, a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia, Beckham sent two trademark assists for Michael Owen and Peter Crouch, helping England to prevail 3-0.

Beckham had assisted in three of England's four total goals in those two games,[58] and he stated his desire to continue to play for England after his move to the MLS.

On 22 August 2007, Beckham played in a friendly for England against Germany, becoming the first ever to play for England while with a non-European club team.[59] On 21 November 2007, Beckham earned his 99th cap against Croatia, setting up a goal for Peter Crouch to tie the game at 2-2. Following the 2-3 loss, England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 Finals. Despite this, Beckham said that he has no plans to retire from international football and wants to continue playing for the national team.[60] After being passed over by Capello for a friendly against Switzerland which would have given him his hundredth cap, Beckham admitted that he was not in shape at the time, as he had not played a competitive match in three months.[61]. On 20 March 2008, Beckham was recalled to the England squad by Capello for the friendly against France on 26th March. Beckham becomes the fifth Englishman to win 100 caps. Fabio Capello had hinted on March 25, 2008 that Beckham had a long term future in his side ahead of crucial qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[62]

Beckham has announced plans for a football academy in Natal, Brazil, to coincide with the 2014 World Cup.[citation needed]

Discipline

Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson said that he "practiced with a discipline to achieve an accuracy that other players wouldn't care about."[63] He maintained his training routine at Real Madrid and even when his relationship with management was strained in early 2007, Ramon Calderon and Fabio Capello praised Beckham for maintaining his professionalism and commitment to the club.[64][65]

Beckham was the first England player ever to collect two red cards and the first England captain to be sent off.[66] Beckham's most notorious red card was during the 1998 FIFA World Cup: after Argentina's Diego Simeone had fouled him, Beckham lashed out with his leg and the Argentine fell. England went on to lose the game on penalties.

For Real Madrid he amassed 41 yellow cards and 4 red cards.[67]

Beckham helped to keep Wayne Rooney's temper in check on several occasions.[68]

Sporting titles and awards

Individual

* PFA Young Player of the Year: 1997
* Named in 1998 FIFA World Cup All-star team
* FIFA World Player Of The Year Award finalist: 1999, 2001 (runner-up both years)
* UEFA Club Player of the Year Winner: 1999
* UEFA Club Player of the Year Finalist: 2001
* BBC Sports Personality of the Year: 2001
* Named in Pelé's FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players.[69]

Club

Manchester United

* Premier League - Champion (6): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03
* Premier League - Runner Up: 1994–95, 1997–98
* FA Cup Winner (2): 1996, 1999
* FA Cup Runner Up: 1995
* UEFA Champions League Winner: 1998–99
* Intercontinental Cup: 1999
* UEFA Super Cup Runner Up: 1999
* Community Shield Winner (4): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997
* Community Shield Runner Up: 1998, 2000, 2001
* FA Youth Cup Winner: 1992

Real Madrid

* Primera División Champion (1): 2006–2007
* Supercopa de España (1): 2003

LA Galaxy

* SuperLiga Finalist: 2007

Biography Roberto Baggio

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:15 PST

From Wikipedia

(born 18 February 1967 in Caldogno, Veneto) is a retired Italian footballer, among the most technically gifted and popular players in the world throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He played for the Italian national team in three World Cups, and is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups. He was the best Italian player of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, carrying his team to the final, but was one of the three players who missed a penalty in the final which contributed to Italy losing the trophy to Brazil on penalties. He won both the European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) and the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1993.

Biography

As a youngster, Roberto always had a keen interest in the sport of football and played for a local youth club over a period of nine years. After scoring 6 goals in one game; Baggio was persuaded by scout Antonio Mora to join Vicenza.

Club football

Baggio began his professional career at native club Vicenza in Serie C1 during 1982. Fiorentina snapped him up in 1985, and during his years there, he rose to cult status among the team's fans who consider him to be one of their best ever players. He made his Serie A debut on 21 September 1986 against Sampdoria. He scored his first league goal on 10 May 1987 against Napoli in a match best remembered for Napoli winning the Scudetto for the first time in their history.

He was sold to Juventus amid large outcry from Fiorentina fans in 1990 for €12 million (US$19 million),the world record transfer for a football player at the time. Following the transfer, there were full scale riots on the streets of Florence where fifty people were injured.[1] Baggio replied to his fans saying: "I was compelled to accept the transfer".

In 1993 he won his lone European club trophy, helping Juventus to the UEFA Cup. His performances earned him both the European Footballer of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year titles.

Baggio won his first Scudetto with Juventus in 1995. This was the first of many league titles to come for Juventus in the 1990s.

After strong pressure from AC Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi, he was sold to the Milanese club. At this time, he had been linked with Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, but no firm offers were made from either of these clubs.

He helped the club win the Serie A title, becoming the first player to win the scudetto in consecutive years with different teams[citation needed]. Baggio really joined Juventus in a bad period in their history, it was revealed years later, in 2005, that he was all set to join in fact Milan and that his agent had done the deal to go to Juventus instead without Baggio knowing about it.

In 1997, when he was thought to be on the downside, Baggio transferred to Bologna in order to resuscitate his career, and after scoring a personal best 22 goals that year, was included in Italy's starting eleven for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in place of the younger and favoured Del Piero. Cesare Maldini has since been severely criticised for starting Del Piero ahead of Baggio, who was clearly in the better form, for the quarter-final match against France. When Baggio did come on for Del Piero, Italy seemed to play a lot better and Baggio nearly scored with a superb volley which only just missed the target. Had Baggio scored that shot, Italy would have won via the "golden goal" rule, and France would never have been World Champions. Cesare Maldini later apologized to Baggio for not giving him the playing time he deserved.

After the 1998 World Cup, Baggio signed with Inter Milan. This proved to be an unfortunate move, as the then coach Marcello Lippi did not favour Baggio and hardly played him. This caused Baggio to lose his place in the national team, but whenever he could get onto the field, he never left fans disappointed. In his autobiography, Baggio later declared that Lippi had effectively dumped him after Baggio had refused to point out which Inter's players had expressed negative opinions about the coach. His last contribution to Inter Milan was two classic Baggio goals against Parma in the playoff for the last remaining UEFA Champions League place.

After two years with Inter, in order to be called up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he transferred to previously unfashionable Brescia. Despite a severe injury, he miraculously recovered before the end of the season. However, Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni did not take Baggio to Korea and Japan. Fans and pundits criticised the omission of Baggio, and Italy without the inspiration of Baggio was eliminated before reaching the quarter-finals, failing to reach expectations.

Baggio continued playing at Brescia until his retirement in 2004. He played his last game on May 16, 2004 at the San Siro against Milan. In the 88th minute, Brescia coach Gianni De Biasi subbed Baggio off so he could get his curtain call. The 80,000 present at the San Siro gave him a big standing ovation. He ended his career with 205 goals in Serie A, making him the fifth-highest scorer of all time behind Silvio Piola, Gunnar Nordahl, Giuseppe Meazza and José Altafini. His number 10 jersey was retired by Brescia. He scored his 300th career goal on 16 December 2002 in Brescia's 3-1 home victory over Piacenza. He is the first player in over 50 years to reach this milestone, behind only Piola (364) and Meazza (338).

International career

Baggio totalled 27 goals in 56 caps for his national team, the fourth-highest of all time for Italy. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups, with a total of 9 career World Cup goals which puts him even with Christian Vieri and Paolo Rossi as Italy's top World Cup scorers. For all his talent he was never rewarded with a victory in an international competition.

1990 FIFA World Cup

Baggio's first World Cup was the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and although he was used most often as a substitute in the tournament, he was still able to display his quality, scoring twice including the "goal of the tournament" against Czechoslovakia. Baggio is also much remembered for his class; although regularly designated the penalty shooter for his team, he stepped aside when Italy was awarded one in the third place match, allowing teammate Salvatore Schillaci to score and capture the Golden Shoe.

1994 FIFA World Cup

Baggio was the cornerstone of the Italy team during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, leading them to the final after a disappointing start. He scored five goals, all in the knockout phase, and he started every match from the beginning: two in the round of 16 to beat Nigeria (scoring with 2 minutes left of the game sending it into extra time, and then another goal in extra time), one in the quarter-finals to top Spain (the game winner with 3 minutes remaining) and two to beat Bulgaria in the semi-finals. Baggio was not fully fit for the final against Brazil, which ended 0-0 after extra time; he took Italy's last penalty in the resulting shoot-out, but his kick went over the cross-bar and the Brazilians won the title. Two other Italians, Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro, had already missed penalties; had Baggio scored, Brazil would have still had a penalty to win the Cup nevertheless. Baggio has since been blamed for costing Italy that World Cup despite the fact that he singlehandedly carried a weak and aging Italian team to the final.

Baggio finished tied for second in the tournament in goals scored and was named one of the top three players.

1998 FIFA World Cup

In the opening match of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Italy played Chile. The first goal was scored by Christian Vieri on an assist by Baggio. Chile took the lead 2-1, and Baggio would later make a good pass to Filippo Inzaghi but the Chilean keeper Nelson Tapia made an excellent save to keep the score 2-1. That was only the third time a team took the lead over Italy in a World Cup throughout the 1990s. Towards the end of the game a Baggio cross unintentionally touched a Chilean defender's hand, resulting in a penalty scored by Baggio which, undeservingly made the score 2-2. With this goal, he became the first Italian player to score in three World Cups. The Italian fans had already forgiven Baggio for his 1994 penalty miss, as it was well accepted that he was the main reason the Italian side got so far in the tournament to begin with.

He scored two goals in the tournament; he also scored the winning goal against Austria as Italy topped their group.

In the quarter-final match against France, Baggio would come on as a substitute in the second half. Italy had only one shot in the entire match which was just inches away, from none other than Baggio; the score remained 0-0 and the match went to a penalty shootout. Baggio scored his penalty, but Italy lost to the eventual champions France. He was one of Italy's main contributors of that tournament, the other being Christian Vieri in a team full of talent and also known for playing defensive football.

After retirement

Baggio was given an international send-off match on 28 April 2004 against Spain.

He was invited to play for the European XI at the Football for Hope Indian Ocean tsunami relief benefit on 15 February 2005 at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, but he declined the invitation.

Baggio wrote an autobiography titled Una porta nel cielo (A Goal in the Sky, but also A Gate...). In it, he told of many rifts with managers.

Baggio is known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career and his Buddhist background.

On his 40th birthday (February 18, 2007), Baggio started his new website to converse with his fans. As per his website he doesn't intend to return to mainstream football but rather exchange words with his fans on his blogs.

Biography Robinho

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:16 PST

From Wikipedia.org

Robson de Souza (born January 25, 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo), nicknamed Robinho, is a Brazilian footballer currently playing for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid C.F. and the Brazilian national team.

Biography

Robinho was born in Parque Bitaru, a poor neighborhood of São Vicente in Santos, where he began playing football at an early age. When he was six years old, he was signed to the Beira-Mar, a local footballing academy; his team won the championship in his first year.[1] One of his teammates at the time was Marcelo, currently Robinho's teammate at Real Madrid. In 1993, at the age of just nine, Robinho scored 73 goals for the Portuários futsal team. He later joined Santos' youth program, which at the time was overseen by Brazilian football legend Pelé.

Club career

Santos F.C.

In 2002, at the age of eighteen, Robinho signed his first professional contract with Santos Futebol Clube, making 24 appearances in his debut season and scoring nine goals as Santos won the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro. He enjoyed his best offensive output in 2004, scoring 21 goals in 37 league games and winning another league title with Santos.

His form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004, but Robinho remained with Santos after the Brazilian club rejected all offers. However, his form suffered in the 2004-05 season after his mother, Marina da Silva Souza, was kidnapped by gunmen at her Praia Grande home on November 6, but she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid.[2] He managed only four goals in eight league games, but his value nonetheless continued to increase and at the end of the year, Santos were finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player. Finally in July 2005 Spanish giants Real Madrid signed Robinho by agreeing to pay 60 percent of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos (€24 million).[3]

Real Madrid C.F

Robinho played his first Primera Liga game on 28 August 2005 in a 2-1 win against Cádiz CF, coming on as a 65th-minute replacement for Thomas Gravesen. He ended up making 37 appearances and scored eight goals in his first season.

At the start of the 2006-07 campaign, Robinho fell out of favour with new manager Fabio Capello, and he spent much of the first few months of the season on the bench, but worked his way back into the starting eleven after the winter break. Robinho was given permission by FIFA to skip a Copa América training session with Brazil so he could take part in Madrid's season finale against Mallorca on 18 June 2007, which they won 3-1 and in the process claimed their thirtieth league title, which was also the third of Robinho's career. He currently has ten goals and eleven assists for Madrid in the 2007-08 La Liga season

National team
Robinho playing against Switzerland
Robinho playing against Switzerland

Robinho earned his first cap for Brazil in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup final on July 27, which Brazil lost 1-0 to Mexico.

He played in four of Brazil's five 2006 FIFA World Cup matches as a reserve, going scoreless. However, he was in top form in the 2007 Copa América‎ a year later. For the tournament, he wore the number 11 jersey, the same number his childhood hero Romario. Robinho scored all four of Brazil's group stage goals via a hat trick in Brazil's 3-0 group stage match against Chile, and a penalty in a 1-0 win over Ecuador. His last two goals came in a 6-1 quarterfinal thrashing of Chile. Brazil took home the trophy, and Robinho reaped the individual honors, finishing as the Golden Boot winner in addition to being named the best player of the tournament. Robinho has one cap as captain and that was a friendly against Algeria, due to the absence of Lúcio and Gilberto Silva.

On 18 October 2007 Robinho and Ronaldinho were at the center of a controversy when they were both benched for the upcoming weekend by their league clubs after they had missed their flights from Brazil back to Spain. Reports by Brazilian newspaper O Globo described both players partying with other teammates into the early morning hours at popular Rio de Janeiro nightclub Catwalk, as a celebration of Brazil's 5-0 win over Ecuador the day before. The report alleged that Robinho was seen dancing with women and that he had asked a security guard for 40 condoms before leaving the nightclub at 5 a.m. He denied the allegations, adding that he was planning to marry his girlfriend, pregnant with their first child, in early 2008.

Biography George Weah

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:16 PST

From Wikipedia.org

George Weah (born October 1, 1966 in Monrovia[1]) is a Liberian politician and former football forward. He spent 14 years of his professional football career playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England, winning titles in two of the three countries. In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year. Weah has since become a humanitarian and politician in Liberia, and ran unsuccessfully in the 2005 Liberian presidential election, losing to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the second round of voting.

Personal life

George Weah was born and raised in the Clara Town slum of Monrovia. He is a member of the Kru ethnic group, which hails from south-eastern Liberia's Grand Kru County, one of the poorest areas of the country. His parents were William T. Weah, Sr. and Anna Quayeweah. He was raised largely by his paternal grandmother, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown. He attended middle school at Muslim Congress and high school at Wells Hairston High School. Before his football career allowed him to move abroad, Weah worked for the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation as a switchboard technician.

He is married to Clar Weah, a Jamaican that resides in America, and is the father of four children: George Jr., Martha, Timothy George, and Jessica, who was adopted from Jamaica.[1] His son, George Weah Jr. once played for the US U-20 team, with his close friend Freddy Adu [2]. Weah Jr. played for the AC Milan Primavera team in the 2005-06 season. He was given a trial at Slavia Prague, but the club decided not to sign him.[3]

Football Career

At the pinnacle of success, Weah moved to Europe in 1988 when he was signed by Arsène Wenger,[4] then manager of Monaco, who Weah credits as an important influence on his career.[5] At Monaco, Weah was a member of the team that won the French Cup in 1991. In the 1990s Weah subsequently played for Paris Saint Germain (1992 - 95), with whom he won the French league in 1994; and AC Milan (1995 - 1999), with whom he won the Italian league in 1996 and 1999. In 1995 he was named European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year. After leaving Milan in August 1999 Weah moved to Chelsea, Manchester City and Olympique Marseille in quick succession, before leaving Marseille in May 2001 for Al Jazira FC, in the United Arab Emirates.

As successful as he was at club level, Weah was not able to bring over that success to the Liberian national team. He has done everything with the squad from playing to coaching to financing it, but failed to qualify for a single World Cup, falling just a point short in qualifying for the 2002 tournament. This has all led to Weah being known as one of the best footballers never to have played in a World Cup.

World Best Player 1995

Weah was named world best for 1995, becoming the only African player to win the award. He was the fifth recipient of the award. The Silver trophy was won by Paolo Maldini, and the Bronze by Jürgen Klinsmann. The other four recipients were: Lothar Matthaus '91, Marco Van Basten '92, Roberto Baggio '93, and Romario in '94. Weah also won the silver trophy the following year which was won by Brazilian striker Ronaldo. Alan Shearer was awarded the Bronze.

African Player of the Year 1989,1994, & 1995

Weah won the African player of the year in 1989 when he was with AS Monaco and 1995 with AC Milan, the year he won almost every award a footballer could win. When he won the award in 1989, it was his first major award and he took it back home for the entire country to celebrate, similar to what he did when he won the world best title and the Onze Mondial title

European Player of the Year 1995

Weah won the European Player of the Year in 1995, becoming the only African to win the award. Sports writers from all over Europe voted and awarded Weah as the best player in Europe for the year.

Onze Mondial 1995

* The French Magazine name Weah as the top player in Europe for 1995
* Fifa Fair Play Award 1996

African Player of the Century

Weah was voted the African player of the Century by sport journalist from all around the world. This award puts Weah in the company of some of the greatest player to ever played the game. Pele won the same award as the South American player of the Century and Johan Cruijff as the European player of the century.

Humanitarianism

Weah is a devoted humanitarian for his war-torn country. At the 2004 ESPY Awards, he won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for his efforts.[6] Weah was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He has also been named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a role which he has suspended while he pursues a political career.

Football and children

Weah has tried to use football as a way to bring happiness and promote education for children in Liberia. In 1998, Weah launched a CD called Lively Up Africa featuring the singer Frisbie Omo Isibor and eight other African football stars. The proceeds from this CD went to children's programmes in the countries of origin of the athletes involved.

Weah is President of the Junior Professionals, a football team he founded in Monrovia in 1994. As a way to encourage young people to remain in school, the club's only requirement for membership is school attendance. Many of the young people, recruited from all over Liberia, have gone on to play for the Liberian national team.

In 1998 a documentary about Weah's footballing career at AC Milan was made broadcast on The A - Force BBC-TV, it was made by Pogus Caesar a British award winning producer and director.

Political career

Although he had denied interest in politics during his football career, in mid-November 2004, Weah announced his intention to stand in the October 2005 presidential election, having previously been the subject of a petition urging him to run; he received a hero's welcome upon his arrival in Monrovia in late November and was widely considered a favorite in the election. His eligibility was initially questioned due to debates over his citizenship (Weah having allegedly adopted French citizenship whilst at PSG; he has also lived in Staten Island, New York for many years now) but he was officially confirmed on 13 August 2005 as the candidate for the Congress for Democratic Change when the election commission published its final list. He won the most votes of any candidate in the first ballot on 11 October, but did not secure the required overall majority. A run-off vote took place on 8 November, pitting Weah against former World Bank employee and finance minister, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who won the vote and is now the first elected female president in Africa. Weah disputed the electoral process, but on 21 December 2005 he dropped his legal challenge. [3]

Much of Weah's politics are influenced by the recent Second Liberian Civil War. Starting in 1999, the conflict came to a conclusion in 2003 when the United States stationed a Marine Expeditionary Unit with 2,300 Marines offshore while Nigeria sent in peacekeepers as part of an Economic Community of West African States force, forcing President Charles Taylor to resign on August 11, 2003, and flee into exile in Nigeria. As a result, all of the candidates pushed for the politics of peace. During his campaign Weah repeatedly emphasized the need for UN's peace mission in his country, known as UNMIL, to stay at least through the end of what would have been his first presidential term of office.

Weah's lack of experience and of a prestigious college degree weighed heavily against him during the campaign. Opponents believed that Weah could have been manipulated if elected. One positive aspect of Weah's lack of experience is the fact that he was not involved in Liberia's conflicts. Also, some saw little risk in Weah becoming corrupt, as the football star is already quite wealthy.

Weah had also promised to bring low cost housing, electricity, running water, and better education to the countryside, where he himself lived for some time in the 1970s. He also called for the president's term in office to be reduced to four years from six.

Biography Cristian "Bobo" Vieri

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:16 PST

From Wikipedia.org

Christian "Bobo" Vieri (born July 12, 1973 in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian football striker who plays for ACF Fiorentina.

Biography

Born in Bologna, Italy, his family moved to Australia for a period, in the suburb of Wetherill Park. He attended Prairiewood High School in western Sydney. His father Roberto Vieri played for Sydney-based club Marconi Stallions. His brother, Massimiliano Vieri, is also a professional footballer, and was an Australian international in 2004. Vieri played for Marconi Juniors when he was a child but his family soon moved back to Italy.

Career

Vieri started his playing career at A.C. Prato, a small club in Serie C1 in 1989. While there, he was spotted by Torino and played his first Serie A game the next year for the Turin team. Vieri made six appearances in the league as well as in the Coppa Italia. In November 1992, he was sold to Serie B club, Pisa Calcio, scoring two goals. Another season went by, he then moved to Ravenna in Serie B, scoring 12 goals. He was subsequently sold to Venezia A.C. in Serie B, scoring 11 goals. Another move followed for the youngster, this time to Atalanta where he scored seven goals. A change of luck came when he was spotted by Juventus F.C. in the 1996-97 season. He made 23 appearances and scored eight goals in Serie A, and six goals in ten matches in Europe.

Vieri was on the move once again, this time it was to Spain and Atlético Madrid. This is where the Vieri name became a trademark for Italian football and he formed a successful partnership in the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Roberto Baggio. Amazingly, he scored a total of 24 goals in 24 league appearances for Atlético (and an additional five goals from seven appearances in Europe), which led him to the win the Pichichi Trophy, as the the league's top scorer.

After the World Cup, he moved to S.S. Lazio, where he was outstanding in his first season, scoring 12 goals in Serie A and one in Europe, winning the Cup Winners' Cup. But it all changed when Vieri was spotted by F.C. Internazionale Milano and its chairman Massimo Moratti. Vieri's move to Inter Milan was for a (then) world record transfer fee.

Vieri played for Inter Milan from 1999 to 2005, leading the scoring in Serie A in 2003 with 24 goals. At Inter, Vieri formed a dangerous partnership with Ronaldo up front, but because of injuries Ronaldo was not able to play much.

As of the end of 2004, he has scored 22 goals in 43 matches for Italy and played for his country at the 1998 World Cup, scoring five times, and the 2002 World Cup, scoring four times, though he endured a less successful tournament at Euro 2004. Vieri is generally considered one of Italy's greatest strikers of recent times despite strong competition, and is one of Italy's most prolific World Cup goalscorers. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He is also considered one of the greatest finishers of all time.

Italy played Vieri as a lone striker in the 2002 Fifa World Cup, scoring four goals in four games. In the Round of 16 against South Korea he opened the scoring in the 18th minute, scoring a powerful header from a Francesco Totti corner. Italy led the game until the Koreans equalised 3 minutes before the end. In extra time Vieri played a through ball to Damiano Tommasi, thus putting him through on goal. The midfielder scored from this position but the goal was disallowed due to offside, even though camera reviews show Tommasi to be onside. Italy's misfortune continued when Francesco Totti was given a second yellow card for alleged diving and dismissed. Italy was eventually eliminated by South Korea by a Golden Goal.

Italy has had more success without Vieri. In the period 1998 to 2006 Italy were runners-up in Euro 2000 and won the world cup in 2006 without him. This, along with his famous "I'm more a man than all of you"[1] to the press at Euro 2004 and his later spat with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for letting in an unstoppable Swedish goal have led to questions about his ability to destabilise a squad.

In July 2005, Vieri and Inter Milan came to a mutual agreement to terminate his contract with the club. He was then signed by cross-town rivals A.C. Milan, but left the rossoneri - where he was not a regular starter - after just six months, joining French side AS Monaco FC in order to play regularly and gain a place on Italy's roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, he suffered a serious knee injury while playing for Monaco in 2006, which required extensive surgery and ruled out the possibility of playing in his third consecutive FIFA World Cup.

On July 6, 2006, Vieri agreed a one year deal with UC Sampdoria of Serie A. However, on August 10, 2006, an agreement was to terminate his contract with the club (because of laziness). He then offered his services to demoted Italian giants and former club Juventus - they, however, rejected his offer on August 22nd.

On August 29, 2006, Vieri returned to Atalanta and signed a one-year minimum wage contract worth 1500€ per month. Although he received a paltry salary, Vieri was to earn another €100,000 for every goal he scores, leaving chairman Ivan Ruggeri to comment, "If things go well, Vieri will cost me two million euros". Bobo scored 2 goals in 7 substitute appearances, including one long-range goal.

On June 2007, Atalanta announced they chose not to offer a contract extension to Vieri. His contract therefore ended on June 30. On July 19, 2007, Vieri signed a one-year contract with ACF Fiorentina worth about 2.75 million dollars and was officially presented to the press on July 21, 2007.[2]

Vieri missed a crucial penalty in Fiorentina's UEFA Cup 2007-08 2nd leg semi final defeat to Rangers on May 1 2008, which saw the Scottish club progress to the final 4-2 in the penalty shootout after both legs had finished 0-0.

Biography Francesco Totti

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:16 PST

From Wikipedia.org

Francesco Totti, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI,[1][2] (born September 27, 1976 in Rome) is a World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Italian Serie A club A.S. Roma.

His position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as a second striker. Totti, who has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number one goalscorer and the most capped player in club history. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Biography

Totti was born and raised in Rome's Porta Metronia neighborhood. He idolized ex-Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini, and regularly played football with older boys. His mother refused a lucrative offer from A.C. Milan, as she intended to never let her son set foot out of his home city, and he finally joined the Roma youth squad in 1989.

[edit] A.S. Roma

After three years in the youth team, Totti made his first appearance for Roma's senior side at the age of sixteen, when coach Vujadin Boškov made him play in the 2-0 away victory against Brescia Calcio on March 28, 1993. In the following seasons, he began to play more games, and thus he succeeded in scoring his first goal on September 24, 1994 in a 1-1 draw against Foggia Calcio. By 1995, Totti had become a regular in the starting eleven and scored an amount of 16 goals in the next three seasons. When he assumed the team captaincy in 1997, he began to gain recognition as a club symbol. Manager Zdeněk Zeman played with an offensive 4-3-3 formation, in which Totti was the left winger. Totti scored thirty goals during Zeman's two-year managerial stint.

Though Totti was not called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he was named the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in the 1998-99 season.

Scudetto 2001
Decal of Totti alongside the Scudetto shield, displayed on a house in Rome
Decal of Totti alongside the Scudetto shield, displayed on a house in Rome

By the 2000-01 campaign, Roma, now helmed by Fabio Capello, was building a competitive team around Totti, who had started to play as trequartista to take advantage of his passing skills, in addition to scoring thirteen goals. On June 17, 2001, he won his first Scudetto, and scored one goal in a 3-0 Supercoppa Italiana victory against ACF Fiorentina.

Totti was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for 2000 and 2001, and received his first Ballon D'or nomination, finishing fifth in the voting.[3] He had also become a widely recognised idol of the supporters, who were able to identify with him due to his being a lifelong Roma supporter and a Rome native, in addition to his prowess on the pitch.

In the following years Totti played as second striker as part of a 3-5-2 formation, and scored a career-high twenty goals in the 2003-04 season as Roma finished runners-up to A.C. Milan in the Scudetto race, in addition to picking up his second consecutive Italian Footballer of the Year award. Despite a disappointing 2004-05 season that saw Capello leave for Juventus and Roma slip to eighth place while making four coaching changes during the course of the season, Totti maintained his consistent offensive output by scoring fifteen goals, among them his 100th Serie A goal against Internazionale on October 3, 2004. Two months later, on 19 December, he became Roma's all-time leading scorer after netting his 107th career goal against Parma F.C., breaking the record previously held by Roberto Pruzzo.

As a striker with Spalletti
Francesco Totti with AS Roma shirt
Francesco Totti with AS Roma shirt

Roma's new coach for the 2005-06 season, Luciano Spalletti, went with a 4-2-3-1 formation, during which Totti would not remain forward waiting for crosses or passes, instead going back to take the ball, and thus creating spaces for the attacking midfielders. In this new position Totti began to score more frequently than the past, and he scored fifteen goals in 24 matches, during which the team won eleven consecutive games.

On February 19, 2006, Totti suffered a fracture of his left fibula and ligament damage during a match against Empoli F.C. after being fouled by Richard Vanigli. Totti risked missing the 2006 World Cup, but returned to the side on May 11, 2006 as a substitute in Roma's 3-1 Coppa Italia final defeat to Inter. A metal plate had been attached to his ankle during surgery, but doctors decided not to operate again and remove it following Totti's return, after concurring that it would not affect his gameplay.[4]

The 2006-07 season was a personal high for Totti, as he finished as Serie A's top scorer with 26 goals as Roma finished runners-up to Inter but exacted revenge on the Nerazzurri as they took home the 2007 Coppa Italia. Totti also was the recipient of the ESM European Golden Boot award as the top European goalscorer. Despite being the highest active goalscorer in Serie A, he was not among the finalists for the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year[5] due to his national team absent, though he was nominated for the 2007 Ballon D'or, finishing tenth in the voting.

Totti scored his 200th goal with Roma in a 4-0 Coppa Italia win over Torino F.C. on January 16, 2008. He was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for the fifth time in his career on January 28.

On April 19, 2008, Totti suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee during a 1-1 draw with Livorno. Tests revealed a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament that required surgery, and he is expected to miss up to four months.[6]

National team

After starring with the Azzurrini in Italy's Under-18 and Under-21 sides, Totti earned his first cap for Italy during a Euro 2000 qualifying victory against Switzerland on October 10, 1998. Though Italy lost to France in the final, Totti was named the man of the match[7].

Disappointment followed at the 2002 World Cup, with Totti failing to make a significant impact and then being sent off during Italy's second-round loss to South Korea after being handed a second yellow card by Byron Moreno.

Totti acquired a measure of infamy at Euro 2004 after he spat at Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen in a goalless draw on June 14, 2004. He was subsequently banned until the semifinals, but never made it back to action and finished the competition scoreless due to Italy's elimination in the first round.

2006 World Cup

Though Totti recovered in time to join the national team for the 2006 World Cup, he was not completely in game shape after three months on the sidelines following his injury against Empoli, and played with metal plates in his ankle that had yet to be removed. He nonetheless was a regular fixture in the side, notably scoring the lone goal via a penalty in Italy's 1-0 win over Australia on June 26, and starting in the final against France until being substituted in the 61st minute. Italy went on to win the World Cup, and Totti was selected for the 23-man Mastercard All-Star Team.

Totti intended to retire from the Azzurri after the end of the World Cup, but reneged on his decision and remained undecided on his future for over a year, and was never called up in the meantime. He made his retirement official on July 20, 2007, at the beginning of the new Serie A season in order to focus solely on club play with Roma. Italy coach Roberto Donadoni's attempts to get Totti to change his mind for the remaining Euro 2008 qualifiers proved futile. [8]

Goal celebrations

Totti is known for celebrating his goals as well as scoring them. His most famous celebration was in the second Derby della Capitale of the 1998-99 season, in which he scored during the final minutes of the game and celebrated by flashing a T-shirt under his jersey, which read Vi ho purgato ancora ("I've purged you guys again"), in reference to his scoring against Lazio in the previous derby on November 29, 1998. Another derby goal against Lazio saw him take over a sideline camera and aim it at the Roma fans.

As a tribute to his then-pregnant wife, Totti imitated a childbirth scene by stuffing the ball under his shirt and laying on his back while his teammates extracted the ball. His current ritual of sucking his thumb after a goal began after his son was born.

Personal life

Totti's wife, Ilary Blasi, is a former showgirl who currently works as commentator and host on several RAI TV programs. The couple had their first baby, named Cristian, on 6 November 2005. Their second child, a daughter, Chanel, was born on 13 May 2007. His brother, Riccardo, serves as his agent. Totti also runs a football school, Number Ten, and owns a motorcycle racing team called Totti Top Sport.

A goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, Totti published two bestselling, self-effacing joke books in order to raise money for a children's charity. Some of the jokes were filmed as shorts starring Totti himself, along with some of his Italy teammates such as Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, and Antonio Cassano.

Totti is famous for his cucchiaio goalscoring technique, which inspired the title of his 2006 autobiography, Tutto Totti: Mo je faccio er cucchiaio (Romanesco for "I'll Chip Him").

Totti also collects jerseys from teams around the world. In 2003, after a Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, Irish players Brian O'Driscoll and Denis Hickie each received a Totti jersey in exchange for their own shirts.

Honours

A.S. Roma

* Serie A
o Winner: 2001
o Runner-up: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007
* Coppa Italia
o Winner: 2007
o Runner-up: 2003, 2005, 2006
* Supercoppa Italiana
o Winner: 2001, 2007
o Runner-up: 2006

International

* FIFA World Cup
o Winner: 2006
* UEFA European Championship
o Runner-up: 2000
* UEFA Under-21 European Championship
o Winner: 1996
* UEFA Under-18 European Championship
o Runner-up: 1995

Personal

* FIFA 100 (125 greatest living players)

* All-Time Top Scorer for Roma

* 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team

* EURO 2000 Team of the Tournament

* Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2003

* Italian Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007

* Serie A Young Footballer of the Year: 1999

* Serie A Top Scorer: 2006-07

* European Golden Boot: 2006-2007

Biography Lionel Messi

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:16 PST

Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine international footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona in the Primera División, and for the Argentine national team. He has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, and indeed Maradona himself named Messi his “successor”.[3]

Career

Beginnings

Lionel Messi was born in Rosario city on 24 June 1987. At the age of five, he started playing football for Grandoli, a club coached by his father. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys.[4] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.[5] River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness that cost over £500 a month, as Argentina's economy was collapsing.[citation needed] Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, was made aware of Messi's talent, and Barcelona signed him after watching him play,[6] offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain.[4] His family moved with the young player to Europe and he starred in the club’s youth teams.[6]

FC Barcelona

Messi made his unofficial debut for the first team against FC Porto on 16 November 2003. Less than a year later he made his official debut against Espanyol on 16 October 2004, becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga (a record broken by team mate Bojan Krkić in September 2007).[7] When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for FC Barcelona until 2007 when Bojan Krkić broke this record, a goal assisted by Messi.[8]

Argentina Under-20

In June 2004, he got his chance, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In 2005 he was part of the team that won the Under-20 World Cup in Holland. He also won the prize for best player of the tournament.

International career

On 4 August 2005, José Pekerman called Messi up to the senior Argentine national team. He made his debut on 17 August 2005 against Hungary, but it was a forgettable occasion. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off after just 40 seconds, because the referee Markus Merk found he had elbowed defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt, and left the pitch in tears. The decision was contentious. Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated.[9][10] Messi then had his first international start on 3 September in Argentina's 0-1 World Cup qualifier away loss against Paraguay.[11] Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-début. The first one was a bit short"[12]

2005-06 season
Messi vs Rangers 11/2007.
Messi vs Rangers 11/2007.

On September 16, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract - this time improved to pay him as a first team member and extended till June 2014.[4][13] Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on September 25 and was finally able to make his début in the season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play because FC Barcelona had filled their quota of non-EU players. Messi's first home outing in the UEFA Champions League came on September 27 against Italian club Udinese.[14] He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd Nou Camp faithful.[15] In December of that year, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, ahead of Wayne Rooney, Lukas Podolski, and Cristiano Ronaldo.[16]

Messi netted 6 goals from 17 league appearances and scored 1 Champions League goal from the 6 games he featured in. His reputation for big match temperament was helped by performances in Barcelona's important away leg victories against Real Madrid and Chelsea in the league and Champions League respectively, each considered his best of the respective campaign.[17][6] Messi's season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, when he tore a muscle in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea.[18] Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

The injury that kept him from playing for two months at the end of the 2005/06 season jeopardised his presence in the World Cup. Nevertheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the tournament on May 15, 2006. He also played in the farewell match against the Argentinian U-20 team for fifteen minutes and a friendly against Angola from the 64th minute.[19][20] He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the bench.[21] In the next match against Serbia , 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, that made him the youngest scorer in the tournament.[22] Messi started in Argentina's following 0-0 tie against the Netherlands.[23] In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute in the 84th minute, with the score tied 1-1. He appeared to score a goal, but was ruled offside in a dubious decision,[24][25] Argentina needing an extra time winner to proceed. Messi sat on the bench during the quarter-finals match against Germany, which Argentina lost in a penalty shootout.[26]

2006-07 season
Messi shortly before scoring the goal against Getafe.
Messi shortly before scoring the goal against Getafe.

Consistently strong performances and the occasional goal meant Messi was not starting any more games on the bench. Failure to effectively replace the injured Eto'o and poor defensive displays prevented Barcelona from taking advantage of Messi's showings against Chelsea and Real Madrid.[27] This would later prove critical to their title challenges. On November 12, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal from tackles, ruling him out for 3 months.[28][29] Barça carried out his recuperation in native Argentina. During this period there were rumours of interest in the player from Inter Milan.[30][31] Messi returned to action against Racing Santander on the 11th of February, coming on as a second-half substitute[4]. Rijkaard carefully managed his complete return, gradually increasing playing minutes with each game. One month since his return, on the 10th of March, he played his first full league match since the injury, Real Madrid being the opposition. Once again, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3-3 draw, equalising thrice and with the final goal coming in injury time. In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994-95 season) and the first Barcelona player since Romario (1993-94 season) to hit a hat-trick in the El Clásico. Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. The game also marked the beginning of Messi's best spell of form with Barça. He also began finding the net more often, 11 of his 14 league goals for the season coming from the last 13 games. Despite his spirited efforts, Barcelona felt marginally short in its defence of the La Liga title, Real Madrid winning on a better head-to-head record.

Messi also proved the 'new Maradona' tag was not all hype, by near-replicating Maradona's most famous goal (the goal scored after a sensational run taking the ball around half the England squad in the 1986 World Cup) in the space of the single season.[32] On April 18, 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 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century.[33] The world's sports press exploded with Maradona comparisons, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona". He ran about the same distance (62 metres), 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: "There's no other like Leo."[34] Later on, in a crucial league match with Espanyol, Messi scored a goal that drew even more comparisons to Maradona's Hand of God

Copa America 2007

Messi played his first game in Copa America on 29 June, 2007, when Argentina defeated United States 4-1 in the first game. In this game, Messi 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 caused a penalty that Crespo converted to tie the game at 1-1. He also played 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 0-0. In the 79th minute he created a goal for Javier Mascherano. In the quarterfinals, as Argentina faced Peru, Riquelme made a pass to Messi and the latter scored the second goal for Argentina, which advanced to the semifinals after a 4-0 win.

In the semi finals against Mexico, Messi scored when he spotted the Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez off of his line and chipped the ball into the goal. The goal ultimately helped his team to a 3-0 victory and earned them a place in the final against Brazil, which Argentina subsequently lost 3-0.

2007-08 season
Messi takes Barça to 2:0 against Sevilla FC at Camp Nou on 22 September 2007.
Messi takes Barça to 2:0 against Sevilla FC at Camp Nou on 22 September 2007.

Messi scored five goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. He dedicated the two goals he scored against FC Sevilla on September 22 to Ronaldinho, who was injured and under fire from media outlets at the time. A few days earlier he had scored as Barcelona defeated Lyon 3-0 at home in a Champions League match and then on September 26, Messi scored another goal in a 4-1 victory over Real Zaragoza.

He has been nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward. A recent poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper Marca has him as the current best player of the world with 77 percent of the votes.[35] Also, other columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport began asking for the Ballon d'Or to be given to Leo Messi this year. This observation was also made by world soccer legends Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff.[36] Various soccer personalities such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Frank Rijkaard, Víctor Fernández, Bernd Schuster, Guti, Raul, Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Totti and Diego Maradona have all, at one time or another, declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballer of the world.[37][38]

On February 27 Messi played in his 100th official match for FC Barcelona.

Barcelona's medical staff decided to sideline Messi for six weeks following an injury on March 4 where he experienced a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic. Messi left the field at the Nou Camp in the 35th minute with tears in his eyes. It was the fourth time in three seasons that the player suffered this type of injury.[39] He missed Champions League quarterfinals against Schalke but returned on April 12, just before the clash with Manchester United. Barcelona was eventually knocked out of the competition by Manchester United. Messi started both games and was considered man of the match in both games but unfortunately failed to provide a goal for Barcelona.

Biography Cristiano Ronaldo

noreply@blogger.com (Firdaos) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:28:16 PST

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cristiano Ronaldo (pronounced [kɾɨʃˈtiɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]), OIH, (born 5 February 1985[2] in Funchal, Madeira) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester United and the Portuguese national team. With Manchester United, Ronaldo plays primarily as a right winger.[3] He has also been used both in a central attacking role and as a second striker.

A winner of the 2007 English PFA Player and Young Player of the Year awards and third in the 2007 World Player of the Year award, Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the most talented footballers of his generation. Ronaldo also won the 2008 English PFA Player of the year award, giving him back to back victories. Johan Cruyff enthused in an April 2, 2008 interview, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

Biography

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born to Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and the José Dinis Aveiro (1954 – 5 September 2005). He has one older brother, Hugo (b. 1975), and two elder sisters, Elma (b. 1974) and Liliana Cátia (b. Madeira, 5 October 1976). Liliana Cátia works as a singer by the stage name "Ronalda" in Portugal. Cristiano's second given name, "Ronaldo," is relatively rare in Portugal. His parents named him after Ronald Reagan due to his late father's admiration for the former president.[8]

Player profile

Ronaldo is a two-footed player, allowing him to play anywhere up front: right, left or through the middle. This has enabled Ronaldo and left winger Ryan Giggs to switch wings occasionally, helping Manchester United further confuse their opponents.[9] Besides his trademark stepovers, he also developed a wide array of flicks and skills, making him one of the most feared wingers in the Premier League.[10] Ronaldo is currently Manchester United's first-choice penalty taker.

Career

Early career

He began kicking a football when he was three, and when he started primary school at age six, his passion for the sport was obvious. His favourite boyhood team was SL Benfica even though he would later join their rival, Sporting. He first played for an amateur team, Andorinha, where his father was the kit man, when he was just eight years old. By 1995, at just ten years of age, Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation was growing in Portugal. Madeira's top two teams, CS Marítimo and CD Nacional were both interested in signing him. Marítimo, the bigger team, missed a crucial meeting with Rui Santos, Ronaldo's manager at Andorinha, and as a result, Ronaldo signed for Nacional. After a title-winning campaign at Nacional, Ronaldo went on a three day trial with Sporting who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.[11]

Sporting Clube de Portugal

Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's "football factory," where he received first-class instruction. In his first few months in Lisbon, he had to defend himself from the rest of the local players as they had taunted him over his Madeiran accent. A growth spurt had also obstructed his progress at the club. However, Ronaldo eventually went on to become the only player in Sporting’s history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team within a season.[12] Sporting realised that Ronaldo needed more support and arranged for his mother to join him. He scored two goals on his Sporting debut against Moreirense. He also featured for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.[13]

His performances at the UEFA Under 17 championship drew him to the attention of the wider football world. He was first spotted by former Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier at the age of 16. However, Liverpool later declined him because he was too young and needed some time to develop into a top footballer.[14] However, he came to the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting beat Manchester United 3-1 in the inauguration of the Alvalade XXI stadium in Lisbon. Ronaldo demonstrated his ability to play on both wings. His performance in the match impressed the Manchester United players, who spoke to their manager about a possible transfer bid for Ronaldo.[15]

Manchester United

Ferguson decided that he wanted Ronaldo for his team, who were in the market for a right-sided midfielder with the departure of David Beckham to Real Madrid; Ronaldo was signed for a fee of £12.24 million,[16] becoming the club's first ever Portuguese player. Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt on his arrival, a shirt number that has belonged to some of the greatest Manchester United legends, such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Ronaldo initially asked for the number 28 which he wore at Sporting, as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt. "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".[17]

Ronaldo playing for Manchester United

Ronaldo made his debut for Manchester United as a 60th minute substitute against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford, a 4-0 Manchester United win. On 29 October 2005, Ronaldo scored Manchester United's 1000th Premier League goal, in a 4-1 loss at the hands of Middlesbrough. He bagged a double double in February, with two goals at home to Fulham and another pair at Fratton Park, and also scored in the following Premier League game against Wigan taking his tally to 8 Premier League goals. On 26 February 2006, Ronaldo played in the Carling Cup Final against Wigan in the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff, and scored a goal - taking his season's tally to 10 goals. He was named FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year 2005, the only award to be voted for by fans. He received the same accolade the following year in 2006. He was also ranked 20th in the FIFA Player of the Year 2005 standings.

In 2006, a row between him and Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Carrington training ground intensified speculation about their roles at the club.[18] However, Ronaldo signed a new deal with United that would last until 2010. Ronaldo said of the deal, "United have stood by me and been there for me and I want to repay that".[19]

Despite the World Cup incident, Ronaldo remained popular with the Manchester United faithful when he played (and scored) in his first Premier League match since the 2006 World Cup. Manchester United fans could clearly be heard chanting "there's only one Ronaldo" at various points in the game, in a 5-1 win over Fulham F.C.. He won the Barclays Player of the Month for November 2006. By December 2006, Ronaldo had become one of United's most influential players, scoring six goals in three league games to bring his overall tally up to 12 goals. He came on at half-time as a substitute against Wigan Athletic and immediately stamped his influence on the match with 2 goals in the space of a few minutes. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson concedes he would lose his wager with the Portuguese in his current form after setting a target of 15 goals for the season. The Scot remarked that he was "pleased for him because he works hard at his game. He's still learning the game. His ability to pass the ball has helped him this season. His passing has been very good. That just shows he is maturing. He's been fantastic, and he's getting better all the time".[20] In December, he was awarded the Barclays Player of the Month Award for the second successive month, becoming the third ever player in the Premier League to do so (after Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996).[21][22] Ronaldo scored his 50th goal for Manchester United in the game against arch-rivals Manchester City which turned out to be the decisive goal which helped Manchester United claim the Premier League title for the first time in 4 years.

As the end of each season approached, particularly in 2006 and 2007, it became traditional for rumours to start floating that Ronaldo was unsettled at Manchester United and wanted to play for Real Madrid - the rumours frequently originating from the board of Real Madrid who were reported in April 2007 to be willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo.[23] At the beginning of March 2007, however, Ronaldo, as well as Manchester United, confirmed that they would be negotiating an extension to his current contract. On 13 April 2007, Ronaldo signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week deal with United, making him the highest-paid player in United's history.[24] He said, "I am very happy at the club and I want to win trophies and hopefully we will do that this season".[25]
Rooney and Ronaldo (Right) depicted at Old Trafford
Rooney and Ronaldo (Right) depicted at Old Trafford

During the 2006-07 season, Ronaldo won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards. He received the two awards during a ceremony on the 22nd of April, 2007. In addition to winning the two awards (an accomplishment that has only been matched once - in 1977 by Andy Gray),[26] Ronaldo was also named a member of the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, alongside seven of his fellow Manchester United teammates. On 24 April 2007, Ronaldo completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, an award which is given by winning the most votes from fans all over the United Kingdom. In addition, he was awarded the 2007 Portuguese Footballer of the Year, and at the beginning of May 2007 Ronaldo was also awarded the Football Writers' Association Award. He also received two awards from the club itself, the Player of the Year award, and the Fans' Player of the Year award.

The 2006-07 was tainted with several diving incidents. During a match with Middlesbrough F.C., he was criticised for diving by rival manager Gareth Southgate.[27] On 4 February 2007, in a match against Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Ronaldo was caught in yet another diving controversy, after winning United a controversial penalty despite seeming to receive little or no contact from Tottenham's Steed Malbranque.[28]

Ronaldo has occasionally had problems with his temper during games. He was sent off in a game against Manchester City and received a one-match ban imposed by UEFA for a "one-fingered gesture" towards Benfica fans in a UEFA Champions League match in December 2005.[29] While playing for Portugal in a friendly against Luxembourg he was given a yellow card for pushing Jeff Strasser in the throat in retaliation after Strasser tackled him. Felipe Scolari warned Ronaldo to keep his temper in check during the World Cup.[30] Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for an alleged headbutt of Portsmouth player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the 2007-08 season, and was therefore banned for the subsequent three games. After the match, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that Ronaldo had "fallen into the trap".[31] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in future.[32]

Ronaldo's 2007-08 season started badly with the sending off at Portsmouth. However, in his first game following the ban Ronaldo scored the only goal in the 60th minute of a Champions League away game against Sporting Lisbon on return to his old club. He was given a standing ovation by the Sporting supporters for his muted celebrations following the goal. Following this match, Ronaldo has kept his goalscoring boots on in the away fixture against Birmingham City F.C. The goalscoring continued with a brace against Wigan Athletic F.C. Ronaldo contributed three goals in both the home and away fixtures against Dynamo Kiev, a goal against Arsenal F.C. and another brace against Blackburn Rovers. An injury time winner, coming from a free-kick in the home fixture against Sporting Lisbon led Manchester United to the top of the group in the UEFA Champions League[33]. On December 2, 2007, Ronaldo was officially announced as the runner up in the European Footballer of the Year standings, finishing behind the winner, Kaka, with 277 points.[34] Ronaldo scored a match-winning double against Fulham F.C., one of which included a memorable volley[35]. He had also been booked for diving by referee Rob Styles when he went down under a challenge from Fulham's goalkeeper, Antti Niemi. Sir Alex Ferguson had claimed that it "His reputation from years ago is still playing on the minds of referees. It was a ridiculous decision."[36] In addition to his two late penalties in the home fixtures against Derby County F.C.[37] and Everton F.C. , he scored a free-kick just before half-time against Sunderland A.F.C.[38]. On December 17 2007, it was officially announced that Ronaldo came in third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards, finishing behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.[39] A 2-1 defeat in the away fixture against West Ham United F.C., Ronaldo scored in the match but missed a penalty.

Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United, in the 6-0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of English Premier League table. He scored with a free kick in the 49th minute and went on to score twice more in the 70th and 88th minutes of the match.[40] The very next game, he scored the second goal in the 2-0 win against Reading on 19 January 2008, bringing his goal tally to 23, equalling his tally for the whole of the 2006/2007 season.[41] UEFA have been urged to investigate an incident before and during the 1-1 draw against Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Champions League on February 20, 2008 where Ronaldo and United team mate Nani were targeted by opposition fans shining potentially hazardous lasers at the players during the warm up and the match itself.[42]

On March 19, 2008, Ronaldo eclipsed George Best's 40-year-old United record of the most goals scored by a midfielder in one season.[43] Best had scored 32 times in the 1967-68 season. In a Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford, Ronaldo was captain for Manchester United for the first time in his career in England; while donning the captain's arm band, Ronaldo scored both goals in a 2-0 win for United.[44] On April 9, 2008, it was reported that Real Madrid have decided to offer Manchester United a world-record £100million for Cristiano Ronaldo, a fee which was later turned down by the club.[45]

Ronaldo is the current leader in the standings for the European Golden Shoe, the award for the European top goal scorer, with a six-point lead ahead of second-placed Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.[46]