soccerer's biography

Andy Carroll

2011-02-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Andrew Thomas "Andy" Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English footballer who plays for Liverpool ^[3] and the England national team as a striker. The fee of £35 million paid by Liverpool for his transfer from Newcastle on 31 January 2011 is the highest for a British footballer and the 8th highest for any footballer.

Contents

1 Club career

1.1 Newcastle United

1.2 Liverpool

7.1 Individual

Club career

Newcastle United

Carroll, an occasional scorer in Newcastle's reserve team, made his first team debut in a UEFA Cup tie against Palermo on 2 November 2006 when he appeared as a late substitute to become the youngest ever player to represent Newcastle in Europe, at the age of 17 years and 300 days.^[4]

He made his FA Cup debut on 17 January 2007, appearing as substitute for the last ten minutes in the 5–1 home defeat by Birmingham City.^[5] On 25 February 2007, Carroll made his Premier League debut for Newcastle, coming on as a substitute in the 87th minute in the 1–0 defeat by Wigan Athletic, almost scoring in the process; only a good save from Wigan goalkeeper John Filan prevented him from scoring his first Newcastle goal.^[6]

In 2007, he was the recipient of the "Wor Jackie Milburn Trophy", which is awarded every year to the rising star of North-East football, chosen from among Newcastle players.^[7]

On 29 July 2007, Carroll scored his first senior goal with a left foot shot in a 2–0 win over Juventus in a friendly match. After the game, Carroll received praise from Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who tipped Carroll to have a big future.^[8]

Preston North End loan

On 14 August 2007, Carroll began a six-month loan with Preston North End,^[9] and made his debut for them in the League Cup against Morecambe on the same day.^[10] Carroll was sent off playing for Preston against Scunthorpe United on 18 September.^[11] He scored his first Championship goal, and his first English league goal, against Leicester City on 6 November.^[12]

Return to Newcastle

Carroll made his first appearance for Newcastle in the 2008–09 season on 20 October, coming on as a substitute for Shola Ameobi at home to Manchester City.^[13] Carroll scored his first competitive goal for Newcastle on his first ever home start with a header against West Ham United in a 2–2 draw on 10 January 2009.^[14] He signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract, in theory keeping him at Newcastle until 2013.^[15]

strikers, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins,^[16] Carroll was paired with Shola Ameobi in attack for Newcastle at the start of the new season.^[17] His first league goal in the Championship came on 16 September 2009 against Blackpool with a header.^[18] By 2010 Carroll was playing almost every game, in a new strike partnership with Peter Løvenkrands. This partnership accounted for more than half of the club's goals in 2010.^[19] Carroll finished the season as Newcastle's top scorer, with 19 goals in all competitions, 17 in the league.^[19]

Carroll was given squad number 9 for the 2010–11 season, a number with great significance for Newcastle United supporters, as it has been worn in the past for Newcastle by the likes of Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer.^[20] Carroll scored his first career hat-trick against Aston Villa in the their 6–0 win in the Premier League on 22 August 2010.^[21][22] Carroll captained Newcastle for the first time on 3 October 2010 when he came on as a substitute for Kevin Nolan against Manchester City.^[23] In October 2010, Carroll signed a new five-year contract, on paper keeping him at the club until 2015.^[24] Carroll scored Newcastle's third in a 3–1 victory over Liverpool at St. James' Park on 11 December 2010, with a low 25-yard drive.^[25]

Liverpool

On 31 January 2011, Liverpool put in a bid of £30 million for Carroll, which was rejected. Newcastle then rejected an improved offer of £35 million. Liverpool then had a bid accepted in excess of £35 million for the player and, following a medical examination, the transfer was completed shortly before the deadline.^[26] Liverpool confirmed that Carroll would wear the No. 9 jersey previously worn by Fernando Torres, who left Anfield for Chelsea on the same evening.^[27] The transfer made Carroll the eighth overall most expensive footballer, and the most expensive British footballer of all time.^[28]

International career

On 11 September 2007, Carroll made his England under-19 debut against Belarus, scoring in the 4–0 victory.^[29] On 12 March 2009, Carroll, fresh from signing a new contract at Newcastle, was called up to the England U-20s for a match against Italy U-20s, but was withdrawn from the squad and replaced by Hal Robson-Kanu of Swindon Town.^[30]

Carroll received his first call up to the England U-21s on 5 August 2009.^[31] He made his debut on 11 August 2009 against Holland, coming on as a second half substitute.^[32] On his second cap with the under-21 team, on 9 October 2009 against Macedonia U-21s, he scored two goals and assisted another as England romped to a 6–3 win.^[33]

His performances for Newcastle earned him a call up to the England squad for the friendly against France on 17 November 2010. Carroll passed a late fitness test to start the match.^[34] England boss Fabio Capello recently stated his desire to partner Carroll up front with Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney for the forthcoming international games in the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Style of play

Carroll has been compared to Newcastle legend Alan Shearer,^[35][36] and also to former Newcastle and Everton striker Duncan Ferguson due to his skill in the air.^{[citation needed]} He is referred to as a classic No. 9 centre forward, owing to his strength, powerful shot, and excellent heading ability.^[37] Former Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan stated "he is probably in the top three headers of a ball I have ever seen in football".^[38]

After Newcastle's game at home to Blackpool, Ian Holloway, Blackpool manager, described Carroll as the best striker in the Premier League.^[39]

Personal life

Born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, Carroll attended Brighton Avenue Primary School and Joseph Swan School.^[40]

Carroll and his ex-girlfriend have a daughter, born 15 September 2009.^[41]

Discipline

Carroll has been involved in many off-the-pitch incidents in his career. On 14 September 2008, he was arrested by police in Newcastle responding to a report that a woman had been assaulted, and later accepted a police caution for assault.^[42] On 7 December 2009, he was arrested in the aftermath of a nightclub fight, again in Newcastle, accused of smashing glass in a man's face.^[43] He was charged with assault and in October 2010 he pleaded guilty to common assault and was fined £1,000. He was also ordered to pay £2,500 compensation.^[44]

He was also involved in an incident on the training ground which allegedly left teammate Steven Taylor with a broken jaw though no charges were filed according to police.^[45] Carroll reportedly suffered a broken hand in the incident, and he was shortly photographed in a pop concert with bandages to both hands.^[46] Newcastle manager Chris Hughton and club representatives declined to comment any further on the incident.^[47]

On 18 October 2010, Carroll was charged with assaulting a former girlfriend. Claiming self-defence, and having given a local hotel as his address, Carroll was granted bail on the condition that he resides with Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan until the case resumes in January. The charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.^[48] Two days following his bail, Carroll's car was set on fire whilst parked on Nolan's driveway, with the club captain's garage door also being daubed with obscenities.^[49]

Whilst on international duty, Carroll, Scott Sinclair and Ryan Bertrand were sent home from the England U-19s squad after breaking a curfew on 14 October 2007 during preparation for a match against Romania U-19s.^[50]

Carroll was also involved in a training ground fight with teammate Charles N'Zogbia after a late tackle from the Frenchman, but manager Joe Kinnear decided not to punish the two.^[51]

Career statistics

As of 28 December 2010.^[52][53]

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other^[54]		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Newcastle United	2006–07	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
Newcastle United	2007–08	4	0	2	0	0	0	–		0	0	6	0
Preston North End (loan)	2007–08	11	1	0	0	1	0	–		0	0	12	1
Newcastle United	2008–09	14	3	2	0	0	0	–		0	0	16	3
	2009–10	39	17	3	2	0	0	–		0	0	42	19
	2010–11	19	11	0	0	1	0	–		0	0	20	11
	Total	80	31	8	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	91	33
Liverpool	2010–11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career Total		91	32	8	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	103	34

Honours

Newcastle United

Football League Championship (1): 2009–10

Individual

PFA Championship Team of the Year (1): 2009–10
Wor Jackie Milburn Trophy – 2007

References

^ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. http://www.findmypast.com/post84BMDSearchStart.action?redef=0&searchType=B. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
^ http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=45285
^ Fletcher, Paul. (2008-09-01) BBC Sport – Football – Transfer deadline day as it happened. BBC News. Retrieved on 2011-02-03.
^ "Palermo (a) UEFA Cup Group Stage Game 2". NUFC.com. 2 November 2006. http://www.nufc.com/html/2006-07html/2006-11-02palermo-a.html. Retrieved 2 November 2006.
^ "Newcastle 1–5 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 17 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/6258857.stm. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
^ "Wigan 1–0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 25 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6371353.stm. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
^ "Is Andy Carroll a future England international?". Sport.co.uk. 26 April 2010. http://www.sport.co.uk/features/Football/986/Is_Andy_Carroll_a_future_England_international.aspx. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Buffon hails Magpies starlet". Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11678_2632503,00.html. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
^ "The Wait Is Over". Preston North End FC. 14 August 2007. http://www.pnefc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10362~1091450,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "PNE v Morecambe: Minute By Minute". Preston North End FC. 14 August 2007. http://www.pnefc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10362~1091847,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Scunthorpe vs Preston". Preston North End FC. 18 September 2007. http://www.pnefc.net/page/MatchReport/0,,10362~37541,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Preston 1–1 Leicester". BBC Sport. 6 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7076422.stm. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
^ "Ten-Man Toon Denied Deserved Win". Newcastle United FC. 20 October 2008. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Match/Report/0,,10278~1426931,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Carroll Claims Point For United". Newcastle United FC. 10 January 2009. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Match/Report/0,,10278~1515413,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Geordie Starlet Pens Toon Deal". Newcastle United FC. 12 March 2009. http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20090312/geordie-starlet-pens-toon-deal_2281670_1587575. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Shearer still wants Newcastle job". BBC Sport. 8 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/8191320.stm. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Toon Ace Tim Is Hawthorns Hero". Newcastle United FC. 8 August 2009. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Match/Report/0,,10278~1747726,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Blackpool Rock United". Newcastle United FC. 16 September 2009. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Match/Report/0,,10278~1799223,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Newcastle 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?seasonid=139&teamid=1823. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Carroll Gets The Number Nine". Newcastle United FC. 20 July 2010. http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20100720/carroll-gets-the-number-nine_2281670_2096603. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
^ "NUFC 6 – Aston Villa 0". Newcastle United FC. 22 August 2010. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Match/Report/0,,10278~2130943,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Newcastle 6–0 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 22 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8926011.stm.
^ "Manchester City 2 – 1 Newcastle". Newcastle United FC. 3 October 2010. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/TV/LiveMatches/0,,10278~51507,00.html. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
^ "Andy Carroll signs five-year Newcastle United deal". BBC Sport. 8 October 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/9076100.stm.
^ "Newcastle 3–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 11 December 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9268294.stm. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
^ "Liverpool sign Andy Carroll from Newcastle". BBC Sport. 2011-1-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9382215.stm. Retrieved 2011-2-2.
^ News – Liverpool FC. Liverpoolfc.tv. Retrieved on 2011-02-03.
^ "Reds star Andy Carroll plays down Fernando Torres talk". BBC Sport. 2011-2-3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9386314.stm. Retrieved 2011-2-2.
^ "Andy Marks England Debut With A Goal". Preston North End F.C.. 12 September 2007. http://www.pnefc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10362~1110529,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Squad named for QPR". The FA. 12 March 2009. http://thefa.com/England/mens-u20s/News/2009/Squad_named_for_QPR. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Pearce overlooks Wilshere". Sky Sports. 5 August 2009. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12010_5475128,00.html. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
^ "England kids held in Holland". Sky Sports. 11 August 2010. http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3177343,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "Big Andy's Double Delight". Newcastle United FC. 12 October 2009. http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20091012/big-andys-double-delight_2281670_1823706. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ "England 1–2 France". BBC Sport. 17 November 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9194622.stm. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
^ "Andy Carroll shows shades of Alan Shearer for Newcastle United". The Guardian. 21 September 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/21/newcastle-united-plymouth-argyle-championship. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
^ "Local hero Carroll delighted to emulate Shearer". The Northern Echo. 12 January 2009. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle/news/4040060.Local_hero_Carroll_delighted_to_emulate_Shearer/.
^ "Number Eight For Future Number Nine?". Newcastle United FC. http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20100206/number-eight-for-future-number-nine_2281670_1957140. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
^ "Hughton flying high with Magpies". Soccernet. 1 October 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=828494&cc=5739. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
^ Holloway: 'Carroll is the best striker in the Premier League' talkSport, 11 September 2010
^ "Andy Carroll Player Profile". Newcastle United F.C.. http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Teams/PlayerProfile/0,,10278~37714,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
^ icNewcastle - Andy Carroll dedicates goal to new daughter. Icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-02-03.
^ "Footballer Arrested Over Assault". http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Newcastle-United-Footballer-Andy-Carroll-Arrested-For-Assaulting-A-Woman/Article/200809315103943. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
^ "Carroll held after nightclub fight". Yahoo! Eurosport UK. 7 December 2009. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/07122009/58/championship-carroll-held-nightclub-fight.html. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
^ "Footballer Andy Carroll pleads guilty to assault". BBC News. 25 October 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-11620004. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
^ "Newcastle investigate sex-text brawl". Yahoo! Eurosport UK. 23 March 2010. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23032010/58/championship-sex-text-brawl-leaves-taylor-broken-jaw.html. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
^ "Andy Carroll shows off bandaged hands at 50 Cent concert days after alleged bust-up with Newcastle team-mate Steven Taylor". Daily Mail. 26 March 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1261001/Newcastles-Andy-Carroll-shows-bandaged-hands-50-Cent-concert-bust-Steven-Taylor.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0jJBP4R25. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
^ "Hughton's toughest test over Carroll and Taylor bust-up claim". Evening Chronicle. 23 March 2010. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2010/03/23/hughton-s-toughest-test-over-carroll-and-taylor-bust-up-claim-72703-26091087/.
^ "Newcastle striker Andy Carroll must live with captain". BBC News. 18 October 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-11563332.
^ "Andy Carroll's car torched at Kevin Nolan's home". Evening Chronicle. 21 October 2010. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/breaking-news/2010/10/21/andy-carroll-s-car-torched-at-kevin-nolan-s-home-72703-27518147/.
^ "England youngsters sent home". Sky Sports. 14 October 2007. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12010_2800655,00.html. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^ Joe Kinnear set to forget Charles N'Zogbia and Andy Carroll fight Telegraph, 21 December 2009
^ "Andy Carroll Career Stats". Soccerbase. 29 December 2009. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=45285. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
^ "Andy Carroll Squad Profile". BBC Sport. 11 November 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/bsp/hi/football/statistics/players/c/carroll_312242.stm. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield

External links

Andy Carroll profile at the Newcastle United website
Andy Carroll career stats at Soccerbase
Profile at LFCHistory.net

Irfan Haarys Bachdim

2011-02-15T07:06:00.001-08:00

Irfan Haarys Bachdim is an Indonesian footballer who is currently playing for the Indonesian football club, Persema Malang. His father, Noval Bachdim, is an Indonesian of Arab descent while his mother is Dutch^[1]

Early career

He started his career for Ajax, but moved to Hoofdklasse side SV Argon after 3 years. He became the top scorer in the league, despite his position as a midfielder. FC Utrecht scouted him and brought him to FC Utrecht. He was the first choice for the FC Utrecht junior team and sometimes played for the reserve team. He made his debut for FC Utrecht in Eredivisie on 17 February 2008, playing 90 minutes against VVV-Venlo.^[2]

When the Indonesia national under-23 football team had a training camp in the Netherlands, Irfan played a number times for the team, but he was injured a week before going to the 2006 Asian Games.

On July 2009 he signed for HFC Haarlem in a free transfer deal. On March 2010 he had trials for Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta but neither club signed him.

Bachdim's desire to play in Indonesia was finally realized when he joined the club Persema Malang. The contract was signed on 9 August 2010. His performance in his first game for the Indonesia national team made him well known among the Indonesian public. He rapidly gained a large following, particularly among women.^[3]

**Irfan Bachdim: International goals**
Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1 December 2010	Gelora Bung Karno Stadium,	Malaysia	5–1	5–1	2010 AFF Suzuki Cup
2	4 December 2010	Gelora Bung Karno Stadium,	Laos	0–4	0–6	2010 AFF Suzuki Cup

References

^ "Irfan Bachdim Bikin Bangga". Radio Nederland. http://www.rnw.nl/bahasa-indonesia/article/irfan-bachdim-bikin-bangga. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
^ "Stats Centre: Irfan Bachdim Facts". Guardian.co.uk. http://guardian.touch-line.com/StatsCentre.asp?CTID=14&CPID=15&TEID=557&PLID=207662&pStr=Player. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
^ http://www.publicfigurebiography.com/irfan-bachdim/biography/20101207/

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irfan_Bachdim

Frank Lampard

2008-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Frank James Lampard was born on 20th June, 1978, in Romford, London.

Frank Lampard plays in midfield for Chelsea and England. His father, Frank Lampard senior also played for England. His cousin is Jamie Redknapp and his uncle is the manager, Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp and Frank Lampard senior were on the managerial side of West Ham when Frank was emerging through the Hammers' youth system but in 2001 Frank Lampard left Upton Park after the departure both of his father; and Rio Ferdinand, one of his close friends, to Leeds. He was bought by Chelsea for £11.5m.

During Frank Lampard's first two seasons at Stamford Bridge he seemed bogged down by his huge transfer fee and his good performances were outclassed by Gianfranco Zola's magical play.

However, in his third season there he shined for Chelsea and was the only outfield player to play every single league match in the 2003-04 season.

Frank Lampard became vice-captain of Chelsea and a firm favourite with the fans with his high scoring rate as a midfielder.

Lampard has become known for his pin-point shooting from the edge of the box and his wide range of passing.

In 2004-05 he was voted English Player of the Year after guiding Chelsea to the Premiership crown and the League Cup.

On the international scene, Frank Lampard didn't play a part in the 2002 World Cup despite making his England debut in 1999 against Belgium.

However, with Paul Scholes's retirement, Lampard was called up after good form for his club and played a major part in Euro 2004 scoring 3 goals and he became a regular starter for England.

In August 2005, Frank Lampard's fiancee, Elen Rives, gave birth to their first child, Luna.

In the run-up to Lampard's record-breaking 160th consecutive Premiership match when Chelsea played Portsmouth in November 2005, Jose Mourinho said he would not swap Frank Lampard for Ronaldinho "or any other player". Remarkably, Lampard had not missed a Premiership game since Oct 13, 2001.

Also in November 2005, Lampard came second to Ronaldinho in the European Footballer of the Year - the award known as the Ballon D'Or - voted for by European football journalists selected by French magazine France Football.

Frank Lampard was part of England's 2006 World Cup squad, but did not perform to his best and along with Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed his penalty in the losing shoot-out against Portugal.

On 30 April 2008, six days after his mother's death, Frank Lampard scored an extra-time penalty, which helped Chelsea to a 4-3 aggregate victory over Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

In August 2008, Frank Lampard signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea.

Frank Lampard biography by Ben Rosenbaum

David Beckham

2008-11-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

David Beckham was born David Robert Joseph Beckham on 2 May 1975 in Leytonstone, London.

In his football career, David Beckham has only played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Major League Soccer side L.A. Galaxy, for whom he made his debut as a substitute in a friendly against Chelsea in July 2007.

David Beckham joined Manchester United as a trainee on 8 July 1991. On 23 September 1992, Beckham made his first team debut as a substitute in the Coca Cola Cup tie against Brighton, but didn't sign as a professional until 22 January 1993.

Beckham's debut in the league for Man United was in 1995 against Leeds. Beckham's first premiership goal came on 19 August of that year against Aston Villa.

His full international debut was for England against Moldova on 1 September 1996, but his first goal for his country did not come until a couple of years later, on 26 June 1998 against Columbia.

He first captained England on 15 November 2000 in the match against Italy. Beckham's appointment was made by caretaker manager, Peter Taylor.

On 4 July 1999 he married Victoria Adams, better known as Posh Spice, in a ceremony at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland.

They have three sons: Brooklyn Beckham, who was born on 4 March 1999, Romeo Beckham, who was born on 1 September 2002, and Cruz Beckham, who was born on 20 February 2005.

On 13 June 2003 Beckham was awarded the OBE.

On 1 July 2003 David Beckham joined Real Madrid.

On 25 June 2006 with a stunning free-kick from 30 yards in the last 16 of the World Cup match against Ecuador, David Beckham became the first England player to score at three World Cups.

However, the quarter-finals of the World Cup saw England go out on penalties to Portugal and the following day David Beckham announced that he was standing down as England captain.

On 11 August 2006, new England coach Steve McClaren announced his squad for the friendly against Greece and he omitted David Beckham - leading many to believe that Beckham's 94 England caps would be his final total.

However, Beckham's performances for Real Madrid forced McClaren to recall him to the national side.

On 26 March 2008, Fabio Capello, the new England manager, recalled David Beckham for his 100th cap in an England friendly against France.

David Beckham became the fifth player to reach 100 England caps, after Billy Wright, Sir Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton.

Robinho

2008-11-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, when I saw Robinho for the first time, when Real Madrid bought him, he didn't look like much. His small frame and lack of physical strength didn't recommend him as a great soccer player, but Robinho soon proved me wrong.

His lightning fast reflexes and agility, his dribbles and his ability to score in decisive moments reminded me of Ronaldo during his FC Barcelona season. Actually Robinho came to Europe as a "Second Ronaldo" and although he has yet to proven his worth for this name, his skills recommend him as a future "El Phenomeno". But let's take a look at how the Brazilian managed to get himself to Real Madrid in this short Robinho biography.

Robinho Biography – Youth Days
Like most Brazilian soccer players, Robinho doesn't come from a wealthy family, in fact he was raised in a very poor neighborhood of Sao Vicente. Lacking any training facilities in the area, Robinho learnt how to play soccer on the streets, with his neighborhood kids at an early age.

His first move to professionalism was in 1990, when Robinho was 6 years old and was signed to a local soccer school called Beira-Mar, with which Robinho managed to win the youth championship, putting the spotlight on him for the first time.

Robinho and one of his younger teammates Marcelo, were so closely resembling each other that they were often called "the twins". Little did they know they would soon be teammates again in a few years...at Real Madrid.

Robinho Biography – Santos
After trying his luck in futsal, where he was extremely prolific and managed to chisel his dribbling and acceleration traits, Robinho was spotted by the youth scouts of Santos, one of the most important clubs in Brazil. At just 13 years of age, Robinho was already regarded as a future talent, some even comparing him to Ronaldo, who at that time (1996-1997) was rampant throughout Europe.

After 6 years spent in the different youth departments of Santos, Robinho was finally taken to the senior team His first season with Santos was already extremely successful, as Robinho played in 24 games, scoring 9 times and assisting for many other goals.

He held the headline of Brazilian (and international) newspapers after a game, where he did 6 step-overs in a matter of seconds, confusing his opponents so much that they had to foul him and award Santos with a penalty. He also won the title with Santos that year, getting the first taste of success as a professional soccer player.

The next three seasons at Santos saw Robinho earning a solid place in the first team as he managed to score 47 times in 106 matches, attracting the appetite of Real Madrid's scouts, who are always hungry for fresh young talents.

Robinho Biography – Real Madrid
Robinho was brought on as a talented player for the future of Real, since no one really believed he could win a first squad spot in a team that features strikers such as Raul, Ronaldo, Antonio Cassano or Ruud Van Nistelrooy. He did get his chance however, but he only managed to score 9 times in over 30 games for Real in his first season, which was a little under what the exigent Real crowd expected.

Nevertheless, with Ronaldo leaving for Milan in the winter of 2007, Casssano being in a constant conflict with Real's managers & with Raul being re-positioned into a midfielder, Robinho earned a first team spot & he is now one of Real's first team regulars.

Many consider that Robinho still needs one more season to settle in and play at his full potential and this remark is backed up by his awesome performances for Brazil soccer team, being one of the key players in Dunga's squad at the moment.

Wayne Rooney

2008-11-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Liverpool) is an English footballer. He currently plays for the English Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. He normally played as a second striker to Ruud van Nistelrooy for his club team before van Nistelrooy's move to Real Madrid, although during 2005-06, he showed his versatility as a player by shifting to the midfield and playing on both flanks. He wears number 8 for Manchester United and wears number 9 the English national team.

Rooney was brought up in an urban area of eastern Liverpool called Croxteth, where he and his two brothers attended the local De La Salle Catholic School.

His boyhood team was always Everton; his love for his home town club was famously bore out when he wore a T-shirt reading "Once a blue, Always a blue". However, he would end up playing just two seasons with Everton before demanding, and then executing, a transfer. This has left him on unfavourable terms with Everton fans, as they showed when he returned to Goodison Park and he was booed severely.

Although he has been under an intense media spotlight since first arriving on the scene in 2002, it was not until his performances at Euro 2004 that he gained a reputation on the world stage, as he spearheaded the English attack, scoring four goals. Rooney is also on the cover of the FIFA 07 video game in the United Kingdom.

Rooney has also been compared to George Best and Paul Gascoigne in terms of talent.[4]

Wayne Rooney in the Premiership

After excelling for Liverpool Schoolboys and The Dynamo Brownwings, Rooney was signed by Everton shortly before his 11th birthday. Rooney gained national prominence on the 19th of October 2002 when he became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League at 16 years and 360 days while playing for Everton (though this record has since been surpassed twice). His goal against then-champions Arsenal was a last-minute winner and brought to an end the London side's 30-match unbeaten run. At the end of 2002 he won the BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year award. On 26 December 2002 he "achieved" the record of becoming the youngest player ever to be sent off in a Premiership game. This is also his only standing record in the Everton books.

National team career

He has also figured prominently in recent England international matches, after having become the youngest ever player to play for England, in a friendly against Australia, on 12 February 2003, aged 17 years, 111 days. This record has since been surpassed by Theo Walcott, who came off the bench to play in England's friendly against Hungary on 30 May 2006. England's youngest ever player previous to Rooney was James F. M. Prinsep of Clapham Rovers, who made his debut almost one and a quarter centuries before, on 5 April 1879, aged 17 years, 253 days. Rooney is also the youngest England scorer ever (17 years, 317 days).

His reputation as one of the world's most exciting young players was further enhanced by his impressive performances for England at Euro 2004 in Portugal. At the tournament Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in the UEFA European Football Championships, when on 17 June 2004 he scored twice against Switzerland; although the Swiss player, Johan Vonlanthen, broke this record against France four days later. Unfortunately Rooney was injured early in the quarter final match against Portugal and England were subsequently knocked out on penalties.

World Cup 2006 - Wayne Rooney

There was concern for Rooney's fitness ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup after the fourth metatarsal on his right foot was broken, possibly in several places, following a seemingly innocuous challenge from Paulo Ferreira during Manchester United's 3-0 defeat away at Chelsea on 29 April 2006, putting him out of action for an estimated six weeks. This was also the first match he played in the re-branded Nike Total 90 'Supremacy'. The boot's safety went under the spotlight after many considered it unsafe to wear.

A bone scan on 25 May 2006 suggested he would not be expected to return in time for the World Cup group ties, with a decision to be made on his return to training after these games had passed. Shortly afterwards his international manager confirmed he would travel with the squad to Germany, and would return to have another bone scan on 7 June. Ahead of this scan, Wayne claimed to be feeling fine and was "300% confident" of his own fitness. Rooney was reported to be back, doing light training on 2 June, working on kicking the ball and running.

On 7 June, Wayne Rooney had his second scan, with reports saying he would play in the World Cup as he boarded a flight to Baden-Baden to regroup with the England squad.

On 8 June, Sven-Göran Eriksson said that he was "injury free" and that "he just needs to get back his fitness before he can play". Eriksson hinted at a possible involvement in the later group stage matches and almost certainly, should England progress, in the second round of the competition.

On 15 June, Sven-Göran Eriksson and FA doctors declared Rooney match fit in time for the match against Trinidad & Tobago. Prior to the match there was much speculation as to whether his health would be risked by playing him at this stage; the speculation was ended when he entered the match in the 58th minute, replacing Michael Owen. Although Rooney did not score, England's fans were keen to see him running with pace (as if he was match fit many weeks before his medical clearance) and making his presence felt on the attack. On 18 June, Eriksson announced that Rooney would be starting England's next game. Rooney's rush into play was much to the dismay of his club team, Manchester United, who were concerned that a full recovery would be jeopardised.

On 20 June, Rooney started in the final group match, England against Sweden, helping England to a 2-2 draw.

On 25 June, Rooney once again started in England's second round game (knock-out rounds) against Ecuador. Although he failed to score, he looked lively and appeared to be fully fit and definitely match fit.

On 1 July, Rooney was sent off in the quarter final against Portugal while fighting for possession with Chelsea and Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. Rooney appeared to stamp down on Carvalho's groin and was sent off by referee, Horacio Elizondo. Rooney later announced, through the serialisation of his biography in the Daily Mail, that the stamp on Ricardo Carvalho was unintentional. He became only the third English player to be sent off in a World Cup Finals. Due to his red card, he missed England's opening Euro 2008 qualifiers against Andorra on 2 September and Macedonia on 6 September.

Fernando Torres

2008-11-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Fernando José Torres Sanz (born 20 March 1984 in Madrid, Spain), nicknamed El Niño ("The Kid"), is a Spanish footballer, who plays as a striker for English side Liverpool and Spain.

Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, with whom he progressed through the youth ranks. He made his professional debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to this, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Liverpool in 2007, after the club paid their record transfer fee to sign him and marked his first season with the club by being their first player to score more than 20 league goals for the club in a season since Robbie Fowler in 1995–96.

He is also a Spanish international and made his debut for the team against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in three major tournaments; UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. He was unable to score for Spain during the 2004 tournament, but did so on three occasions in the 2006 World Cup. Torres scored the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the Euro 2008 final.

Early career

Fernando Torres, born on 20 March 1984, became interested in football as a child and joined his first team, Parque 84, at the age of five.[1] His grandfather was not passionate about football, but prided himself in being an Atlético Madrid supporter, and Torres inherited his love for the Madrid club.[1]

Originally Torres wanted to be a goalkeeper, the position his brother played in.[2] However, when he was seven years old, he started playing regularly as a striker in an indoor league for his neighbourhood club, Mario’s Holland.[1] Three years later, aged ten, he progressed to playing for an 11-side team, Rayo 13.[1] After an impressive season with his new club, in which he scored 55 goals, Torres was one of three Rayo 13 players to earn a trial with Atlético Madrid.[1] He impressed the scouts and, aged just eleven, joined the club in 1995.[1]

Club career

Atlético Madrid

After progressing through the ranks, Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético Madrid sent an under-15 team to compete in the Nike Cup, both domestically and European, to play youth teams from prominent European clubs; Atlético won the tournament.[1][3] He was later voted the best player in Europe for that age-group.[3] In 1999, aged fifteen, Torres signed his first contract with Atlético Madrid.[1] He spent his first year playing in the youth team and them moved onto the participating in the Honour Division when he was 16.[1] The 2000–01 season had started badly, as Torres suffered from a cracked shinbone that kept him out of action until December.[1] Torres trained with the first team to get prepared for pre-season, but eventually made his debut for the team on 27 May 2001, at Vicente Calderón, against Leganés.[1] A week later, he scored his first goal for the club against Albacete and the season finished with Atlético narrowly missing out on promotion to La Liga.[1]

The 2001–02 season saw Atlético win promotion back to La Liga, which was a poor one for Torres, during which he netted only six times in 36 appearances in the Segunda Division.[4] Torres' first season at the highest level of Spanish football, 2002–03, was a good one which saw him manage to score 12 goals in 29 appearances as Atlético finished 11th.[1][4] In the 2003–04 season, his second in La Liga, Torres made further strides, scoring 19 league goals in 35 appearances,[4] meaning he finished as joint third highest scorer in the league.[5] Aged just nineteen, he was also named Atlético's club captain.[3] Atlético narrowly missed out on qualification for the UEFA Cup, but by finishing in 7th place in 2004 they qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup, giving Torres his first taste of European club competition. He scored two goals in the two round four matches against OFK Beograd, with one coming in each leg.[6] Atlético reached the final, but lost on penalties to Villarreal.[6] Premier League champions Chelsea were believed to be interested in Torres in 2005, but Atlético president Enrique Cerezo said that they had "no chance" of signing him.[7] Cerezo later said in January 2006 that the club were willing to listen to offers for Torres, and Torres claimed Newcastle United had made a bid to sign him in March.[8][9]

After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in which Torres participated as a member of the Spanish national team, he admitted that he had turned down the chance to join Chelsea at the end of the 2005–06 season.[10] Following the 2006–07 season, in which he scored 14 La Liga goals,[4] Torres' future at Atlético was once again the subject of speculation after their inability to secure an automatic UEFA Cup spot. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were all linked with a move for him,[11] with reports in the English media stating that Torres was the main transfer target of Liverpool.[12] The rumours reached such a fever pitch that Atlético president Enrique Cerezo made a statement saying, "We've received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player."[13] However, a few days later, new reports suggested Atlético had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres; the fee rumoured was £25 million with Luis García moving in the opposite direction in a separate transfer deal. Then on 30 June Atlético announced a deal with Villarreal to sign Diego Forlán, which was seen as a move to replace Torres before his departure had become official.[14] On 2 July it was reported Torres had cut short a holiday to fly back to Madrid to finalise the move to Liverpool.[15] The following day, Torres passed a medical for Liverpool and it was announced that a farewell press conference would be held in Madrid on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético fans.[16] The transfer fee is the highest paid in Liverpool's history,[14] and in March 2008, manager Rafael Benítez confirmed to The Times that Torres was acquired for around £20 million.[17]

Liverpool

Torres made his competitive debut for Liverpool against Aston Villa in a 2–1 win on 11 August 2007.[18] He made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League four days later in a 1–0 victory over Toulouse, after coming on as a 79th minute substitute.[19] His first Premier League goal came on his Anfield debut on 19 August, in the 16th minute in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea.[20] His first hat-trick came in a 4–2 victory over Reading in the League Cup in September, with all of his goals coming in the second half.[21] His first goals in the Champions League came on his third appearance in the competition as Liverpool beat F.C. Porto 4–1, during which he scored twice.[22]

He won the Premier League's player of the month award for February,[23] during which he scored four goals in two league appearances, including a hat-trick against Middlesbrough on 23 February 2008.[24] This hat-trick and another in a 4–0 victory over West Ham United on 5 March 2008 meant he became the first Liverpool player since Jackie Balmer in November 1946 to score a hat-trick in successive home matches.[25] Later in March, after he scored a 47th minute header against Reading at Anfield, he became the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season campaign to score 20 league goals in a season.[26]

In April, he scored another Champions League goal, this time against Arsenal in the quarter-final second leg, to help take Liverpool through to the semi-final.[27] This goal took him onto 29 goals for the season in all competitions, eclipsing former Liverpool favourite Michael Owen's personal record for goals in a season.[24][28] On 11 April 2008, it was announced Torres had made a six man shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year Award,[29] which was eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.[30] The Spanish international was also nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award, which was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal and was named in the PFA Team of the Year.[30] In May, he finished second to Ronaldo for the FWA Footballer of the Year award.[31]

On 4 May 2008, Torres scored a 57th minute winner against Manchester City, which equalled the consecutive Anfield league goal record of eight games set by Roger Hunt.[32] After scoring his 24th league goal in the final game of the season, a 2–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, he set a new record for the most prolific foreign goal scorer ever in a debut season in England, eclipsing Ruud van Nistelrooy's 23 goals.[24][33] He ended the season in joint second with Emmanuel Adebayor in the race for the Premier League golden boot.[34] Torres was subject to media speculation that Chelsea were willing pay £50 million to sign him but Torres responded by saying it would be "many years" before he left Liverpool.[35][36] Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks also negated the idea of a transfer, saying he would not allow Torres to leave the club at any price.[37] Torres made a promising start to the Premier League 2008–09 season, scoring the only goal in a 0–1 away win against Sunderland.[38] He suffered what was later confirmed as a hamstring tear in a 0–0 draw against Aston Villa, which would keep him out for two to three weeks.[39] Torres made his return in a 2–1 victory against Marseille in the Champions League and went on to score a brace in the Merseyside derby against Everton on 27 September to give Liverpool a 2–0 win.[40][41] He followed this up with another two goals the following weekend against Manchester City in a 3–2 win away at the City of Manchester Stadium as Liverpool came back from a two goal deficit.[42] The first of these goals was the 1,000th goal Liverpool have scored since the inception of the Premier League.[43] On 22 October, Liverpool played Torres' former club Atlético Madrid in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderon, but he was injured and so missed out on the game.[44] The Atlético president, Enrique Cerezo, had given Torres a VIP invitation to watch the game, but he declined this to recover his rehabilitation from injury in Merseyside.[45]

International career

In February 2001, Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain under-16 team.[46] The under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship in May, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the final, as well as finishing as the tournament's leading goalscorer and was also named the player of the tournament.[3][4] In November 2001, Torres represented Spain at the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Championship, but the team failed to progress through the group stage.[4] In July 2002, he won the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, finishing as top scorer and being named player of the tournament and was again the only goalscorer in the final.[3][4]

In 2003, Torres made his senior debut for the senior Spanish national team on 6 September 2003 in a friendly against Portugal.[4] His first goal for Spain came against Italy on 28 April 2004.[4] He was chosen as part of the Spanish squad for Euro 2004, but only managed to appear as a late substitute in Spain's first two group games, but made the first eleven for the deciding game against Portugal; Spain lost 1–0 and were eliminated.[4]

He scored seven goals in eleven appearances in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup,[47] making him Spain's top scorer for qualification.[4] At his first ever appearance in a World Cup finals at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Torres scored the final goal in a 4–0 victory over Ukraine with a volley.[48] In the second group match, Torres scored twice against Tunisia; firstly in the 76th minute to take Spain 2–1 into the lead and then again from a penalty kick in the 90th.[49] He finished the tournament as Spain's joint top scorer alongside fellow striker David Villa with three goals.[50] The Madrileño was called up to Spain's UEFA Euro 2008 squad,[51] where he set up Villa to score Spain's first goal of the tournament in the opening game against Russia.[52] Torres came under criticism for apparently refusing to shake the hand of Spanish manager, Luis Aragonés, after being substituted.[53] He has since denied being angry with the coaching, citing that he was actually "angry with himself".[53] He scored the opening goal, his first goal of the tournament, in Spain's next game, a 2–1 win over Sweden.[54] Torres scored the winner and claimed the Man of the match award in the final against Germany in a 1–0 victory.[55][56] He was later named as a striker along with his striking partner David Villa in the "team of the tournament".[57]

Torres picked up a thigh injury during a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, meaning he was likely to miss three games for Liverpool.[58]

Lionel Andrés Messi

2008-10-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Lionel Andrés Messi (born June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province) is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona in La Liga. He is also a member of the Argentine national team.

He has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, and Maradona himself named Messi his "successor".[3]

Beginnings

At the age of five, Messi 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 $1500 a month. 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 started in the club's youth teams.[6]

FC Barcelona Career

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]

2005–2006 season

On 16 September, 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][9] Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on 25 September 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 27 September against Italian club Udinese.[10] 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.[11] 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 Lukas Podolski, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.[12]

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.[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.[13] Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

2006–2007 season

Consistently strong performances and the occasional goal meant Messi was not starting any more games on the bench. Failure to effectively replace the injured Samuel Eto'o and poor defensive displays prevented Barcelona from taking advantage of Messi's showings against Chelsea and Real Madrid.[14] This would later prove critical to their title challenges. On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal from tackles, ruling him out for 3 months.[15][16] Messi carried out his recuperation in native Argentina. During this period there were rumours of interest in the player from Inter Milan.[17][18] Messi returned to action against Racing Santander on the 11 February, coming on as a second-half substitute[2]. 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 goals in the space of the single season.[19] On 18 April 2007, he scored two goals during a Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's famous goal against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century.[20] The world's sports press exploded with Maradona comparisons, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona". He ran about the same distance (62 m), 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."[21] Later on, in a crucial league match with Espanyol, Messi scored a goal with his hand that drew even more comparisons to Maradona's Hand of God.

2007–2008 season

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 22 September 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 26 September, 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.[22] 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.[23] Various football personalities such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Frank Rijkaard, Víctor Fernández, Bernd Schuster, Guti, Raul, Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Totti, Antonio Cassano, Diego Maradona and Pelé have all, at one time or another, declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.[24][25]

On 27 February 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 4 March 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.[26]

2008–2009 season

It was announced that Messi will inherit Ronaldinho's number 10 jersey after the Brazilian left for AC Milan. On October 1, 2008 during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn the score from 0-1 to a victory for FC Barcelona 2-1. The next league game was versus Atletico Madrid, a match billed as a friendly battle between Lionel and good friend Sergio Aguero. Messi scored a goal from a free kick and assisted another as FC Barcelona went on to win the match 6-1.

International career

In June 2004, he got his first chance in Argentina colours, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In 2005 he was part of the team that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Here, he won the prize for best player of the tournament and became top-scorer.

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.[27][28] Messi then had his first international start on 3 September in Argentina's 0-1 World Cup qualifier away loss against Paraguay.[29] Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-début. The first one was a bit short."[30]

FIFA World Cup 2006

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 15 May 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.[31][32] He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the bench.[33] 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 and the fifth youngest goalscorer in the whole World Cup.[34] Messi started in Argentina's following 0-0 tie against the Netherlands.[35] 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,[36][37] 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.[38]

Copa America 2007

When Copa started Leo was the youngest player in the tournament. 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.[39]

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.[40]

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.[41]

During the Semi Final match against Mexico, Messi scored a fine lob over Oswaldo Sanchez to see Argetnina through to the Final.[42] Argentina went on to lose to Brazil in the Final, and Messi won the Young Player of the Tournament award.

Olympic Games 2008

Having originally been barred from playing for his country in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Messi joined the Argentina squad to score the first goal in a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast. He then scored the opening goal and assisted in the second to help his side to a 2-1 extra-time win against the Netherlands. He gave another strong performance in Argentina's match against rival Brazil, in which Argentina took a 3-0 victory, thus advancing to the finals. In the gold-medal match, Messi assisted Ángel Di María for the only goal in a 1-0 Argentine victory over Nigeria.

Cristiano Ronaldo

2008-10-27T03:11:00.000-07:00

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH (IPA: [kɾɨʃˈtiɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira)[1] is a Portuguese footballer who plays for English Premier League club Manchester United and the Portuguese national team. In addition to winning the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League, he is a winner of the 2007 English PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.[2]
Johan Cruijff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."[3]

Biography

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born to Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and José Dinis Aveiro. His second given name, "Ronaldo," was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor at the time.[4] He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.
Club career

Early career

Ronaldo's favourite boyhood team was S.L. Benfica. At the age of eight, he played for amateur team C.F. Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club CD Nacional, and after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting Portugal, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.[5]
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's football academy. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting's U-16, U-17, U-18, B-team, and first team, all within one season.[6] He scored two goals in his Sporting debut against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.[7]
He was first spotted by then-Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier at sixteen, but Liverpool declined to take him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills.[8] However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3-1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.[9]

Manchester United

Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for £12.24 million after the 2002–03 season.[10] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by team legends like Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'No, you're going to have No. 7,' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour."[11]

Ronaldo playing for Manchester United

Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers, and scored United's thousandth Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006.
In November and December of 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996.[12][13] He scored his fiftieth career Manchester United goal against city rivals Manchester City F.C. as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years.
Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo,[14] he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.[15][16]
Ronaldo was involved in several diving incidents during the 2006-07 campaign. He was criticised by manager Gareth Southgate for diving in a December 2006 match against Middlesbrough.[17] On 4 February 2007, Ronaldo was again accused of diving in a match against Tottenham Hotspur when he won a penalty kick despite little contact from Tottenham winger Steed Malbranque.[18] Despite the controversies, Ronaldo nonetheless amassed a host of personal awards for the season. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards, joining Andy Gray (in 1977) as the only players to receive this honor.[19] In April, he completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of seven Manchester United players named in the 2006–07 PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
Ronaldo's 2007–08 season began with a red card for an alleged headbutt of Portsmouth F.C. player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban.[20] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future.[21] After scoring the only goal in a Champions League road match against Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their CL group.[22]
He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon D'or,[23] and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.[24]
Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table.[25] He scored his twenty-third league goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Reading, equalling his entire total for the 2006–07 season.[26] During a 1–1 Champions League first knockout round draw against Olympique Lyonnais on 20 February, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA.[27] One month later, Lyon were fined CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.[28]
On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained the United for the first time in his career in a home win over Bolton, scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory.[29] The second of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, which set a new club single-season scoring record by a midfielder and thus topped George Best's forty-year-old total of 32 goals in the 1967–68 season.[30] Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa on 29 March, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo's torrid scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007–08 European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of Mallorca's Dani Güiza.[31]
In the 2007–08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals Chelsea, Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equalizer in the 45th minute as the match ended 1–1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6–5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans' Man of the Match,[32] and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling just four short of Denis Law's team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season.
On 5 June 2008, Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year.[33] Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA on 9 June over Madrid's alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action.[34][35] Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at Manchester for at least another year.[36]
Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 7 July.[37] He returned to action on 17 September in United's UEFA Champions League goalless group-stage draw with Villarreal CF as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung,[38] and scored his first overall goal of the season in a 3–1 League Cup third round win over Middlesbrough on August 30.

International career

Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan in August 2003. He was called up for Euro 2004, scoring in a 2-1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece and in a 2-1 semifinal win over the Netherlands. He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.[39] That same year, he also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
2006 World Cup
He was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals,[39] and scored his first and only World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.[40]
During a quarter-final match against England on 8 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stomping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off.[41] On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.[42]
The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,[43] and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.[44] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney.[45][46] Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.[47]
Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semifinal defeat to France, and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans.[48] Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honor to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.[49]

Post-World Cup

One day after his twenty-second birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007. This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture...[he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."[50]
Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,[51] but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Cesc Fàbregas

2008-10-27T02:58:00.000-07:00

Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (born 4 May 1987 in Arenys de Mar, Barcelona)[2][3] is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Arsenal in the English Premier League and for the Spanish national team. Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with FC Barcelona but was signed by Arsenal in September 2003. He did not feature much in his first season for The Gunners, but following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, his playing time increased. Before long, he had established himself as Arsenal's starting central midfielder and playmaker. He went on to break several of the club's records, earning a reputation as a technically-gifted player. In international football, the Spaniard's national career began when he represented the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. As a result of his club performances, he was called up to the senior squad in 2006. He has played in the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, where he was one of the key players that helped Spain lift the trophy.

Club career
Early years

Fàbregas was born in 1987 to Francesc Fàbregas Sr., who runs a property company, and Núria Soler, the owner of a pastry company. Fàbregas has supported FC Barcelona since childhood and went to his first match when he was nine months old with his grandfather.[4] It was at FC Barcelona where Fàbregas began his club football career. Initially, he was played as a volante (defensive midfielder), yet he was also a prolific scorer, sometimes scoring more than 30 goals in a season for the club's youth teams. However, he did not manage to play a first-team game at the Camp Nou.[5] Sensing that he would have limited opportunities at Barcelona,[6] he joined Arsenal, signing for the London club on 11 September 2003.[3] Initially, he found life difficult in England's capital but soon struck a friendship with Spanish-speaking team-mate Philippe Senderos, who helped him settle down.[7] As a 16-year-old, Fàbregas did not contemplate breaking into the first team immediately but looked up to senior players like Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva, while concentrating on training and learning the English language.[7] He nevertheless made his début for Arsenal not long after, on 23 October 2003, in a League Cup tie at home to Rotherham United. In doing so he became Arsenal's youngest ever first-team player, aged 16 years and 177 days.[8] He then became the youngest goalscorer in Arsenal's history in a later round of the League Cup, scoring in a 5–1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[9] Although Arsenal went on to win the league unbeaten in the 2003–04 season,[10] Fàbregas was not awarded a winner's medal because he did not play a single league game.[11]

It was not until the start of the 2004–05 season that the Spaniard started making first-team appearances in matches outside the League Cup. His first match of the season was against Manchester United in the Community Shield. Following an injury to Vieira, Fàbregas stepped in and made four consecutive Premier League starts. He was praised for his performances in those games, even claiming a goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 3–0 victory, and becoming Arsenal's youngest ever goalscorer in a league game.[12][13] With further injuries to Edu and Gilberto Silva, he received more playing time in all competitions.[2][6] In the UEFA Champions League, he became the second-youngest goalscorer in the competition's history after scoring the third goal against Rosenborg BK in a 5–1 win.[14] He concluded his season by winning his first honours with Arsenal when he was in the starting eleven that defeated Manchester United on penalties in the 2005 FA Cup Final.[15]

Making the starting eleven

After the departure of Vieira to Juventus, Fàbregas featured regularly in the Arsenal central midfield alongside Gilberto Silva. He made 49 appearances in all competitions during the 2005–06 season.[11] Despite his young age, his performances came under greater scrutiny due to his increased involvement in the first team. Further, as Fàbregas possessed a smaller frame and played with less aggression than Vieira, there were initially doubts over his ability to fill in the void left by the Frenchman.[16] Nevertheless, Fàbregas asserted his own style of play and impressed pundits in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Juventus.[17][18][19] In the latter, he scored Arsenal's first goal and set up Thierry Henry for the second,[17] at the same time proving that he could compete against tough, hard-tackling midfielders like Vieira.[19] He then played in the final against his former club Barcelona, but Arsenal were defeated 2–1,[20] completing a trophyless 2005–06 campaign for Arsenal.

Fàbregas' increase in exposure drew transfer speculation during the summer; Real Madrid expressed a desire to sign the Spaniard despite his long-term contract with Arsenal,[21] but Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger stated that Arsenal would not listen to any offers.[22] In September 2006, with six years left on his deal, Arsenal offered a new five-year deal (with an option to extend by a further three years, making eight years) to the midfielder, which he signed on 19 October 2006.[23] While the contract was unusually long, Fàbregas cited Arsenal's playing style and Wenger as reasons for his long-term commitment to the club.[24][25]
The 2006–07 season was a learning experience for the young Arsenal squad and Fàbregas. The club again failed to secure any major honours and were defeated by city rivals Chelsea in the League Cup final.[26] However, Fàbregas emerged as one of the key creative players for the team, playing in every single league game.[11][27] He kickstarted Arsenal's UEFA Champions League 2006-07 campaign when he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in a qualifier match.[28] In the Premier League, he notched up 13 assists, which was the second-highest total in the league.[11][27] He ended the season with several individual honours, including the Golden Boy award, presented by the Italian paper TuttoSport, based on a poll of leading writers across Europe.[29] He was also named in the 2006 UEFA Team of the Year,[30] and named FA Premier League Player of the Month for January 2007.[31] Additionally, he was nominated for both PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year, although both awards went to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.[32] In June 2007, he was named Arsenal's Player of the Season, taking in 60% of the votes.[33]
The 2007–08 season began with much uncertainty for Arsenal. First, David Dein, the club's vice-chairman, left amidst allegations of internal strife, followed by the departure of the club's all-time top goalscorer and captain, Thierry Henry, who signed for Barcelona. There was also speculation over Wenger's future with the club.[34] Fàbregas knew that he would become the most important player for Arsenal, but stated he was ready for the challenge.[35] He started the season well, chalking up goals and assists,[11] and website soccernet attributed the early success of Arsenal to the young Spaniard.[36] His start to the season also earned him the O2 Player of the Month award from Arsenal fans for August, September and October,[37] as well as the Premier League Player of the Month for September.[38] With Arsenal leading the league table until March, Fàbregas was equally instrumental in the club's Champions League campaign; in the return leg against AC Milan, the midfielder scored late in the game to send Arsenal into the quarter-finals.[39] On 11 April 2008, Fàbregas was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards for the second year running;[40] he was later crowned the winner of the latter, and named in the PFA Team of the Year.[41] Arsenal's failure to keep in the Premiership race however—coupled with late round exits in the cup competitions—meant that it was to be another trophyless season.[42]

Spanish national team
Youth team

Although he features regularly for the Spain national football team, Fàbregas' international career began at youth level. At the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Finland, he finished as top scorer of the tournament despite playing in midfield, and was voted Player of the Tournament.[5] Spain finished runners-up in the tournament to Brazil.[43] Fàbregas was next involved in the 2004 UEFA U-17 European Championship, where Spain also finished runners-up.[44] Fàbregas was named the Golden Player of the tournament.[44]

Senior team

After emerging as one of Arsenal's key players in only his second season at the club, it did not take long for Fàbregas to be called up to the senior squad. Noting his impressive performances in Arsenal's 2006 Champions League campaign, Spain coach Luis Aragones named the teenager in the team for a friendly against the Ivory Coast.[45] In that game, Fàbregas became the youngest player capped for Spain in 70 years.[2] He received favourable reviews for his début, and was involved in the build-up to Spain's first goal in the 3–2 victory over the Ivorians.[2][46]
On 15 May 2006, Fàbregas was selected for the Spanish 2006 World Cup squad. During the tournament, he came on as a second-half substitute in Spain's first two group matches, contributing an assist to striker Fernando Torres in their 3–1 victory against Tunisia.[47] He then started alongside Spain's reserve players (including then-Arsenal teammate José Antonio Reyes) in Spain's third group match against Saudi Arabia.[48] He earned a starting role in Spain's first knockout-stage match against France, in place of Marcos Senna, but Spain lost 3–1.[49] Fàbregas also became the youngest player in Spanish football history to participate in a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Luis García after 77 minutes in the 4–0 victory against Ukraine on 13 June 2006; he was then 19 years and 41 days old.[50] He was later nominated for the Gillette Young Player of the World Cup, but Germany's Lukas Podolski won the award.[51]
In UEFA Euro 2008, Fàbregas was issued with squad number 10, rather than 18 which he had previously held.[52] Despite featuring mostly as a substitute, the midfielder made a considerable impact in Spain's campaign. He scored his first international goal in that competition in Spain's 4–1 win over Russia and also had an assist in that game.[53] Spain won all three of their group games and met Italy in the quarter-finals. In that match, Fàbregas scored the winning penalty in the penalty shoot-out after the teams remained deadlocked 0–0 after extra time.[54] In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Russia 3–0 with Fàbregas providing two assists.[53] The midfielder made the starting eleven in the final against Germany which Spain prevailed 1–0; this was Spain's first major title since 1964.[55] For his efforts, Fàbregas was named in the Team of the Tournament, a 23-man squad selected by the UEFA Technical Team.[53]

Style of play

Originally brought to Arsenal as a youth to slowly develop via the League Cup, Fàbregas was unexpectedly deployed as Arsenal's starting central midfielder following injuries to fellow midfielders Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Edu during the 2004–05 season. Fàbregas functions mostly as a playmaker and his main asset is his passing range. As one of the most coveted young talents in the game today, he has been described as being a vital part of Arsenal's first team, bringing vision, creativity and selflessness to Arsenal's intricate passing game, and displaying maturity that belies his age.[2][3][5][6][33][35][56][57] In set pieces, he is one of the first-choice corner kick and free kick takers in the team.
Fàbregas has stated in interviews that while Vieira served as his role model and mentor,[58] he styles his game after his childhood hero and compatriot Josep Guardiola.[7] In that sense he is of a different mould from his Arsenal predecessors who play in the same position, preferring skill over strength.[7][16] Initially, this led to criticisms of his lightweight frame and less aggressive style of play,[16][19] with even former teammate Ashley Cole criticising the Spaniard as "an unproven featherweight" in his autobiography.[59]
However, Fàbregas' statistics have improved over the seasons, and he has adopted a more aggressive style of play. His importance to the team as the main creative force is also reflected in his contributing 16 assists in all competitions in the 2006–07 season.[11] By his own admission, scoring was a weaker part of his game in his first few seasons at Arsenal; wasteful finishing also being symptomatic of the larger problem surrounding Arsenal in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.[56] This changed initially in the 2007–08 season when he scored 11 goals in his first 16 games, and Arsenal manager Wenger claimed that the Spaniard's previous inability to score was down to a mental state, and even compared the Spaniard to Michel Platini, a French midfielder renowned for scoring.[60][61] Given his young age, concerns have also been raised over the large number of games Fàbregas has played for club and country in the last few seasons, as burnout may become an issue if he is not adequately rested,[45][62] although the midfielder has yet to sustain any major injuries in his six-year career with Arsenal.

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima

2008-10-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima (pronounced [xo'nawdʊ lu'iz na'zaɾjʊ dʒɪ 'limɐ]; born September 18, 1976. in Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro), generally referred to simply as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian professional footballer.

Having begun his professional career at Brazilian side Cruzeiro, Ronaldo signed with PSV Eindhoven in 1994, and after that he had tenures with FC Barcelona, Internazionale, and Real Madrid prior to joining A.C. Milan.

A former member of the Brazil national football team, Ronaldo has played 97 international matches, and was part of the Brazilian squads that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. He is the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with 15 goals, having surpassed Gerd Müller's previous record of 14 at the 2006 tournament.

Ronaldo has won three FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 1996, 1997, 2002 and is one of two men to have won the award three times, along with former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane. He also won two "Ballon d'Or" awards in 1997 and 2002. Ronaldo has been nicknamed "The Phenomenon" (Portuguese: O Fenômeno, Spanish: El Fenómeno). Pelé named him one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In 2007 France Football named him in their best starting 11 of all time.

Football career
Cruzeiro and early 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, so some discrepancies have existed as to his actual birth date. His first club was Tennis Club Valgueire. After that he played in Social Ramos and São Cristóvão. His football abilities were really recognised when he was 14, when 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. Ronaldo scored 12 goals in 14 games in the Brazilian National Championship, and in the Minas Gerais State Championship he scored 22 goals in 18 matches, inlcuding all three goals in Cruzeiro's 3-1 victory against arch-rival Atlético Minero. Cruzeiro won Campeonato Mineiro 1994 and Ronaldo was a top scorer. He also was a top scorer of Supercopa Libertadores in 1993. He reached a total of 45 goals in 49 official appearances.

PSV

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. With PSV he won the Dutch Cupin 1996 and was Eredivisie top scorer in 1995.

Barcelona

Later he attracted the attention of FC Barcelona. He played for Barça in the 1996-97 season, scoring 47 goals in 49 games (including appearances in the Spanish Cup & Spanish Supercup 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)and to Spanish Cup and Spanish Supercup. He also won La Liga top scorer award in 1997 and as of 2008, Ronaldo is the last player to score more than 30 goals in one season in the Spanish La Liga.

Internazionale

Inter Milan signed him the following year, and Ronaldo duly helped them repeat his former side's cup-winning run, this time in the UEFA Cup. On November 21, 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 36 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. He played 100 games and scored 59 goals for nerazzurri.

Real Madrid

He was sidelined through injury until October 2002. 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. With Real he also won a Intercontinental Cup in 2002 and Spanish Super Cup in 2003. He was La Liga's top scorer in 2004. He is one of the best strikers in club history, after scoring 104 goals in 177 appearances.

A.C. Milan

On January 18, 2007 it was reported that Ronaldo 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, January 25 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 January 30[4] and got the jersey number 99. He made his debut as a substitute for Milan on February 11, 2007, during the 2-1 victory over Livorno. The next game at Siena on February 17, 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.[1]

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 only played 300-plus minutes for Milan in his single season at Milan due to recurring injury problems. 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. In total he scored 9 goals in 20 appearances for Milan.

Despite tremendous success over the past decade, Ronaldo has 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 been was in 2003 when he helped Real Madrid to the semi-finals, in which they lost to Juventus.

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.[5] He was released by Milan at the end of the season.

Free agent

On September 2, 2008, Ronaldo began the final step of the recovery from the knee surgery in Flamengo. The board of directors of the club had said that the doors were open for him.

In September 2008 Ronaldo declared that a move to Manchester City was a "great possibility"[6], but the club distanced themselves from the claim.[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. Ronaldo won bronze medal in Atlanta.

Voted the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, he scored four goals and made three assists[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 Inácio Lula da Silva questioned the national coach "Ronaldo is fat or isn't he?"). Nonetheless, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept him in the starting lineup in face of calls to have Ronaldo replaced. With his two goals against Japan in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups. Ronaldo scored in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. On June 27, 2006, he broke the all-time World Cup Finals scoring record of 14, held by Gerd Müller after scoring his 15th World Cup goal against Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Round of 16. He also equaled a much less talked about mark: with his third goal of the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became only the second player ever (Jürgen Klinsmann being the other) to score at least three goals in each of three World Cups. However, Brazil were knocked out by France 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

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

Ronaldo is currently the second highest all-time goalscorer of the Brazil national football A team, with 62 goals. In the fourth place Zico, 52, third place Romário,56, and first place Pelé, 77. [11]

Personal life

In April 1999, Ronaldo married female Brazilian footballer Milene Domingues after he saw her playing on television and proposed to her. The marriage lasted four years and ended in divorce. The couple had a son, Ronald (born 2000). Ronaldo revealed in an interview: "My wife and I eat a lot at McDonald's so we chose Ronald."[12] 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.

Since 2005, Ronaldo has been the 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 where he was alleged to be caught by his mother.[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 50,000 reais (around 25,000 US dollars) in return for not telling the media about the incident.

Popular culture

Ronaldo appeared on The Simpsons in the episode "Marge Gamer", where Lisa and Homer were arguing that Lisa dived on purpose in a soccer game. Ronaldo, portrayed as traveling via backflips and intent on exposing floppers, came in and said that she did in fact dive. Upon her receiving a red card he proudly exclaimed "Another family broken up by Ronaldo! Yes!!!"

Honors and awards
Country

* FIFA World Cup : 2002
* FIFA World Cup : 1994
* FIFA World Cup runner - up : 1998
* Copa América: 1997, 1999
* Copa América runner - up : 1995
* Confederations Cup: 1997
* Olympic Games Bronze medalist : 1996
* Copa America U - 16 : 1991
* UMBRO Cup : 1995

[edit] Clubs

Cruzeiro

* Brazilian Cup : 1993
* Campeonato Mineiro: 1994
* Recopa Sudamericana runner - up : 1993

PSV Eindhoven

* Dutch Cup: 1996
* Eredivisie runner - up : 1995

FC Barcelona

* Cup Winners' Cup : 1997
* Spanish Cup : 1997
* Spanish Super Cup : 1996
* La Liga runner - up : 1997
* Joao Gamper Cup ( friendly ) : 1996

Internazionale

* UEFA Cup: 1998
* Serie A runner - up : 1998
* Italian Cup runner - up : 2000
* Birra Moretti Cup ( friendly ) : 2001, 2002
* Tim Cup ( friendly ) : 2002

Real Madrid

* Intercontinental Cup : 2002
* La Liga : 2003, 2007
* Spanish Super Cup : 2003
* La Liga runner - up : 2005, 2006
* Spanish Cup runner - up : 2004
* Santiago Bernabeu Cup ( friendly ) : 2003, 2005, 2006.
* Naranja of Valencia Cup ( friendly ) : 2003
* Jesus Gil Cup ( friendly ) : 2005
* Xango Cup : ( friendly ) 2006
* Luigi Berlusconi Cup ( friendly ) : 2006

AC Milan

* Club World Cup: 2007
* UEFA Super Cup: 2007

[edit] Individual

* FIFA World Player of the Year : 1996 ( youngest winner ), 1997, 2002
* FIFA World Player of the Year, second place : 1998
* FIFA World Player of the Year, third place : 2003
* European Footballer of The Year (Ballon d'Or) : 1997 ( youngest winner ), 2002
* European Footballer of The Year (Ballon d'Or), second place : 1996
* European Footballer of The Year (Ballon d'Or), third place : 1998
* World Soccer Player of The Year : 1996 ( youngest winner ), 1997, 2002
* World Soccer Player of The Year, third place : 1998
* Onze d'Or : 1997, 2002
* El Pais European Footballer of the Year : 1996, 1997
* UEFA MVP : 1998
* UEFA Best Forward: 1998
* RSSSF World Footballer of The Year: 1996, 1997, 2002
* Bravo Award: 1997, 1998
* IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year : 1997
* European Golden Boot : 1997
* FIFA World Cup Golden Ball MVP : 1998
* FIFA World Cup Silver Ball (second highest MVP) : 2002
* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team : 1998, 2002
* Copa America MVP : 1997
* Copa America All-Star Team : 1997, 1999
* Confederations Cup All-Star Team : 1997
* UEFA Team of The Year : 2002
* Serie A Best Player : 1998
* Serie A Best Foreign Player : 1998
* La Liga Best Foreign Player : 1997
* La Liga Best South American Player : 1997, 2003
* Campeonato Mineiro Team of The Year : 1994
* Eredivisie Team of The Year : 1995
* La Liga Team of The Year : 1997, 2003, 2004
* Serie A Team of The Year : 1998
* FIFA World Cup Final MVP : 2002
* Copa America Final MVP : 1997
* Intercontinental Cup MVP : 2002
* Cup Winners Cup Final MVP : 1997
* UEFA Cup Final MVP : 1998
* FIFA World Cup All Time Top Scorer : 15 goals
* FIFA World Cup Top Scorer : 2002 (8 goals)
* Copa America Top Scorer: 1999 (5 goals)
* Supercopa Libertadores Top Scorer : 1994 (8 goals)
* Campeonato Mineiro Top Scorer: 1994 (22 goals)
* Eredivisie Top Scorer : 1994-1995 (30 goals)
* La Liga Top Scorer : 1996-1997 (34 goals), 2003-2004 (24 goals)
* World Cup Elimination South America's Zone Top Scorer : 2003 - 06 (10 goals)
* Copa America U - 17 Top Scorer : 1993 (8 goals)
* FIFA World Cup second highest scorer : 2006 (3 goals)
* Copa America second highest scorer : 1997 (5 goals)
* Olympic Games second highest scorer : 1996 (5 goals)
* UEFA Cup second highest scorer : 1998 (6 goals)
* Serie A second highest scorer : 1998 (25 goals)
* La Liga second highest scorer : 2003 (23 goals)
* Reuter Sportsmen of The Year : 2002
* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality : 2002
* Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year : 2003
* Golden Foot award : 2006
* Champion of Champions award : 2008
* Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame : 2008

Carlos Tevez

2008-10-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Carlos Tevez waiting at the table to sign a deal with Manchester United

31 Jan 2008

Carlos Tevez, the magnificent Argentine striker who is playing for Manchester United on a loan basis is soon to expire his two-year loan deal this season. Carlos Tevez after proving himself as a valuable player to Manchester United is all the more waiting in the wings to be signed as a regular player for Manchester United.

Twenty-three-year-old Carlos Tevez said, “The manager has not spoken to me personally in relation to signing a permanent deal. But obviously I would love to sign here. This is a great club and it would be fantastic for me to stay at United on a permanent contract.”

Displaying his profound love for the club, awesome footballer Carlos Tevez said, “One of my dreams is to win trophies with Manchester United and thus repay the faith put in him by millions of Manchester United fans.

Who really owned Carlos Tevez?

05 Oct 2007

The ownership tangle took the ugly turn when Carlos Tevez assured Sir Alex Ferguson that he is going to join Manchester United this summer. West Ham United insisted that since they are holding his registration, Carlos Tevez wasn’t given any permission for his move over to Manchester United, while Kia Joorabchian, the chief director of MSI insisted that their company owns the economic rights over Carlos Tevez and that they will allow him to move to Manchester United.

As the deadline for transfers is fast approaching, both the contending parties have decided to settle the matter out of court. MSI reportedly paid £2 million to West Ham United to release his registration. Meanwhile Manchester United have signed Carlos Tevez on a two-year loan deal of £10 million with an option to buy him for over £20 million. While Carlos Tevez would be paid a weekly salary of £90,000, the loan deal amount would go to Kia Joorabchian and his MSI. This out of court settlement has the tacit approval of the Premier League.

Whatever is the tangle, finally Carlos Tevez kick-started the season for Manchester United but so far scored no goals from two games played.

When West Ham was punished other football clubs felt the pain

05 Oct 2007

When the Premier League officials found out that West Ham United flouted rules in signing both Carlos Tevez and Mascherana by entering into a deal with Media Sports Investment, they slapped a fine of £5.5 million on West Ham United rather than deducting their championship points. But strangely the implications of imposing a fine on West Ham United had its effect on Sheffield United. It suffered a great deal in terms of championship points as well as huge revenue loss.

Had the Premier League deducted points from West Ham United instead of slapping fine, Sheffield United’s chances would have been much better in the League Championship positions. It would also have fetched huge revenue from television deals from further events.

Sheffield United tried every trick in the book to reverse the punishment and get the points deducted from West Ham United for its irregularities and thus save its face and revenue in the League Championship.

Another interesting point is that apart from Sheffield United, four other clubs including Charlton too suffered the same fate as that of Sheffield United. They are all clamoring for the deduction of points from West Ham United.

Its time for Carlos Tevez to show his mettle

05 Oct 2007

Series of problems hit Manchester United this season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer retiring due to injuries and Wayne Rooney too being injured once again. Besides Alan Smith and Giuseppe Rossi were sold out to Newcastle United and Villarreal respectively and so the onus of pulling the team out of quagmire fell on the upfront attackers like Carlos Tevez.

Though it wasn’t an easy task, Carlos Tevez showed no signs of wavering for he has the capabilities of taking the challenge right into the enemy’s forte. He said, “I have never felt pressure when I play football… It is a big blow to lose Wayne — he is a great player and he will be very difficult to replace… I will do everything I can to help Manchester United be successful”. With Sir Alex Ferguson the great strategist behind the team, Manchester United though lost a couple of games initially is ready to spring surprises on its rivals this season.

Carlos Tevez, the victim of paparazzi

05 Oct 2007

Carlos Tevez became an overnight sensation after he successfully led Argentina to a gold medal win in 2004 Olympics at Athens where he scored six goals from eight games. He returned back home to a hero’s welcome with the national media praising him to the skies and he became a sort of a paparazzi favorite. In the beginning it was quite flattering and Carlos Tevez enjoyed every bit of it.

But as paparazzi mounted it’s hounding, Carlos Tevez began squirming with impatience. His wild romance with actress and model Natalia Fassi and the exploding news that another girlfriend Vanessa was pregnant with his child has been widely reported in the media and virtually robbed his peace and privacy. Soon Carlos Tevez was found indulging in brawls with photographers, journalists, and his fans to let loose them off his tail. His personal life became a chaotic and a disorganized one. He began to loose his cool at the slightest offense.

His egocentric behavior has had its effect on his professional life. Jose Peckerman, the Argentina coach dumped him from the national squad and Atletico Madrid dropped its plans to buy him. He felt betrayed by his own nation and left Argentina in a huff to Brazil and joined Corinthians for a handsome fee of $22.5 million.

At Corinthians Carlos Tevez was entangled in a different kind of a problem. His highest pay and special treatment meted out to him at Corinthians has caused resentment among his teammates and antagonized him. His fight with defender Marquinos didn’t escape the media’s attention and the entire ugly episode was aired on television. His swearing at the referee and his sexy remarks against the women officials has all put him in bad light.

Carlos Tevez opened the Pandora’s box

05 Oct 2007

The controversy over ‘who owned Carlos Tevez’ opened the Pandora’s box and all the murky deals afflicting the football world have come out into the open. Media Sports Investment [MSI] initially moved Carlos Tevez from Brazil’s Corinthians to West Ham United in August 2006 and both MSI and West Ham claimed the ownership over Carlos Tevez.

Premier League rules do not allow third parties to take ownership of the players because of the tremendous influence they wield over the competition, which would kill the very spirit of the game. Thus they slapped West Ham United a fine of £5.5 million for its third party dealings over signing of Carlos Tevez and further allowed the West Ham to sign with Carlos properly.

This year when Carlos Tevez showed interest in playing for Manchester United, the ownership controversy again raised its ugly head with both the parties MSI and West Ham United claiming lordship over Carlos Tevez. As the deadline for transfer of players looming large on their heads both the parties agreed to an out of court settlement. MSI paid £2 million to West Ham United to release his registration and became an absolute owner of Carlos Tevez. MSI in turn received £10 million as a loan deal from Manchester United, with an option to buy Carlos Tevez for £20 million.

What if the deadlock has not been broken between the warring parties, who will be the loser? West Ham United, Media Sports Investment, Manchester United or Carlos Tevez himself? All these shady deals indulged in by middlemen in sports show how deeply the corruption has set in the world of football with players losing their individuality and being sold like a trading commodity in the market.

It looks like pounds and dollars are ruling the world of football like any other sport, rather than players and their charismatic playing style. It is high time the football committees over the world like UEFA, FIFA and FA do something to restore the lost glory of the game.

Interestingly United Manchester’s chief executive David Gill has called on FIFA to clarify the rules regarding third-party ownership.

Carlos Tevez ‘s beautiful double goals

05 Oct 2007

Carlos Tevez who was in the thick of controversy over his transfer from Corinthians to West Ham United was again caught in an altogether different kind of ball game. He was two-timing his girlfriends Vanessa Mansillo and Natalia Fassi. Carlos Tevez, who already has a girlfriend in Vanessa Mansillo, met Natalia Fassi for the first time in a restaurant introduced by her football fan brother. They instantly hit it off and their romance began on a hot note in beds entwining their souls and bodies into one.

When Vanessa Mansillo was pregnant with Carlos Tevez’s child, Natalia Fassi was shattered at heart and forced Carlos Tevez to go to her and take care of her and her baby. But Carlos Tevez refused to leave Natalia Fassi alone. Happy at the turn of events both carried on as ever. She said, “Every time we made love it was so passionate we would forget what planet we were on.”
But poor lady she didn’t know he was two-timing her.

Carlos Tevez was secretly seeing his childhood sweetheart Vanessa Mansillo and her daughter. When Natalia Fassi learnt of this double-cross she ended the relationship in a huff for good.

Now she is engaged to a businessman of her choice. She said, “It took me a long time to get over him. Luckily now I am with the right person.” As for Carlos Tevez, he is in UK with Vanessa Mansillo and two-year-old daughter Florence.

Andry Shevchenko

2008-10-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Was Shevchenko ill-treated at Chelsea

05 Oct 2007

Andriy Shevchenko’s wife, Kristen Pazik is a close friend of Chelsea owner Abramovich’s wife and it is rumored that she [Kristen Pazik] influenced Shevchenko’s move to Chelsea from AC Milan much to the disliking of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. Andriy Shevchenko earned the hatred of Chelsea manager as he failed to adapt to the English conditions and more specifically to Jose Mourinho’s style of play and as such couldn’t perform to his full potential. As a result Andriy Shevchenko was sidelined and sat out the next game. People began finding out reasons for his sit out. Some thought he had a groin injury while others thought he was supposedly hurt by the treatment meted out to him at Chelsea.

When Sports Illustrated questioned Andriy Shevchenko, “Do you feel the club has done in its power to support you this season? ” He bluntly said, “No”.

Jose Mourinho too more or less spoke on the same wavelength. He was quoted in The Guardian dated January 24th, 2007 saying, “Sometimes you kiss and sometimes you kick,” and added further, “What I do with him [Shevchenko] is what I do with every player. It doesn’t matter if he cost £30m, another £30,000. The players have to work and perform. If they work and perform I love them. If they don’t work and perform I hate them.”

Shevchenko vows to do better this season

05 Oct 2007

Andriy Shevchenko, the terrific Ukrainian striker has failed miserably during his first season in England, where he scored only four goals from thirty appearances for his club Chelsea. When Shevchenko moved to Chelsea in 2006 on a four-year contract for a £30 million deal in 2006 all eyes were on him for he has tremendously performed for AC Milan during his stint with the club for seven long years. But sadly Shevchenko could not repeat his glorious performance for Chelsea, which was widely publicized around Europe and the media criticizing him for not living up to the expectations of millions of Chelsea fans.

Thirty-year-old Shevchenko speaking to the Sun magazine conceded that it was indeed a difficult season, a new club and a new life, for which he needs time to acclimatize to the new situation. He said, “Give me time and next season you will see the real Shevchenko.” He further added, “I just wish people would give me the time to acclimatize and to get used to it all, then you will see”.

Andriy Shivchenko, the amazing striker is all set to regain his form and prove his worth this season for Chelsea.

Chelsea fuming over Shevchenko Rumors

05 Oct 2007

Chelsea, which is already badly hit by Shevchenko’s poor performance during its first season, is now facing the onslaught of rumor mills doing the rounds in European media, which suggests that Andriy Shevchenko is returning back to AC Milan.

The media in Europe has reportedly quoted Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho as suggesting that Andriy Shevchenko could be available for bidding this summer. The rumors were further fuelled by the President of AC Milan, Silvio Berlusconi who said that the AC Milan’s doors would always be kept wide open for their old guard. All these rumors irritated Jose Mourinho to the extent that Chelsea is planning to sue the newspapers that quoted him in links to the rumors.

Further the club’s website posted the following statement that said, “Chelsea and Jose Mourinho totally refute any of the comments that have appeared in European newspapers regarding Andriy Shevchenko.” Andriy Shevchenko driving the last nail into the rumors of coffin said that he does not want to go back to AC Milan and further added saying, “I want another chance with Chelsea.”

Andriy Shevchenko, the marvelous striker

05 Oct 2007

Andriy Shevchenko, the amazing striker may not be as great as Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka, but he is definitely a player of caliber to reckon with. His character and work ethics have come in for much praise in the world of football. His vision, strategies and quick-decision makings have all stood him in good stead on the field. His team spirit is quite laudable in that he puts the interests of the team above his personal ones. Despite his attacking prowess he creates opportunities for his teammates when the need arises and allow them to score. This quality has endeared him to his teammates for whichever team or club he played.

Thirty-year-old Andriy Shevchenko, the stunning forward became the second highest leading goal scorer of all time in European club competitions and for AC Milan where he played for seven years from 1999 to 2006. He also won the European Footballer of the Year award in 2004. Besides Shevchenko was chosen by football legend Pele as one among the top 125 greatest living footballers in 2004. A constant learner and hard-working footballer, Andriy Shevchenko has always welcomed constructive criticism of his performances and tried to correct himself.

Andriy Shevchenko married his sweetheart

05 Oct 2007

Andriy Shevchenko, the former AC Milan ace and now the Chelsea striker has married his girlfriend of two-year standing, a US fashion model of eastern European origin Kristen Pazik on July 14th, 2004. The wedding took place on a golf course in Washington DC and was attended by his close pals. Andriy Shevchenko met the dazzling fashion model during a party hosted by a renowned fashion designer Georgio Armani in 2002. The couple usually speak with each other in Italian and Andriy Shevchenko made it known that he is keen to learn English.

Georgio Armani is a close friend of both the footballer and the fashion model. The couple walked the ramp for his designer outfits and frequently featured in his ad campaigns. Andriy Shevchenko has also teamed up with his friend Georgio Armani and opened up a couple of boutiques in Kiev, his native place in Ukraine.

The couple has been blessed with two sons. The elder Jordan born on October 29th, 2004 was named after the NBA legend Michael Jordan and the youngest named Christian was born on November 10th, 2006. The couple wishes to raise their kids in an English-cultural environment and so plans to settle in US for good.

Biography of Ronaldinho

2008-10-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

Ronaldinho de Assis Moreira was born on 21st March, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He helped Brazil win the World under-17 Championship in Egypt. During the competition he was scouted by local club Gremio and signed his first professional contract.
In 1999, after hitting 15 goals in 14 games for Gremio, Ronaldinho won his first senior cap for Brazil against Latvia. After shining in that match he made Brazil’s Copa America squad and scored an incredible goal against Venezuela as Brazil won the trophy. Ronaldinho scored his first hat-trick for Brazil against Saudi Arabia in the Confederations Cup semi-finals later that year.
In 2001 he left Gremio for Paris St. Germain (PSG) but was unable to make his debut because of contract rows, until 3 months later when FIFA stepped in.
In 2002 Ronaldinho was voted France’s player of the month for January after hitting 6 goals in 7 games for PSG. In June of that year he scored the famous freekick against David Seaman in Brazil's World Cup Quarter Finals match against England (but was it a cross?), however later in that match he got a red card. After being suspended in the semis Ronaldinho won the World Cup with Brazil, playing in the final against Germany. In the 2003 summer transfer market he rejected Manchester United to join Spanish side Barcelona for £21m.
After playing well for Barca Ronaldinho was named as one of the 11 greatest living footballers, announced by FIFA and chosen by Brazil legend Pele. Then, Ronaldinho scored 15 league goals to inspire an improved Barcelona to 2nd place in La Liga. Soon after he suffered the first major injury of his career and missed Brazil’s Copa America campaign.
Ronaldinho pleased Barcelona fans by turning down Chelsea and agreeing a new contract. In December he was named best player in the world for 2004 by FIFA beating Shevchenko and Henry to first place. Six months later Ronaldinho helped Barcelona to win La Liga 2005 easily outdoing rivals Real Madrid.
In September 2005 Ronaldinho added to his bulging trophy cabinet when he won the FIFPro's World Player of the Year in a poll of 38,000 professional football players in 40 countries. Wayne Rooney won the young player award.
In November 2005 Ronaldinho was named 2005 European Footballer of the Year - the award known as the Ballon D'Or is voted for by European football journalists selected by French magazine France Football.
The 2005/2006 season ended in excellent fashion for Barca and Ronaldinho after they won both La Liga and the Champions League.
Ronaldinho played in the Brazilian World Cup 2006 squad, however Brazil did not shine and went out in the quarter-finals.

Ronaldinho Short Profile

2008-10-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Full Name: Ronaldo Assis de Moreira
Other Name: Ronaldinho Gaucho
Birth Date: March 21, 1980
Birth Place: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Nationality: Brazilian
2nd Nationality: Spanish
EU Passport: Yes
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 76 kg
Club: FC Barcelona
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Forward [L, C]
Number: 10
Contract Expires: June 2010
Previous Clubs: Grêmio, Paris St-Germain, Barcelona
International Debut: June 1999, vs Latvia
Caps: 62
Goals: 27
World Cups: Korea/Japan 2002 (1st), Germany 2006
Best Known As: Curly-haired Brazilian midfielder for FC Barcelona
Relationship: Alexandra Paressant
Claim To Fame: FIFA World Player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005)

Ronaldinho Awards & Honors:

FIFA U-17 World Cup (1997)
Copa América (1999)
FIFA World Cup (2002)
FIFA Confederations Cup (2005)

UEFA Champions League (2006)

Spanish La Liga (2005, 2006)
Spanish Super Cup (2005, 2006)

FIFA Confederations Cup Top Scorer (1999)
Spanish La Liga Player of the Season (2004, 2006)
World Soccer Player of the World (2004, 2005)
FIFA World Player of the Year (2004, 2005)
UEFA Champions League Best Forward (2005)
FIFPro World Player of the Year (2005, 2006)
European Footballer of the Year (2005)
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (2006)
Ronaldinho Career Highlights:

Senior clubs
Years Club Appearances (Goals)
1998-2001 Grêmio 35 (14)
2001-2003 Paris Saint-Germain 55 (17)
2003-present FC Barcelona 129 (62)

National team
Years Team Appearances (Goals)
1999-present Brazil 74 (29)

Ruud Gullit

2008-10-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ruud Gullit (September 1, 1962, Amsterdam) was a Dutch star football player of the 80s and 90s. He was European Footballer of the Year in 1987, and World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987.

Gullit was born as Rudd Dil in Amsterdam, and his career started with Haarlem before moving to Feyenoord and then PSV Eindhoven. He was taken to Italy by Silvio Berlusconi, who paid the then record fee of �6 million for him. Playing for the great A.C. Milan team of the late 1980s, which starred, among others, fellow countrymen Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, Italian world class players Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, he helped Milan capture three Serie A titles and two European Cups (1989, 1990) during Milan's amazing five year reign from 1988-1992. He was well known for his heading and jumping ability, among his other creative talents as an outstanding offensive midfielder. Widely agreed to be one of the best and most creative players from the Netherlands, he was also one of the core group of players that led the Netherlands to the Euro 88 title, to date, the only international title the Netherlands has achieved.

In July 1995 he signed for Chelsea on a free transfer. Initially played as sweeper by manager Glenn Hoddle, with limited success, Gullit was moved to his more familiar role in midfield, where he scored six goals. In the summer of 1996, Hoddle left to become manager of the England national team and Gullit was appointed player-manager.

He made a promising start to his managerial career. In his first season as player-manager, Gullit guided Chelsea to an FA Cup win in 1997, the club's first major trophy for 26 years and in doing so became the first overseas manager to win that trophy. He also guided the team to a credible sixth place finish in the Premiership in the same year. The following season appeared to be going well, with Chelsea second in the Premiership and in the quarter-finals of two cup competitions, when he was sacked, allegedly after a disagreement with the club's board over pay.

He was appointed manager of Newcastle United in 1998 where success was initially promised, with an FA Cup Final appearance in his first season. The following season, however, results and fans began to turn against him, and a well-publicised contretemps with star striker and local hero Alan Shearer did his survival prospects no favours. He also fell out with Newcastle captain Robert Lee. Ruud Gullit resigned as manager of Newcastle United only 5 games into the 1999-2000 season, following a home defeat to local rivals Sunderland. Popular opinion had it that he resigned as manager before he was pushed out. He spent several years limited to occasional football punditry. Gullit became manager of Feyenoord before the start of the 2004/2005 season. However, he resigned at the end of the same season without winning any trophies.

Pele

2008-09-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Where do I start writing a biography of Pele, Brazil's finest product in terms of soccer and the same guy that's considered as being the best all-time soccer player in the World? I could start with his achievements and countless records, but I'd rather leave them for later as the cherry on top of the cake. For now, let's take a look at the cake itself, and slice through the striker's career in this Pele's biography.

Full name Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Date of birth October 23, 1940
Place of birth Tres Coracoes, Brazil
Playing position Striker

Biography of Pele – Early Career

Edson Arrantes de Nascimento by his full name, Pele was born in Tres Coracoes in Brazil, in a family that loved soccer, his father being himself a player for Fluminese (his father was known as Dondinho). In this sporty atmosphere, the young Pele learned to enjoy the game, despite the poverty he grew up in.

The family's situation was even harder when his father had to quit playing soccer professionally due to a knee injury. Thus, for young Pele, soccer was what he regarded as the only way out of poverty and he started training daily, but since he had no money to buy a real ball, he used a stuffed sock instead.

After forming up a "shoeless team" with his street kids, Pele and his team participated in a youth tournament, with Pele ending up as top goalscoarer. He was immediately noticed by former Brazilian international Waldemar de Brito, who called him to the youth squad of Baquinho, whom he trained and, for the first time, offered Pele money to play soccer.

During his year at the club's youth team, Pele managed to win the championship after a dazzling performance: 148 goals in just 33 matches.

Biography of Pele – Santos

At just 15 years of age, Pele was bought by Brazil giants Santos, where he would later team up with some of Brazil's finest players of that era and future World Cup winners, such as Zito, Pepe or Coutinho.

Just one year later after he joined Santos, he became the youngest player to start in the Brazilian first division at age 16 and even more incredibly, he became league top scorer at the end of the season! Talk about starting with the right foot.

As it was not yet the era of Brazilian players running for European careers, Pele remained at Santos for almost 20 years, time in which he scored (read carefully) 1087 goals in 1120 matches. Even if you're not that good at maths, I'm sure you can acknowledge that as an astonishing goal per match ratio.

Biography of Pele – 1000th Goal

One of the milestones in the history of Pele was definitely his 1000th goal scored in all competitions. It was both a highly anticipated moment and an emotional one. On November 19th, 1969 Pele already had scored 999 goals in his career, either for Santos or Brazil's national team. Playing on the Maracana Stadium, Brazil's "cathedral of soccer", against arch-rivals Vasco Da Gama, Pele managed to score from a penalty kick and broke all records standing in front of him.
Years National Team Games Goals
1956-1971 Brazil 92 77

Biography of Pele – National Team and Records -

Throughout his 15 years spent at the Brazil national team, Pele managed to break hundreds of records, but we'll just follow up on those that are deemed most important:

>> He became the most prolific striker in Brazil's history, with 77 goals in 92 matches.

>> Pele, the footballer who used to shine shoes in order to raise money for a real soccer ball, scored 12 goals in different World Cup matches, being beaten only by Ronaldo.

>> He is considered by FIFA the most prolific scorer in soccer history, with 1281 goals in 1363 matches in all competitions.

>> He is the only player to have won three World Cups (gasp!), although he did not receive a medal for the one in 1962, since he was injured in the final (he played on several other matches throughout the campaign though)

>> He is one of the few players to achieve the performance of scoring in two different World Cup finals, sharing this record with Paul Breitner, Vava and Zinedine Zidane.

Marco Van Basten (3)

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Marco Van Basten Biography – Introduction
Marco Van Basten grew up when his and every Dutch soccer fan's idol, Johan Cruiff was on top form. Little did he know that in a few years, he would play side by side with his idol and even follow his footsteps to fame. But let's take this Van Basten biography bit by bit and see how the Flying Dutchman advanced in his career to a point where he would almost rival Cruyff's title as all time best Dutch player.

Marco Van Basten Biography – Early Career
Van Basten started playing soccer for the first time when he was just 7 years old, for local team EDO Utrecht's youth club. He moved to UW shortly, playing there for 10 years, before spending another youth season at another Utrecht team, Elinkwijk, before he was spotted by Ajax Amsterdam.

He did not go straight to Ajax's first team though, since he was just 17 when he joined the club, so he played for another season at the last youth level in Ajax's U-18 team, before being taken to the first squad in 1982.

Marco Van Basten Biography – Ajax Amsterdam
When van Basten was finally taken in Ajax's first squad, one of his childhood dreams would come true: playing alongside his greatest idol, Johan Cruiff. Actually, van Basten's debut for Ajax was in a 5-0 win against NEC Nijmegen, where the young Dutchman would replace Johan Cruiff on the pitch.

He scored his first professional goal in that match but his substitution for Cruiff was a symbol in itself, as one young brilliant soccer player would replace an aging one.

Van Basten did not get a first team spot immediately though, as he had to wait for the 1983-84 season, when Ajax's top goal scorer, Wim Kieft, was sold to Pisa. That opened up a spot for the young striker and he took the chance with both hands.

In the following 4 seasons played at Ajax, he would become one of the most productive strikers in its history, scoring 117 goals in 112 matches, a truly outstanding performance, especially considering the high level of the Dutch league.

His 1985-86 season was his best at Ajax, as he scored no less than 37 goals in 26 matches that year and was given the European Golden Boot award. But Ajax wasn't exactly the same team that won the European Cup three consecutive times during Johan Cruiff's reign and Marco Van Basten was hungry for glory, so he decided to move to a stronger team, AC Milan.

Marco Van Basten Biography – AC Milan
When van Basten moved to Milan, it was already considered one of the best teams in the world at that point. Many wondered how such a strong personality as Van Basten's would fit in the star-studded system at Milan.

It seems that the fears of him not being able to adapt at Milan were unfounded, as Van Basten was quick to regain his goal scoring appetite in the Serie A, a much more defensive league.

1988-89 was probably Van Basten's best season of his career, since he almost single-handedly took the Dutch national side through the Euro 88 final, winning the trophy. He also scored 19 goals for Milan that season and although the club lost the championship, they won the European Cup (today's Champions League), crushing Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the final.

Marco Van Basten played 4 more seasons for AC Milan, winning a new European Cup in 1990, as well as the Intercontinental Cup that year. He won two more "Scudetto" championships in 1992 and 1993, years in which Milan also managed to win the cup each time. Unfortunately, an ankle injury that kept bugging him for a few years finally took the best of the Dutchman and in 1994, he decided to retire (at only 30 years of age) since his ankle would not allow him to play at the best of his ability.

All in all, Marco van Basten's career was full off success and trophies at both of the clubs he played and the Dutch national team, but he never managed to surpass his idol, Johan Cruyff, who remains a truly remarkable player that had a large participation in changing soccer to what it is today.

Marco Van Basten (2)

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Marcel van Basten, known as Marco van Basten (October 31, 1964, Utrecht), is a former Dutch football player who played for Ajax Amsterdam and A.C. Milan in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded as one of the finest strikers of all time and scored 276 goals in a career cut short by injury, known for his strength on the ball, his tactical awareness and spectacular volleys. His grace earned him the titles "San Marco" and "The Swan Of Utrecht". Van Basten, who was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World Player of the Year (1992) is currently the coach of the Dutch national team.

Van Basten played very briefly for Elinkwijk before Ajax signed him. He played his first game for Ajax in April 1982 and was proclaimed the new Johan Cruijff.

In 1987 Silvio Berlusconi brought Van Basten to Milan along with fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, joining them in 1988. In his first season Milan won their first scudetto (league championship) in eight years, but Van Basten played only eleven games and was constantly troubled by an ankle injury. Despite this, in Euro 88 van Basten showed a dazzling run of form, including three goals against England and a spectacular volley in the final against the Soviet Union.

Helped by his form in international competition, Van Basten had an excellent season in 1988-89, winning European Footballer of the Year and scoring nineteen goals in Serie A as well as helping Milan demolish Steaua Bucharest to win the European Cup. In 1989-90 he was Capocannoniere (Serie A's leading goal scorer) and Milan defended their European Cup successfully. The Dutch national side had a very poor World Cup in 1990, finally going out to West Germany in the second round.

Milan's 1990-91 European season was ruined in the semi-final against Olympique Marseille and the club received a year long ban from European football. Van Basten had been banned for four matches earlier in the competition following a cynical elbowing offense. Domestically the club's season was also disappointing and Sampdoria won the scudetto. Van Basten fell out with Milan's manager Arrigo Sacchi and Berlusconi sacked Sacchi to placate him. Undistracted by European football in 1991-92 and managed by Fabio Capello, Milan did not lose a single game in the league and won the championship, Van Basten scoring 25 goals and becoming Capocannoniere again. Internationally the Dutch went out of Euro 92 to Denmark in a penalty shootout, van Basten missing one.

Milan stretched their unbeaten run into the 1992-93 season, going 58 matches in total before they lost a game. Van Basten played exceptionally well in the early part of the season and was voted European Player of the Year for a third time before his troublesome ankle injury recurred in a game against Ancona. Van Basten underwent another in a series of operations and returned to Milan for the final few domestic games before they lost the Champions League final to Marseille. The final was van Basten's final game for Milan; despite enormous effort, he was unable to recover from his injuries.

Van Basten officially left Milan in 1995 and retired from football, stating he would never try management. However, he eventually realized that football was too important for him and successfully took a course with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB). His first stint as a coach was as an assistant to his former teammate John van't Schip managing the second team of Ajax in 2003-2004. On 29 July 2004, van Basten was named as the new head coach of the Dutch national team, with van't Schip as his assistant.

As a coach, he soon established himself as a man of strong principles. Like many others, he declared he would pick players only "by performance", but he was unusual in actually following this policy. Van Basten famously dropped superstars like Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert or Andy van der Meyde and benched Edgar Davids and Mark van Bommel, because all five were either past their best or constantly underachieving. For probably the first time after the war, neither club of the "Big Three" Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord Rotterdam provided the backbone of the Elftal, but newcomer AZ Alkmaar with relatively unknown players like Denny Landzaat, Barry Opdam, Barry van Galen, Ron Vlaar, Jan Kromkamp or Joris Mathijsen. Other remarkable choices were Khalid Boulahrouz, Dirk Kuyt, Hedwiges Maduro, Ryan Babel or Romeo Castelen. To date, his selections have proven successful in rejuvenating the Dutch national side.

Marco Van Basten (1)

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Marco van Basten was born on the 31 October 1964 in the Dutch city of Utrecht, where he started his football career at the age of seven. Marco's first club was a local team, UVV. After spending there ten years, he then moved to an other club from Utrecht, Elinkwijk. However, his professional career began in 1981, when seventeen-year-old Marco was spotted by Ajax's scouts. Being aware of great prospects lying ahead, Van Basten agreed to join the famous football club from Amsterdam. Marco's great potential was immediately recognised by Ajax coaches and physiologists. As for a great striker, in his debut (April 3, 1982) Van Basten scored a goal. What's more, in that match he substituted the famous Dutch footballer - Cruyff.

During the next season Marco placed the ball in the net nine times. However, the most important event in 1983 was his debut in the Dutch national team, on the 7th of September, in a match against Iceland. Van Basten scored his first goal for Oranjes only two weeks later, in a very prestigious match against the immemorial opponents, Belgium.

Marco was unrivalled in the Dutch Eredivisie, unstoppable to the defenders and lethal to the goalies. Being four times the top scorer in domestic league, Van Basten also won the Golden Boot Award in 1986 with 37 goals in only 26 matches! During his rip-roaring stay in Ajax Marco scored 151 goals, appearing in 172 games and that outstanding performance was sealed with the victory in the Cup Winner's Cup. As befits for a champion, he found the way to the net in the final itself as well.

Leaving Ajax Amsterdam was now just a question of time. There were plenty of great clubs lining up to sign a deal with Van Basten, including FC Barcelona but Marco decided to move to AC Milan, which was being rebuilt by Italian mogul, Silvio Berlusconi. The transfer was a dream-deal for Via Turati club which paid only 800 000 dollars for the 22-year-old Oranje megastar. In the end, two other Dutch superstars, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard also became Rossoneri. At that time nobody could expect the trio would rule the European football for the next five years.

Although The Flying Dutchman scored a goal in his debut against Pisa (13.09.1987), the first season was far from a dream-one. Marco appeard in only 11 matches, scored just 3 goals and spent most of the season recovering from an ankle injury. The same injury turned out to be lethal to his career a few years later. The club, however, succeded winning for the first time since 1979 the Italian Championship. The Rossoneri also suceeded in the Italian Super Cup.

However, the best was still to come. Having skipped most of the season matches, Van Basten was only a substitute in Holland's squad for the Euro 1988 held in West Germany. In the first match Oranje team played a rather poor football which resulted in a defeat to USSR team. Dutch coach, Rinus Michels decided to shift Marco to the starting eleven for the next group match against the English and with this decision he hit the bull's eye! The Swan of Utrecht played one of the best matches in his career, scoring a hattrick and sending England back home. And that was just the beginning of the one-man show! In the semi-final match against the host Germans Marco scored an incredible goal, literally sliding the ball into the net. That was the 88th minute of the match and thanks to that strike Holland made it through to the final of the Euro where they met USSR again. Contrary to the group match, this time Oranjes showed great football and surpassed their opponents. The duel ended with the 2:0 result and one of the most outstanding goals in the history of football. In 54th minute of the game Marco struck a looping volley at an incredible angle and beat the Russian goalie.The strike is still considered the most beautiful goal ever scored in the final of any football competition! With 5 goals on his account, Van Basten became not only the top scorer of the Euro '88, but was also named the best player of the competition.

Van Basten returned to Milan as an even greater star that he had been before the European Championship. In the autumn of 1988 he won the two most prestigious awards, France Football's Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) and World Soccer's World Player of the Year title. What is more, he ended the 1988/89 season with 32 altogether and the three most importent titles in the club football - Eurpean Champion's Cup (scoring the double in the final match against Steaua Bucharest), European Supercup and Intercontinental Cup. Furthermore, Marco Goalo once again was awarded the European Footballer of the Year by France Football (1989).

In the season that followed, Marco repeated the number of 19 goals scored in the Serie A, however, this time it was enough to become the top marksman of the competition. What is more, the Flying Dutchman once again was successfull in the European and International club competitions. Unfortunately, the national team career turned out to be completely the opposite. The Dutch were named one of the favourites in the World Cup race. The reality, however, was completely different. Oranjes did not win a single match and were knocked out of the tournament after the infamous match against the Germans, lost 1:2.

Milan were on their track to win the third conseuctive European Champions title in 1991. Unexpectedly, the team decided not to continue the semi-final game against Olympique Marseille after a floodlights failure. UEFA banned the Italian team from the European competitions for a year. Marco ended the season with only 11 goals and no trophy on his account.

After winter must come spring and after a poor season came a supreme 1991/92 one for San Marco. His hunger for winning and scoring resulted in the second Capocannoniere title, this time with 25 golas in only 31 matches! AC Milan once again won the Italian Serie A and were again ready to conquer the world of football. Marco wanted to seal that great time of his career with the Dutch national team during the 1992 European Championship. In the end, Holland reached the semi-final in which they lost to Denmark after the shootout competition. Marco, one of the best penalty takers of the team, missed from the spot and Oranjes were forced to watch the final from the stand. The saddest thing is the fact that it was the last international tournament for the great footballer.

Van Basten started the next season with an impressive 4-goal matches against Napoli in Serie A and IFK Goeteborg (including an incredible bicycle kick) in the competetion that was from then on named Champions League. Moreover, at the end of 1992 Marco was granted the Golden Ball award for the third time in his career and was also named the World Player of the Year by both, FIFA and World Soccer magazine! Scoring 12 goals in only three months meant another great season, full of trophies and individual achievements. It all ended suddenly and unexpectedly...

The ankle injury that was his nightmare a few years ago reappered, only this time it was to beat Marco and end his wonderful career. Being operated for the fourth time in 1993 Van Basten had the feeling it was the farewell that time. Although he appeared in the Champions League final against Olympique Marseille he did not resemble the great footballer he used to be. Milan was defeated 1:0 but what is worse lost one of the greatest players of the world. Marco tried fighting the injury another two years but eventually was forced to end his career on 18 August 1995, during a Trofeo Berlusconi match. Over 70 000 supporters, including crying Capello, gave him a standing ovation while Van Basten was doing his lap of honour.

taken from : http://www.marcovanbasten.net/biography.php