History and Biography of Michael Owen

Few young players were greeted with so much expectation in England as was Michael Owen on his debut. He was considered a future world class talent even since his teens and he did manage to fill the big shoes that he has been offered, wherever he played.

Unfortunately, a string of annoying injuries reduced his chances of becoming the top player that he was meant to be. This Michael Owen biography will take you through the ups and downs of the striker’s career, from youth level to his current club, Newcastle United.

Michael Owen Biography – Youth Days

Full name Michael James Owen Date of birth December 14, 1979 Place of birth Chester, England Height 5.8FT – 1.72M Playing position Striker

Owen started playing soccer at Mold Alexandra, a Welsh club, at only 7 years of age. His father persuaded the club’s coach to use Michael in a team of 10 year olds and despite his smaller frame, he managed to become the “secret weapon” of the team soon enough, especially since all the other players would underestimate him due to his size and age.

At 11, he was already a star amongst the English soccer world and everyone rushed in to sign him. He had offers from Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool and he eventually settled for the latter, Liverpool offering him the chance to study at the FA’s School of Excellence when he was 14 years old.

Michael Owen Biography – Liverpool

Season Club Games Goals 1996–2004 Liverpool 216 118 2004–2005 Real Madrid 34 13 2005–Present Newcastle United 19 8 Last Update – Sep 28, 2007 Domestic League Only

In 1996, right after Michael Owen’s 17th birthday, he was offered a contract for the senior squad. On his first match in the jersey of Liverpool, he came in as a substitute and scored a goal which overjoyed the young player and would give him confidence for the future. Actually, as he will soon prove, Michael Owen’s goals would literally “feed” his hunger for more. The times in which he didn’t score, would also mean a downslide in his overall form.

Michael Owen would play with Liverpool for 8 full seasons, winning the League Cup twice (2001 and 2003), the FA Cup once (2001), the UEFA Cup once (2001) and the European Super Cup and Charity Shield in the same year, 2002. He has attained a legendary status amongst the fans, but unfortunately he also built a reputation for himself as being a glass cannon: a lethal player when fit, but also one that is quite fragile physically.

Michael Owen’s goals for Liverpool (180 in approximately 350 appearances for the club) made Real Madrid consider him as a top class striker for their star-studded team and in 2004, they bought the promising English striker from Liverpool, in a deal of roughly $15 million.

Michael Owen Biography – Real Madrid and Newcastle United

Real Madrid is the kind of team that you either prove your worth at, or die down as an eternal substitute. During his time at Real, Michael Owen was neither. His sole season at Real earned Owen the highest goals/minutes played ratio, but he was not a regular first team player and with Real Madrid signing two additional Brazilian strikers in the summer of 2005 (Robinho and Baptista), Michael Owen’s spot seemed sealed, so he moved to Newcastle United.

Years National Team Games Goals 1998-Present England 85 40 Last Update – Sep 12, 2007

At Newcastle United, Michael Owen seems to have regained his scoring pace. Finally catching a break from his injuries, he managed to score regularly in his first season here and also regained his place in the start-up line of England’s national side.

Unfortunately, in the 2006 World Cup initial match against Sweden, Michael Owen suffered yet another injury, this time damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury that kept him off the pitch for over a year, as he just started running and training again in the spring of 2007.

Although fully recovered now, his time with Newcastle United seems short and many speculate that as soon as an opportunity arises, Michael Owen will move back to the club that made him famous, Liverpool FC.

Top Money Making Club in World of Football

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona. David Beckham

Real Madrid is still the top moneymaking club in world football, beating out European Cup champion Manchester United due to the plunging pound, according to the latest review of the sport’s finances.

Deloitte’s study, which ranks the 20 biggest clubs based on revenue, showed that Madrid generated euro 365.8 million in the 12 months to June 30, 2008.

The Red Devils would have ended their season leading the Football Money League if the pound had not depreciated against the euro. Had the pound stayed steady at the June 2007 rate, United’s revenue of 257.1 million pounds would have equated to euro 382 million rather euro 324.8 million by last June.

“Whilst Real Madrid’s 4 per cent revenue growth in 2007-08 is more modest than recent years, the club has now doubled its revenues since 2002 and enjoys a lead of euro 41 million over Manchester United,” said Dan Jones of Deloitte’s sports business group. “With the club having announced that it is budgeting for revenues of euro 400 million in 2008-09, it will be difficult for rivals to replace Real at the top of the Money League next year.”

Despite a 31st Spanish league title, Madrid’s commercial revenue dropped 5 per cent. It is blamed on lower shirt sponsorship income following the bankruptcy of BenQ Mobile and the loss of midfielder David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.

“It will be interesting to see how the club copes with the loss of the Brand Beckham effect and the challenging commercial market that clubs are now facing,” the report said.

Deloitte only used revenue as its ranking and not the wealth of individual club owners, including Chelsea’s Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Spanish league leader Barcelona was provided with an uplift, like Madrid, by individually negotiated broadcast contracts in place until 2013-14, and is third with revenue of euro 308.8 million.

“The fact that if today’s exchange rates were applied United would have finished below Barcelona, emphasizes the impact that exchange rate movements have had on English clubs’ relative ranking in this year’s list,” Jones said.

“Aston Villa, Everton and West Ham United can all consider themselves unlucky to have missed out on a top 20 place.” But the list, which only contains European clubs, was still dominated by the English with seven teams, compared to six the previous year.

German champion Bayern Munich is fourth with revenue of euro 295.3 million, followed by English clubs Chelsea and Arsenal, while Italian teams AC Milan, AS Roma, Inter Milan and Juventus occupy the next spots. Driven largely by its successful participation in the Champions League, 19th-place Fenerbahce is the first Turkish club to appear since the list was created after the 1996-97 season. Only six clubs in the top 20 did not participate in Europe’s lucrative competition.

Deloitte was investigating a period before the economic downturn took hold, but its analysts believe the strength of broadcast controls will provide a stable revenue stream in the coming years.

While Deloitte concludes that football will be resistant, not immune, to the financial meltdown, it warns club owners that they will struggle to secure credit and invest in stadiums.

History and Biography of Iker Casillas

Complete Name: Iker Fernández Casillas Nationality: Spanish Place of Birth: San Sebastián, Spain Date of Birth: 20/05/1981 Height: 180 cm Weight: 75 kg National Team: Spain Current Club: Real Madrid (Spain) Position: Goalkeeper

Iker Casillas Fernández (born May 20, 1981 in Móstoles, Madrid) is a Spanish football goalkeeper. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He is also the first vice-captain of Spain. Still only a youngster in goalkeeping terms, Iker Casillas has nonetheless gained a huge reputation in European football. A shot-stopper par excellence, the Real Madrid player is gradually developing the commanding presence in his area which could yet see him become an all-time great.

Full Detailed Biography

• Because he was too young to have a driver’s license, Casillas was the only Madrid player to use public transport to get to training sessions in the 1999/00 season.
• He is currently dating Spanish model Eva González. She comes from Seville and has appeared in TV programmes and done numerous photo shoots for magazines. She was recently voted the prettiest footballers’ partner in Spain.

Born in Madrid in 1981, Casillas’ entire career has been spent with his hometown club Real Madrid, which he joined as an eight-year old. He first hit the limelight at 17 when he was pulled out of a high school art class to be told he would be on the bench for a Champions League match. His breakthrough came during the 1999-2000 season, when he replaced the injured Bodo Illgner and played in Madrid’s UEFA Champions League triumph in an all-Spanish final against Valencia CF where his senior team mates Raúl González, Fernando Morientes and Steve McManaman scored in a 3-0 win.

Loss of form subsequently allowed César Sánchez to take the starting position as goalkeeper, but Casillas reclaimed the limelight after coming on as substitute for the veteran in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayer Leverkusen and preserving Madrid’s 2-1 lead with a series of fine saves.Casillas came on to replace the injured Cesar with 22 minutes remaining at Hampden Park and produced a series of outstanding saves to ensure Real held on to their lead. At one point Leverkusen appeared to be queuing up to score but Casillas was at his best, his efforts to deny Yildiray Basturk and Dimitar Berbatov particularly brilliant.

Again the Real Madrid first choice in the 2002-03 season, an injury-free season saw Casillas play in 15 of his side’s Champions League games as well as all 38 Primera División matches as Madrid reclaimed the Spanish championship. In the 2003-04 season, Casillas was virtually ever-present as Madrid relinquished their crown and lost the Spanish Cup final, missing just one league game.

Despite Casillas’ stellar performances every week, Real Madrid suffered two trophyless seasons in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. Although Casillas was widely considered the team’s most consistent performer during this lean patch, there was much gossip and speculation regarding a possible transfer to another club. Manchester United was the name that regularly cropped up in newspapers. It was speculated that Casillas was unhappy with his salary, which was paltry in comparison to the amounts earned by some of the team’s bigger stars. However, the saga ended when the player signed a contract extension on the November 30, 2005, tying him to the club till 2011.

Teams

Casillas was a member of the Spanish teams which won the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999. Following his full international debut against Sweden, Casillas was an unused substitute at Euro 2000.

2002 World Cup

He was the first choice goalkeeper at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan later that year, and enjoyed hero status after Spain knocked out the Republic of Ireland in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the quarter-finals. Before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he was almost unknown to most football fans because he was only a substitute player. After the FIFA World Cup and his performances against the Republic of Ireland and South Korea, he was finally the leading goal keeper in the national team.

Euro 2004

Casillas played in all eight Group 6 fixtures during Euro 2004 qualifying, conceding just four goals. He then kept goal in both legs of the play-off victory against Norway, keeping a clean sheet in Oslo. He then backstopped his country at the Euro 2004 finals.

2006 World Cup

Casillas was his country’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

History and Biography of Luis Figo

Luis Figo Biography – Preview
With Eusebio being considered the best footballer Portugal ever came up with, it was a tough challenge for anyone to top his achievements and take the Mozambique Pearl off his throne.

Still, being an ambitious and talented Footballer, Figo managed to do so in his extraordinary career that had him playing at some of the most important European soccer clubs, such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or Internazionale. For this reason, a Luis Figo biography could not have missed from my list.

Luis Figo Biography – Sporting CP
Portuguese soccer is well known for having some of the most prestigious and well-equipped youth training camps in the World and Sporting’s youth facilities are amongst them. It is here that Luiz Figo started out playing soccer, being born in Lisbon himself.

He grew up in a team that would later be a large part of the “Golden Generation” of Portuguese soccer, with other important teammates such as Rui Costa. Although growing up in such a professional and competitive environment, the pressure didn’t slow down the footballer, Figo shining out whenever he played and eventually winning his first senior game at Sporting in 1989 (age 17).

Although not a first squad constant (as would be expected from a 17 year old footballer), Figo managed to win his place in the team the following years and started showing more and more of his brilliance with each passing year.

Already having spent 6 seasons at Sporting, a move to a bigger club was inevitable and it was Juventus and AC Parma who made the first move, both teams offering him a contract.

Still young and being ill consulted, Luiz Figo signed for both clubs at the same time, triggering a scandal that resulted in a 2 year ban for him to transfer in the Italian Serie A. I think this was for the best, as Spanish giants FC Barcelona immediately moved in and signed the young midfielder.

Luis Figo Biography – FC Barcelona
Almost any Luis Figo biography will point out that the time spent with FC Barcelona was the footballer’s best point in his career.

Although not winning as many trophies with Barcelona as he did with Real Madrid, it’s at the Catalan side that he had his blast, becoming a fan-favorite and one of the most dominant figures in the locker room, his charisma and leadership earning him a rightful Barcelona captain’s armband, a honor that is rarely given to a player that is not Spanish.

Having such a status at Barcelona, after 4 impressive seasons with the team, Luiz Figo’s unexpected move to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 2000 was an international shocker and so was his transfer fee, a world record at that point: 46 million dollars.

Luis Figo Biography – Real Madrid
In his first season at Real, Luis Figo was caught between a rock and a hard place.
His former Barcelona fans hated him for his move, booing and jeering him with every possible occasion and his new Real fans were circumspect that a player with such a long history with FC Barcelona will be able to play regularly for their team. Add that to a long list of injuries in the first seasons and you’ll know why many rushed to consider Figo as a “done footballer”.

After a difficult first season at Real however, Luiz Figo started a new wonderful stage of his career, winning the next three La Liga titles with his team and being an essential player in, then coach, Vicente Del Bosque’s squad.

He finally won the club’s supporters on him side, although the passionate Barcelona ones still didn’t forget him. During this period, he also had a lot of successful runs with his national side, alongside many Sporting CP youth team ex-colleagues, reaching the 2004 European Championship final (losing it to Greece) and a few years after that, reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2006. But by that time, he had already moved from an apparently falling Real Madrid side to Inter Milano.

Luis Figo Biography – Inter Milano
Inter being an equally reputable team as Real Madrid, but in a constant lack of form in the last decade, Figo managed to remain at the height of his game here, eventually leading Inter to two consecutive Serie A titles (although one was won after the Calciopoli scandal, which stripped Champions Juventus of their 2005-2006 title, giving it to second-place Inter instead).

Approaching the end of his career, Figo was linked to a move to Al-Ittihad, where he was supposed to receive one of the highest salaries in international football, however this transfer was cancelled due to Figo’s desire to play a few more years at the highest competition level for Inter. It is yet unknown if the Al-Ittihad contract was simply postponed or cancelled entirely.

History and Biography of Ronaldo

Probably one of the most resounding names in today’s soccer, Ronaldo put his mark on the last decade, becoming not only a prolific striker for his various club teams and national side, but also a famous “product face”. This biography will take you through El Fenomeno’s life and career, from his poor childhood to his super stardom.

Ronaldo Biography – Youth Career
Born in a poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, he started playing soccer on the streets, with the rest of his neighborhood friends. At age 14, he decided it’s time for a little organization in his life as a soccer player, so he went on to train with the Social Ramos Youth Club for one year. His next youth team, Sao Cristovao is where Ronaldo made a name for himself, being spotted by Brazilian World Cup winner Jairzinho as a future talent.

Full name Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima Date of birth September 22, 1976 Place of birth Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Height 6.0FT – 1.83M Playing position Striker

Jairzinho, who played for Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, recommended the young Ronaldo to the club and they signed him when he was 18 years old. His first and only season as a professional soccer player in Brazil was extremely successful, as he scored 12 goals in 13 games, quickly attracting the eyes of Europe.

Ronaldo Biography –
PSV Eindhoven
The first club to spot Ronaldo and make Cruzeiro an offer was Dutch PSV Eindhoven. Admittedly, not one of the mammoths of Europe in terms of soccer, but nevertheless a powerful club where a young player like Ronaldo could hone his skills and get some experience in Europe.

His 2 seasons at PSV were extremely successful, scoring 42 goals in 46 matches at just 21 years of age. His performances could not remain unnoticed and FC Barcelona moved in with a heavy offer to take the Brazilian on.

Ronaldo Biography – FC Barcelona and Internazionale Milano
His only season with Barcelona would be one of the best of his career, scoring 47 goals in 49 matches in all competitions for Barca and helping the Catalan club win the UEFA Cup Winners Cup (He actually scored the winning goal in the final) and the Spanish Cup. This great season confirmed him as an outstanding player and a goal scoring machine and Internazionale Milano moved in to take the Brazilian to Italy.

Season Club Games Goals 1993-1994 Cruzeiro EC 13 12 1994-1996 PSV Eindhoven 46 42 1996-1997 FC Barcelona 37 34 1997-2002 Internazionale 69 49 2002-2007 Real Madrid 127 83 2007-Present A.C. Milan 14 7 Last Update – July 6, 2007 Domestic League Only

During the 5 seasons in Milan’s shirt, he managed to score 50 times, but his efficiency was a lot lower than for PSV or FC Barcelona, due to several problems. First of all, the tough defensive air of the Italian Serie A reduced his ability to use his lethal dribbles as often as he could at FC Barcelona or PSV.

His personal issues with his girlfriends and wife, as well as a string of injuries also kept him from being as prolific as before. Nevertheless, he was loved at Inter and he helped the Italian club win the UEFA Cup in 1998, which is actually his only trophy with the club. In 1997 however, he became the European Footballer of the Year, European Golden Boot and after the UEFA Cup success, he was named UEFA’s MVP that season.

Still, in 2002 after no league titles with Inter, it was time to move on and Real Madrid took him on to form the so called “Galacticos” team of super stars.

Years National Team Games Goals 1994–present Brazil 97 62

Ronaldo Biography – Real Madrid
For Ronaldo, Real Madrid was angel and devil alike. Used to the Spanish league and escaping the Italian one’s defensive toughness, he regained his scoring pace and in his 5 seasons with Real, he scored no less than 127 goals in 83 league games.

He helped Real Madrid win the league twice, in 2002-2003 and 2006-2007, as well as the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup in 2002. Although he played well for Madrid, his past with FC Barcelona, his numerous injuries and news of him partying before and after matches, created a gap between the Brazilian striker and his fans.

He also gained a few pounds, which decreased his stamina, speed and agility attracting the anger of Real’s supporters, after a poor 2005-2006 season. Not finding his pace at Real Madrid anymore, he decided to move back to Milan, but this time for Inter’s arch-rivals, AC Milano.

Ronaldo Biography – AC Milano
Ronaldo plays for Milano since the winter of 2007 and although he only had half a season to settle back in Serie A, he did it with ease. He started scoring again and helping AC Milan win important points and he even managed to score against his former team, Inter, in the Milanese super-derby.

Although he could not participate in Milan’s Champions League Win in 2007, he showed signs of improving his game and he also lost most of the extra pounds that made Real Madrid fans criticize him.

In the international field Ronaldo always was a vital member of the Brazilian team. He made history on June 27th 2006 during the World Cup games as he broke the all-time World Cup scoring record of 14 that was held by Gerd Muller (Germany) after scoring his 15th goal against Ghana.

History and Biography of Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy Biography – Introduction
Ask anyone to make a list of today’s top strikers in activity and I guarantee Van Nisterlooy will be amongst the first 5. He is a huge name and a player that left a mark wherever he played, but as we will see in this van Nistelrooy biography, he is a late bloomer that was very close to missing out on stardom. Let’s take a look so you can understand what the heck I’m talking about.

Ruud van Nistelrooy Biography – Early Career
Starting his professional career at FC Den Bosch, a second division Dutch team at that time, van Nistelrooy was a rather average striker that played sporadically. As he gathered more and more experience in the first squad, his coach gave a place in the team and soon enough Ruud would start improving on his game.

After 4 seasons however, he only managed to score 17 goals in 69 appearances for Den Bosch. His luck was called SC Heerenveen, who bought Ruud van Nistelrooy at the end of the 1997 season, with hopes of turning him into a quality striker. After one season at Heerenveen, he proved he can become one, scoring 13 goals in 31 matches and attracting the eyes of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, where the 23 year old striker moved in 1998.

Ruud van Nistelrooy Biography – PSV Eindhoven
At Eindhoven they played a totally different soccer than that at Den Bosch or Heerenveen. Here, the objective of each match was to win it and heads would roll if it happened otherwise.

It’s here that van Nistelrooy learned how to play under pressure and the time with Eindhoven strengthened his winner mentality. And it was here that Ruud van Nistelrooy finally played at his maximum potential, achieving an incredible 62 goals in 67 matches, over the span of 3 full seasons played for PSV.

And like most Dutch strikers, a string of good matches in the local league brought many offers from big European clubs and Ruud finally settled for the one he got from Manchester United.

Ruud van Nistelrooy Biography – Manchester United
Looking over this Ruud van Nistelrooy biography, you’ll notice that the Dutchman never had a huge leap like others have. He jumped from the second division to a mid-table team from the first division. Then from that team, he passed on to an important club from Holland, only to step up once again, signing for Manchester United, who are constantly on top of the Premier League and the European competitions they participate in.

Under the magic wand of Sir Alex Ferguson, Man U’s legendary manager, Ruud van Nistelrooy was expected to be an end-of-the-line striker and top goal scorer.

Having suffered a knee injury that kept him off the pitch for the first matches at Manchester, but when he came back he came back blazing: he scored 36 goals in 45 matches in the 2001/2002 season and 44 goals in 50 matches the following season, becoming one of the most feared strikers in England and in Europe.

Unfortunately, another injury forced him on the bench for most of the 2004-2005 season, but he recovered in style in 2005-2006, becoming second-highest scorer in the Premiership. But something weird happened in the winter of 2006, as Ruud van Nistelrooy suddenly lost his spot in the first team.

Although he denied a squabble with Sir Alex Ferguson, he was benched for 6 consecutive matches, played once and scored the winning goal for Manchester, then surprisingly benched again.

Following this tense relationship with his manager and his squad, Ruud van Nistelrooy decided to accept the offer from Real Madrid and get a fresh new start.

Ruud van Nistelrooy Biography – Real Madrid
Known as a rather difficult personality, having squabbles with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester and Van Basten at the Dutch national side, his move to Real was assumed to create more problems at the team than help them out. But the new Real manager, Fabio Capello is known for his iron fist discipline and Ruud seems to have quieted down and is now focusing on his game.

It seems the move at Real did him good, as he is now a certainty in the Galacticos’ starting line-up and he currently has a goal tally of 25, in 37 matches played for his club.

History and Biography of Raúl González Blanco

Raúl González Blanco, usually referred to simply as Raúl, (born June 27, 1977) is a Spanish football forward. He has been playing for Real Madrid at senior level since 1994, where he is the team captain. He has played more than 100 games for the Spanish national team, and is its all-time leading goal scorer with 44 goals. He represented Spain in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Euro 2004 tournaments.

Raúl is also currently 10th highest goalscorer in the history of Spain’s top flight, with 180 goals in 400 games. All of these goals were for Real Madrid, making Raúl the club’s third highest goalscorer of all time. This might improve as Raúl is still playing for the club.

When playing, he wears jersey number 7 for both club and country.

Raúl grew up in a modest neighbourhood of Madrid, in the suburb Marconi de San Cristóbal de los Ángeles. His father, don Pedro, was a fan of Atlético Madrid, the club where he started playing after a short period in San Cristóbal’s team. Atlético Madrid coach didn’t notice anything special about him because he was very thin and weak. Raul later turned to Real Madrid’s C team and quickly made it to the first team in 1994/1995 season.

Raúl possesses a distinctive celebration, with each goal acclaimed by a kiss of his wedding ring, an acknowledgement to his wife Mamen Sanz. They have four sons: Jorge (February 25, 2000), who is named after Jorge Valdano, Hugo (November 20, 2002) and twins Héctor and Mateo (November 17, 2005). He likes reading, especially the books of Arturo Pérez Reverte, and listening to all sorts of Spanish music. He also enjoys hunting and watching bullfighting.

Fernando Morientes is a very close friend of Raul’s. The two formed a very deadly striker partnership for Real Madrid and the Spanish national squad between 1998 and 2002, until Morientes was replaced by Ronaldo in the Real Madrid starting eleven. Morientes and Raul are still best friends, and Raul was often spotted at Anfield Road in the 2005/2006 English Premiership season while he was sidelined with an injury, watching Morientes play for Liverpool. Morientes and Raul have also gone on vacations together, with their families.

Raúl was born in the Madrid suburb of San Cristobal de Los Ángeles. After winning his spurs as a member of provincial amateur team San Cristobal de Los Angeles, his father signed him up for the Atlético Madrid youth team at the age of 13. Raúl rose through the ranks, winning the national title with the Under-15 youth team, and seemed destined to join the professional side when Atletico President Jesús Gil dissolved the club’s entire youth scheme in an effort to save money.

Deprived of a team to play for, Raul turned to local rivals Real Madrid, where success was quickly forthcoming. He began the 1994-95 season in Real’s “C” team, and scored 13 goals in the first seven games. In October 1994, head coach Jorge Valdano picked the gifted teenager in his first team. At just 17 years and four months, Raul became the youngest player ever to wear a Real Madrid shirt. In doing so, he nudged aside 1991 Pichichi Trophy winner Emilio Butragueño, and was soon well on the way to becoming Spain’s new sensation. He scored nine times in his first season from 28 appearances, including one in his second game against Atletico, and won the Spanish La Liga championship. Raúl made his national team debut against the Czech Republic in October 1996. Raúl’s performances for Spain have since mirrored the nation’s fortunes, Spain being dubbed the “greatest underachievers” in international football.

Raúl was a key player in Real Madrid’s six big titles from 1998 to 2003. With Real, he won three European UEFA Champions League trophies in 1998, 2000 and 2002, scoring the clinching goal in the 2000 Champions League final. On the domestic scene, he won three Spnaish La Liga championships in 1997, 2001 and 2003. After Fernando Hierro retired from the Spanish national team in 2002, Raúl became the captain for Real Madrid and Spain.

Ever since 2003, he has been under heavy criticism by the media and part of the supporters because of his poor performances in the last two years, in which Real Madrid struggled to win a title in Spain and in the European competitions, with no success in either of them. These struggles have seen Raúl relegated at times to the substitutes bench by both club and country, leaving questions as to how much he might have in the tank.

On 28 September 2005 against Greek power Olympiakos, his 97th UEFA Champions League match, he became the first player to score 50 goals in the history of the tournament, passing Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano. When he led out the Spanish team against San Marino in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 12 October 2005, he surpassed his predecessor as Spain captain, Fernando Hierro, as the most-capped outfield player (i.e., not a goalkeeper) in Spanish history.

On June 19, with a goal against Tunisia, Raúl became the 18th player to score in 3 different editions of the FIFA World Cup. He has scored in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Playing style

Raúl is a striker who is able to link attack and midfield effectively.

At 1.80m in height and just over 68 kg, Raúl is very mobile and light on his feet, and likes to switch positions or go out wide. He can put his team-mates through into great positions, and create chances for himself even against the toughest markers. Originally an out-and-out striker, thanks to his versatility he has developed link-up play, allowing him to play in the hole behind the front men.

History and Biography of Francesco Totti

History and Biography of Francesco Totti

Francesco Totti (born September 27, 1976 in Rome) is an Italian football player, who currently plays for A.S. Roma in Serie A and for the Italian national team, who are the current world champions after winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Francesco Totti’s position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he’s best known for playing as the “trequartista”, a compromise between the two positions where the player acts as a link between midfield and attack. He is also Roma’s first choice to take free kicks, having scored a number of goals from dead-ball situations.

Totti is widely recognised as the symbol of Roma, having never left the team despite the possibility of playing in stronger and richer clubs, and being the number one goalscorer in the club’s history.

Totti was born and raised in Rome, in the Porta Metronia city neighborhood. His parents are Enzo and Fiorella Totti. Unlike other children his age who preferred to watch cartoons, Totti was always more interested in watching football matches instead. Totti constantly played football with older boys. His mother refused a big deal for her son from A.C. Milan while waiting for a deal from his favourite club A.S. Roma. His mother intended to never let her son step foot out of the “Eternal City”. Totti finally joined the A.S. Roma junior team in 1989.

Totti is married to Ilary Blasi, a former model, who currently works as commentator and host on several RAI TV programmes. The couple had their first baby, named Cristian, on November 6, 2005.

Totti also runs a football school, named Number Ten, and owns a motorcycle racing team called “Totti Top Sport”.

His best friend is his brother, Riccardo. However, Totti always says that his brother was the better player when they were kids, but he was unlucky on his way. Riccardo now is Totti’s agent.

He also had a bad relationship with his previous coach Fabio Capello, who is currently coach of Real Madrid. Totti accused Capello of being a traitor for leaving Roma suddenly without a warning, and left the Roman team in a very bad shape which had them almost relegated to the second division in 2004-2005 season. This rift started on Capello’s last days with Roma: according to Totti, his behaviour to most of the players changed, and once advised the younger players not take Totti as their role model player, but to take Brazilian Emerson as an idol for his hard work. Several months later, Capello, Emerson and Frenchman Jonathan Zebina all left AS Roma for rivals Juventus suddenly.

Additional information

A goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, Totti published two self-effacing joke books in order to raise money for a children’s charity. They were bestsellers for many months. Some of the jokes were filmed into short clips that were acted out by Totti ,himself, along with some of his teammates like Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Damiano Tommasi, Alessandro Nesta and Antonio Cassano.

Totti’s idol player in his childhood was ex-Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini, whom he considers as his elder brother: he always wished to just shake hands with Giannini, and was one of his biggest fans. Several years after, Totti himself had the opportunity to play alongside Giannini on the pitch in the AS Roma kit.

Totti is famous for his chipping technique, called in Italian il cucchiaio (in English, “spoon” or in his Roman dialect (Romanesco), “er cucchiaio”). He has scored many beautiful goals using this technique. His famous early goals using this technique was in a shoot-out against Netherlands in the Euro 2000 semi-final when he scored against Netherlands keeper Edwin van der Sar, he also scored a second famous goal two years later against Lazio in the derby, which ended 5-1 to A.S. Roma. At the time, they played their best football. Consequently, his autobiography is entitled “Mo Je Faccio Er Cucchiaio“, which is Roman dialect (Romanesco) for “Now I’m going to do the Chip Shot”.

He was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA’s centenary celebrations in March 2004.

National team

Very talented as a teenager, Totti scored in Italy’s 4-1 defeat by Spain in the final of the UEFA European Under-18 Championship in July 1995. In the final of the Under-21 competition in 1996, Totti opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw against the Spanish before triumphing on penalties.

Totti made his senior Azzurri debut in the Euro 2000 qualifying victory against Switzerland on 10 October 1998. He played in the finals tournament and scored against Romania and Belgium and played in the final; losing to France. Although he was on the losing side, Totti was named Man of the Match in the final and described by many soccer legends, including Michael Platini (France), as the best player of the tournament.

Disappointment followed at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with Totti failing to make a significant impact and then being sent off as Italy lost to the South Korea in the second round, when he controversially received a second yellow card for alleged penalty area diving by the referee Byron Moreno.

At Euro 2004, Totti garnered negative media attention when he spat at Christian Poulsen, a midfielder for Denmark. Totti was subsequently banned until the semi-finals, but did not play in the tournament again, as Italy failed to qualify for the next round. In defense of Totti, Poulsen has developed a reputation for a dirty player. The Danish defender was described as “a coward” by A.C. Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti during the 05-06 season, for his continuous provocation of Kakà with the ball far away, Sporting Life.

Totti’s participation in the 2006 FIFA World Cup was put at risk by the broken ankle he suffered a few months before the tournament. He recovered in time to join the national team, although he was not yet in his best shape. During the match with Australia, he scored from the penalty spot in the closing seconds of regular time to give Italy a 1-0 victory. This propelled Italy into the quarter finals. After the goal, he celebrated by sucking his thumb, in honor of his young son. Italy then went on to face Ukraine, a match in which Totti provided a valuable assist to striker Luca Toni. Italy went on to win the match 3-0 and moved on to the semifinals to face Germany. Totti started the game against Germany as well, and stayed on for 120 minutes, helping Italy defeat the Germans 2-0 in a sensational ending to the game. The Italians went on to face the French team in the finals. The score remained 1-1 through extra-time, after which the Italians won by a penalty shootout. For his work at this World Cup, Totti was selected for the 23-man Mastercard All-Star Team.

Totti is currently considering whether or not to continue playing for the national team after he had made it clear that his intention was to retire after the World Cup. When holding the world cup, he said that he was 50-50, if to retire, or to stay in international play. However, as soon as Roberto Donadoni took over a Italy’s head coach, his first intention was to convince Totti to stay on the national team. Totti wanted to retire so he can spend more time with his family. Totti has made the decision to return to the national team next year, and only when he returns to his best form. However Italy’s poor start to the Euro 2008 qualifiers has prompted Donadoni to try and persuade Totti to return earlier than planned.

Club

Francesco Totti was just 16 when he made his first appearance for AS Roma in a 2-0 away victory at Brescia Calcio on March 28, 1993. He scored four goals in twenty one outings in 1994-95 and over the ensuing seasons became a team regular. He was named Italy’s Player of the Year in 2000 and in 2003. The following season (2000-01) he helped AS Roma secure their first league title since 1982-83, having scored thirteen Serie A goals. In the 2001-02 campaign Roma finished runners-up to Juventus, but Totti returned with a then personal-best of fourteen goals during the 2002-03 season.

• 2003-04: Playing in a more advanced role, Totti hit a career-high twenty goals as Roma finished second in Serie A behind A.C. Milan.
• 2004-05: A very disappointing season, the only bright side of which was Roma finishing second in the Italian Cup and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In the 2004-05 season Roma had to replace four coaches. Despite all the problems, Totti scored twelve goals, and helped Vincenzo Montella score 21 with numerous assists. On December 19 2004, Totti broke A.S. Roma’s goal scoring record when he scored against Parma. It was Totti’s 107th goal for the club, a record previously held by Roberto Pruzzo.
• 2005-06: A strange season for Roma and Totti. On 19 February 2006, while playing in the Italian Championship against Empoli F.C., he suffered a fracture of his left fibula, and severed the interconnecting ligaments with the malleolus. He returned from his injury on 11 May 2006 as a substitute in Roma’s 3-1 defeat to Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia. As in the 2004/05 season, A.S Roma came in second in the Italian Cup (again trailing to Inter Milan). In the Serie A they finished 5th, and only qualified for the UEFA Cup for the second season in a row. The team won eleven consecutive matches, breaking the all time record of 10 consecutive wins. The last match was won against rivals S.S Lazio, before a home draw with a late goal from Inter. Coach Luciano Spalletti turned the team’s line up from a defensive one to an attacking one (despite playing without strikers for most of the season, and for the last 8 or so games playing without Totti), and the team moved from fifteenth to fifth by the end of the season. The team was spectacular in mid-season, with Totti scoring fifteen goals; an impressive number for a midfielder often playing out of position as a lone striker. He also provided many assists.

Celebration

Francesco Totti uses a variety of celebrations for special occasions. One of the more classic and remembered is the one where he took his shirt off and had a shirt under that said “6 (sei) Unica!” meaning you are unique, he flashed this to Ilary Blasi, his current wife. His most common celebrations are the one where he runs to the side , kissing his ring finger in honor of his wife and than pointing upwards with his finger, thanking god. When his son, Cristian, was born, he began sucking his thumb as a celebration to honour him.

History And Biography Of David Beckham

I really thought I knew everything there is about the midfielder, but reading a David Beckham biography I found out more about the man behind the superstar. That’s why I decided to write my own biography of David Beckham, to share to you the player behind the million dollar endorsements.

David Beckham Biography – Manchester United

David Beckham’s story starts out near London, where he was born to a family of Manchester United fans. Despite being so close to clubs like West Ham United, Arsenal or Chelsea, Beckham’s aim was always the Red Devils club. As luck would have it, on his fourteenth birthday, he was taken in the Manchester youth program, and he even starred next to the senior team…as a mascot.

Just 4 years later, he went on to play for Sir Alex Ferguson’s senior squad, but his performance still needed fine tuning, so he was loaned to Preston North End for a year, returning to Manchester with some match experience. He quickly gained his place in the squad, despite his young age and became one of Manchester’s most preeminent players during the following decade.

His most successful season with Manchester is undoubtedly 1999, when the club achieved the Treble (League, Cup and Champions League in the same season) and with David Beckham playing soccer like never before.

It’s around then that he “trademarked” his famous free kicks and crosses and seeing some footage of David Beckham in action during that period will shed all doubts as to whether or not his superstardom status has a solid basis in his playing style, or just his good looks.

David Beckham Biography – 1998 World Cup Incident

His career did have a few rough moments, the most notable one being in 1998 with the English national side, at that year’s World Cup. In the Second Round, where England would play Argentina, Beckham was taunted by Argentinean midfielder Diego Simeone and he responded with a swing towards the player, which earned him a red card for bad behavior on the pitch.

With England losing the match and being knocked out of the tournament, all blame fell on David Beckham, as the English newspapers put him against the wall and fired up some poisonous articles. Any other player would have stayed low, or even quit soccer, but David Beckham’s ambition brought him back to the top. His performance with Manchester the following year, earned him back the respect of his fans and the entire world.

David Beckham Biography – Real Madrid

By the time David Beckham moved to Real Madrid in 2003, he was already a well-known star on the international stage. In his four years with the Madrid club he managed to win the Spanish league once, but his performance was deemed poorer than what he was playing at Manchester.

Many attributed this loss of form due to the new system found at Real and the fact that at Madrid he wasn’t the “star” of the team anymore, since he was playing next to other internationally famous soccer players like Zinedine Zidane, Raul or Roberto Carlos.

David Beckham Biography – Los Angeles Galaxy

Moving to play in the United States for the Los Angeles Galaxy as of 2007 earned him one of the biggest contracts in the history of soccer and it was an offer David couldn’t have refused, despite the fact that the soccer level in the United States is not as high as the one practiced in Spain.