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Organised by the Football Association, proceeds from the game are distributed to community-based initiatives and charities around the country. Revenue from the gate receipts and match programme sales is distributed to the 124 clubs who competed in The FA Cup from the First Round onwards, for onward distribution to charities and projects of their choice, while the remainder is distributed to the FA's national charity partners.
The fixture was first played in the 1908–09 season, replacing the Sheriff of London Charity Shield.
The game had been moved to the start of the season from 1959 onwards. Prior to the 2008 FA Community Shield, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson aptly summarised his opinion for the competition: "It's always a game we never quite use of a do or die thing, we use it as a barometer for fitness".
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Playername | Cristiano Ronaldo |
---|---|
Fullname | Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro |
Dateofbirth | February 05, 1985 |
Cityofbirth | Funchal, Madeira |
Countryofbirth | Portugal |
Height | |
Position | Winger/Forward |
Currentclub | Real Madrid |
Clubnumber | 7 |
Youthyears1 | 1993–1995 |youthclubs1 = Andorinha |
Youthyears2 | 1995–1997 |youthclubs2 = Nacional |
Youthyears3 | 1997–2001 |youthclubs3 = Sporting CP |
Years1 | 2001–2003 |clubs1 = Sporting CP |caps1 = 25 |goals1 = 3 |
Years2 | 2003–2009 |clubs2 = Manchester United |caps2 = 196 |goals2 = 84 |
Years3 | 2009– |clubs3 = Real Madrid |caps3 = 47 |goals3 = 48 |
Nationalyears1 | 2001–2002 |nationalteam1 = Portugal U17 |nationalcaps1 = 9 |nationalgoals1 = 6 |
Nationalyears2 | 2003 |nationalteam2 = Portugal U20 |nationalcaps2 = 5 |nationalgoals2 = 1 |
Nationalyears3 | 2002–2003 |nationalteam3 = Portugal U21 |nationalcaps3 = 6 |nationalgoals3 = 3 |
Nationalyears4 | 2004 |nationalteam4 = Portugal U23 |nationalcaps4 = 3 |nationalgoals4 = 1 |
Nationalyears5 | 2003– |nationalteam5 = Portugal |nationalcaps5 = 79 |nationalgoals5 = 25 |
Pcupdate | 22:49, 3 January 2011 (UTC) |
Ntupdate | 22:38, 17 November 2010 (UTC) |
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (; born 5 February 1985), Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out, against Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while still playing for Manchester United.
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup, and reached the Euro 2004 final with Portugal, in which tournament he scored his first international goal.
In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, and was named player of the tournament. He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."
When he was 15, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that might have forced him to give up playing football. The Sporting staff were made aware of the condition and Ronaldo's mother gave her authorisation for him to go into hospital. While there, he had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he resumed training only a few days later.
He was first spotted by then-Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier at the age of 16, but Liverpool declined to take him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills. However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.
Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United's 3-0 FA Cup final victory over Millwall
He scored United's 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough. He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award in 2005.
Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football in the 2005-06 season, scoring the third goal in Manchester United's 4-0 Football League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic.
The 2006-2007 season proved to be the breakout year for Ronaldo, as he broke the 20 goal barrier for the first time and picked up his first league title with Manchester United.
In November and December 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996. He scored his 50th Manchester United goal against city rivals Manchester City on 5 May 2007 as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years, and he was voted into his second consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award at the end of the year.
Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo, he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week (£31 million total) extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.
Ronaldo 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 honour. In April, he completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of eight Manchester United players named in the 2006–07 PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
celebrating a goal]] Ronaldo's 2007–08 season began with a red card for a headbutt on Portsmouth player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban. Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future. After scoring the only goal in a Champions League away match against Sporting, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their Champions League group.
He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon d'Or, and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table. 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. During a 1–1 Champions League first knockout round draw against Lyon on 20 February, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA. One month later, Lyon were fined CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.
On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained United for the first time in his career in a home win over Bolton, scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory. 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. Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa on 29 March, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo's scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007–08 European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of Mallorca's Dani Güiza.
In the 2007–08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals Chelsea, Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equaliser in the 45th minute as the match ended 1–1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6–5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans' Man of the Match, and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling four short of Denis Law's team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season.
and rivals Liverpool.]] On 5 June 2008, Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year. Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA on 9 June over Madrid's alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action. Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at United for at least another year.
Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 7 July. He returned to action on 17 September in United's UEFA Champions League goalless group-stage draw with Villarreal as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung, and scored his first overall goal of the season in a 3–1 League Cup third round win over Middlesbrough on 24 September.
In a 5–0 win over Stoke City on 15 November 2008, Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st goals in all competitions for Manchester United, both from free kicks. The goals also meant that Ronaldo had now scored against each of the other 19 teams in the Premier League at the time. On 2 December, Ronaldo became Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or recipient since George Best in 1968. He finished with 446 points, 165 ahead of runner-up Lionel Messi. He was awarded the Silver Ball after finishing with two goals as United won the Club World Cup on 19 December.
On 8 January 2009, Ronaldo was uninjured in a single-car accident in which he wrote off his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in a tunnel along the A538 near Manchester Airport. A breathalyser test he gave to police officers at the scene was negative, and he attended training later that morning. Four days later, he became the first Premier League player ever to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to being the first Portuguese player to win the award since Luís Figo in 2001.
Ronaldo scored his first Champions League goal of the season, and first since the final against Chelsea, in a 2–0 victory over Internazionale that sent United into the quarter-finals. In the second leg against Porto, Ronaldo scored a 40-yard game-winning goal as United advanced to the semi-finals. He later called it the best goal he had ever scored. Ronaldo participated in his second consecutive Champions League final, but made little impact in United's 2–0 loss to Barcelona. He finished with 53 appearances in all competitions, which was four higher than the previous year, but scored sixteen fewer goals (26) than his career-best total of 42 from the previous season.
On 11 June, Manchester United accepted an unconditional offer of £80 million from Real Madrid for Ronaldo after it was revealed that he again had expressed his desire to leave the club. It was confirmed by a representative of the Glazer family that the sale was fully condoned by Ferguson. When Ronaldo had eventually completed his transfer to Real, he expressed his gratitude towards Ferguson for helping him develop as a player, saying, "He's been my father in sport, one of the most important factors and most influential in my career."
Ronaldo made his Madrid debut on 21 July in a 1–0 win over Shamrock Rovers. His first goal came one week later with a penalty in Madrid's 4–2 LDU Quito. On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real's second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña. On 15 September, Ronaldo scored two free-kicks in a 5-2 away victory over Zürich, his first Champions League goals for Real. He broke a Madrid club record when he scored in a league match against Villarreal and thus became the first ever player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.
An ankle injury suffered on 10 October, while Ronaldo was on international duty with Portugal against Hungary, kept him out until 25 November, which in turn caused him to miss both of Madrid's Champions League group stage matches against Milan. Ronaldo made his first post-injury start in a 1–0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on 29 November. On 6 December, he was sent off for the first time in his Madrid career in Madrid's 4–2 victory against Almería, a match which also saw him miss a penalty. He was carded first for removing his shirt during a goal celebration, then for kicking out at an opponent three minutes later. Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín scored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real's highest scoring league duo in their history.
Ronaldo began the 2011 with a very promising outlook, specially since Real Madrid acknowledge him to have broken many goalscoring records, prevously settled and held by classic players such as Di Stéfano, Hugo Sánchez or Alday. His year took-off by scoring two vital goals on a tight 3-2 victory over Getafe. He then consolidated his massive performance by scoring a hat-trick and assisting Kaká to score his first league goal after his return from injury, on a 4-2 victory over Villareal on January 9. One game away from the middle of the season, Ronaldo held very clear perspectives of breaking Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez's record of 38 League goals in a single season, since he was the league's top scorer with 22 goals, even above Lionel Messi.
During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off. On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.
The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United, and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid. In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney. Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.
Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France, and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans. Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.
Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal's 7–0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June, which marked his first international goal in sixteen months. Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the round of sixteen.
Ronaldo's autobiography, titled Moments, was published in December 2007. Along with one of his sisters, Ronaldo opened a fashion boutique under the name "CR7" (his initials and shirt number). There are currently two CR7 store locations, both of which are in Portugal; one in Lisbon and the other in Madeira.
On 9 June 2010, Madame Tussauds London unveiled Ronaldo's waxwork as part of the build-up to the World Cup. Ronaldo joins fellow footballers Steven Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham at the event's venue.
Ronaldo announced that he had become a father on 3 July 2010. His official Facebook and Twitter pages reference the birth of his son and request privacy. is in full custody of Ronaldo and under the care of his mother and sisters.
On August 2010, Ronaldo hit 10 million fans on Facebook and in doing so made history by becoming the first non-US personality ever to achieve that kind of success on the social networking site.
Since the start of 2010 he has been dating Russian model Irina Shayk.
In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo is to play in a charity match in Madeira between the Portuguese Liga club Porto and players from Madeiran based Portuguese Liga clubs Marítimo and Nacional.
Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Portuguese footballers Category:Association football wingers Category:Portugal international footballers Category:Primeira Liga players Category:Sporting Clube de Portugal footballers Category:Premier League players Category:First Division/Premier League topscorers Category:Manchester United F.C. players Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:Olympic footballers of Portugal Category:Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:Madeiran footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:European Footballer of the Year winners Category:FIFA World Player of the Year winners Category:World Soccer Magazine World Player of the Year winners Category:Real Madrid C.F. players Category:La Liga footballers Category:Portuguese Roman Catholics Category:Portuguese expatriates in Spain Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:Golden Globes (Portugal) winners Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Playername | Xabi Alonso |
---|---|
Fullname | Xabier Alonso Olano |
Dateofbirth | November 25, 1981 |
Cityofbirth | Tolosa |
Countryofbirth | Spain |
Height | |
Position | Midfielder |
Currentclub | Real Madrid |
Clubnumber | 14 |
Years1 | 1999–2004 |
Years2 | 2000–2001 |
Years3 | 2004–2009 |
Years4 | 2009– |
Clubs1 | Real Sociedad |
Clubs2 | → Eibar (loan) |
Clubs3 | Liverpool |
Clubs4 | Real Madrid |
Caps1 | 114 |
Goals1 | 9 |
Caps2 | 14 |
Goals2 | 0 |
Caps3 | 143 |
Goals3 | 15 |
Caps4 | 49 |
Goals4 | 3 |
Caps5 | 0 |
Goals5 | 0 |
Nationalyears1 | 2000 |
Nationalyears2 | 2002–2003 |
Nationalyears3 | 2003– |
Nationalyears4 | 2005– |
Nationalteam1 | Spain U18 |
Nationalteam2 | Spain U21 |
Nationalteam3 | Spain |
Nationalteam4 | Basque Country |
Nationalcaps1 | 1 |
Nationalgoals1 | 0 |
Nationalcaps2 | 9 |
Nationalgoals2 | 0 |
Nationalcaps3 | 81 |
Nationalgoals3 | 9 |
Nationalcaps4 | 6 |
Nationalgoals4 | 0 |
Pcupdate | 12 December 2010 |
Ntupdate | 17 November 2010 |
Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad,the main team of his home region: Gipuzkoa. After a brief loan period at SD Eibar returned to the La Liga club. John Toshack appointed Alonso as his team captain and Alonso succeeded in the role, taking Real Sociedad to second place in the 2002–03 season. He moved to Liverpool in August 2004 for £10,5 million. He won the UEFA Champions League in his first season at the club. The following season he won the FA Cup, and subsequently also the FA Community Shield. He moved to Real Madrid for the start of the 2009–10 season, in a deal worth around £30 million. Internationally, Alonso has represented Spain in the Euro 2004, Euro 2008 tournaments and in the 2006 World Cup and 2010 World Cup. He made his international debut in April 2003 in a 4–0 victory against Ecuador. He won the Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup with Spain.
He holds the record for the longest-range goal ever scored in open play in the Premier League, being some 61 yards away from Steve Harper's line when he netted against Newcastle United in 2006. The season before, he scored from 78 yards with an effort against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in the FA Cup.
Alonso and Arteta were ambitious and dreamed of playing alongside each other for Real Sociedad when they were older. Though they attended different schools, the two young players joined forces at the local youth side Antiguoko, playing games at the weekend. Their performances attracted the attention of scouts from top Spanish sides and the young Donostiarras separated ways, ending nine years of friendly rivalry, as Alonso went to feeder club Real Sociedad and Arteta moved to Catalan giants Barcelona. However, Alonso's move to Real Sociedad was not a companionless one as he was joined by his older brother Mikel Alonso who had also become an adept player. Alonso failed to make another appearance in the season but the following year brought more opportunities. At the beginning of the 2000–01 season, Javier Clemente sent Alonso to Segunda División team SD Eibar to gain experience. Alonso's father particularly felt the move to the smaller club improved him as a player. Toshack lauded Alonso, noting that the impression he had on the team was exceptional, especially for a player from the youth-team. The team cemented their mid-table position in the 2001–02, finishing in 13th place. Alonso appeared consistently in La Liga with 30 appearances over the course of the season and also scored his first league goal, finishing with a season total of 3. Real Sociedad's management changed again in the summer of 2002 with the arrival of Raynald Denoueix but Alonso kept his place in the first team on the strength of his past performance.
The 2002–03 season was the club's best league performance since the 1981-1982 season in which they won the league. The Basque team finished second, two points behind Real Madrid, setting a club record for their highest ever points total and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Alonso received much praise for his role in the team's success and was given the Best Spanish Player award by Spanish sports magazine Don Balón. In addition, Alonso significantly contributed to the team's goal tally, scoring 12 goals in all competitions. His performances earned Alonso national repute and Iñaki Sáez, the coach of the Spanish national team, called him up for La Selección. Alonso made his international debut in April 2003 in a 4–0 friendly win over Ecuador. Sáez raved over Alonso saying: "He has a fantastic range of accurate passing [and] sees football with an extraordinary clarity". Arteta was ecstatic at the prospect of partnering Alonso in midfield but his excitement was short lived. Alonso did not lament the fact that a move to Real Madrid had not materialised. Instead he concentrated on integrating with the new Spanish contingent at Liverpool under the guidance of, ex-Valencia coach, Rafael Benítez. The technical Spaniards were Benítez's first signings and he remarked that their emphasis of skill over strength offered something different to the team. Alonso made his Premiership debut for the Merseysiders against Bolton Wanderers at The Reebok Stadium on 29 August 2004. A Premier League tie against Fulham displayed more of Alonso's talents. Liverpool were losing 2–0 at half-time and Benítez brought on Alonso as a substitute after the break. His arrival revived a deflated Liverpool and the game finished 4–2 to the Merseyside team. Furthermore, Alonso scored from a free kick to bring Liverpool ahead of the opposition — his first goal for the team.
in the Champions' League.]]
Alonso continued to provide important goals for the club, scoring his first goal at Anfield against Arsenal in a 2–1 victory. Alonso was elated at the achievement and felt he was settling in well in England. The Arsenal game marked the return of Steven Gerrard from injury but Alonso's midfield partnership with the team captain came to a halt when Alonso suffered his first setback at Liverpool. Alonso's ankle was broken following a tackle from Frank Lampard in Liverpool's 1-0 defeat against Chelsea on New Year's Day 2005 and the Spaniard was ruled out of action for three months.
He made his return to the first team in the second leg of the Champions League quarter final against Juventus. Alonso was not at full fitness but, as Steven Gerrard was injured, he played for the full 90 minutes and Liverpool held the score at 0–0 in Italy, defeating the eventual Italian Champions on aggregate. Kevin McCarra of The Guardian paid testament to Alonso's skill and dedication to the game, saying: "This marvellously accomplished footballer testified in the Stadio delle Alpi that technique can overcome a serious physical disadvantage". In the next round against Chelsea, Alonso received a yellow card in a tense and scrappy 0–0 draw at Stamford Bridge, making him suspended for the following fixture. Alonso was distraught that he would miss the game and vehemently contested the referee's decision to no avail. Gerrard returned from injury for the second leg, however, and the captain steered his team to a 1–0 win with the help of a Luis García goal, qualifying for the final against A.C. Milan.
Liverpool's fifth place finish in the Premiership left much to be desired but debut season glory still awaited Alonso in the form of the Champions League final. The team fell three goals behind Milan but completed a dramatic second-half comeback. Liverpool, trailing 3–2, were awarded a penalty and it was decided that Alonso would take the spot kick. While Dida, Milan's acclaimed Brazilian goalkeeper, managed to save the penalty Alonso fired the rebound into the roof of the net, bringing the score to 3–3. Extra time passed without a goal from either team and Liverpool won 3–2 in the penalty shootout. Alonso was praised for his pivotal influence on the team's comeback and manager Benítez reinforced his importance to the team. Alonso was ecstatic with the win, commenting: "This is the best moment in my professional career". This marked a very successful first year in England for Alonso and victory in the final of the biggest European club competition signified a bright future for the 23-year-old.
On 7 January 2006, in an FA Cup third-round tie against Luton Town, Alonso assisted Liverpool to a 5–3 comeback victory after being down 3–1 early in the second half. Alonso scored two impressive goals from distance: one from 35 yards, and the other 65 yards from goal; behind the half-way line. Consequently, Alonso's goals marked a stroke of luck for a Liverpool fan who won £25,000 from a £200 bet on Alonso scoring from within his own half. Alonso suffered an ankle injury in a 3–1 victory over Portsmouth, putting his participation in the FA Cup final in doubt. However, he recovered sufficiently to start the game against West Ham United and Gerrard scored Liverpool's third goal from Alonso's free kick, pulling the team ahead of the opposition. Alonso, still affected by the injury, could not manage the whole 90 minutes and was substituted in the second half. Liverpool won on penalties without his help but Alonso still earned his first FA Cup winners' medal.
Alonso returned from injury at the end of 2007 but over the following months he increasingly faced competition for a place in midfield from Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva. His role in Liverpool's five man midfield role was assured, however, as Rafael Benítez regarded him as "a top class player", stating that Alonso had the ability to change games and break down the opposition's defence. Alonso made a landmark 100th league appearance for Liverpool on 12 January 2008 against Middlesbrough.
:"[The fans] couldn't have done more to show me how they felt... If I went out for lunch or a coffee, there was always someone who would come over and say, 'We'd love you to stay'. I'm just glad that, in the end, nothing came of it [the transfer] because it wasn't something I ever asked for."
Despite the events of the summer, Alonso made a confident start to the season and both his peers and the press praised his strength of character, citing his influence as a factor in the team's strong opening to the season. Alonso's importance to the team was further underlined when he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Chelsea, making Liverpool the first away team to win at Stamford Bridge in over four years. Statistical analysis reflected Alonso's good form: on 11 December figures from Opta revealed that he was the first Premier League player to complete 1000 successful passes in the season. His last goal for Liverpool came in their match against Hull, scoring a volley after his own free kick hit the Hull City wall.
Unless he was injured or suspended, Manuel Pellegrini gave Alonso a start in every match of the Champions League and in La Liga in his first season at the club. In La Liga he helped his club finish with 96 points, three points behind winners FC Barcelona. After achieving the feat with Real Sociedad in 2002–03 and with Liverpool in 2008–09, this was the third time in Alonso's career whereby he helped his team set a new club record in terms of points gathered, while finishing in second position. His first season at Real Madrid was reasonably successful as he was considered one of the club's 'most consistent' players. Readers of MARCA made him part of their La Liga team of the season, as their choice defensive midfielder. The only other Real Madrid player featured was Cristiano Ronaldo. Alonso received the same accolade from ESPNsoccernet, who compiled their team in association with the Castrol Index. He was also a nominee in the LFP Awards, awards given out by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, the Spanish Football league. He was nominated in the category 'Best Midfielder' alongside Xavi and Javi Martinez.
Several members of the Spanish press, as well as a number of Real Madrid supporters have given Alonso a new nickname: La Barba Roja (The Red Beard). Alonso finished the 2009–10 season with three goals for Real Madrid.
Alonso and Everton player Mikel Arteta were neighbours on the same street while growing up in San Sebastián and also lived near each other in Liverpool. Alonso convinced Arteta to transfer to Everton after he told him how happy he was living in Liverpool. Alonso also helped persuade former Real Sociedad team mate Juan Ugarte to make a move to Wales by joining Wrexham in 2004.
His brother, Mikel Alonso, spent a season on loan at Bolton Wanderers in the 2007–08 season with an option for a permanent deal. However, the team opted not to extend the loan deal and he returned to Spain to train with Xabi Alonso's former club, Real Sociedad. Alonso also has another brother involved in football, Jon, who works as a referee.
Alonso is a Meath gaelic football supporter. His interest in the Irish sport stems from the age of 15 when he went to the Irish town of Kells on a school exchange programme to learn English, where he played it in his spare time.
Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:Basque footballers Category:Spanish footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Association football midfielders Category:La Liga footballers Category:Liverpool F.C. players Category:People from Tolosa Category:Premier League players Category:Real Sociedad footballers Category:SD Eibar footballers Category:Spain under-21 international footballers Category:Spain international footballers Category:Spanish expatriate footballers Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:UEFA European Football Championship-winning players Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Playername | Robin van Persie |
---|---|
Caption | Van Persie with Arsenal. |
Fullname | Robin van Persie |
Dateofbirth | August 06, 1983He is a youth product of Feyenoord. Van Persie is also the club's vice-captain after Cesc Fàbregas. Van Persie is highly regarded for his dribbling and shooting technique but is noted to be injury prone. He has became a pivotal figure for Arsenal and has also been named the Arsenal Player of The Season for the 2008–09 Premier League season. |
Quote | It was the goal of a lifetime. He's played for a long time and I'm not sure he's scored one like that.(Quote made regarding Van Persie's goal against Charlton Athletic F.C. in the 2006-2007 premier league season). |
Source | Arsène Wenger}} |
Van Persie's good form at the start of the 2005–06 season earned him the Player of the Month award for November 2005 after eight goals in eight starts, and he was rewarded with a five-year contract extension until 2011 on 4 January. Two days after signing the contract, however, van Persie was again hit by injury when an opponent stepped on his foot and broke his toe during an FA Cup match against Cardiff. Van Persie played the next three matches with a hole cut into his shoe to alleviate the pain until he was finally rested for Arsenal's Premiership match against West Ham United on 1 February.
striker Didier Drogba in 2008]] The beginning of the 2006–07 season included an airborne volley against Charlton Athletic that Wenger called "the goal of a lifetime" and was later named BBC's Goal of the Month for September, and he capped off the calendar year by being named the 2006 Rotterdam Sportsman of the Year. His season, however, ended early for the second time in his career on 21 January, when he fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot while celebrating his late equalizer in a match against Manchester United. Although Van Persie was injured for a large part of the season he still managed to finish as Arsenal's top goalscorer with 13 goals in all competitions.
After Henry departed for Barcelona prior to the 2007–08 season, van Persie assumed the role as Arsenal's main striker. Following a streak of seven goals in ten regular-season games, van Persie was sidelined for two months with a knee injury suffered on international duty. He made his comeback in Arsenal's Champions League group stage win over Steaua Bucureşti on 12 December and made his Premier League return in the win against Chelsea over the weekend. He picked up, however, a recurrent injury that kept him sidelined until January when he played 45 minutes in a League Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur. He was withdrawn at half-time following another injury scare and featured sporadically throughout the rest of the campaign.
Van Persie opened his 2008–09 account on 31 August with a brace in Arsenal's 3–0 league victory over Newcastle United. On 29 October, he scored his fiftieth career Arsenal goal in a 4–4 home draw with North London derby rivals Tottenham, but was hit with his first red card of the season on 1 November after knocking down goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen with a shoulder charge in a 2–1 loss to Stoke City. Sørensen later admitted to "teasing" van Persie in an attempt to provoke a reaction. Later on the last day of November, he scored a brace against Chelsea to help Arsenal come from behind and pick up a 2–1 victory. On 21 December 2008, he scored a spectacular goal against Liverpool, which became his second-career BBC Goal of the Month. With captain Cesc Fàbregas injured and regular stand-in skipper Manuel Almunia rested, van Persie captained Arsenal for the first time on 3 January 2009 for the club's 3–1 third-round FA Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle. Van Persie scored Arsenal's first and third goals, while the second was a result of his cross being deflected into the net by a Plymouth player for an own goal. In January 2009, every Arsenal goal that month was either scored or assisted by van Persie, which earned him the club's Player of the Month award. His most inspirational display being against Hull City, where he struck the post with a freekick, and provided three assists to his teammates; he later received the Man of the Match award. On 24 February, van Persie scored a crucial penalty that earned Arsenal a 1–0 win over Roma in the Champions League Round of 16 encounter, after he was fouled by defender Philippe Mexès. He followed it up with a fifth Champions League goal by converting another penalty against Villarreal in a 3–0 victory. On the final day of the Premier League, van Persie scored a brace against Stoke City, which guaranteed him for the second time in his career as Arsenal's top scorer. He had his best season overall for Arsenal as he scored 11 Premier League goals, along with a league-leading 11 assists and a career-best of 20 goals in all competitions. Van Persie was named the 2008–09 Arsenal.com Player of the Season.
With only one year remaining of his contract, van Persie was in negotiations with Arsenal about an extension for several months in 2009. Finally, it was announced in July that he had signed a new long-term contract with his club, stating, "My heart is with Arsenal and I just can't picture myself in a different shirt." The departure of Emmanuel Adebayor also meant that the Dutchman was now the main striker in Wenger's 4–3–3 system. Van Persie started the 2009–10 season with two assists in the first match against Everton, which led to a 6–1 victory. As one of the first choice penalty and corner takers, he has set up many of Arsenal's goals, including Thomas Vermaelen's debut goal against Everton. He scored his first goal of the season in the 4–2 loss at Eastlands to Manchester City, where he later had his head stomped on by former teammate Adebayor (an act which the referee failed to notice, but the FA later charged Adebayor with violent conduct and served him with a three-game suspension). He then scored goals against Olympiacos, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, West Ham United, and Tottenham. Van Persie's excellent form in October did not go unrecognised as he was named Barclays Player of the Month for October, his second such award. On 14 November, however, he injured his ankle in an international friendly and was initially expected to be out for six weeks, but further tests showed that he would be out for five months. Van Persie made his return on 14 April, in a 2–1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur. He then scored a header against Blackburn Rovers in the 2–1 defeat, then scored a goal assisted by Theo Walcott in the 4–0 win over Fulham in the last league game of 2009-10 season.
Before the start of the 2010–11 season, van Persie changed his squad number to #10, with Carlos Vela switching to #11. He made his 200th appearance on 28 August. An ankle injury suffered in the same game placed him on the sidelines once again. Van Persie, however, returned as a substitute for Arsenal's 0–1 defeat to Newcastle United on 7 November. On 1 January, van Persie marked his New Year's Day with a goal which was also the first of his 2010-2011 season in an away game against Birmingham City from a deflected free-kick which Arsenal eventually went on to win the game 3-0. van Persie is one of the few Premier League players that use Twitter to communicate with fans. On 15th January, Robin added two more goals to his tally in a comfortable 3-0 win over west ham. His first goal of the evening was the 50th premier league goal scored by him.
Category:1983 births Category:People from Rotterdam Category:Dutch people Category:Living people Category:Dutch footballers Category:Netherlands international footballers Category:Dutch expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Association football forwards Category:Excelsior Rotterdam players Category:Feyenoord players Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Premier League players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Playername | Michael Owen |
---|---|
Fullname | Michael James Owen |
Dateofbirth | December 14, 1979 |
Cityofbirth | Chester |
Countryofbirth | England |
Height | |
Position | Striker |
Currentclub | Manchester United |
Clubnumber | 7 |
Youthyears1 | 1991–1996 |youthclubs1 = Liverpool |
Years1 | 1996–2004 |clubs1 = Liverpool |caps1 = 216 |goals1 = 118 |
Years2 | 2004–2005 |clubs2 = Real Madrid |caps2 = 35 |goals2 = 13 |
Years3 | 2005–2009 |clubs3 = Newcastle United |caps3 = 71 |goals3 = 26 |
Years4 | 2009– |clubs4 = Manchester United |caps4 = 24 |goals4 = 4 |
Nationalyears1 | 1997 |nationalteam1 = England U20 |nationalcaps1 = 4 |nationalgoals1 = 3 |
Nationalyears2 | 1997 |nationalteam2 = England U21 |nationalcaps2 = 1 |nationalgoals2 = 1 |
Nationalyears3 | 2006–2007 |nationalteam3 = England B |nationalcaps3 = 2 |nationalgoals3 = 0 |
Nationalyears4 | 1998–2008 |nationalteam4 = England |nationalcaps4 = 89 |nationalgoals4 = 40 |
Pcupdate | 22:20, 4 January 2011 (UTC) |
Ntupdate | 20:02, 3 July 2009 (UTC) |
Owen's long injury absence after the 2006 World Cup resulted in a dispute between FIFA and The FA and Newcastle United, and eventually resulted in an unprecedented £10m compensation award to Newcastle, and brought changes to the compensation arrangements between club and country regarding injuries sustained by contracted club players while on international duty.
He later played for Deeside Primary School's team (where he scored 97 goals; beating previous record holder Ian Rush by 25 goals) and joined the youth team of Mold Alexandra, playing with the under-10s at the age of eight after a local physical education teacher, Howard Roberts, persuaded the league to allow an under-age player.
Liverpool signed Owen after he graduated from Lilleshall at 16, and joined the club on the Youth Training Scheme. The star of Liverpool's 1996 FA Youth Cup triumph, scoring in the final against a West Ham United team that included Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, Owen scored prolifically as he rose rapidly through the Anfield ranks. After four months, he signed professional forms for the senior team just after his seventeenth birthday on 18 December 1996.
He made his debut for Liverpool against Wimbledon in May 1997, coming on as a substitute and scoring a goal.
Owen ended that season as a joint top scorer in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers' Chris Sutton and Coventry City's Dion Dublin, scoring eighteen goals, and was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year by fellow professionals.
The 1998–99 season proved to be another good season for Owen as he scored 23 Goals in 40 games for Liverpool. Despite his form, Liverpool were unable to mount anything like a title challenge and their seventh place finish was not enough to attain even a UEFA Cup place. Owen injured his hamstring in a league game against Leeds United on 12 April, which proved to be a recurring injury and prematurely brought his season to an end.
The next season was a frustrating one for Owen as he was out injured for lengthy periods, effects of the injury suffered the previous season but nevertheless managed to score 12 goals and helped Liverpool to qualify for the UEFA Cup.
In the run-up to Euro 2000, Owen was still suffering hamstring problems and received treatment from the Bayern Munich doctor, Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt.
In the 2000–01 season, he helped the club to their most successful season in several years. The team won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup, with Owen scoring two goals in the last few minutes against Arsenal in the FA Cup final to turn what had appeared to be a 1–0 defeat into a 2–1 victory, the game has since been christened "The Michael Owen Cup Final". At the end of the year, Owen became the first English player in twenty years and the only Liverpool player ever to win the European Footballer of the Year award. He was also voted World Soccer player of the year in 2001; he is the only English player to win the award and was the first Premier League player to do so. He scored his 100th goal for Liverpool on 21 December 2001 against West Ham United. Liverpool finished second in the league in the 2001–2002 season and Owen played a key part in the success, scoring 28 goals.
The 2002–03 season saw Owen on top form again as he hit 28 goals. Liverpool were on top of the table and looked like genuine title contenders for the first time in several years, but a run of bad results saw them eventually finishing fifth in the table. Owen also scored at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff when Liverpool beat Manchester United 2–0 to win the League Cup and scored his 100th Premier League goal against West Bromwich Albion. Real Madrid signed him for a fee of £8 million on 13 August 2004, with midfielder Antonio Núñez moving in the other direction as a make-weight.
On 31 December 2005, Owen broke a metatarsal bone in his foot in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He underwent surgery to place a pin in the bone, to help speed the healing process. He was expected to be out of action until late March, but the healing process did not go as hoped and on 24 March he underwent a second, minor, operation. Owen then stated that he should be fit for the final few weeks of the season with Newcastle. His return to action finally came against Birmingham City on 29 April when he came off the substitutes' bench in the 62nd minute. After the match Owen stated that he was "not 100% happy" with his foot. He underwent a further x-ray and made himself unavailable for Newcastle's final game of the season.
A damaged anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, sustained in the first minute of the group match against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup, kept Owen out of regular football for nearly a year, until April 2007. The seriousness of Owen's injury at the World Cup inflamed the so called 'club-versus-country' row in England, centering on the liability of the world governing body FIFA and the English national association The FA for the cost of injuries to players incurred while on international duty. The Owen case was a high profile follow up to an already ongoing legal claim for compensation from Fifa over an injury incurred by Abdelmajid Oulmers on international duty. By April 2007, Newcastle were threatening to take out an injunction to stop the FA picking Owen for England games. The club finally reached a compromise settlement figure with Fifa and the FA. Fifa indicated that the settlement was between £6m and £7m. The club, stating that Owen's wages had "now been paid in full", stated the overall compensation achieved totalled £10m. Resulting from the Owen compensation claim, the FA doubled their future insurance coverage of England players to £100,000, and FIFA introduced a compensation fund for injuries sustained at World Cups.
Owen began light training on 12 February 2007, when pictures on the club's official website highlighted Owen running and carrying out minor exercises. He made his comeback from injury on 10 April 2007 in a 4–1 behind-closed-doors friendly against Gretna, scoring after ten minutes and then setting up fellow striker Shola Ameobi before coming off an hour later. Owen then started his first game for Newcastle United in over a year, against Reading on the 30 April 2007 in a game that Newcastle United lost 1–0. He played the full 90 minutes, having a goal disallowed for offside. Owen was stretchered off an hour into Newcastle's game with Watford on 13 May 2007, suffering concussion after colliding with team-mate Matty Pattison.
On 9 May 2007, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd reacted angrily to reports that Owen could move on to another club at the end of the 2006–07 season, due to a release clause in his contract. A report in The Times newspaper suggested Owen could be available for less than £10million and could be a target for the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Despite these reports, Shepherd warned Owen "to show some loyalty" and warned him that "none of the big four clubs want him." However, in a video posted on YouTube, a group of Liverpool fans asked Shepherd if they could re-sign Owen, he responded by saying that he would "carry Owen back to Liverpool" himself. Shepherd also stated his dislike of Owen's agent but praised Owen as a "good lad". This led many to believe that Owen would exercise his right to leave if the £9 million valuation was matched. However on 12 July 2007 Owen committed his immediate future to Newcastle United, stating: "I believe that these can be good times to be at Newcastle, which is why I am more than happy to be here."
On 17 July 2007, he scored for Newcastle in a pre-season friendly against Hartlepool United. Several days later, Owen picked up a thigh injury in training. Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce admitted that Owen was likely to miss the start of the forthcoming Premier League season due to the injury which "doesn't look as encouraging as we first thought." Owen made his comeback from injury in a club friendly on 13 August 2007 and declared himself available for Newcastle's next match, against Aston Villa, as well as England's forthcoming international matches. On 29 August 2007, Owen scored his first competitive goal for Newcastle since December 2005 when he scored in the Carling Cup against Barnsley. Three days later he scored in the league, with a late winner against Wigan Athletic.
In late September 2007, after an encouraging start to the season playing for both Newcastle United and for England, it was reported that he would urgently require an operation for a double hernia and would likely be out of action for at least a month. In his first match back from the hernia operation, he scored a late goal coming off the substitutes bench to clinch victory for Newcastle over Everton.
In November 2007, Owen suffered a thigh strain whilst on international duty, ruling him out for six weeks. This reignited the 'club or country' row, with then Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce voicing his disappointment that Owen was risked in a low-key friendly game against Austria.
After over three months without a goal, Owen scored the first goal of the second Kevin Keegan era in a 4–1 FA Cup third round replay win over Stoke City on 16 January 2008, although Keegan was only a spectator in the stands for this game. Owen was awarded the captaincy by Keegan on 19 January 2008. He scored his first league goal of 2008 on 3 February. Owen's goal in the 2–0 defeat of Fulham on 22 March 2008, which marked Newcastle's first win under Kevin Keegan's second spell as manager, also marked the first time in his Newcastle career that Owen had scored more goals for Newcastle than against them. By 5 April 2008, after his and the teams early season poor form, Owen had scored six goals in the previous six matches, with Newcastle registering four wins and two draws, lifting Newcastle into mid-table after earlier relegation fears. In the final game of the season, Owen scored in a 3–1 loss at Everton, finishing with 11 goals in total, putting him in equal 13th position for Premier League goals for the 2007–2008 season.
Owen missed all of the pre-season matches and training of the 2008–09 season due to a bout of mumps, which also kept him out of the international friendlies with the USA and Trinidad & Tobago in May 2008. He also suffered a calf strain during the summer months which kept him out of the opening game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a game which Newcastle drew 1–1. He made his return in the second game of the season against Bolton Wanderers on 23 August 2008, coming on in the 53rd minute for the injured Obafemi Martins. He scored the winning header in the 71st minute with the game finishing 1–0. Three days later he was named on the bench in a Carling Cup match away to Coventry City, he came on as a substitute and scored the winner in extra time in a 2–3 victory. In the 2008–2009 season he featured more consistently than in prior seasons, scoring four goals in twelve league appearances.
Under the transfer rules, with the 2008–09 season being the final year of his contract with Newcastle, Owen would have been allowed to sign a pre-contract agreement with other clubs during in January. On 22 December 2008, Owen rejected a new contract offer from Newcastle, but stated that he would not be seeking a move in the January transfer window and instead intended to postpone talks over his contract situation until the end of the season. With speculation over his future continuing in the second half of the season, Owen received "substantial damages" in June in the High Court in London and a public apology, following a story on 15 May in the Daily Express alleging that due to a lack of interest from Premier League clubs, Owen's career was effectively finished and he intended to retire. After a disastrous season in general for the club, which culminated in Owen's former Newcastle and England team mate Alan Shearer being brought in as a temporary manager for the final 8 games of the season, on the final day of the season on 24 May, Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League for the first time in 15 years. On 14 June it was reported that Owen's management company Wasserman Media Group had sent out a 34-page brochure advertising Owen to several potential clubs. On 22 June Owen confirmed he would not be re-signing for Newcastle, in preference for a move to a Premier League club, or other top flight foreign club. Owen had also been linked with Hull City, Stoke City, Everton, and Aston Villa, before signing for United, and he said that the approach from manager Alex Ferguson came from "out of the blue".
Owen scored his first goal for United on his debut, scoring an 84th-minute winner after coming on as a substitute in a pre-season friendly against a Malaysian XI; he followed this up by scoring three more goals in United's pre-season games. He made his league debut for the club when he came on as a substitute against Birmingham City on 16 August, and scored his first competitive goal in a Manchester United shirt against Wigan Athletic on 22 August, scoring the fourth in a 5–0 away win. He scored his second goal for United, his first at Old Trafford, against their local rivals Manchester City after coming on as a substitute for Dimitar Berbatov and netting the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time. This gave United a 4–3 derby win and also meant that Owen has now scored in his fourth derby, after netting in the Merseyside derby, El Clásico, the Tyne–Wear derby and now the Manchester derby. Owen struggled to recall the moments immediately after the goal, and said that it ranked as one of his most important. On 27 October, Owen notched a goal in the 2–0 away win against Barnsley to qualify United past the fourth round of the league cup. On 3 November, Owen scored his first Champions League goal for Manchester United, as he grabbed United's first in the 3–3 draw against CSKA Moscow. Owen's seemingly slim chances of earning a place in Fabio Capello's England squad for the 2010 World Cup Finals in 2010 received a boost when on 8 December 2009, Owen scored his first hat-trick for Manchester United in a 3–1 away win against Wolfsburg in the Champions League, his first hat-trick since 2005. On 28 February 2010, Owen scored United's first goal in their 2–1 victory over Aston Villa in the 2010 Football League Cup Final, but had to be substituted after pulling up on 42 minutes. Originally thought to be a minor injury, on 5 March it was announced Owen required surgery on his hamstring, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Owen netted his first goal for United since he sustained this injury, scoring United's second in a 7–1 pre-season victory against a League of Ireland XI on 4 August 2010 at the newly built Aviva Stadium. On 22 September 2010, Owen netted his first goals of the season as he netted twice during a 5–2 away win over Scunthorpe United in the 3rd round of the League Cup. Four days later Owen scored his first league goal of the season as he netted United's second equaliser with his first touch in a 2–2 away draw against Bolton Wanderers.
In October 2010, Owen revealed that he may consider retiring from football should Manchester United not offer to renew his contract at the end of the 2011 season.
Owen's youthful enthusiasm, pace and talent made him a popular player across the country, and many fans were keen for him to be made a regular player for the team ahead of that year's World Cup. His first goal for England, against Morocco in another friendly game prior to the tournament, further enhanced his reputation. The goal also made him the youngest ever player to have scored for England, until his record was surpassed by Wayne Rooney in 2003.
Although he was selected for the World Cup squad by manager Glenn Hoddle, he was left on the bench as a substitute in the first two games. However, his substitute appearance in the second game, a 2–1 defeat to Romania, saw him score a goal and hit the post with another shot, almost salvaging a point from the game. After that, Hoddle played him from the start, and in England's second round match against Argentina he scored a sensational individual goal after beating defenders Roberto Ayala and José Chamot before striking the ball just outside the penalty box.
England drew that match and went out of the tournament on penalties, but Owen had sealed his place as an England choice and his popularity in the country had increased greatly. At the end of the year, he won a public vote to be elected winner of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year title.
He has since played for England in Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, scoring goals in all three tournaments. This makes him the only player to ever have scored in four major tournaments for England. He also became one of only a handful of England players to appear in three World Cup tournaments when he played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although he did not score and was injured in the final group game.
In April 2002, he was named as England's captain for a friendly match against Paraguay in place of the injured regular captain David Beckham. Owen was the youngest England skipper since Bobby Moore in 1963, and in the following few seasons regularly captained England during any absence of the regular captain. Owen made his debut for the England national B-team in a friendly against Belarus on 25 May 2006, as part of his return to match fitness ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He captained England B in this game, playing for 61 minutes before being substituted.
Owen started England's first two games of the 2006 World Cup, against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, but did not manage to score. After playing only 51 seconds of his third appearance of the tournament, and 80th cap, in the 2006 World Cup against Sweden, Owen badly twisted his left knee and was forced to leave the match on a stretcher. A scan of the injury on 21 June confirmed that Owen had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and was sent home, no longer able to play in the tournament.
Owen underwent successful reconstruction surgery, carried out by Dr. Richard Steadman, on 6 September 2006. The injury sidelined him until April 2007, meaning he missed England's first six matches in qualifying for Euro 2008. He returned for the England B game against Albania, and was named in the full squad for the games against Brazil and Estonia, with Owen stating "I feel sharp and, if given the chance, I feel confident when in front of goal." He played in both matches and scored against Estonia, breaking Gary Lineker's record for most goals in competitive internationals for England. Owen's latest international efforts include a brace for England in a 3–0 win over Russia on 12 September 2007.
With his two goals against Russia, he became the first player to score international goals at both the old and new Wembley Stadiums. As of 26 August 2008, Owen has been capped 89 times for England and scored 40 goals: he is fourth in the list of all-time top scorers for the England team, behind Bobby Charlton (49 goals), Gary Lineker (48) and Jimmy Greaves (44). He has also scored a record 26 goals for England in competitive matches (World Cup and European Championship games and the qualifiers for those tournaments) and has been captain for England in 7 matches.
As of December 2007, Owen has never gone more than four international games in a row without scoring a goal. Owen's future as first choice striker for England is uncertain however, due to competition from Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and fast-developing Theo Walcott amongst others. Owen's lack of action in Fabio Capello's first two England friendlies and Capello's selection of a single striker 4-5-1 formation also support the view that Owen's international opportunities may in future be limited.
2008 was a tough year for Owen as he was excluded from World Cup qualifiers against Andorra, Croatia, Kazakhstan and Belarus despite at times being in good goalscoring form and having a good workrate in a poor Newcastle side. Many fans and pundits have called for Owen to be reinstated in the national team but whether Capello will select him still remains to be seen.
He was once again left out of the squad for the friendly against Germany in November 2008, despite forwards Emile Heskey and Wayne Rooney being unavailable for the match. However, Capello stated in November 2008 that Owen could still be reinstated to the side at some point in the future.
In March 2009, Owen admitted that all injuries he was sustaining were relating back to his injury in the World Cup 2006 tournament, and that he should not have attended the competition.
Owen's chances of an international recall deteriorated when Capello announced he would only be picked if he was playing regularly. In February 2010, having been used mainly as a substitute by United, he described his chances of a recall as "probably a long shot in racing terms". On 28 February, he suffered a hamstring injury in the Football League Cup final was ruled out for the rest of the season and, as a result, he did not make the squad for the World Cup in South Africa that summer. The couple bought Lower Soughton Manor in Flintshire, North Wales where Owen keeps his cars and Louise keeps her horses. They got engaged on 14 February 2004, and married on 24 June 2005, at the Carden Park Hotel in Chester, Cheshire. The couple had initially planned to get married at their home, but changed plans when they were informed that if a licence was granted for a marriage ceremony the venue must be made available for other weddings for three years, On 6 February 2006, they welcomed a son named James Michael. Their third child, a daughter, Emily May, was born on 29 October 2007. Their fourth child, and third daughter, Jessica, was born on 26 February 2010.
After Owen returned to the UK to play for Newcastle United, he traveled to a nearby BAE facility on a daily basis in order to fly, via helicopter, to train with his club. However, there is now a helipad installed within the grounds of the house to accommodate Owen's Eurocopter Dauphin, with which he both travels and is training to become a pilot. Owen was eventually banned from training to be a pilot by Newcastle United, due to excessive insurance premiums.
Owen also bought an entire street for his extended family (Austen Close, Ewloe), which is in an area close to where he used to live. and in 2008 was reported in the Daily Express as surveying the purchase of the original Walt Disney site with celebrity realtor Paul Grimshaw in Estepona, Southern Spain.
In 2004, Owen's sister Karen was assaulted by two youths, who attempted to kidnap her. When she revealed that she was pregnant, they fled.
Owen owns several cars and a helicopter and enjoys horse racing and gambling. Owen is the brother in-law of footballer Richie Partridge.
Owen starred in a series of adverts that charted his life, and rise to fame. In 2001, he was the advertising face of breakfast cereal "Nestlé Sporties". He also appeared in several adverts for the washing powder Persil, in a contract worth £1,000,000. He has been an ambassador of the Swiss watchmaker Tissot since 1998 and has a contract with car manufacturer Jaguar.
Owen had indicated that he would like to become involved with Chester City in some capacity when he retired, as it was his local team growing up and his father is a former Chester City player.
Statistics accurate as of match played 4 January 2011
|- |1998||12||4 |- |1999||6||1 |- |2000||6||3 |- |2001||8||6 |- |2002||12||5 |- |2003||9||5 |- |2004||13||4 |- |2005||9||7 |- |2006||5||1 |- |2007||8||4 |- |2008||1||0 |- !Total||89||40 |}
;Manchester United
Category:English footballers Category:English expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:England international footballers Category:England B international footballers Category:England under-21 international footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Liverpool F.C. players Category:Real Madrid C.F. players Category:Newcastle United F.C. players Category:Manchester United F.C. players Category:Premier League players Category:First Division/Premier League topscorers Category:FIFA 100 Category:European Footballer of the Year winners Category:World Soccer Magazine World Player of the Year winners Category:La Liga footballers Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA Euro 2000 players Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Category:People from Flintshire Category:People from Chester Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:1979 births Category:Living people
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Category:Spanish botanists Category:Flora of Chile Category:Flora of Peru Category:1754 births Category:1840 deaths
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Playername | Chris Smalling |
---|---|
Fullname | Christopher Lloyd Smalling |
Dateofbirth | November 22, 1989 |
Cityofbirth | Greenwich, London |
Countryofbirth | England |
Height | |
Position | Defender |
Currentclub | Manchester United |
Clubnumber | 12 |
Youthyears1 | |youthclubs1 = Maidstone United |
Years1 | 2007–2008 |clubs1 = Maidstone United |caps1 = 11 |goals1 = 1 |
Years2 | 2008–2010 |clubs2 = Fulham |caps2 = 13 |goals2 = 0 |
Years3 | 2010– |clubs3 = Manchester United |caps3 = 3 |goals3 = 0 |
Nationalyears1 | 2009 |nationalteam1 = England U20 |nationalcaps1 = 1 |nationalgoals1 = 0 |
Nationalyears2 | 2009– |nationalteam2 = England U21 |nationalcaps2 = 9 |nationalgoals2 = 1 |
Pcupdate | 22:03, 4 January 2011 (UTC) |
Ntupdate | 15:25, 12 October 2010 (UTC) |
Whilst still at school he played for Isthmian League side Maidstone United. At the age of 17 Smalling made his competitive debut for 'The Stones', starting against Canvey Island in the Isthmian League Cup on 3 October 2007 in a 5-2 win. Two months later he made his league debut, completing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 loss against Heybridge Swifts on 11 December. Smalling went on to play ten more league games for Maidstone, his final appearance coming in a 4–2 win at East Thurrock United on 24 March 2008, a game in which he scored his only senior goal for the club.
Smalling scored his first goal for the under-21s on 8 October 2010 against Romania in England's 2011 U21 European Championship playoff first leg, converting from inside the area after an assist from Danny Sturridge. The goal, scored in the 83rd minute, proved to be the winner as England won 2-1.
On 13 November 2010, Smalling was called up to the England senior squad for the first time for their friendly against France on 17 November. He was an unused substitute in the 1-2 loss.
Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:People from Greenwich Category:English footballers Category:Association football defenders Category:Maidstone United F.C. players Category:Fulham F.C. players Category:Manchester United F.C. players Category:Premier League players Category:Black British sportspeople
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.