The adidas adiPURE is a range of football boots developed by the German sportswear manufacturers, adidas. Adidas based the design on the Adidas World Cup boots for the 1978 World Cup. They updated the design with modern materials and construction that create a relatively lighter boot.

Each adiPURE was initially released in a Black/White colourway, accompanied by a White colourway; and eventually other colourways. The adiPURE has also been released with other lower-end models in the aim of covering every budget, the major difference is the use of a full-grain leather upper instead of kangaroo leather.

For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, adidas released the adiPURE in a Black/Sun colourway, as well as it's other two boots, Predator and adiZero, in honour of the tournament's host.

adiPURE

Each generation of adiPURE has been released with a Black/White colourway, to increase the heritage background of the boot, and also a White colourway as a modern variant, with other colourways being released later.

adiPURE (2008)

The original adiPURE was available on launch in traditional Black/White and White/Black colourways, which were followed by Blue/White and Silver/Black colourways. The boot featured many design features that the adidas World Cup 1978 boots had, including the three lines of stitching on either side of the toe of the boot, and the short tongue.

adiCORE & Telstar II

The adiPURE was accompanied by two other boots, adiCORE and Telstar II, the boots are visually strikingly similar, with small differences. Performance-wise, they are made with full-grain leather for the upper. The low-end model, Telstar II, is named after the low-end model of the previous adidas 7406 boot, which was named adidas Telstar.

adiPURE II (2009)

The adiPURE II was released in White/Black, and Black/White colourways, with the Blackout, Black/Metallic Gold, White/Cardinal, Brown/White colourways being released later. Notable design differences from the original adiPure include the omission of the three stripes on the instep of the boot, and the addition of a contrasting collar; also, an asymmetric lacing system was used.

adiCORE II & adiNOVA

The second generation of adiPURE was accompanied by another set of lower-end models, with the usual minor cosmetic differences and the use of a full-grain upper. The Telstar name was replaced with adiNOVA.

adiPURE III (2010)

The adiPURE III was again released in Black/White colourway, but this time accomanied by a White/Blue colourway on release. Later, other colourways were released, including, White/Gold, Gold/Black, Black/Sun, Blue Beauty/White, White/Black/Poppy, Black/Warning and White/Warning. Notable design differences from the second adiPURE include the return of the three stripes on the instep of the boot, although notably shorter compared to the original adiPURE with wider stripes being used, also, it featured an adiPRENE insert in the sole.

adiCORE III & adiNOVA II

Other variations of the adiPure III are the adiCore, and adiNova; both essentially the same as the adiPure. The adiCORE III features a full grain leather upper, unlike the adiPURE III which features a k-leather upper, there are other minor variations.

Notable Wearers

Notable wearers of the adiPure boot include:

See also

adidas Predator range of football boots; adidas' "power" boot.

adidas F50 range of football boots; adidas' "speed" boot.

Category:Sports footwear Category:Adidas brands

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

Xabier "Xabi" Alonso Olano (; born 25 November 1981 in Tolosa, Basque Country) is a Spanish World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for La Liga team Real Madrid.

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.

Biography

Early life

Alonso was born into a family known for its footballing prowess. His father, 'Periko' Alonso won the La Liga twice in successive seasons with Real Sociedad and a third time after he moved to FC Barcelona. He also featured in the national team, winning 20 caps over the course of his career. Born in Tolosa, a small Basque town, Xabi Alonso lived in Barcelona for the first six years of his life and moved to San Sebastián thereafter. It was here that his passion for football began as he whiled away his childhood playing at Playa de la Concha (Shell Beach).

When he was 15, Alonso went to the Irish town of Kells on a school exchange programme to learn English.

Alonso progressed through the youth ranks and the reserve team at Real Sociedad and impressed enough to earn a first team debut at the age of 18. He made his first senior appearance against CD Logroñés in December 1999 in a Copa del Rey match. However, a quick turnover of managers, including a two month period with 'Periko' Alonso in charge, left Real Sociedad in a dire situation. By January 2001 Real Sociedad were bottom of the league and the new manager, John Toshack, turned to the prodigious Alonso in the hope of reversing the team's fortunes. In a surprise move, the Welsh manager made 19 year old Alonso the team captain, a position traditionally held by more senior players. By the end of the season Sociedad had climbed out of the relegation zone and finished in 14th place.

Real Sociedad

Under the guidance of John Toshack, Alonso's captaincy marked a resurgence of form for Real Sociedad. Toshack recognised Alonso's potential and invested much time in his young captain, creating a training method designed to improve his touch and control specifically for him.

The 2003–04 season comprised mixed results for Alonso and his San Sebastián club. Alonso revelled in the opportunity to perform in Europe, appearing in all the team's games, and Real Sociedad qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League. However, the team struggled under the pressure of the extra matches and were promptly knocked out of the tournament by Lyon and finished 15th in La Liga. The combination of Alonso's outstanding performances and the team's poor league finish made a move away from Estadio Anoeta inevitable. Despite interest from La Liga champions Real Madrid, Alonso remained committed to Real Sociedad. Madrid failed to meet the £13 million price tag that Jose Luis Astiazaran, the Real Sociedad president, had placed on Alonso and the deal reached a stalemate.

The summer transfer window at Real Sociedad saw the arrival of Alonso's childhood friend Mikel Arteta. Alonso was not picked for Real Sociedad's pre-season friendlies, signalling that an offer by Liverpool was being treated seriously. The Basque side announced on 20 August 2004 that they had made a deal worth £10,7 million with Liverpool and Alonso had agreed terms with the Merseyside team.

Liverpool

2004–05: Champions League victory

Alonso's arrival at Liverpool, along with Luis García from FC Barcelona, marked the beginning of a new era at Anfield. Liverpool's new coach Rafael Benítez sought to revolutionise the club and completely overhauled the squad, impressing his own management style and tactics upon the team. Liverpool lost the fixture 1–0 but Alonso was already receiving praise for his passing skills from the press.

On 8 June 2007 Alonso signed a five-year contract, undermining a flurry of transfer rumours. He had settled in well at Liverpool and after signing the contract extension he stated: "I knew there was interest from other clubs but it was always my idea to stay here. I have been here for three seasons now and have such special feelings for the club and the supporters. I understand what Liverpool means to so many people. It is such a special club and I just didn't want to leave." Despite the fact that Alonso's appearance at the tournament was brief, he caught the attention of retired footballer Jan Molby who was impressed with his precise passing abilities.

2006 World Cup

Alonso was named in the Spanish squad for the 2006 World Cup and he scored Spain's first goal of the tournament, his first international goal, against Ukraine on 14 June 2006. Despite a successful group phase, where Spain won all their games, Alonso did not achieve international glory as the team were beaten by the eventual finalists France in the first knockout stage of the tournament.

Euro 2008

Liverpool's 2007–08 season finished trophyless but the opportunity to win honours awaited Alonso in the form of the Euro 2008 tournament. Alonso featured mainly as a substitute but, with key players resting, he captained Spain in the final group game against Greece, earning the man of the match award. Despite a strong performance, he could not attain a starting position in the team, highlighting Spain's strength in depth. Spain went on to win the tournament and he featured in four of Spain's six matches. Speaking to Guillem Balague, he said that Spain's victory was deserved and the players' teamwork had been crucial to the team's undefeated run in the tournament. The Basque was ecstatic at the achievement, declaring "Right now, we're all just living the moment. It's incredible and we're all walking around in a dream. It's fantastic". Alonso's international success continued as he scored twice in a 3–0 win in a friendly against Denmark in August.

2010 World Cup

Xabi Alonso started every game for Spain during the 2010 tournament, playing alongside Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernández in midfield and helping his side to lift their first ever World Cup trophy. In the 28th minute of the final against the Netherlands he received a karate-style kick to the chest from Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong, this left Alonso in pain and in fear of a broken rib. Despite this pain, he continued playing on for another hour.

Basque Country

Alonso made his debut for the Basque Country official football team in a friendly against Ghana on 28 December 2005 and receives regular call ups since, while - due to his busy club schedule - not always being able to appear.

Personal life

Alonso was regarded as a quiet and friendly person by his former teammates at Liverpool. He is married to Nagore Aranburu and the couple had their first child on 11 March 2008; a boy named Jontxu Alonso Aranburu. Alonso stayed in Merseyside to be at her side while she gave birth, later saying: "It was a little frustrating to miss the match against Inter but I have to be with my family at times like these." However, this caused much friction with manager Rafa Benítez as this meant he could not pick him for the important Champions League tie against Inter Milan, and the two were at odds over Alonso's decision. On 30 March 2010 they had their second child; a girl named Ane Alonso.

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.

Career statistics

Club

|- |1999–2000||Real Sociedad||La Liga||5||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||6||0 |- |2000–01||Eibar||Segunda División||14||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||14||0 |- |2000–01||rowspan="4"|Real Sociedad||rowspan="4"|La Liga||17||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||17||0 |- |2001–02||30||3||0||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||30||3 |- |2002–03||32||3||1||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||33||3 |- |2003–04||35||3||0||0||colspan="2"|—||8||1||43||4 |- |2004–05||rowspan="5"|Liverpool||rowspan="5"|Premier League||24||2||0||0||0||0||8||1||32||3 |- |2005–06||35||3||5||2||0||0||11||0||53||5 |- |2006–07||32||4||1||0||2||0||15||0||51||4 |- |2007–08||19||2||3||0||1||0||4||0||27||2 |- |2008–09||33||4||3||0||1||0||10||1||47||5 |- |- |2009–10||rowspan="2"|Real Madrid||rowspan="2"|La Liga||34||3||0||0||colspan="2"|—||7||0||41||3 |- |2010–11||15||0||2||1||colspan="2"|—||5||0||22||1 |- 176||12||4||1||colspan="2"|—||20||1||199||14 144||15||12||2||4||0||48||2||211||19 318||27||14||3||4||0||74||3||403||36

International

Honours

Club

Liverpool

FA Cup: 2006

FA Community Shield: 2006

UEFA Champions League: 2005

European Super Cup: 2005

Country

Spain

UEFA European Football Championship: 2008

FIFA World Cup: 2010

Individual

Don Balón Award for Spanish Player of the Year: 2003

References

External links

Xabi Alonso On Twitter / National team data

2010 FIFA World Cup profile

Profile at liverpoolfc.tv

BDFutbol profile

Profile at BBC Sport

Podcast from The Times: Mikel and Xabi Alonso interview

LFCHistory.net Profile

Profile at ESPN

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

Playername	Sacha Kljestan
Fullname	Sacha Bryan Kljestan
Dateofbirth	September 09, 1985
Cityofbirth	Huntington Beach, California
Countryofbirth	United States
Height
Position	Midfielder
Currentclub	Anderlecht
Clubnumber	19
Youthyears1	2003–2005
Youthclubs1	Seton Hall Pirates
Years1	2005
Clubs1	Orange County Blue Star
Caps1	2
Goals1	1
Years2	2006–2010
Clubs2	Chivas USA
Caps2	114
Goals2	15
Years3	2010–
Clubs3	Anderlecht
Caps3	12
Goals3	2
Nationalyears1	2004–2005
Nationalteam1	United States U-20
Nationalcaps1	16
Nationalgoals1	1
Nationalyears2	2007–2008
Nationalteam2	United States U-23
Nationalcaps2	16
Nationalgoals2	3
Nationalyears3	2007–
Nationalteam3	United States
Nationalcaps3	25
Nationalgoals3	4
Pcupdate	December 19, 2010
Ntupdate	August 11, 2010

Sacha Kljestan (, Саша Кљештан) (born September 9, 1985 in Anaheim, California) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Anderlecht in the Belgian First Division.

Career

Youth and College

Kljestan played for the Region IV Olympic Development Program team. He then played three years college soccer at Seton Hall University. He was named NCAA Division I First-Team All-America in 2004 and earned third team honors in 2005. Kljestan was named Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2005 and earned first-team All-Big East in 2004 and 2005. He holds the single-season assists record at Seton Hall with 15 in 2005 and ranks fifth all-time at the school with 28 over a three-year career. Kljestan finished his college career with 20 goals and helped Seton Hall University to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He then signed a Generation adidas contract with MLS, and played USL Premier Development League soccer for Orange County Blue Star in 2005. Kljestan was taken fifth overall at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.

Professional

Chivas USA

He was a finalist for 2006 MLS Rookie of the Year and played for the US in Copa América 2007. He also played for the US Under-23s at the 2008 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament and scored in a 3-0 win against Canada to send the US Under-23s through to the Olympics.

He was nominated for the Starting XI in the 2008 MLS All-Star Game, but chose instead to play for the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His performance for club and country has drawn attention from many clubs overseas, and he left the U.S. team's winter training camp in mid-January 2009 to go on trial beginning January 17 at Celtic, the Scottish Premier League reigning champions.

Controversy

On April 25, 2007, Kljestan was suspended for two games and fined $1,000 for "a serious foul play". Kljestan fouled Real Salt Lake forward Andy Williams in the second half of Chivas USA's 4-0 win on Saturday, April 21, and received a yellow card. Although the referee saw the incident and exercised his on-field judgment not to award a red card, a serious injury to Williams resulted. In this circumstance, the MLS disciplinary committee reviewed the play and concluded that the challenge was an unequivocal red card offense and egregious.

Anderlecht

In June 2010, he signed a 4-year contract with 2009–10 Belgian First Division champions Anderlecht. He made his competitive debut and scored his first goal in the same game on July 27, 2010 in a 3–1 win over Welsh club The New Saints in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League.

International

Kljestan was part of the United States Under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. He had entered the U-20 program in 2004, earning a total of 16 caps, scoring 1 goal with the team up to 2005. In early 2007, Kljestan was called into training camp with the senior U.S. national team, but did not earn a cap in the following games. Kljestan made his debut for the senior national team on June 2, 2007, tallying an assist on Benny Feilhaber's winning goal, a 4-1 friendly match victory over China in San Jose, California. Kljestan was selected to Peter Nowak's roster for the U-23 Olympics in Beijing. He started all three games and finished the tournament as the United States' highest goal scorer with 2, an equalizer against Holland in the 2-2 draw,which was voted goal Best U.S. Mens Soccer goal of 2008, and a penalty against Nigeria in the 2-1 loss that knocked them out of the tournament. Since then he has been starting consistently for the United States under Bob Bradley as a central midfielder and has two assists (three total) in World Cup Qualifying. In a 3-2 victory over Sweden on January 24, 2009, Kljestan scored a hat trick, his first three goals with the senior team. The only other American to notch a hat trick in the same game as his first international goal was Aldo "Buff" Donelli who scored four goals on May 24, 1934. It was also the 11th hat trick in national team history. On February 24, 2010, Kljestan scored a 92nd minute goal that won the USA a friendly against El Salvador. Sacha proceeded to celebrate what was his 4th national team goal in emotional fashion. The goal, along with Kljestan's performance, was enough to keep Kljestan in contention for a World Cup spot. He was not picked in the final 23 man roster for U.S. MNT for the World 2010 in South Africa, but featured in a friendly against Brazil on the next international fixture date.

International goals

Goals scored by Kljestan are marked as bold in the "Score" column.

Personal life

His brother Gordon once played an Open Cup match for the New York Red Bulls and currently plays for FC Tampa Bay Rowdies in USSF Division 2. Kljestan's father Slavko Kljestan, an ethnic Serb from Bosnia, was a semi-professional player in Željezničar Sarajevo.

Kljestan, along with Frank Lampard and Cuauhtémoc Blanco, was featured on the North American cover of FIFA 10.

Honors

;Team

Anderlecht:

* Belgian Supercup:

** Winner: 2010

;Individual

MLS Best XI: 2008

References

External links

FIFA: Sacha Kljestan

MLS player profile

Sacha Kljestan bio on USSoccer.com

Current Sacha Kljestan News at followUSsoccer.com

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:People from Huntington Beach, California Category:American soccer players Category:Soccer players from California Category:American sportspeople of Serbian descent Category:Seton Hall Pirates men's soccer players Category:Orange County Blue Star players Category:Chivas USA players Category:United States men's international soccer players Category:2007 Copa América players Category:Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic soccer players of the United States Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Category:R.S.C. Anderlecht players Category:American expatriate soccer players Category:Expatriate footballers in Belgium Category:USL Premier Development League players

Playername	Frank Lampard
Caption	Frank Lampard with Chelsea
Fullname	Frank James Lampard
Cityofbirth	Romford, London
Countryofbirth	England
Height	and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. On 23 December 2009, he was named the Premier League's Player of the decade by official statistics. In the 2009-10 season Lampard won the Premier League title and FA Cup (domestic cup double) also he had his best prolific season with Chelsea scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists.
1995–96||rowspan	"6"|West Ham United||rowspan="6"|Premier League
2001–02||rowspan	"10"|Chelsea||rowspan="10"|Premier League
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Title	Frank Lampard – Navigation boxes and awards

Category:1978 births Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:Association football midfielders Category:Chelsea F.C. players Category:England B international footballers Category:English footballers Category:England international footballers Category:England under-21 international footballers Category:Living people Category:Old Brentwoods Category:People from Romford Category:Premier League players Category:Swansea City A.F.C. players Category:The Football League players Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:West Ham United F.C. players