Gabriel Milito

Personal information
Full name	Gabriel Alejandro Milito
Date of birth	(1980-09-07) 7 September 1980 (age 31)
Place of birth	Bernal, Argentina
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Independiente
Number	18
Youth career
	Independiente
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2003	Independiente	123	(3)
2003–2007	Zaragoza	137	(5)
2007–2011	Barcelona	48	(1)
2011–	Independiente	24	(0)
National team‡
2000–	Argentina	42	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 July 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 July 2011

Gabriel Alejandro Milito (born 7 September 1980) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Club Atlético Independiente as a central defender.

He spent most of his professional career in Spain, representing two different teams – Real Zaragoza and FC Barcelona – also appearing with the Argentine national team in three major tournaments, including the 2006 World Cup.

Club career[link]

Early years / Zaragoza[link]

Born in Bernal, Buenos Aires Province, Milito started playing professionally with first division side Club Atlético Independiente in 1997. During that time, he often faced his older brother Diego, who played for Independiente's arch-rivals Racing Club de Avellaneda.

In July 2003, Milito was due to be transferred to Real Madrid,^[1] but the Spanish team rejected the player after medical results showed, according to the club, a not-fully-recovered knee injury.^[2] To many, it was a political move against Madrid's football director Jorge Valdano, who wanted the player on the team. Milito decided to stay in Spain and signed for Real Zaragoza.^[3]

In his four seasons with the Aragonese side, Milito was an automatic first-choice (never played in less than 33 La Liga matches), and rejoined brother Diego in 2005. On 10 July 2007, Zaragoza reached a transfer agreement with FC Barcelona for €18.5million (£13.9 million) and on 19 July, Milito passed his medical and signed a four-year deal with the club, worth €4 million (£2.7 million) a year.^[4] He was given the number 3 shirt, which was formerly worn by Thiago Motta.

Barcelona[link]

Milito made his competitive debut for Barcelona on 2 September 2007 in a game against Athletic Bilbao.^[5] He scored his first competitive goal for the Catalans on 24 November, in a league match against Recreativo de Huelva.^[6]

On 5 May 2008, it was announced that Milito had damage to the ACL in his right knee;^[7] this rendered him ineligible for the entire 2008–09 campaign, which ended in a treble.

After being sidelined for almost two years (602 days), Milito finally returned to action when he played in a friendly against Kazma Sporting Club in Kuwait.^[8] On 5 January 2010, he made his return to competitive football, appearing in the first leg of the season's Copa del Rey, a 1–2 home loss against Sevilla FC; five days later, he reappeared in the domestic league, replacing Carles Puyol for the final seven minutes of the 5–0 win over CD Tenerife.

On 11 November 2010, Milito contributed with one goal to Barcelona's 5–1 home win against AD Ceuta, for the season's domestic cup (7–1 on aggregate), but had to leave the game injured.^[9] On 30 April 2011, starting in a league match at Real Sociedad, he had a goal wrongfully ruled out for offside, with the score at 1–1, as the hosts went on to win it 2–1.^[10] As a result of his offensive action, he also tore a calf muscle, being sidelined for the rest of the season,^[11] having contributed with ten appearances for the eventual champions.

Return to Independiente[link]

In early August 2011, 30-year-old Milito was released from the last year of his contract with Barcelona,^[12] and signed shortly after with former team Independiente.

International career[link]

With the Argentine national team, Milito participated in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and was part of the squad which qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, performing well in his only appearance, the first-round match against the Netherlands, which ended in a 0–0 draw.

On 20 August 2010, national team coach Sergio Batista recalled Milito for a friendly with Spain, the player's first international appearance in more than three years.

International goals[link]

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	October 16, 2007	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela	Venezuela	0–1	0–2	2010 World Cup qualification

Statistics[link]

Club[link]

As of 1 May 2011.

International[link]

Honours[link]

Independiente[link]

• Argentine League: Apertura 2002

Zaragoza[link]

• Spanish Cup: 2003–04
• Spanish Supercup: 2004

Barcelona[link]

• UEFA Champions League: 2008–09, 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup: 2009
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
• Spanish League: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Spanish Cup: 2008–09; Runner-up 2010–11
• Spanish Supercup: 2009, 2010

Personal[link]

Milito's older brother, Diego, is also a footballer. A striker, he played with individual and team success for F.C. Internazionale Milano, and they both represented Real Zaragoza and the national team.

References[link]

External links[link]

• FC Barcelona profile
• BDFutbol profile
• Gabriel Milito at National-Football-Teams.com
• Guardian Stats Centre

Argentina squads v t e Argentina squad – 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship 1 Costanzo 2 C. Roldán 3 G. Milito 4 J. Fernández 5 Cambiasso 6 Crosa 7 Galletti 8 Duscher 9 Peralta 10 Montenegro 11 Rivarola 12 Saja 13 Villarreal 14 Grabinski 15 L. Zubeldía 16 Farías 17 Flores Coronel 18 F. Insúa Coach: Pekerman v t e Argentina squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-up 1 Franco 2 Samuel 3 Sorín (c) 4 Zanetti 5 Cambiasso 6 Heinze 7 Tévez 8 Riquelme 9 Saviola 10 Aimar 11 Delgado 12 Lux 13 G. Rodríguez 14 Milito 15 Placente 16 Coloccini 17 Bernardi 18 Santana 19 M. Rodríguez 20 Demichelis 21 Figueroa 22 Galletti 23 Caballero Coach: Pekerman v t e Argentina squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Abbondanzieri 2 Ayala 3 Sorín (c) 4 Coloccini 5 Cambiasso 6 Heinze 7 Saviola 8 Mascherano 9 Crespo 10 Riquelme 11 Tévez 12 Franco 13 Scaloni 14 Palacio 15 Milito 16 Aimar 17 Cufré 18 Rodríguez 19 Messi 20 Cruz 21 Burdisso 22 González 23 Ustari Coach: Pekerman v t e Argentina squad – 2007 Copa América Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri 2 Ayala (c) 3 Díaz 4 Ibarra 5 Gago 6 Heinze 7 Palacio 8 Zanetti 9 Crespo 10 Riquelme 11 Tévez 12 Carrizo 13 González 14 Mascherano 15 G. Milito 16 Aimar 17 Burdisso 18 Messi 19 Cambiasso 20 Verón 21 D. Milito 22 Orión Coach: Basile v t e Argentina squad – 2011 Copa América 1 Carrizo 2 Garay 3 Zabaleta 4 Burdisso 5 Cambiasso 6 G. Milito 7 di María 8 Zanetti 9 Higuaín 10 Messi 11 Tévez 12 Andújar 13 Pareja 14 Mascherano (c) 15 Biglia 16 Agüero 17 Rojo 18 Pastore 19 Banega 20 Gago 21 Lavezzi 22 D. Milito 23 Romero Coach: Batista

Kader Keita

Personal information
Full name	Abdel-Kader Keïta
Date of birth	(1981-08-06) 6 August 1981 (age 30)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Winger, Attacking Midfielder, Striker
Club information
Current club	Al-Sadd
Number	12
Youth career
1998–1999	Africa Sports
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	Africa Sports	23	(4)
2000–2001	Étoile du Sahel	22	(7)
2001–2002	Al Ain	19	(6)
2002–2005	Al-Sadd	53	(26)
2005–2007	Lille	63	(15)
2007–2009	Lyon	52	(5)
2009–2010	Galatasaray	27	(5)
2010–	Al-Sadd	24	(4)
National team‡
2000–	Côte d'Ivoire	66	(11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 May 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 April 2011

Keïta during Qatari league match.

Abdel-Kader Keïta (born 6 August 1981) is an Ivorian professional football player. Keïta plays as a winger for Al-Sadd in the Qatar Stars League and the Cote d'Ivoire national football team.

Like the Touré brothers, the Kalou brothers, and the Koné brothers, Keita is also part of a footballing family. He has an older brother called Fadel Keïta, who is a former Côte d'Ivoire international.

Club career[link]

Keïta, also known as 'Popito', began his career at homeland club Africa Sports, before moving on to Tunisian Club Etoile du Sahel. Following spells in United Arab Emirates with Al Ain and Qatar with Al Sadd, he moved to France with Ligue 1 club OSC Lille in 2005.

Olympique Lyon[link]

On May 31, 2007, Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas revealed that the club had made bids for both Keïta and his fellow club-mate Mathieu Bodmer.^[1]

On June 14, 2007, Lyon officially announced that they would be unveiling Keïta and Bodmer to the media, the pair having already passed their medicals at the Stade Gerland.^[2] On June 16, 2007, Lyon confirmed the signing of Keïta from Lille for 18.5 million euro. Keïta was given the number 9 shirt.^[3][4] But due to the jersey change of Brazilian striker, Fred, from 11 to 9, Keïta has changed to number 32. But again he changed to number 23 after the departure of Jérémy Berthod.^[5]

Galatasaray[link]

On 2 July 2009, Galatasaray officially announced that Keïta joined the Turkish club and signed a three year contract. He scored his first goal for Galatasaray in a qualification match for UEFA Europa cup against Maccabi Netanya in the 5th minute.^[6] On December 12, Keïta scored for Galatasaray in a 3–2 victory over Antalyaspor.

On 18 February 2010 Keita scored a late equalizer to secure a 1–1 away draw for Galatasaray against Atlético Madrid in the Europa Cup. Later, in the second leg he equalized again to make it 1–1, but Galatasaray failed to qualify. On February 28 Keita scored the second and fourth goals in a 4–1 victory over Kasımpaşa. His first goal was a magnificent volley from just inside the penalty area.

In Galatasaray's 3–0 victory over MKE Ankaragücü in March, Keita scored the second goal as well as assisting the final goal. On 11 April 2010 Keita assisted two of Milan Baroš' goals in a 4–1 victory over Diyarbakırspor. A week later Keita scored the first goal in a 1–2 victory over Manisaspor.

Al Sadd[link]

Keita rejoined his previous club Al Sadd SC in July 2010 on € 8.15 million.^[7]

Keita was involved in a melee which ensued on 19 October in the 2011 AFC Champions League semi final first-leg between Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Al Sadd. Suwon player Choi Sung-Hwan was inadvertently kicked in the head by an Al Sadd defender, and Suwon’s Yeom Ki-hoon let the ball out after Choi Sung-hwan went down with a head injury inside Al Sadd’s box. While Choi was being tended to by medics, Keita took the free kick quickly, and passed it to teammate Mamadou Niang unknowingly to the Suwon defense who thought possession would be returned to them according to FIFA fair play rules. Niang sprinted down the center half past the goalkeeper to score a second goal for Al Sadd. The chaos was further elevated when a Suwon fan ran onto the pitch, causing a brawl to erupt between the two teams. Afterwards, Keita received a red card, allegedly for running towards the fan, slapping him in the back of the head and grabbing him by his throat.^[8] Keita's teammate Lee Jung-Soo had told the press that Keita had apologized for assisting Niang in scoring the goal, and admitted it was wrong. Al Sadd's coach, Jorge Fossati, suggested that Al Sadd was annoyed that Suwon hadn't immediately put the ball out of play, and decided to take actions into their own hands.^[9] Keita was later suspended by AFC for the return leg.

Keita scored a goal in the AFC Champions League Final on 5 November, as his side defeated Jeonbuk Motors in penalties after the match ended 2-2 and was named as Man of the Match.^[10]

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

As of 17 May 2010

International[link]

As of 17 May 2010^[11]

International career[link]

He has 52 caps for the national team, and was called up to the 2006 World Cup. Keïta did not make it into the Ivorian squad for the 2006 African Cup of Nations. However, he did win his place back for the World Cup at the expense of Stade Reims winger Siaka Tiéné.

Keïta was selected also for 2010 African Nations Cup and played three matches. He scored once against Algeria during the quarter-final match. Coming on as a substitute for Salomon Kalou, Keïta ran with it diagonally along the edge of the penalty area until he suddenly unleashed a 30-metre drive to the top left corner that gave Algeria’s Faouzi Chaouchi no chance. It seemed a worthy winner for the quarter-final tie, but within minutes Algeria were level again.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Keïta was involved in an off-the-ball incident with Kaká during a group game against Brazil. Keïta ran into Kaká and fell onto the floor, clutching his face, as if in great pain. Kaká was shown a yellow card, his second of the match, and sent off. ABC wrote "Abdul Kader Keita's embarrassing reaction to a love-tap in the midriff from the Brazilian playmaker was both laughable and disgraceful. Obviously hoping to get Kaka in further hot water after he had only just earlier been shown his first yellow card, Keita fell to the ground and clutched his face as if he'd been shot from close range. He blatantly cheated to ensure the Brazilian was given his marching orders."^[12]

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
?	March 1, 2006	Valladolid, Spain	Spain	2–3	Lost	Friendly
?	January 25, 2008	Sekondi, Ghana	Benin	4–1	Won	2008 African Nations Cup
?	February 3, 2008	Sekondi, Ghana	Guinea	5–0	Won	2008 African Nations Cup
?	February 7, 2008	Kumasi, Ghana	Egypt	1–4	Lost	2008 African Nations Cup
11.	January 24, 2010	Cabinda, Angola	Algeria	2–3	Lost	2010 African Nations Cup

Honours[link]

Al-Ain FC

• UAE League : 2001/02
• Gulf Club Champions Cup : 2001

Al-Sadd Sports Club

• AFC Champions League : 2011
• Qatar National First Division : 2004
• Emir of Qatar Cup : 2003, 2005
• Qatar Crown Prince Cup : 2003

Olympique Lyonnais

• Ligue 1 : 2007/08
• Coupe de France : 2007/08

References[link]

External links[link]

• Statistics at TFF.org (Turkish)
• Profile at Transfermarkt.de (German)
• Abdul Kader Keïta – FIFA competition record
• Abdul Kader Keïta statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com
• Abdul Kader Keïta at National-Football-Teams.com
• Abdul Kader Keïta career stats at Soccerbase
• Keita is runner up for Ivorian Player of the Year award

Côte d'Ivoire squads v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2002 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Konaté 2 Touré 3 Coulibaly 4 Diabaté 5 Akassou 6 Bl. Kouassi 7 Guel 8 Koné 9 Traoré 10 Bakayoko 11 Kante 12 Keïta 13 Aliou 14 Dindane 15 Kalou 16 Barry 17 Yapi Yapo 18 Djire 19 Zokora 20 Tiéné 21 Zoko 22 Be. Kouassi Coach: Bamba v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2006 Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up 1 Tizié 2 Akalé 3 Boka 4 Touré 5 Zokora 6 Kouassi 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Arouna Koné 10 Yapi 11 Drogba 12 Méïté 13 Zoro 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Gnanhouan 17 Domoraud 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Romaric 23 Barry Coach: Michel v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Tizié 2 Akalé 3 Boka 4 Touré 5 Zokora 6 Kouassi 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Arouna Koné 10 Yapi 11 Drogba (c) 12 Méïté 13 Zoro 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Gnanhouan 17 Domoraud 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Romaric 23 Barry Coach: Michel v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Fourth Place 1 Barry 2 Djakpa 3 Boka 4 Touré 5 Zokora 6 Gohouri 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Arouna Koné 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba 12 Méïté 13 Romaric 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Loboué 17 Tiéné 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Sanogo 21 Eboué 22 Zoro 23 Koné Coach: Gili v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2010 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Barry 2 Angoua 3 Boka 4 K. Touré 5 Zokora 6 Y. Touré 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Tioté 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba 12 Méïté 13 Gosso 14 B. Koné 15 Dindane 16 Zogbo 17 Yapi 18 Keïta 19 E. Koné 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Bamba 23 Angban Coach: Halilhodžić v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Barry 2 Angoua 3 Boka 4 Kolo Touré 5 Zokora 6 Gohouri 7 Doumbia 8 Kalou 9 Tioté 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba (c) 12 Gosso 13 Romaric 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Zogbo 17 Tiéné 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Bamba 23 Yeboah Coach: Eriksson v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up 1 Barry 2 Angoua 3 Boka 4 K. Touré 5 Zokora 6 Gosso 7 Doumbia 8 Kalou 9 Tioté 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba 12 Bony 13 Ya Konan 14 Coulibaly 15 Gradel 16 Yeboah 17 Tiéné 18 Keïta 19 Y. Touré 20 Lolo 21 Eboué 22 Bamba 23 Gnanhouan Coach: Zahoui

Julián Alberto Velázquez (born October 23, 1990) is an Argentine football centre back who plays for Independiente in the Argentine Primera División.

Career[link]

Velázquez debuted with Independiente aged 19 in a 1–0 home win over Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, for the 13th fixture of the 2009 Apertura.^[1] Under Américo Gallego's coaching, he started the game as a left back replacing Lucas Mareque (who was suspended).^[2]

In 2010, he was a regular for Independiente in their Copa Sudamericana winning campaign, scoring two goals in the competition (one in the final against Goiás).^[3]

Honours[link]

• Copa Sudamericana (1): 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

• Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI (Spanish)
• Career statistics at BDFA (Spanish)