Luís Figo

Personal information
Full name	Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo
Date of birth	(1972-11-04) 4 November 1972 (age 39)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position	Attacking midfielder / Winger
Youth career
	União de Pastilhas
1984–1989	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1995	Sporting CP	137	(16)
1995–2000	Barcelona	172	(30)
2000–2005	Real Madrid	164	(36)
2005–2009	Internazionale	105	(9)
Total		579	(91)
National team
1991–2006	Portugal	127	(32)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, (born 4 November 1972) is a former Portuguese international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portuguese national football team, a number that makes him the most capped Portuguese player in history.

Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100.

Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, such as one Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups.

Club career[link]

This section requires expansion.

Sporting CP[link]

Figo started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-21 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside Rui Costa, João Pinto and he was also a significant part of Portugal's "Golden Generation".

FC Barcelona[link]

In 1995, Figo looked poised to join one of the big clubs of Europe, but a dispute between Italian clubs Juventus and Parma, with Figo having signed contracts with both clubs, resulted in an Italian two-year transfer ban on Figo, effectively stopping any moves to Italy. However, the situation was eventually resolved for Figo, with a move to Spanish club FC Barcelona for a £2.25 million fee,^[2] under Dutch coach Johan Cruyff.

It was with Barcelona from 1995 that his career really took off: Figo won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996–97, successive Primera División titles and went on to appear 172 times for Barcelona, scoring 30 goals.

Real Madrid[link]

In 2000, Figo made a hugely controversial move to Barcelona's bitter rivals Real Madrid.^[3] Many Barcelona fans felt betrayed by his transfer and turned against him, despite Figo having many years of success with Barcelona and having been a fan favourite for over five years. When he returned three seasons later in a league match (2002), he got a heated reception from the crowd and many started throwing objects at him as he took corners and throw-ins, including a pig's head.^[4]

Figo's arrival signaled the beginning of Florentino Pérez's "Galáctico era". With Madrid Figo won La Liga in 2001 and 2003 as well as the 2001-02 Champions League.

Internazionale[link]

Figo left Real Madrid to join Internazionale in the summer of 2005 on a free transfer after his contract with Real Madrid had expired. This meant that Figo would finally be able to play for a club in Italy, something he had the chance to do before his move to Barcelona, but was scuppered due to a dispute between the two clubs interested, Juventus and Parma. During the summer of 2008, Figo's compatriot José Mourinho joined Inter on a managerial level. This has been said to please Figo, as he would have several Portuguese teammates during the remainder of his stay at Inter. On 16 May 2009, Figo announced his retirement from football, the same day Internazionale won the 2008–09 title, and re-confirmed this on 30 May; his final game was on 31 May against Atalanta at the San Siro. At Javier Zanetti's insistence, Figo captained the side for his very last match. He received a standing ovation from the crowd as he was substituted by Davide Santon. The freekick he scored in extra time against Roma during the Supercoppa Italiana was undisputedly his most memorable part of his time in Italy.^[5][6]

Figo said, "I am leaving football, not Inter." He was interviewed by Inter Channel after his last game against Atalanta and also said, "I hope to be able to help this club to become even greater also after my retirement. I will certainly work for Inter in the future in the club board. I never imagined that I was going to remain here for such a long time. What I will never forget is the love that I have received since my first day here from my teammates and president Massimo Moratti. I will never forget it; Inter have given me the chance to start a winning cycle with some extraordinary people."^[7] Luis Figo was on the sidelines when Internazionale Milano won the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League on 22 May 2010.

Figo playing for Portugal.

International career[link]

This section requires expansion.

The leader of Portugal's "Golden Generation," Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his senior debut against Luxembourg on 16 October 1991, in a friendly match that ended 1–1 when he was only 18 years old. He has performed at the highest level ever since, making appearances at Euro 1996, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He announced his retirement from international football following the Euro 2004 final upset-defeat by Greece. It was believed because there was a rift between him and national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari although this was denied.^[8] However, in June 2005, he reversed his decision and returned for the 2006 World Cup qualifying wins against Slovakia and Estonia under Scolari.^[9]

Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by France courtesy of a penalty from his former club-mate and French captain Zinedine Zidane. This was Portugal's best finish in 40 years. The third place playoff caused some controversy as Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However, Portugal fell behind 2–0 to hosts Germany and Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, who handed him back the captain's armband, to cheers from both Portuguese and German fans. Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo's entrance, he ended his final cap for his country on a high note by setting up Nuno Gomes to head in an 88th minute consolation goal. Despite having no trophies to show for the "Golden Generation," Figo managed to captain the team to their best World Cup performance since the Eusébio era in 1966. He finished his international career with 127 caps and scoring 32 goals.

Personal life[link]

Luís Figo in Madrid

Figo is married to Swedish model Helen Svedin. They met at a flamenco show and are now married with three daughters – Daniela (born in March 1999), Martina (born in April 2002), and Stella (born 9 December 2004). Along with his countryman, former Portugal national team manager and former youth team coach Carlos Queirós, Figo was briefly joint seat holder for A1 Team Portugal, in A1 Grand Prix, during the 2005–06 season. He now owns an upscale bar in the Algarve region of Portugal. It has been rumoured that he will come out of retirement to play a short guest stint with Australian A-League club Sydney FC.^[10] He has expressed interest in playing in the A-League shortly before retirement.

Figo is an ambassador for the Stop TB Partnership in the fight against tuberculosis.^[11] He works closely with Internazionale, serving as an ambassador for the club at functions across Europe.^[12][13] He is also a board member of the Inter Campus charity project run by Inter Milan.^[14]

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

International[link]

^{[15] [16]}

International goals[link]

Luís Figo: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 November 1992	Stade de Paris, Paris, France	Bulgaria	1–1	2–1	Friendly
2	9 October 1994	Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	0–3	1–3	Euro 1996 qualifying
3	13 November 1994	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Austria	1–0	1–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
4	3 June 1995	Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal	Latvia	1–0	3–2	Euro 1996 qualifying
5	19 June 1996	City Ground, Nottingham, England	Croatia	0–1	0–3	Euro 1996 Group Stage
6	9 October 1996	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania	Albania	0–1	0–3	1998 World Cup qualification
7	7 June 1997	Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal	Albania	2–0	2–0	1998 World Cup qualification
8	20 August 1997	Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal, Portugal	Armenia	2–0	3–1	1998 World Cup qualification
9	31 March 1999	Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	0–2	0–5	Euro 2000 qualifying
10	18 August 1999	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal	Andorra	3–0	4–0	Friendly
11	4 September 1999	Tofik Bahramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	1–1	1–1	Euro 2000 qualifying
12	8 September 1999	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	1–1	1–1	Euro 2000 qualifying
13	29 March 2000	Estádio Municipal de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal	Denmark	2–1	2–1	Friendly
14	2 June 2000	Estádio Municipal de Chaves, Chaves, Portugal	Wales	1–0	3–0	Friendly
15	12 June 2000	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	England	1–2	3–2	Euro 2000 Group Stage
16	16 August 2000	Estádio do Fontelo, Viseu, Portugal	Lithuania	2–0	5–1	Friendly
17	3 September 2000	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0–2	1–3	2002 World Cup qualification
18	15 November 2000	Estádio Primeiro de Maio, Braga, Portugal	Israel	1–0	2–1	Friendly
19	28 February 2001	Estádio dos Barreiros, Funchal, Portugal	Andorra	1–0	3–0	2002 World Cup qualification
20	28 February 2001	Estádio dos Barreiros, Funchal, Portugal	Andorra	3–0	3–0	2002 World Cup qualification
21	28 March 2001	Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal	Netherlands	2–2	2–2	2002 World Cup qualification
22	2 June 2001	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualification
23	15 August 2001	Estádio de São Luís, Faro, Portugal	Moldova	1–0	3–0	Friendly
24	15 August 2001	Estádio de São Luís, Faro, Portugal	Moldova	2–0	3–0	Friendly
25	15 August 2001	Estádio de São Luís, Faro, Portugal	Moldova	3–0	3–0	Friendly
26	6 October 2001	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Estonia	5–0	5–0	2002 World Cup qualification
27	14 November 2001	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Angola	1–1	5–1	Friendly
28	2 April 2003	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland	Macedonia	1–0	1–0	Friendly
29	11 October 2003	Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal	Albania	1–0	5–3	Friendly
30	19 November 2003	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Kuwait	3–0	8–0	Friendly
31	29 May 2004	Estádio Municipal de Águeda, Águeda, Portugal	Luxembourg	1–0	3–0	Friendly
32	3 June 2006	Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz, France	Luxembourg	0–3	0–3	Friendly