David Trezeguet

David Sergio Trezeguet (French pronunciation; born 15 October 1977 in Rouen, France) is a World Cup winning French international footballer of Argentine descent, who is currently a free agent. He previously played for Juventus in the Italian Serie A for ten years and for the French national team. He is the highest scoring non-Italian ever to play for Juventus. He is perhaps most famous for scoring the golden goal in the Euro 2000 final against Italy, which gave France a 2–1 win in extra time.Trezeguet was born in Rouen, Upper Normandy, France. He is the son of former French-Argentine footballer Jorge Trezeguet, who now works as his agent. David and his wife Béatrice have two children together: Aaron and Noraan. His wife is from Alicante, Spain.At club level, Trezeguet played for Club Atlético Platense in the Argentine Primera División, AS Monaco in Ligue 1, and Juventus in the Serie A.In 1998, Trezeguet scored the fastest ever goal in terms of velocity in UEFA Champions League history in a quarter-final match against Manchester United. The shot that resulted in a goal was clocked at 97.6 mph (157.3 km/h). With AS Monaco, he won Ligue 1 twice and was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in 1998. He scored a total of 60 goals in 113 appearances for the French club and it was here that he made his name as a potent goalscoring poacherIn his second season at Juventus, Trezeguet scored 24 league goals in 34 league matches to finish as the Serie A top goalscorer along with Dario Hübner of Piacenza, as Juventus won the Serie A. That same season, he was named Serie A Footballer of the Year and Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year. In the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final, Trezeguet was one of three Juventus players to have their penalty saved by Milan keeper Dida, as Juventus lost 3–2 on penalty kicks after a 0–0 draw. This would be the closest Trezeguet ever got to winning the UEFA Champions League. In 2004, Brazilian legend Pele included Trezeguet in the FIFA 100, Pele's list of the 125 greatest living footballers.
Despite winning the 2004–05 Serie A and 2005–06 Serie A titles, Juventus were caught in the 2006 Italian football scandal that rocked Italian football, and along with Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina, Juventus were accused of match fixing. While the players had no part in the scandal, Juventus were subsequently stripped of their 2004–05 and 2005–06 titles, relegated to Serie B, and were to start the 2006–07 season with a deficit of 30 points (eventually reduced to nine points on appeal). Following the enforced relegation to Serie B, the club lost several of its star players, including Fabio Cannavaro to Real Madrid, Gianluca Zambrotta to FC Barcelona, Adrian Mutu to Fiorentina, and Zlatan Ibrahimović to Internazionale. Trezeguet's compatriots Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira also left Juventus, for Barcelona and Inter, respectively. Manager Fabio Capello defected to Real Madrid, and former Juventus legend and Trezeguet's former France teammate and captain, Didier Deschamps, was appointed the new manager. As one of the clubs star players, Trezeguet was heavily linked to a move away from Juventus, but he ultimately stayed with the Bianconeri to rescue them from the second division and help the shattered club return to Italy's top flight.On 16 September 2006, before Juventus' Serie B match against Vicenza, he was awarded a commemorative plate in recognition of his 125 career goals. On 19 May 2007, Juventus achieved promotion to Serie A after a 5–1 win over Arezzo. Trezeguet scored the fifth goal which made the promotion mathematically possible. Despite the successful return to Serie A, there was not without controversy. After scoring a goal in Juventus' final match of the 2006–07 Serie B season against Spezia, Trezeguet made a gesture toward the club president, making a number 15 with his fingers – the number of goals he scored throughout the Serie B season – which was followed by a hand gesture which, in Italian, means "I'm out of here."[citation needed] However, Juventus announced on 25 June 2007, that Trezeguet had renewed his contract until 2011.

During the 2007–08 Serie A season, Trezeguet scored 20 league goals, and was second only to teammate and club captain Alessandro Del Piero for the Capocannoniere. Juventus finished third in the league to qualify for the UEFA Champions League after missing out on the tournament for two consecutive seasons.

In the 2008–09 season, he sustained a groin injury that kept him out for most of the season. Trezeguet finally made his return on 4 February 2009 against Napoli in the Coppa Italia and had a goal controversially disallowed. Nevertheless, he was one of the players who scored in the penalty shootout, which Juventus won 4–3. Trezeguet would shortly get his first goal of 2009 in a 2–0 win against Palermo in late February – a match where he received the captaincy for the first time in his professional career.
On 9 December 2009, Trezeguet scored his 168th goal for Juventus in a 4–1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, making him the club's highest ever foreign goalscorer, surpassing Omar Sivori's total of 167 goals. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Trezeguet ranked fourth among Juventus' all-time top goalscorers with 171 goals. In August 2010, Trezeguet was released from the remaining 12 months of his contract by Juventus.
Trezeguet first competed internationally in the French youth squad alongside Thierry Henry, Willy Sagnol, and William Gallas, and played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. In the lead up to the 1998 World Cup in France, Aimé Jacquet gave younger players such as David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry, and Patrick Vieira the chance to display their talent, and all three were eventually selected for the World Cup ahead of experienced French players including David Ginola. Trezeguet scored one goal in the tournament, in the 4–0 win over Saudi Arabia, as France went on to win the World Cup, defeating Brazil 3–0 in the final at the Stade de France. Two years later France were crowned European champions after defeating Italy 2–1 in the Euro 2000 final, courtesy of David Trezeguet's golden goal in extra time from a Robert Pirès assist.
Although ranked first in the world, France failed spectacularly in the 2002 World Cup, crashing out in the group stage without scoring a single goal, despite David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry and Djibril Cissé being the top goalscorers in the Serie A, Premier League and Ligue 1 that season. The failure was then followed up by a quarter-final exit at Euro 2004 at the hands of unheralded Greece with Trezeguet scoring just one goal in the tournament in a 2–2 draw against Croatia. However, with the return of Zinedine Zidane from brief international retirement, France would go on to reach the final of the 2006 World Cup. Throughout the tournament, Trezeguet found himself out of place in Raymond Domenech's 4–2–3–1 formation which only used one striker – a position allocated to Thierry Henry. On 9 July 2006, Trezeguet took part in the final, coming on as a substitute. The match, against Italy, went to a penalty shootout and Trezeguet was the only player from either team to miss his penalty, his shot hitting the crossbar, as Italy won 5–3 on penalty kicks after a 1–1 draw.
On 19 October 2007, Trezeguet threatened to quit France after being overlooked for two Euro 2008 qualifying matches by Raymond Domenech. On 26 March 2008, Trezeguet was selected for a friendly against England to replace the injured Karim Benzema, which would turn out to be his last appearance for France as he was subsequently not chosen for the squad that competed in Euro 2008.

On 9 July 2008, he announced his retirement from international football, finishing his France career ranked third among France's all-time top goalscorers with 34 goals from 71 caps.He cited "the awful Euro 2008 and the reappointment of the coach" being the main reasons for this decision, and also added "I see football differently from how they see it in France. Euro 2008 was very negative, but what annoys me more is that Domenech is staying." Many fans are predicting that he may be recalled due to his strong performance with Hércules CF and Thierry Henry's international retirement. Trezeguet has made himself available for selection for the international team.

Patrick Vieira

Premier League Legends - Patrick Vieira


Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976 in Dakar, Senegal) is a retired French footballer of Senegalese descent who is the Football Development Executive at Manchester City.

He rose to prominence during his time at Arsenal from 1996 to 2005, where he won three Premier League titles – one unbeaten – and four FA Cups, eventually becoming club captain. After leaving Arsenal in 2005, he spent one season at Juventus before joining Internazionale in 2006, following Juventus' relegation for their part in a match-fixing scandal. He has 107 caps for France, and was part of their 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning sides.
In May 2010, Vieira was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He announced his retirement from professional football on 14 July 2011. Vieira is currently Football Development Executive at Manchester with a role to oversee aspects such as youth development, commercial partners and the club's social responsibility programme, "City in the Community".
Vieira's family moved from Senegal to Dreux when he was eight, and he did not return to Senegal until 2003. His parents divorced when Vieira was young, and he never met his father again. His grandfather served in the French Army, making him eligible for French nationality at birth. Vieira's mother is from Cape Verde, which is actually her maiden name, a Portuguese surname. Vieira first played for Cannes, where he made his debut at the age of 17 and captained the team aged just 19. In summer 1995, he was signed by Italian giants AC Milan, though he played mainly in the reserves and made only two first-team appearances.
In September 1996, the incoming Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger requested Vieira's purchase from Milan prior to taking up his position. Vieira was signed for £3.5 million, a figure which would be deemed a bargain in years to come.His height, stamina and physical strength allowed him to settle into the English game quickly, while his composure and the quality of his passing cemented his position as an integral part of Wenger's stylish attacking side. Forming a powerful midfield partnership with French compatriot Emmanuel Petit, Vieira won the Premiership and FA Cup Double in 1998, his first full season at the club. That summer, he was called up to France's 1998 World Cup squad.

Vieira's early years at Arsenal were beset by disciplinary problems. In the 2000–01 season, he was sent off twice in two consecutive matches (the opening matches of the season), though after returning he did not receive another card for 28 matches. In all, he has been sent off twelve times in his career: nine times with Arsenal and once each with Juventus, France and Internazionale.
Vieira would go on to win Euro 2000 with France, as well as a second Double with Arsenal in 2002. He also played in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final. Arsenal lost the Final to Turkish side Galatasaray on penalties, with Vieira missing his. After Tony Adams's retirement in 2002, Vieira (already vice-captain) became club captain, since which his disciplinary problems cooled significantly. Though he missed Arsenal's 2003 FA Cup Final win with injury and therefore did not qualify for a winner's medal, Vieira lifted the trophy jointly with captain for the day David Seaman.

In 2003–04 at Arsenal, he captained the side on an historic unbeaten season in the Premier League. At the beginning of this campaign he was in and out of the side because of a hamstring injury, with Ray Parlour replacing him in the side. However, Vieira returned for the Champions League match against Lokomotiv Moscow, with the Gunners winning 2–0 and qualifying for the 1st Knockout round.
Following Real's unsuccessful approach, Vieira remained Arsenal's captain for the 2004–05 season, during which the club broke Nottingham Forest's record for the number of games unbeaten in the Premiership. Vieira made a solid start to the season but was not in sparkling form. Arsenal had passed the record and were 49 games unbeaten and were 1st with 25 points from a possible 27. They were 49 and out when they lost to Manchester United, Vieira's and Arsenal's form decreased with draws against relegation candidates Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Brom which saw them fall to 2nd.
Vieira scored his first goal of the season in a topsy-turvy North London derby which Arsenal won 5–4. Vieira scored his second goal of the season in vain as Arsenal lost to a weakened Liverpool. Chelsea were starting to sail away with the title and Arsenal were struggling to keep up with Chelsea despite a creditable 2–2 draw with the league leaders. Arsenal then suffered a 2–0 defeat at the hands of Bolton before Manchester United completed the double over Arsenal with a 4–2 win at Highbury in which Vieira scored the opening goal. Before this game started, Vieira had a big confrontation with Manchester United captain Roy Keane, in which Keane confronted him about an incident involving Gary Neville. Arsenal fell to 3rd, but improved to take 2nd ahead of United. Arsenal also finished with impressive home wins against 5th place Liverpool and 4th place Everton with Vieira scoring against Everton in a massive 7–0 win.

Mark Henry

Goldberg vs Mark Henry


Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971)is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand. Aside from wrestling, he is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic. Since joining the WWF/E in 1996, he has become a one-time WWF European Champion and a one-time world champion, having held the ECW Championship in 2008
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Henry was a weightlifter, and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed tenth in the super heavyweight division. Three years later, at the 1995 Pan American Games, Henry won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division. The following year, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. Also in 1996, Henry signed a ten-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE).
Henry was trained by former Canadian professional wrestlers Stu and Bret Hart and Leo Burke. He made his television wrestling debut match in September 1996. Two years later, Henry joined the stable Nation of Domination. After the disbandment of the group, he acquired the moniker "Sexual Chocolate", which led him to participate in controversial angles. In 2000, Henry was sent to the company's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky to improve his wrestling skills. That same year, he left wrestling and began focusing on weightlifting. Henry won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in 2002.
In 2003, Henry returned to WWE, where he took part of the group "Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises", a group compiled of African Americans who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". The following year, Henry tore his quadriceps muscle, and was unable to compete for over a year. Upon his return, he was briefly involved in feuds with Kurt Angle and The Undertaker, before suffering a knee injury. After it healed, he continued to feud with The Undertaker, before being moved to the ECW brand in June 2008, where he gained Tony Atlas as a manager. In June 2008, he won the ECW Championship and he held it for three months. He was traded to the Raw brand in June 2009, and drafted back to SmackDown two years later in April 2011 during the WWE Draft.
During his time in high school, Henry was a three-time state champion with state records in the squat at 832 lb (377 kg), bench press at 525 lb (238 kg) and deadlift at 815 lb (370 kg). At the Texas high school powerlifting championships in April 1990, Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin and former weightlifter, spotted Henry and persuaded him to go to Austin after he graduated to train in the Olympic style of weightlifting.Henry broke four national junior records in weightlifting after eight months of training in Olympic style weightlifting. In April 1991, he placed fourth at the United States Nationals, and finished sixth at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Germany two months later. In Henry's first year of competing, he broke the three junior (20 and under) American records 12 times, and became the United States' top superheavyweight, surpassing Mario Martinez.Henry was billed as the "World's Strongest Man" after he qualified for the weightlifting competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he finished tenth in the super heavyweight class.Ten months before the 1992 Olympics, Henry had begun training with Dragomir Cioroslan, a bronze medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics, who said that he had "never seen anyone with Mark's raw talent".At the 1995 Pan American Games Henry won a gold, silver and bronze medal, and a year later, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion.He also participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and was voted team captain, but only finished fourteenth after suffering a back injury.
Henry joined the faction with Farooq, The Rock, Kama Mustafa and D'Lo Brown on January 12, 1998, becoming a villain in the process.After The Rock usurped Farooq's position as leader, Henry switched loyalties to The Rock. He also competed at WrestleMania XIV in a tag team battle royal, with Brown as his partner, but they did not win. After the Nation disbanded, he engaged in a short feud with The Rock, defeating him at Judgment Day: In Your House with help from Brown, and then forming a permanent team with Brown, gaining Ivory as a manager. During the next year, Henry gave himself the nickname "Sexual Chocolate", and was involved in controversial angles with Chyna and a transvestite. During a match at the August 1999 pay-per-view, SummerSlam, between Brown and Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental and WWF European Championships (both held at the time by Brown), Henry turned on Brown and helped Jarrett win the match and the titles. The next night, Henry was awarded the European title by Jarrett in return for his help Henry dropped the title one month later to Brown at the Unforgiven pay-per-view.
After this, Henry turned into a fan favorite, and was seen on television romancing WWF women from Chyna to Mae Young as part of the "Sexual Chocolate" character.He feuded with Viscera during this time as part of a storyline where Viscera splashed Mae Young while she was carrying Henry's child. Young would go on to give birth to a hand. Along with this, Henry was made part of various other embarrassing and infamous storylines, including the admission that he was a sex addict.

In 2000, Henry was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to improve his conditioning and skills. In OVW, Henry teamed with Nick Dinsmore to compete in a tournament for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in mid-2001 Later that year, he went on hiatus from wrestling to concentrate on weightlifting, and on February 23, 2002, he won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio.
Henry returned to the WWF the next month and was sent to the SmackDown! brand, where he developed an in-ring persona of performing "tests of strength" while other wrestlers took bets on the tests, but the gimmick met with little success.During this time he competed against such superstars as Chris Jericho and Christian. After being used sporadically on WWE (formerly WWF) television during 2002, as he was training for a weightlifting contest, and suffering a knee injury, Henry was sent back to OVW for more training.

The Great Khali

Dalip Singh Rana[5] (Hindi; born 27 August 1972), known in professional wrestling by his ring name The Great Khali , is an Indian professional wrestler, actor, and former powerlifter. He won Mr. India title in 1995 and 1996. He is currently signed to WWE on its Smackdown brand. Before embarking on his professional wrestling career, he was a police officer in the Punjab state police.

In WWE, Singh is a one-time World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time Slammy Award winner. He has also appeared in three Hollywood films as well as two Bollywood films.
Singh was born in Himachal Pradesh, India to Jwala Ram (father) and Tandi Devi (mother); he is one of seven siblings. Although his parents are of normal stature, his grandfather was well over 6 ft 6 inches.

The Great Khali Tribute
In August 2001, Singh was brought into New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) by Team 2000 leader, Masahiro Chono, as Giant Singh, along with another big man, Giant Silva. They were the tallest tag team in professional wrestling history at an average height of 7 foot 2½ inches, and a combined weight of 805 pounds. The two teamed up for the first time at the Tokyo Dome in October, labeled Club 7 by Chono, and defeated Yutaka Yoshie, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Wataru Inoue in a Handicap Match when Silva pinned Tanahashi and Inoue at the same time. Singh suffered his first loss in a tag match in January 2002 after Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned him with a cradle. He suffered another big tag defeat during March, being pinned by Manabu Nakanishi after a German suplex pin. His most critical loss came in August at Tokyo Nippon Budokan when, after a falling out, he was pinned by Silva in a singles match.
With Daivari as his manager, the unnamed Singh debuted on WWE television on the 7 April 2006 episode of SmackDown!, attacking The Undertaker and leaving him defenceless during his match with Mark Henry, and thus causing a no-contest ruling.The next week he was introduced as The Great Khali. Daivari explained that he now finally had a client that would destroy The Undertaker (after Muhammed Hassan and Mark Henry had previously failed). Khali made his in-ring debut on the 21 April edition of SmackDown!, defeating Funaki.
On the 12 May edition of SmackDown!, Khali was John "Bradshaw" Layfield's hand-picked opponent against World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio. Khali had a height advantage of two feet and a weight advantage of 250 pounds, and defeated Mysterio in a squash match. In his match against The Undertaker at Judgment Day, Khali defeated The Undertaker with a kick to the head after receiving some illegal help from Daivari. Khali continued on a rampage for several weeks, winning handicap matches, beating superstars up in a display of power, and mocking The Undertaker's signature pin and victory pose.
Khali then challenged The Undertaker to a Punjabi Prison match at The Great American Bash. However, Khali was not medically cleared to compete in the match, and was instead replaced by Big Show, who would end up losing to The Undertaker despite interference from Khali. After he was medically cleared, Khali would be challenged by The Undertaker to a Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam.The match was moved to the SmackDown! just prior to SummerSlam and was won by The Undertaker, giving Khali his first definite loss in WWE.
Daivari and The Great Khali were moved to the ECW brand officially when they made their ECW debuts on the 31 October 2006 edition of ECW on Sci Fi. Daivari beat "The Reject" Shannon Moore in a very quick match. Daivari's original theme music was used as well as his Persian rants on the microphone. Afterwards, Moore was manhandled by The Great Khali. Daivari continued his ECW winning streak over the next several weeks with The Great Khali usually following up the contest with a chokebomb on Daivari's opponent. At December to Dismember, Daivari got a victory over Tommy Dreamer following a roll-up. Dreamer then chased Daivari backstage; The Great Khali appeared and caught Dreamer, planting him on the steel ramp with a chokebomb.

Oliver Kahn

Oliver Kahn in Action
Oliver Rolf Kahn (German pronunciation:born 15 June 1969) is a former German football goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team. He had his debut game in the professional squad in 1987. In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich for the fee of 4,600,000DM, where he played until the end of his career in 2008.
He is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight German championships, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup (both 2001). His individual contributions have earned him four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, three IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper awards, and two German Footballer of the Year trophies. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he became the first and only goalkeeper in the tournament's history to win the Golden Ball.
From 1994 to 2006, Kahn was part of the German national team, in which he played as a starter after the retirement of Andreas Köpke. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the team reached the Finals. Although having allowed only three goals during the tournament, he received criticism for his mistakes in the final, where Germany lost to Brazil 0–2. Nonetheless, he was named the tournament's best player and received the Golden Ball award.
At the age of six, Kahn joined Karlsruher SC, where his father Rolf had played from 1962 to 1965. He started as an outfield player before becoming goalkeeper. He was included at the team's professional squad in the 1987–88 season of the first Bundesliga division, at first being the reserve goalkeeper behind Alexander Famulla. On 27 November 1987, Kahn made his league debut in a 4–0 home victory against 1. FC Köln. However, not until 1990 did manager Winfried Schäfer decide to start him over Famulla.In the following years, Kahn established himself as the team's starting goalkeeper. He was considered a key player and a motivator in the Karlruher squad which reached the semi finals in the 1993–94 UEFA Cup. During the round of sixteen the team accomplished a 7–0 rout of Valencia at its home field after losing the first match 1–3 at the Mestalla Stadium. The game was nicknamed the "Miracle at Wildparkstadion" by the German media. The team was defeated by the SV Austria Salzburg in the next round.
Kahn's performance for Karlsruher SC prompted Bayern Munich to express interest in acquiring him. The team signed him as a replacement for Raimond Aumann at the beginning of the 1994–95 season, for the record fee of 4,600,000 DM (€2,385,000) for his position,and was established as Bayern’s starting goalkeeper. Although suffering a rupture of his cruciate ligament, which kept him off the field for almost six months, he played his first game for Germany's national team two months after his return. Bayern defeated Bordeaux in the 1996 UEFA Cup Final.In the 1996–97 Bundesliga season, Kahn archived his first German championship with Bayern Munich, the German League Cup, and was named German goalkeeper of the year for the second time in his career (the first in 1994)
In 1999, Bayern Munich reached the 1999 Champions League Final, facing Manchester United at Camp Nou. Although Bayern Munich player Mario Basler scored an early goal in the sixth minute of the game, two goals by Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær in injury time led to United's victory. The same year, he was named World Goalkeeper of the Year by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
Kahn was sent off in an incident against Hansa Rostock on 3 March 2001. With his Bayern Munich team losing 2–3 in the final minutes, he snuck into the area during a corner kick, jumped up, and punched the ball into the opponent’s net. He immediately received a red card, which dismissed him from the game. He was named Man of the Match when he was part of the squad which played the 2001 Champions League title against Valencia. He played an important role in the penalty shootout held after the teams remained tied 1–1 after extra time, making three saves.He also received the UEFA Fair Play Award for this match, after he walked up to a disappointed Santiago Cañizares, the opposition goalkeeper, after the penalties and attempted to comfort him. The same year, Bayern Munich won the International Cup at Tokyo's National Stadium against the Argentine team Boca Juniors.

Luis Figo

Luis Figo Compilation
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, (born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former 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.
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".
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,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.
In 2000, Figo made a hugely controversial move to Barcelona's bitter rivals Real Madrid.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.

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.
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.
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." Luis Figo was on the sidelines when Internazionale Milano won the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League on 22 May 2010.

John O'Shea

John O'Shea The Goalkeeper
John Francis O'Shea (born 30 April 1981) is an Irish professional footballer, who currently plays for Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland national team as a defender.

Born in Waterford, O'Shea joined Manchester United when he was 17. He spent loan spells at Bournemouth and Royal Antwerp before establishing himself in the Manchester United first team. He joined Sunderland in July 2011.

O'Shea made his Republic of Ireland debut in 2001 against Croatia and has since gone on to make 70 appearances and for his country, scoring one goal.
Prior to joining the Manchester United academy, O'Shea played for Waterford Bohemians where he was first spotted by United scouts. He signed professional forms at the age of 17 and made his professional debut in 1999 against Aston Villa at Villa Park in a 3–0 Football League Cup defeat.

Following loan spells at Bournemouth and Belgian side Royal Antwerp he returned to Manchester and began to feature in the United first team in the 2002–03 season, demonstrating versatility by playing at left-back, right-back, centre-back and central midfield during the successful 2002–03 Premier League campaign.
In 2003–04, United were without Rio Ferdinand after he began a suspension for missing a drugs test in January, and O'Shea took over from Ferdinand in central defence, helping United reach the FA Cup Final where they triumphed 3–0 over Millwall.

He displayed indifferent form in the 2004–05 season and was linked with a move away from Manchester, with Newcastle and Liverpool being linked with the Irishman. One of the highlights of Manchester United's otherwise slightly disappointing season was the 4–2 away victory against Arsenal, in which O'Shea scored the fourth goal by chipping Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia from the edge of the 18 yard box
A month later he won over many United fans by scoring an injury time winner against Liverpool at Anfield for United in the league, having come on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney. This goal was important in United going on to regain the Premier League trophy for the 2006–07 season. He also rescued his team against Everton in one of the final games of the season, when he bundled the ball in the net after Everton goalkeeper Iain Turner fumbled a Ryan Giggs corner. United went on to win 4–2. This was perhaps an even more decisive goal, as Bolton Wanderers were drawing with Chelsea at the same time and defeat would have let Chelsea back into the title race. He scored another goal from close range, in a 2–1 defeat away to Portsmouth that season, this goal came during an injury hit part of the season, were O'Shea, as a versatile player, was required to play at full back. O'Shea had a shooting accuracy of 100% and scored with 80% of his shots in the 2006–07 season.
During the 2007–08 season, Manchester United used O'Shea as an emergency striker due to injury problems. His use as a striker gave him the distinction of having played in every position for Manchester United. In November 2007, O'Shea extended his contract at Manchester United, to keep him at the club until 2012. Throughout the 2007–08 season, O'Shea came off the bench several times and proved important as a utility player on the way to a European double. O'Shea captained his club for the first time, during a 2–0 home defeat to Coventry City in the League Cup Fourth Round.
Throughout the 2008–09 season, O'Shea became a regular within the team, deputising at right back because of injuries to Gary Neville and Wes Brown. On 20 January 2009, O'Shea scored his first goal of the season against Derby County in the 2nd leg of the Carling Cup semi-final. O'Shea then started the 2009 Football League Cup Final, before being replaced by Nemanja Vidić on 76 minutes, United won the game 4–1 on penalties. On 29 April 2009, O'Shea scored the only goal of the game in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal, this set United up to go on and win in the second leg by 4–1 on aggregate. O'Shea started and played the full 90 minutes in the 2009 Champions League Final 2–0 loss to Barcelona, and by many accounts was one of United's better performers on the night. Sir Alex Ferguson had promised O'Shea, who was an unused substitute in the 2008 Champions League Final, a starting place in the 2009 final for his contribution to the team that season.
O'Shea captained United for the second time against Birmingham City in their first game of the 2009–10 Premier League season.He celebrated his 350th appearance fittingly by scoring his first league goal in over two years against Stoke City on 29 September 2009, firing a header in a 2–0 win.