Thursday, July 8, 2010

Luis Lionel Andrés Messi


Full name: Luis Lionel Andrés Messi Birth day: June 24, 1987 Birthplace: Rosario, Argentina Nationality: Argentinian Other nationality: Spanish EU passport: Yes Height: 169 cm Weight: 67 kg Club: FC Barcelona Position: Forward Debut: 17 November 2003 Lionel Andrés Messi (born June 24, 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine football (soccer) player. Lionel Messi started playing football at a very early age in his hometown's Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11, he suffered from a hormone deficiency and as Lionel's parents were unable to pay for the treatment in Argentina, they decided to move to Barcelona, Spain. In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium. The following championship-winning season, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1). With several first team players seriously injured, the services of several reserve team players were called upon, and Messi became a regular feature of Barça squads. On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona - against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old. He was offered the chance to play for the Spain national football team, but declined, prefering to wait for the opportunity to play for the country of his birth. In June 2004 he got his chance, playing in a U-20 friendly match against Paraguay. Lionel Messi wearing FC Barcelona's colorsIn June 2005 he starred for the Argentina U-20 team that won the Football World Youth Championship played in The Netherlands. Messi picked up the Golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals, and the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. Despite his youth, Lionel has already drawn comparisons with Diego Maradona, arguably the best football player of all time. On September 25, 2005 Messi obtained a Spanish citizenship and was finally able to make his debut in this season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play because FC Barcelona had filled up all of their quota of non-EU players. Messi's first outing in the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp was on Sept 28 against Italian club Udinese. He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd Nou Camp faithful. On December of that year, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, over Wayne Rooney and Lukas Podolski In September 2005, Messi was given an improved and extended contract until 2014.

kaka

Ricardo
Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982 in Brasília, Brazil), simply known as Kaká, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazil and the Serie A club A.C. Milan. He is one of the budding young stars in world football. FamilyKaká's younger brother Rodrigo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, known as Digão, followed in his brother's footsteps and is currently on loan with Serie B team Rimini, after having spent some time in the AC Milan youth squad. NicknameThe nickname Kaká, from his native Portuguese, is pronounced as it is spelt. The accent would signify that the stress is on the second syllable. In Italian, the language of his current team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kakà, which is used for Italian television graphics. However, the player's shirt name is spelt KAKA' (with an apostrophe, rather than an accented 'A') for both Brazil and Milan. An internet discussion forum explains the nickname as a commonly used shortened form of "Ricardo" in Portuguese. Kaká is supposed to have got his nickname because his little brother Rodrigo could not pronounce the word "Ricardo" when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca\ Kaká suffered an accident when he made a faulty jump off a diving-board, resulting in a vertebra fracture. This could have meant the end of his football career, but he believes that Jesus allowed him to recover and become the successful footballer he is now. When AC Milan won the Serie A title in 2004, Ricky, as he is called by his team-mates, sported a shirt with an "I Belong to Jesus" slogan. He also points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks every time he scores, for apparently the same reason. MarriageKaká married Caroline Celico on 23 December 2005 at the evangelical Reborn in Christ Church in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a wedding attended by fellow players from his national team, as well as other well known international players. Guests included Ronaldo, Adriano, Cafu, Dida, Julio Baptista and Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline and Kaká first met in 2002, and started dating soon after. The relationship survived Kaká's move from Sao Paulo to Italy in 2003, while Caroline was still at school. It is likely that Caroline will stay in Brazil in the short-run, but the couple plan to live together in Italy very soon.
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson (born September 20, 1971 in Helsingborg, Sweden) is a Swedish international football player.Having completed seven very successful years with Celtic in Glasgow, Scotland, after the end of the 2003/04 season he signed a 1 year contract with an option for a second year for Spanish giants FC Barcelona.He started his professional career playing for Högaborg at the age of 17. He subsequently played for Helsingsborgs IF and Feyenoord. He was signed by Celtic in July 1997 for a fee of £650,000. His debut, playing Hibernian at Easter Road, was less than spectacular; he inadvertently passed the ball to the other side, resulting in a 2-1 loss for Celtic.Larsson scored 242 goals for Celtic, in 315 matches, and in 2001 he won the "Golden Shoe" award for being Europe's top goal scorer. In 2003 Sweden nominated Larsson as the greatest Swedish football player of the last 50 years.His decision to retire from international football met with much dismay in his homeland and there was much clamouring for him to return to the team for their campaign at the 2004 European Championships in Portugal. Despite initially maintaining his decision to retire, turning down overtures from UEFA President Lennart Johannsen and the Swedish Prime Minister in the process, he eventually returned to the national side to great effect, scoring 3 goals in 4 matches and leading Sweden to the quarterfinals, where they were defeated in a penalty shootout by the Dutch.Larsson's international record is impressive with 27 goals in 77 games, many of which he played in midfield or as a winger. He has always made his mark on big occasions and has scored at 2 World Cups (1994 at which Sweden came 3rd, and 2002), and 2 European Championships (2000 and 2004). For Celtic his finest moment (if not his happiest) came in the UEFA Cup final of 2003 in which he scored two goals in a 3-2 extra time defeat to Porto of Portugal. His goalscoring feats on the contintent for Celtic mean he holds the record for number of goals scored for a British club in European matches.He is married, and has two children, Jordan (born 1997) and Janine (born 2002).