Best soccer players I've ever seen
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- Lionel Messi is a football player from Argentina who plays for Inter Miami. He has won the Ballon D'Or, the annual award given to the best player in the world, 8 times, 2022 FIFA World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medal winner in 2008. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest city. He showed an enormous aptitude for football and was in the youth teams for Newell's Old Boys, his local team. Faced with mounting medical expenses to treat a growth hormone condition, Messi's family accepted an offer to move the 13-year-old prodigy to FC Barcelona, who would pay for his treatment. Messi has gone on to become one of the most decorated players in football history and has broken countless records for his club and his country.
- Zinedine Yazid Zidane (born 23 June 1972), nicknamed "Zizou", is a French former professional football player and current manager of Real Madrid. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zidane was an elite play-maker, renowned for his elegance, vision, ball control and technique, and played as an attacking midfielder for Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid. At club level, Zidane won two Serie A league titles with Juventus, before he moved to Real Madrid for a world record fee of EUR77.5 million in 2001, which remained unmatched for the next eight years. In Spain, Zidane won the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League, with his left-foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final considered to be one of the greatest goals in the competition's history. Zidane also won an Intercontinental Cup and a UEFA Super Cup with both teams.
Capped 108 times by France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final and being named to the All-Star Team, while also winning UEFA Euro 2000, being named Player of the Tournament. The World Cup triumph made him a national hero in France, and he received the Légion d'honneur in 1998. He also received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup, despite his infamous sending off in the final against Italy for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest. He retired as the fourth-most capped player in France history.
Zidane received many individual accolades as a player, including being named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998 Ballon d'Or. He was Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001, and La Liga Best Foreign Player in 2002. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players compiled by Pelé, and in the same year was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. Zidane is one of eight players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or, and was the ambassador for Qatar's successful bid to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first Arab country to host the tournament.
After retiring as a player, Zidane transitioned into coaching, and began as his head coaching career at Real Madrid Castilla. He remained in the position for two years before taking the helm of the first team in January 2016. In his two and a half seasons with Madrid, Zidane won the UEFA Champions League an unprecedented three times consecutively, a La Liga title, a Supercopa de Espana, and the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup twice each. His success saw him named Best FIFA Men's Coach in 2017, but he resigned in May 2018. Following poor results by Real Madrid in the subsequent months, Zidane returned to the club as manager in March 2019. - Roberto Baggio Cavaliere is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former president of the technical sector of the Italian Football Federation. A technically gifted creative play-maker and set piece specialist, renowned for his curling free-kicks, dribbling skills, and goalscorer, Baggio is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. In 1999, he came fourth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, and was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002. In 1993, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players.
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Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine football manager and retired professional footballer.
Maradona was the coach of Argentine Primera División club Gimnasia de La Plata. He is regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. He was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition.
He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona, S.S.C. Napoli, Sevilla F.C. and Newell's Old Boys during his club career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli and Barcelona where he won numerous accolades.
In his international career with Argentina National Football Team, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups, including the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico (1986) where he captained Argentina and led them to victory over West Germany National Football Team in the final, and won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. In the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico (1986) quarterfinal, he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over England National Football Team that entered football history for two different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handling foul known as the 'Hand of God', while the second goal followed a 60 m (66 yd) dribble past five England players, voted 'Goal of the Century' by FIFA.com voters in 2002.
Maradona became coach of Argentina National Football Team in November 2008. He was in charge of the team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (2010) in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament.- Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian business owner, president of La Liga club Real Valladolid, owner of Brazilian club Cruzeiro FC and a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Popularly dubbed O Fenômeno ('The Phenomenon and also nicknamed R9, he is widely considered as one of the greatest players of all time. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, Ronaldo has been the influence for a generation of strikers that have followed. His individual accolades include being named FIFA World Player of the Year three times and winning two Ballon d'Or awards. He won two FIFA World Cup.
- Alessandro Del Piero, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer, generally considered one of the best footballers of all time. He plays for Juventus in Italy. Pelè named Del Piero in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelè as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations while Brazilian star Ronaldinho proclaimed that Del Piero is his idol. Del Piero was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000, Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue. Del Piero is still the highest earning Italian Player. Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability. Del Piero usually plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position. Although he is not very tall, Del Piero's playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching." His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded. Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special " Del Piero Zone", approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal. In terms of goalscoring, Del Piero holds the all-time record at Juventus. On April 6th, 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time highest-capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. He is in sixth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records. Within the Italian national team, he is joint fourth with Roberto Baggio in the all-time scoring records. During the 2008-2009 summer pre-season Del Piero played during Juventus' English tour, in which they played Hamburger SV and Arsenal F.C. in the Emirates Cup, and played a friendly versus Manchester United in Old Trafford. In the match he was substituted and was given a standing ovation by all Manchester United fans. Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri believes Del Piero will have as good of a season,or an even better season than last term. (In August 2008), Del Piero announced that he'll try to keep playing professional football with Juve until he is 40 years old. (On September 17, 2008) Juventus returned to the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Zenit, in which Alessandro scored from a free kick, 38 metres away. Again in the Champions League, he was the match winner for Juventus, (on the 5th of November) he scored both goals at the Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid, becoming the first Juve player to have scored two goals in the same match in this ground. Near the end of the match he was substituted and was given a standing ovation by the whole crowd including the Real Madrid fans. Del Piero is married to Sonia Amoruso, the two have been together (since 1999) and married (in 2005). The couple announced in July 2007 that they are expecting their first baby. (On October 22, 2007), Amoruso gave birth to baby boy Tobias Del Piero at 0:20 at Sant'Anna hospital in Turin. Del Piero has used his fame and money to promote and support cancer research; in recognition of this he has received from the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro a prize of "Believe in Research" (during November 2006). When the Olympic Flame for the (2006) Winter Olympics passed through Turin, Del Piero was a torchbearer. He has an interest in sports outside of football and in turn has gained fans outside of just football, sport icons such as NBA star Steve Nash and cycling legend Eddy Merckx have stated that they are fans of Del Piero. As well as an interest in other sports, Del Piero also has a keen interest in music. He has even recorded some albums of his own. Del Piero is an Oasis fan and is a friend of Noel Gallagher and appeared in the video for the group's single Lord Don't Slow Me Down; Del Piero claimed Gallagher was Italy's lucky mascot in their (2006 World Cup) success and invited him to the final and the team hotel after victory. Along with Marco Materazzi, Del Piero appeared on stage at a Rolling Stones show in Milan shortly after Italy's World Cup win.
- He joined Real Madrid in season 1992/93 from the former Atlético Madrid lower teams. His promotion in the club has been unstoppable ever since he came in. After a brilliant performance in the reserve teams, he stepped up to make his debut in the first team when he was 17 under Jorge Valdano's coaching. He has been in the starting lineup ever since. After seven seasons in the elite of Spanish football, he has become a key piece both in Real Madrid and in the national team.
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Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer and ambassador for Spanish club Barcelona. He played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a forward or a winger. He played the bulk of his career at European clubs Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona and Milan as well as playing for the Brazilian national team. Often considered one of the best players of his generation and regarded by many as one of the greatest of all time, Ronaldinho won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d'Or. He was renowned for his technical skills and creativity; due to his agility, pace and dribbling ability, as well as his use of tricks, overhead kicks, no-look passes and accuracy from free-kicks.
Ronaldinho made his senior debut for Grêmio, in 1998. At age 20, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain in France before signing for FC Barcelona in 2003. In his second season with Barcelona, he won his first FIFA World Player of the Year Award, as FC Barcelona won La Liga. The season that followed is considered one of the best in his career as he was instrumental in Barcelona winning the UEFA Champions League, their first in fourteen years, as well as another La Liga title, giving Ronaldinho his first career double. After scoring two spectacular solo goals in El Clásico, Ronaldinho became the second FC Barcelona player, after Diego Maradona in 1983, to receive a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabéu. Ronaldinho also received his second FIFA World Player of the Year award, as well as the Ballon d'Or.
Following a second-place La Liga finish to rivals Real Madrid in the 2006-07 season and an injury plagued 2007-08 season, Ronaldinho departed FC Barcelona to join Milan. He then returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo in 2011 and Atlético Mineiro a year later, before moving to Mexico to play for Querétaro and then back to Brazil to play for Fluminense in 2015. Throughout his playing career, Ronaldinho accumulated numerous other individual honours. He was named in the UEFA Team of the Year and the FIFA World XI three times, honoured as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 2006 and was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players compiled by Pelé.
At international level, Ronaldinho played 97 matches for the Brazil national team, scoring 33 goals and representing his country in two FIFA World Cups. He was an integral part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan (2002)-winning team in Korea and Japan, starring alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo in an attacking trio, scoring two goals, including a free-kick from 40 yards out against England, registering two assists and being named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. As captain, he led Brazil to their second Confederations Cup title in 2005 and was named Man of the Match in a 4-1 victory over archrivals Argentina in the final. Ronaldinho scored three goals in the tournament, taking his total to nine, making him the competition's joint all-time leading goalscorer.- Actor
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Eric Cantona is most known for his skill on the soccer field. Starring at Old Trafford, Manchester United's homeground, Cantona got the nickname "The King". The controversial striker has been praised as the one who brought back the trophies to one of the world's most famous soccer clubs. Cantona is well-known for being banned from playing soccer for 8 months after kicking a fan during a match. His career at Old Trafford was like a marriage: filled with passion, and turbulent. And just as shocking as his arrival, was his departure. Out of the blue, Man Utd called for a press conferance during the summer of 1997 announcing Cantona's retirement. He felt it was time to concentrate on acting and painting. The controversial Frenchman is a gifted individual, who always will go his own ways.- Gheorghe Hagi (born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian former professional footballer, considered one of the best players in the world during the 1980s and '90s and the greatest Romanian footballer of all time. Galatasaray S.K. fans called him "Comandante" ("The Commander") and Romanians call him "Regele" ("The King"). He is the owner and manager of Viitorul Constanta.
Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", Hagi is considered a hero in his homeland. He was named Romanian Footballer of the Year seven times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation. As a creative advanced play-maker, he was renowned for his dribbling, technique, vision, passing and finishing.
Hagi played for the Romanian national team in three FIFA World Cups, in 1990, 1994 (where he was named in the World Cup All-Star Team) and 1998; as well as in three UEFA European Championships, in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 125 caps for Romania, ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and is the joint leading goalscorer (alongside Adrian Mutu) with 35 goals.
In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, Hagi was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. In 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony. He was listed at number 25 in World Soccer Magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
In 2009, Hagi founded Romanian club Viitorul Constanta. He is both owner and manager of the club. Hagi also established the Gheorghe Hagi Football Academy, one of the largest and most successful football academies in Southeastern Europe. - Paolo Cesare Maldini Ufficiale is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and center back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders and players of all time. As the Milan and Italy captain for many years he was nicknamed "Il Capitano" ("The Captain"). Maldini held the record for most appearances in Serie A, with 647, until 2020, when he was overtaken by Gianluigi Buffon. He is also the player with the most appearances with the Milan shirt (902).
- Quite simply a soccer phenomenon - stylish, articulate, affable and handsome, he was twice voted World Football Player of the Year and was widely regarded as one of the World's best ever players. Ruud Gullit (born as Ruud Dil, September 1, 1962 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football coach and former player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. Named European Footballer of the Year in 1987 and World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989, he was a versatile player, playing in numerous positions during his career. A true professional in everything he approaches. His career after playing extends to managing, broadcast, motivational speaking and hosting. Ruud speaks five languages, is extremely personable and media-friendly, which makes him perfectly placed in his role as Ambassador for International Companies throughout the world.He is a regular and valued pundit on BBC, Sky UK, BT Sport, Sky Germany, BeIn Middle East, USA and France, and Dutch TV channels SBS and SAS. He has worked for Supersport in South Africa and Super Soccer League in Malaysia and was offered a full time position with CCTV in China. He also received great reviews and huge coverage as the main Analyst/Commentator for ESPN throughout the World Cup extending his reach even further to the Americas. Basically his popularity, opinions and profile create a demand for him worldwide.Among his hosting accolades, Ruud has recently hosted the 'Fifa Best Awards 2019' in Milan, has hosted the 'Ballon D'Or live' 3 times in Zurich to 180 countries and presented the 'UEFA Draw' in Nice and hosted the Draw live for Television in Paris for the EURO 2016. He has also hosted the French "Oscars" of Football, as well as well as many other Industry awards throughout the world.His golf prowess as a capable 7 handicap elevated him to the position of Ambassador for the Ryder Cup, a regular in the Dunhill Open for the past 11 years, and a special guest in the prestigious Mission Hills Golf Event in China. His presence is always required at major golfing tournaments around the world both for charity and for corporate events like the UEFA
- Franchino Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining the club for 15 seasons. He is considered one of the greatest defenders of all-time and was ranked 19th in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. With Milan, he won three UEFA Champions League titles, six Serie A titles, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.
- Ruud van Nistelrooy was born on 1 July 1976 in Oss, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. He is an actor, known for Nike: Take It to the Next Level (2008), Secret Tournament (2002) and Nike - Olé! (2004). He has been married to Leontine Slaats since 10 July 2004. They have two children.
- Xavier Hernández Creus , known as Xavi, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Barcelona. Widely considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi was renowned for his passing, vision, ball retention, and positioning.
Xavi joined La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11, and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998. In all, he played 767 official matches, a former club record-now held by Lionel Messi-and scored 85 goals. Xavi is the first player in the club's history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined. With Barcelona, Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles. Xavi came third in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year, followed by third place for its successor award, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, he was runner up to Messi for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. In 2015, he departed Barcelona for Al Sadd, where he won four trophies before retiring in 2019. He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances.
Following retirement, it was announced in May 2019 that Xavi would take over as manger of Al Sadd on a two-year contract. Over the course of the 97 days he was in charge, spanning two and a half years, Xavi led the club to win 7 trophies, including the coveted Qatar Cup in the Qatar Stars League. In November 2021, it was announced Xavi would return to his former club Barcelona as the new manager replacing Ronald Koeman, on contract until June 2024. At the time, the club was struggling both competitively and economically. However, after a difficult first few months, Xavi revitalized the club and turned around Barcelona's form with the implementation of structure and new guidelines, while also playing a vital role in the signing of new players to strengthen the squad. When Xavi first took charge, the club was in ninth position in LaLiga, but by the end of the 2021-22 season, he led Barcelona to a second-placed finish.
Xavi continued to succeed in his role as manager during the 2022 summer transfer window by orchestrating the signing of world-renowned footballers, such as Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Koundé, Andreas Christensen, and Franck Kessié. In January 2023, Barcelona won their first title under Xavi, following a 3-1 victory against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España Final. Xavi would go on to win the 2022-23 LaLiga with Barcelona after amassing an astonishing 88 points in 33 games, sitting 13 points above second-placed Atlético Madrid. Xavi is now regarded by many as a hero within the club for taking charge when Barcelona was arguably at one of the club's lowest points and quickly achieving extraordinary success as a manger in a short period of time. - Animation Department
Gabriel Bautista is known for Versus Valerie (2013).- Actor
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David Beckham is known for The Yesterday Machine (1965).- Actor
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Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on February 5, 1985, in Madeira, Portugal to Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and José Diniz Aveiro. Cristiano has an elder brother, Hugo and two elder sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia. His name was inspired by the former US-president, Ronald Reagan, whom his father was influenced by.
The island of Madeira was also the place where Cristiano first learned to master his skills as a footballer. He spent his early years playing for his local team, Nacional, and by the time he turned 12 years old, he already made his name for himself as one of Madeira's top footballers . It wasn't long before he started to catch the attention of other big Portuguese clubs. Among Sporting was Benfica, a team Cristiano and his father followed as a young boy. However he eventually chose to play for Sporting which was a team his mother loved and followed as she was growing up, to play with the likes of Figo was the dream for her son.
He was then spotted by former Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier at the age of sixteen but Liverpool had no intentions to sign him at that time because they thought he was too young and he needed more time to develop his skills. However, in the summer of 2003, when Sporting played against Manchester United and defeated them, Cristiano caught the attention of Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player. Initially, he requested for the number 28 as his jersey number because he didn't feel that he could live up to the pressure of previous players such as George Best and David Beckham who wore the number 7 jersey.
The year 2006 to 2008 proved to be a rather controversial year for the star. In the 2006 World Cup, Cristiano faced accusations regarding his sportsmanship. In a quarter-final match against England, he was heavily criticized for sending of his club team mate, Wayne Rooney who was playing for the England team. It wasn't too long until fans started accepting Cristiano again. In 2007, he won PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, PFA Fans' Player of the Year, Portuguese Footballer of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year and Manchester United's Players' Player of the Year. The year 2008 also saw him taking back the PFA Player Of The Year Award for the second time running. That same year, Ronaldo also had to deal with controversies regarding his club transfer to Spanish giants, Real Madrid. He eventually chose to stay with Manchester United and stressed to the public that he had no intentions of leaving the club.
Cristiano now lives with his cousin, Nuno and his brother in law Ze. When he is not on the field, he is a very family oriented person. Growing up, when he was about to choose football as his career, he said that it was very difficult for him as that would mean lesser time with his family, especially his mother, whom he says play a major role in his life.
During his free time, Cristiano enjoys cooking. He mentioned in an interview that he usually cooks before he leaves for his soccer practice. Because he is constantly training, Cristiano rarely has time to watch TV. If he does get the time to watch, he says he loves watching one of the local Portuguese game show which is mostly about trivia questions. Cristiano is an avid learner and he takes interest in learning new things everyday. Among Cristiano's biggest pet peeves are smoking, people who don't make an effort and dishonesty.
When the tsunami hit South East Asia, Cristiano flew to Indonesia to help those in need. He auctioned off a few stuff to help raise funds for charity. He hopes to get involved in more charity projects in the future because he believes his star status will help him reach out to others for help.- Actor
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Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha, commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his career as a left-back and has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the history of the game".A free kick specialist throughout his career, his bending shots have measured at over 105 miles per hour (169 km/h). In 1997, he was runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year. Widely considered one of the greatest left backs in history, in 2004 was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
Honours: FIFA World Cup, 3x UEFA Champions League, FIFA Confederations Cup- Born 10 May 1969 in Amsterdam, Dennis Bergkamp learned his sublime football skills at the legendary Ajax youth academy. His favourite player, though, was England international Glenn Hoddle. He made his debut for Ajax in December 1986 and remained with the club until 1993, when he joined Italy's Inter Milan for two seasons. His next move was to Arsenal FC, England, where he has remained ever since.
He made his international debut in September 1990 and throughout the '90s was an almost permanent fixture in the Dutch team. He played in the UEFA European Championship of 1992, when Holland lost to eventual winners Denmark in a penalty shootout. He was a member of the Dutch side that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and progressed to the quarter-finals, only to lose to eventual winners Brazil 3-2 in the best match of the tournament that year. Two years later, Bergkamp and Holland had a very poor European Championship, getting comprehensively beaten by England at Wembley in the group stage and then being knocked out by France in another penalty shootout. At the 1998 World Cup, Holland were back to their best. They progressed to the semi-finals, the best performance by a Dutch team in a World Cup since 1978, before losing to Brazil again. Euro' 2000 was Bergkamp's final tournament as a Dutch international and, although Holland progressed to the semi-finals, Bergkamp himself had a relatively poor tournament and failed to score a goal.
Bergkamp finished his international career as Holland's record goalscorer, with 37 goals from 79 matches. Six of his goals were in World Cups. Despite never winning a trophy at international level, he will be remembered as one of Holland's greatest ever footballers. - Actor
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Thierry Henry was born on August 17, 1977 in Les Ulis, Essonne, Île-de-France, France as Thierry Daniel Henry. As a footballer, Henry is one of the most successful, talented, and beloved players of all time. He is France's highest-ever international goalscorer and second-highest appearance maker with 123 caps and 51 goals. He was part of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000, and the 2003 Confederations Cup, winning both the Golden Boot and Golden Shoe in the Confederations Cup win. Following the World Cup win, he was appointed 'Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur', Frances highest honour. In 2006 he made the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. At club level, he achieved success at multiple clubs, winning his first league title at just 19 with AS Monaco, winning the UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year as a result. It was for Arsenal that he would have the most impact, and has frequently been voted the club's greatest player. With Arsenal he scored 228 goals in 376 appearances, winning 2 league titles and 3 FA Cups and was an integral part of the "Invicibles" team of 2003-04, scoring 30 goals and only missing 1 of 38 league games. He was PFA player of the year twice, in 2003 and 2004, and in the PFA team of the year for 6 consecutive years from 2000-01 to 2005-06.He won the Premier League Golden Boot 4 times and Goal of the Season in 2003. While an Arsenal player he was twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year, runner-up for the European Player of the Year in 2003, and winner of the French Player of the Year 5 times. He won the European Golden Boot twice, in 2004 and 2005, and made the FIFA FIFPro World XI in 2006.In 2008, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame and there is a statue of him outside Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. At Barcelona he won 7 trophies, 6 of which came in 2009 including a historic treble. He was an MLS All-Star for 4 consecutive years, part of the Best XI 3 times, and part of the team that won the MLS Supporters Shield in 2013 while playing for New York Red Bulls. He retired from playing at the conclusion of the 2014 MLS season.
During his career, Thierry was considered highly marketable due to his flair, charisma, and success. He famously appeared in a series of advertisements for Renault that popularised the french phrase 'va-va-voom', leading to its inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2004. He has also represented several sports brands, Gillette, and Beats by Dr Dre.
Due to his high-profile, he was a popular television guest during his career, especially in England where he made appearances on Parkinson (1971), Match of the Day (1964), and [error]. He appeared in 2 installments of the Goal series of films, Goal II: Living the Dream (2007) & Goal! III (2009). His increased profile in the United States following his time at NYRB has led to appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009), The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015), and Entourage (2015). Following the end of his career, he moved into punditry with Sky Sports, and was an analyst for 13 games of Match of the Day: Euro 2016 (2016) for the BBC.- Christian Vieri was born on 12 July 1973 in Bologna, Italy. He is an actor, known for The Comedians (2017), Bobo TV (2020) and Videomatch (1990). He has been married to Costanza Caracciolo since 18 March 2019. They have two children.
- David Trézéguet was born on 15 October 1977 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France. He was previously married to Béatrice Villalva.
- Jaap Stam was born on 17 July 1972 in Kampen, Overijssel, Netherlands. He is an actor, known for Pepsi - Inside the Man U Changing Room (1999), Match of the Day (1964) and UEFA Champions League (1992).
- Patrick Kluivert is a Dutch former football player and coach and the academy director of FC Barcelona. He is the former director of football for Paris Saint-Germain. Kluivert was the assistant manager of Cameroon National Football Team. He played as a striker, most notably for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands National Football Team.
He was part of Ajax's Golden Generation of the 1990s at the age of 18, scoring the winner in the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final. He spent six years with Spanish club Barcelona where he formed a successful partnership with Rivaldo, where both won the Spanish La Liga championship of 1999 and Kluivert scored 124 goals from 249 appearances in all.
Kluivert played for the Netherlands National Football Team from 1994 to 2004. With 40 goals in 79 appearances, he is the third highest top goalscorer for Oranje. He played in three European Championships and the 1998 FIFA World Cup France (1998), and was joint top scorer at 2000 UEFA European Football Championship (2000) where upon the scoresheet he tallied a total of 5 times.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at AZ Alkmaar and then NEC Nijmegen. He had a brief coaching stint in Australia with the Brisbane Roar, before coaching FC Twente to a national title in the Dutch reserves league. He was assistant manager to Louis van Gaal with the Netherlands National Football Team when they finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (2014). In 2015, he took over as head coach of the Curaçao national team for the country's 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (2018) qualifying and the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualifying campaigns. In 2016, it was announced that he would take over the Ajax A1 (under-19) selection, coaching his son, Justin Kluivert, before taking a position as director of football for Paris Saint-Germain. - Alessandro Nesta Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Usually deployed as a center-back, he is widely considered one of the best defenders of all time. He was best known for his pace, artistic tackles, elegance on the ball, distribution and tight marking of opponents. He made over 400 Serie A appearances in a 20-year career spread between Lazio (UEFA Cup) and AC Milan (2x UEFA Champions League), winning domestic and European titles with both clubs.
- Pavel Nedved was born on 30 August 1972 in Cheb, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He has been married to Ivana since 1993. They have two children.
- Marcos Evangelista de Morais , known as Cafu is a Brazilian former professional footballer. With 142 appearances for the Brazil national team, he is the most internationally capped Brazilian player of all time. Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, he is regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, one of the best defenders ever to play in the Italian Serie A, and as one of the greatest Brazilian and South American players of his generation.
Honours: 2x FIFA World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, CONMEBOL Libertadores, UEFA Champions League. - Jürgen Klinsmann is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the unified German team that won the 1996 UEFA European Championship. As a manager, he managed the German national team to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup and was subsequently coach of a number of other teams including, notably, Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the United States national team.
Considered one of Germany's premier strikers during the 1990s, he scored in all six major international tournaments he participated in, from Euro 1988 to the 1998 World Cup. In 1995, he came in third in the FIFA World Player of the Year award; in 2004 he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the "125 Greatest Living Footballers". On 3 November 2016, he became the fifth player to be named as honorary captain of Germany. - Bierhoff began his career at the age of 6 at the Essen club "ESG 99/06". Further stations in his career were "Schwarz-Weiß Essen" until 1985 and "Bayer Uerdingen" from 1985 to 1988. For the 1988/89 season he moved to "Hamburger SV" before signing with Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the 1990/91 season he was under contract for "SV Salzburg" in the first Austrian league. Oliver Bierhoff played for the Italian second division club "Ascoli Calcio" from 1991 to 1995 and was top scorer in the second Italian division. Bierhoff played for "Udinese Calcio" from 1995 to 1998. In 1997 he qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing fifth in the championship. In the 1997/98 season, Bierhoff became top scorer in the Italian first league with 27 goals, ahead of Brazilian superstar Ronaldo. Oliver Bierhoff celebrated his greatest successes as a club footballer with "AC Milan" from 1998 to 2001. During this time he became Italian champion in 1999. He then moved to "AS Monaco" in the French first division from 2001 to 2002, before returning to the Italian Serie A in August 2002 as a striker for "Chievo Verona".
In 1994, Bierhoff was appointed to the DFB national team squad by national coach Berti Vogts. Two years later, in 1996, the German national team became European football champions for the third time thanks to Oliver Bierhoff's "Golden Goal". Germany defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in the final. In 1998, Oliver Bierhoff took part in the World Cup in France, where the German team led by captain Jürgen Klinsmann was eliminated in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 defeat. In 2000 he played at the European Championships in the Netherlands and Belgium. After the 1998 World Cup, Bierhoff took over the position of team captain in the national team, which he handed over to Oliver Kahn in January 2002. In May of the same year he completed his studies in business administration at the Hagen Open University with a diploma. Participation in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where Bierhoff was not part of the regular lineup, led the German team to the final, where team boss Rudi Völler's team lost 2-0 to Brazil. From March 2003, Oliver Bierhoff acted as international ambassador for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
On July 28, 2004, Oliver Bierhoff was appointed first team manager of the German national soccer team and in this role supported national coach Jürgen Klinsmann in preparing the German team for the World Cup. After the German national team won the World Cup on June 30, 2006 with a 5-3 victory. After reaching the semi-finals against Argentina, the team under captain Michael Ballack lost 0-2 goals in extra time against Italy on July 4, 2006. In the game for third place on July 8th in Stuttgart, the German team won 3-1 against Portugal. The triumph of the 2006 World Cup title went to Italy in the final on July 9th, to which France lost on penalties. In 2007 he became a member of the executive committee of the German Football Association. In 2014, Bierhoff won the world championship title with the German national team. After a structural reform of the DFB (2017), he became one of four DFB directors on January 1, 2018. In May 2018, the DFB announced the early extension of Bierhoff's contract until 2024. - His sporting career began as a child when he became a member of "TSV 1860 Hanau" in 1968. In 1976 Völler moved to the "Kickers Offenbach" club, which he was a member of until 1980. From 1982 he played for "Werder Bremen", where he received his first contract as a professional player and became top scorer in the Bundesliga in his first year. At the same time, Völler made his debut in the German national team. In 1987 the footballer moved to the Italian first division club "AS Roma". Here the elegant dribbling artist became a star player. With Völler, the German national team, led by Franz Beckenbauer, became world champions in Italy in 1990. Rudi Völler led "AS Roma" to the Italian championship title in 1991. In 1992 he moved to "Olympic Marseille", with whom he won the European Cup in 1993.
In 1994, Rudi Völler returned to Germany to sign for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Here he ended his active professional career in 1996 after scoring 47 goals in 90 international matches for the German national team. Völler then served as sporting director at Bayer Leverkusen until 2001. After the German national team's weak start to the 2000 European Championship, Völler was appointed as temporary team boss of the German national team, succeeding Erich Ribbeck. When Christoph Daum resigned from his position as coach at Bayer Leverkusen due to allegations of drug abuse, Völler temporarily replaced him in this role. After the national team successfully qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Völler's contract was extended until 2006. A highlight in Völler's coaching career was the German runner-up in the World Cup in 2002. In the World Cup final, his team lost 2-0 to Brazil.
In the same year Völler was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. He was also awarded the Capo Cicero Prize. Following the German national team's game against Iceland on September 6, 2003, which ended 0-0, Völler lost control in an ARD interview: In a steadily escalating outburst of anger, he attacked the ARD commentators Gerhard Delling and Günter Netzer their football coverage sharply. After the 2-1 defeat against the Czech Republic in the preliminary round game of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, Rudi Völler announced his resignation as coach of the national team on June 24th. Jürgen Klinsmann was appointed as his successor. Rudi Völler then signed on as coach of "AS Roma" in the Italian Serie A. However, after 25 days as "Roma coach", he surprisingly resigned from his position on September 26, 2004. Völler announced his decision immediately after AS Roma lost 3-1 to Bologna.
Following this, Völler became sports director of the Bundesliga club "Bayer Leverkusen" from January 18, 2005. He also announced in spring 2005 that he would act as RTL team boss for the broadcast of the 2006 World Cup. From November 2005 he will appear as a football presenter on the Cologne private broadcaster.
Rudi Völler is married to Sabrina for the second time. He is the father of three sons and two daughters. - Lothar Herbert Matthäus is a German football pundit and former player and manager. After captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup where he lifted the World Cup trophy, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or. In 1991, he was named the first FIFA World Player of the Year, and remains the only German to have received the award. He was also included in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020.
- Andreas Möller is known for Der Leutnant von Ulm (1979) and Doppelpass (1995).
- Jari Litmanen was born on 20 February 1971 in Lahti, Finland. He is an actor, known for Risto Räppääjä ja villi kone (2023), Ammattina jalkapallo (2008) and UEFA Champions League (1992).
- George Weah is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer serving as the 25th President of Liberia since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served as Senator from Montserrado County. During his football career, he played as a striker. His prolific 18-year professional playing career ended in 2003.
After beginning his career in his home country of Liberia, Weah spent 14 years playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England. Arsène Wenger first brought him to Europe, signing him for Monaco in 1988. Weah moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 1992 where he won Ligue 1 in 1994 and became the top scorer of the 1994-95 UEFA Champions League. He signed for A.C. Milan in 1995 where he spent four successful seasons, winning Serie A twice. He moved to the Premier League towards the end of his career and had spells at Chelsea F.C. and Manchester City F.C., winning the FA Cup at the former, before returning to France to play for Olympique de Marseille in 2001, and subsequently ending his career with Al-Jazira in 2003.
At international level, Weah represented Liberia at the African Cup of Nations on two occasions, winning 53 caps and scoring 13 goals for his country. He is regarded as one of the best players never to have played at the World Cup tournament.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, in 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first and only African player to win these awards. In 1989, 1994 and 1995, he was named the African Footballer of the Year, and in 1996, he was named African Player of the Century.
Weah became involved in politics in Liberia following his retirement from football. Weah was elected President of Liberia in the 2017 election and sworn in on 22 January 2018. - Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE is a Welsh football coach and former player. He was most recently the manager of the Wales national team. He is also a co-owner of Salford City. Giggs played his entire professional career for Manchester United and briefly served as the club's interim manager after the sacking of David Moyes in April 2014. Giggs is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.
The son of rugby union and Wales international rugby league footballer Danny Wilson, Giggs was born in Cardiff but moved to Manchester at the age of six when his father joined Swinton RLFC. Predominantly a left midfielder, he began his career with Manchester City, but joined Manchester United on his 14th birthday in 1987. He made his professional debut for the club in 1991 and spent the next 23 years in the Manchester United first team. At the end of the 2013-14 season, he was named as Manchester United's interim player-manager following the sacking of David Moyes. He was named as assistant manager under Moyes' permanent replacement, Louis van Gaal, on 19 May 2014; he retired from playing the same day holding the club record for competitive appearances - 963. At international level, Giggs played for the Wales national team 64 times between 1991 and 2007 and was named as the captain of the Great Britain team that competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is one of only 28 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances.
Giggs is one of the most decorated footballers of all time. During his time at United, he won 13 Premier League winner's medals- more than any other player in history, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals, two UEFA Champions League winner's medals, a FIFA Club World Cup winners medal, an Intercontinental Cup winner's medal, a UEFA Super Cup winner's medal and nine FA Community Shield winner's medals. Manchester United and Liverpool are the only clubs in English football history to have won more league championships than Giggs. Giggs captained United on numerous occasions, particularly in the 2007-08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries.
Giggs also has many personal achievements. He was the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards (1992 and 1993), though he did not win the PFA Player of the Year award until 2009. He was the only player to play in each of the first 22 seasons of the Premier League, as well as the only player to score in each of the first 21 seasons. He was elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007, the Premier League Team of the Decade in 2003, as well as the FA Cup Team of the Century. Giggs holds the record for the most assists in Premier League history, with 162. He was named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2009. In addition to the many honors Giggs has received within football, he was appointed an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List for his services to football. - Actor
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Gary Neville rose through the youth ranks of Manchester United and established himself as the club's first-choice right-back under its most successful manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Neville won many honours with the club, including the treble (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League) in 1999. He was named Manchester United club captain after Roy Keane left in 2005 and lifted his first trophy as captain of Manchester United by winning the Carling Cup at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
He also played 85 times for England between 1995 and 2007, becoming the country's most capped right-back. He established himself in the England team before his Manchester United contemporaries (and subsequent England regulars) David Beckham and Paul Scholes, and he was the only one to play under Terry Venables, making his England debut in 1995 and playing in every minute of England's first four games at Euro '96 (against Switzerland, Scotland, the Netherlands and Spain). However, after being booked in the games against Switzerland and Spain, he was suspended from playing in the semifinal against Germany, which turned out to be England's final game as they were beaten in a penalty shootout. He also appeared at the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.
After retiring from his playing career, Neville served as England's assistant manager under Roy Hodgson between 2012 and 2016 and made an unsuccessful attempt at launching a management career of his own at the Spanish club Valencia in 2015, but was sacked the following year.
On 18 July 2018, Neville was interviewed for over an hour by the UK Parliament's "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee" about the future of English football and the Football Association's proposed sale of Wembley Stadium. Neville criticised the proposed sale, instead advocating a 25% cut of agents' fees to fund grassroots football instead.- Paul Scholes was born on 16 November 1974 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Secret Tournament (2002), Pepsi - Inside the Man U Changing Room (1999) and Match of the Day (1964). He has been married to Claire Froggatt since February 1999. They have three children.
- Frank Lampard was born on 20 June 1978 in Romford, Essex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Adidas - Impossible Team (2006), Open Source (2008) and Renford Rejects (1998). He has been married to Christine Lampard since 20 December 2015. They have two children.
- Steven George Gerrard MBE is an English professional football manager and former player, who manages Premier League club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Gerrard spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team, captaining both.
- Wayne Mark Rooney was born in Croxteth, Merseyside on the 24th October 1985 and is a professional footballer, most famous for playing for Manchester United, Everton and England.He was raised an Everton fan and was scouted by his boyhood club as a child and joined their youth team, rising through the ranks at the club before making his senior team debut at 16 years old in August 2002 against Tottenham Hotspur. Rooney shot to fame after scoring against Arsenal at Goodison Park, scoring a superb winner to beat the-then unbeaten record of Arsenal's - standing at 30-matches. Arsene Wenger said after the match that Rooney was "the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here."Following two seasons with Everton, Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson came calling and signed the teenager for £25.6m, a record fee for a player under the age of 20 years old. Rooney excelled at United immediately and ended the season as the club's top scorer in all competitions with 17 goals. He was voted the 'PFA Young Player of the Year' for the 2004/05 season.He became a prolific threat for Manchester United as he reached double figures for Premier League goals for 11 straight seasons. During his time at United - between 2004 and 2017 - Rooney won five Premier League trophies; the Champions League and FA Cup once; and the League Cup four times. He was voted the Premier League Player of the Year in 2009/10.After 13 seasons at Manchester United, he accepted a move back to his boyhood club Everton, for a free transfer. Even though he only spent a season with Everton he managed to rack up his 200th Premier League goal and become the third highest assist-maker in the league, over-taking Frank Lampard with 103. He joined the MLS team D.C. United in 2018, playing one season there, before agreeing to move back to England with Derby County in a player/coach capacity.Rooney married his childhood sweetheart Coleen McLoughlin back in 2008 and they have four sons together - Kai, Kit, Klay and Cass. He finished his career in England as both England's youngest and highest ever goal-scorer and is also Manchester United's record goal-scorer, a true football great.
- Cesc Fàbregas was born on 4 May 1987 in Vilassar de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He is an actor, known for Goal II: Living the Dream (2007), Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (2011) and Nike: Take It to the Next Level (2008). He has been married to Daniella Semaan since May 2018. They have three children.
- Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at Chelsea, for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is the club's fourth highest goal scorer of all time. He was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the accolade in 2006 and 2009.
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans, and signed his first professional contract aged 21. After finishing the 2002-03 season with 17 goals in 34 appearances for Ligue 1 side Guingamp, he moved to Olympique de Marseille, where he finished as the third highest scorer in the 2003-04 season with 19 goals and helped the club reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
In July 2004, Drogba moved to Premier League club Chelsea for a club record £24 million fee, making him the most expensive Ivorian player in history. In his debut season he helped the club win their first league title in 50 years, and a year later he won another Premier League title. His displays saw him named in the FIFA World XI for 2007. In March 2012, he became the first African player to score 100 Premier League goals. Just two months later, he scored in Chelsea's 2012 FA Cup Final win over Liverpool to become the first (and as of 2017, the only) player to score in four separate FA Cup finals. He also played in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, in which he scored an 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty in the deciding shoot-out against Bayern Munich. After spending 6 months with Shanghai Shenhua in China, and one and a half seasons with Turkish club Galatasaray where he scored the winning goal in the final of the 2013 Turkish Super Cup, Drogba returned to Chelsea in July 2014. With a career record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals winning 10 trophies at club level, Drogba has been referred to as the "ultimate big game player." He joined Canadian club Montreal Impact in 2015 as a Designated Player and played 41 matches over two seasons, scoring 23 goals. Drogba became a player-owner for Phoenix Rising of the United Soccer League in 2017, and retired a year later at the age of 40.
An Ivory Coast international between 2002 and 2014, Drogba captained the national team from 2006 until his retirement from the Ivory Coast team and is the nation's all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals from 105 appearances. He led the Ivory Coast to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament, and also scored their first goal. He later captained the Ivory Coast at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. He was part of the Ivory Coast teams that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2012, but were beaten on penalties on both occasions. On 8 August 2014, he announced his retirement from international football. In 2018, Drogba retired from professional football at the age of 40. Afterwards, on 11 December, he became Vice President of the international organization Peace and Sport. - Nicolas Anelka was born on 14 March 1979 in Versailles, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France. He is an actor, known for Dead Weight (2002), UEFA Champions League (1992) and Match of the Day (1964). He has been married to Barbara Tausia since 9 June 2007. They have two children.
- Matthias Sammer is a German former professional football player and coach who last worked as sporting director of Bayern Munich. He played as a defensive midfielder and later in his career as a Center Back.
With Borussia Dortmund as a player, Sammer won the Bundesliga and DFL-Supercup in 1995, the Bundesliga, DFL-Supercup, and European Footballer of the Year in 1996, and the UEFA Champions League and Intercontinental Cup in 1997. With Germany as a player, Sammer won the UEFA Euro 1996, where he was named the tournament's best player, and was subsequently awarded the Ballon d'Or later that year. Sammer retired with 74 total caps, 23 for East Germany and 51 for the unified side.
With Sammer as a manager, Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga in 2002. - Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo OIH (born 4 November 1972) is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan before retiring on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a record at the time but later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Renowned for his creativity and ability to get past defenders as a winger, Figo is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. His 106 assists are the second-most in La Liga history, behind Lionel Messi. He won the 2000 Ballon d'Or, 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 Pelé named him in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. His controversial transfer in 2000 from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid set a world record fee of EUR62 million.
Figo had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, including the 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. On the international level, he scored 32 goals for Portugal, representing the nation at three European Championships and two World Cups, helping them reach the final but finish as runners-up at Euro 2004. - Denmark's Peter Schmeichel is arguably the best goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League. He had a glittering career that lasted from 1981 until 2003 and is best remembered for his hugely successful time in the Premier League with Manchester United - with whom he won countless trophies - and for helping Denmark to win the European Championships in 1992. Schmeichel was born in Gladsaxe, a town on the outskirts of Copenhagen, and played for several local football teams before playing for Brøndby. It was Schmeichel's impressive performances with Brøndby that led to him being snapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United, the team Schmeichel supported as a boy. When he joined Manchester United in 1991, he was fairly unknown to the other players but left eight years later as a prominent club 'Great' with Ferguson having described his £505,000 signing as the "bargain of the century". Schmeichel's 6ft 3in height and imposing physique, prompting his 'Great Dane' nickname, were beneficial when conceiving the innovative 'star-jump save'. Although now a widely used move in goalkeeping, Schmeichel was reportedly the first to take on this technique with regularity, adopting skills from playing handball in Denmark. Generally considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Peter's success earned him 24 major trophies and he has been featured amongst the '125 Greatest Living Footballers' at the FIFA 100 celebrations and within the Football League 100 Legends. In 2001 Schmeichel was awarded an honorary MBE for his services to football. Following his retirement from football, Schmeichel has remained in the public eye, in both sport and television. Peter presented the Champions League coverage in Denmark for 8 years, hosted the World Cup show for Russia TV in 2018, has presented a variety of entertainment shows for TV2, TV3 Denmark and Discovery international and regularly appears as an analyst on the Premier League channel and for the BBC on 'Match of the Day'. His son, Kasper Schmeichel, followed in his father's footsteps and is also a professional goalkeeper, playing for Leicester City and Denmark.
- Gianluigi Buffon is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the Serie B club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances.
At club level, Buffon's professional career began with Parma in 1995, where he made his Serie A debut. He soon broke into the starting line-up and earned a reputation as one of the most promising young goalkeepers in Italy, helping Parma to win the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup and the Supercoppa Italiana in 1999. After joining Juventus in 2001, for the world record fee for a goalkeeper of EUR52 million at the time, Buffon won Serie A titles in both of his first two seasons at the club, and established himself as one of the best players in the world in his position.
In his first spell at Juventus, he won a record nine Serie A titles, four Coppa Italias, and five Supercoppa Italianas. He was the first goalkeeper to win the Serie A Footballer of the Year award, and was named Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record twelve times. After reaching the 2015 and 2017 UEFA Champions League finals, he was named to the Champions League Squad of the Season on both occasions, and won the inaugural The Best FIFA Goalkeeper award in the latter year. - Rui Costa is a Portuguese retired professional footballer.
Regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football and one of Portugal's best players in recent history, Costa usually played as an attacking midfielder and was particular known for his excellent technique, playmaking ability, and eye for goal from midfield.
Costa spent the majority of his career with S.L. Benfica in Portugal and A.C.F. Fiorentina and A.C. Milan in Italy. In a top-flight career spanning 17 years, he won several trophies, including one Primeira Liga title, one Taça de Portugal, one Serie A title, three Coppa Italia, one UEFA Champions League and one UEFA Super Cup. A Portuguese international, he amassed 94 caps and scored 26 goals for A Selecção and represented the country in three UEFA European Championships and one FIFA World Cup. - Edgar Steven Davids is a Dutch-Surinamese former professional footballer and current coach.
After beginning his career with Ajax, winning several domestic and international titles, he subsequently played in Italy for AC Milan, and later enjoyed a successful spell with Juventus, before being loaned out to Barcelona in 2004. He went on to play for Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur before returning to Ajax. Having struggled with injuries for two years, Davids returned to competitive football during a brief spell with Crystal Palace before retiring at the age of 37. In 2012, he was appointed player-manager at the English League Two club Barnet. He resigned by mutual agreement as manager in January 2014. He was capped 74 times by the Netherlands at international level, scoring six goals, and represented his country at the FIFA World Cup (once) and the UEFA European Championship (three times). - Clarence was born in Suriname and is widely considered as one of the 'greats' of modern football. He has been a permanent fixture in the Dutch international squad for a number of years and is the first player to have won the Champions League four times and with three different clubs - Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and Milan in 2003 and 2007.
He made his professional debut on 29th November 1992 against Groningen at the age of 16, making him the youngest debutant for Ajax ever! Even at the tender age of 16 Clarence was setting records and it was only 2 years after this that he was called up to represent the Dutch national squad, at the age of 18. He scored on his debut, helping his team to a 5-0 victory in a Euro 1996 qualifying match.
He went on to become a key player in Ajax's midfield and helped them to their 1995 UEFA Champions League winning campaign.
This sparked interest in the talented midfielder from Europe's biggest clubs. In 1996 he moved to Real Madrid where he became a mainstay for 3 seasons in an incredibly talented midfield. In his first season, he helped Madrid regain the La Liga title; in his second season (1997-98), he played a major role in the team's Champions League success, as Real Madrid secured a 1-0 victory over Juventus in the final, earning his second Champions League title of his career.
At the end of the 2006-07 season, Seedorf was voted as the best midfielder in the Champions League. He played his 100th game in the Champions League on 4 December against Celtic.
In recent years Clarence has done a lot of media-related work, becoming a familiar face in the punditry world. He joined the BBC's team covering the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, working as a television pundit. He has also presented a number of features for the BBC, including one about Robben Island. He also joined the BBC for their Match of the Day Live coverage of the 2012 UEFA European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.
Clarence has strong connections to Suriname (where he was born) and has been involved in many social development projects there. He built his own "Clarence Seedorf Stadium" in the district of Para and the teams of the Suri Profs & Brothers play there regularly. With his Champions for Children Foundation he supports projects for good causes in Suriname.
For this, Suriname has honoured him to Commandor of the High-Order of the Yellow Star and recently in 2011 the Netherlands also honoured him to Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau (OON). - Marc Overmars was born on 29 March 1973 in Emst, Gelderland, Netherlands.
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Often described as a footballing "genius", and cited by his former teammate Chris Waddle in 2018 as England's last "real creative midfield player", Paul Gascoigne, usually referred to simply as "Gazza", started his career at Newcastle United, where he played in 92 games and scored 21 goals. He then went to the London club Tottenham Hotspur, where he also played in 92 games and scored nearly as many goals, 19 in total.
It was while at Tottenham that he was first called up to the England squad by manager Bobby Robson. He was a key member of England's 1990 FIFA World Cup team that reached the semi-finals, which was the best run of an England team since they won the 1966 World Cup. He became something of a national hero during the tournament due to his sparkling performances, with Bobby Robson later saying that he had been the best young player of the tournament (although FIFA disagreed, awarding that honour to Yugoslavia's Robert Prosinecki). However, Gascoigne was recognized as England's star of the tournament when he finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or for 1990 behind Lothar Matthäus, Salvatore Schillaci and Andreas Brehme, while no other English player made it into the top ten.
The next few years were a barren spell for England under the management of Robson's successor Graham Taylor, with an exit at the group stage of Euro '92 (which didn't feature Gascoigne due to injury) and failure to even qualify for the 1994 World Cup, which led to Taylor's sacking. However, between 1995 and 1998, Gascoigne had his best goalscoring spell while at the Scottish club Rangers, scoring 30 goals in 74 games. In 1996, England manager Terry Venables, who had previously managed Gascoigne at Tottenham, included him in the England squad for Euro '96, which was being held at home. Gascoigne won acclaim for a brilliant goal against Scotland and for his role in the astounding 4-1 defeat of the Netherlands, although he also narrowly missed an incredible chance to score a winning goal against Germany in the semifinal when he lunged for the ball in front of the goal and just failed to connect. England eventually lost the game in a penalty shootout following a miss from Gareth Southgate and Germany went on to the final, which they won against the Czech Republic.
The next England manager, Glenn Hoddle, controversially decided not to include the 31-year-old Gascoigne in the England squad for the 1998 World Cup, citing his lack of fitness, and this marked the end of his England career, in which he played a total of 57 games and scored ten goals. He also left Rangers in 1998, moving to Middlesbrough, although he was no longer in his previous form, scoring just four goals in 41 games for the club. He also made 32 appearances for Everton between 2000 and 2002, and finished his career at Burnley, Gansu Tianma in China and Boston United.
Despite never winning a major tournament with the national team, Gascoigne remains one of England's most iconic footballers and has been interviewed numerous times about his career, including for Piers Morgan's Life Stories (2009), Alan Shearer's Euro 96: When Football Came Home (2016) and Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager (2018).- Vincenzo Scifo was born on 19 February 1966 in Haine-Saint-Paul, Wallonia, Belgium.
- Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira, is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, an on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a winger. Rivaldo is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and among the most skillful and creative players of his generation. He was renowned for his bending free kicks, bicycle kicks, feints, powerful ball striking from distance, and ability to both score and create goals. In 1999, he won the Ballon d'Or and was named FIFA World Player of the Year. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
- Didier Claude Deschamps is a French professional football manager and former player who has been manager of the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, England and Spain, namely Marseille, Juventus, Chelsea and Valencia, as well as Nantes and Bordeaux. Nicknamed "the water-carrier" by former France teammate Eric Cantona, Deschamps was an intelligent and hard-working defensive midfielder who excelled at winning back possession and subsequently starting attacking plays, and also stood out for his leadership throughout his career. As a French international, he was capped on 103 occasions and took part at three UEFA European Football Championships and one FIFA World Cup, captaining his nation to victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
- Actor
- Writer
Zlatan was born in 1981 in Malmö, Sweden. He received his first pair of football boots at the age of five and it was obvious even at this early age that he had the potential to become an extraordinary footballer. He grew up in the infamous neighbourhood Rosengård known for being one of Sweden's roughest areas, but this did not hinder him. After playing for a local Swedish Club for a couple of years he transferred to Malmö FF in his teens, and it was here he started to pursue a career as a professional footballer.
Zlatan progressed through Malmö FF's youth academy and his breakthrough at senior level came during the 1999-2000 season when he played for Malmö FF's first team under coach Roland Andersson. Zlatan surprised Sweden with his superb technique and great goal scoring ability. As a determined 18 year-old he had already at this point decided that he was going to play for Sweden in the World Cup 2002 in Japan and Korea.
After being perused by top Clubs all over the world, Zlatan finally decided to transfer to Ajax and he joined the Amsterdam club in July 2001. He received the number 9 shirt, which was previously worn by Nwankwo Kanu, Patrick Kluivert and the legendary Marco van Basten. After playing for Sweden's Under-21s, the Swedish National Team managers Tommy Söderberg and Lars Lagerbäck chose Zlatan to play his International debut against the Faroe Islands in Sweden in January 2001, and since then Zlatan has been a part of the Swedish National Team.
Zlatan ended his first season at Ajax, just like he started it, on top. He scored the golden goal in the Dutch Cup Final against Utrecht and Ajax won both the League and the Cup. His success continued when he was selected as one of 23 players for the Swedish squad in the World Cup 2002, where he played against Argentina and Senegal.- Henrik Larsson was born in Helsingborg, Sweden on September 20th 1971. As a child he was that kind of guy who always were in a fight with his classmates.
The first game he saw was in Helsingborg, Sweden. His dad took Henrik to watch soccer games. He saw the first international club team, Watford, coming to Heslingborg. Henrik was annoying everyone, because he wanted to go out on the field and play himself. His favorite was running and kicking the ball. One of the games he rememberd was a cup game for Hogaborg BK at the age of nine and that was a game that still sticks in his mind.
The first goal he scored was in Högaborg when he was six years old. 1993 to 1997 he played for the Dutch team Feyenoord, but it wasn't that successful for him.
In 1997 he arrived in Scotland and to the team Celtic, but he started on the bench because of injuries. Henrik was told by the coach to play down the left wing. He wasen't that pleased because his best position was an out-and-out striker.
The first game he played for the Swedish national team was a World Cup qualifier in 1993 against Finland in Helsinki. The game was really important which helped make the whole experience go very quickly. Henrik scored to make it 2-1 to Sweden and then the game ended at 3-1 to Sweden. Sweden later went to the World Cup 1994 in USA and ended at third place, amazing summer for his country.
His favorite goal so far, was a half volley against Vitesse in his first season for Feyenoord. It was one of those shots that you hit and can go anywhere. It was a cold day, on a rock hard pitch and the ball had a bit of an unpredictable bounce, but this one went ok. He caught it just right and it went flying into the top corner, with the goalkeeper nowhere near it. Goals like that don't happen very often, normally there are defenders closing you down. But as that ball came across he knew he was going to strike it, Henrik says. It was very satisfying for him.
1996 he got married with his early young love Magdalena and later his son Jordan and his daughter Janelle entered in his life.
After World cup 2002 Henrik decided to quit the Swedish team, because he wanted to spend more time with his family. But during the Euroqualifers in 2003 his son Jordan asked why he didn't play for the Swedish team. Henrik really missed his team friends and decided to come back for the Eurocup in Portugal 2004, where Sweden reached the quarterfinal after a penelty shoutout against Holland.
He said to the coach Lasse Lagerbeck that he will play for Sweden until his career is finished. Next summer he will play in the World cup in Germany.
In August 2004 he signed for Barcelona and has a contract until 2007. - Tomas Brolin was born on 29 November 1969 in Hudiksvall, Gävleborgs län, Sweden. He is an actor, known for The Importance of Tying Your Own Shoes (2011), Friends in Need: Alla vi (1999) and Match of the Day (1964).
- Martin Dahlin was born on 16 April 1968 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden. He is an actor, known for Markoolio: Mera mål (2000), Match of the Day (1964) and 1992 UEFA European Football Championship (1992).
- Paul Ince was born on 21 October 1967 in Ilford, Essex, England, UK.
- Roy Keane was born on 10 August 1971 in Mayfield, Cork, Ireland. He is an actor, known for The Young Offenders (2018), The Joy of Pepsi (Foosball) (2001) and Pepsi - Inside the Man U Changing Room (1999). He is married to Teresa. They have five children.
- Michael Laudrup is the best Danish footballer of all time. He got his breakthrough as a footballer for Brøndby, and he signed for Italian giants Juventus in 1983 when he was 19 years old. The first two years in Italy were spent in Lazio on a loan spell. Then he joined Juventus in 1985 where he won the Italian championship. In 1989 he joined Barcelona, and he won both championships and also the European Champions League. In 1994 he joined rivals Real Madrid, and he also won the Spanish championship in the white shirt. In 1996 he joined Vissel Kobe in Japan, but after only one year he returned to Europe joining Dutch Ajax. He won the Dutch double with Ajax in 1998. This was also the year where he ended his career as a footballer, his last match was the World Cup quarter final Denmark-Brazil 2-3, he played his 104th national game for Denmark.
- Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who is a football commentator for Tudn . A prolific forward, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and is often regarded as the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. He was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and 1994, and received the Ballon d'Or in 1994. In 2004, Stoichkov was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
- Frank Rijkaard is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a midfielder or defender.
Rijkaard has played for AFC Ajax, Real Zaragoza and A.C. Milan and represented the Netherlands National Football Team side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his managerial career, he has been at the helm of the Netherlands National Football Team, Sparta Rotterdam, FC Barcelona, Galatasaray S.K. and the Saudi Arabia National Football Team.
On the international stage, Rijkaard made his debut for the Netherlands in 1981. He was part of the Dutch side that won 1988 UEFA European Football Championship (1988) with a 2-0 win in the final over the Soviet Union National Football Team. Rijkaard also played for the Netherlands during the 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy (1990) and 1994 FIFA World Cup USA (1994) and at 1992 UEFA European Football Championship (1992). - Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andriy Shevchenko was born on 29 September 1976 in Dvorkovshchina, Yahotyn Raion, Kiev Oblast, Ukrainian SSR [now Dvirkivshchyna, Ukraine]. He is an actor and assistant director, known for Ivan the Powerful (2013), L'allenatore nel pallone 2 (2008) and L'ultimo ultras (2009). He has been married to Kristen Pazik since 14 July 2004. They have four children.- Lilian Thuram was born on 1 January 1972 in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France. He is an actor, known for Disclaimer (2019), Simply Black (2020) and Nike - The Mission (2000).
- Marcel Desailly is a French former professional footballer, widely considered to be among the greatest center-backs and defensive midfielders to ever play football. During a successful career at club level, lasting from 1986 to 2006, Desailly won several titles, including UEFA Champions League medals with both Marseille and AC Milan, and also played for Nantes and Chelsea, among other teams. At international level, he collected 116 caps between 1993 and 2004, scoring 3 goals, and was a member of the France international squads that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
- Oliver Kahn is a German former footballer and one of the most celebrated goalkeepers in the history of the game. He started his career at hometown club Karlsruher SC, but was soon bought by Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, where he made his name. He is one of the most successful goalkeepers of all time, winning 8 Bundesliga trophies, the 1996 UEFA Cup and the 2001 Champions League. Kahn made 86 appearances for the German national side, where he won the Golden Ball at the World Cup 2002 as well as a runner's up medal.
- Alessandro Costacurta was born on 24 April 1966 in Orago, Italy. He is an actor, known for Forza, UEFA Champions League (1992) and 1992-93 UEFA Champions League (1992). He has been married to Martina Colombari since 16 June 2004. They have one child. He was previously married to Floriana Lainati.
- Bixente Lizarazu was born on 9 December 1969 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France. He is an actor and director, known for Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Bayern Munich (2003), Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich (2005) and Capital (2012).
- José Roberto Gama De Oliveira, known as Bebeto, is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian General Elections and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Rio DE Janeiro represents the Democratic Labour Party.
With 39 goals in 75 appearances for Brazil, Bebeto is the sixth highest goalscorer for his national team. He was the top scorer for Brazil at the 1989 Copa América when they won the tournament. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he formed a formidable strike partnership with Romário to lead Brazil to a record fourth World Cup title. He also generated headlines at the tournament for his goal celebration where he began rocking an imaginary baby after scoring against the Netherlands; his wife had given birth to their third child just days before. He was also a member of the Brazilian team that won the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup, while he won Olympic silver and bronze medals with Brazil at the 1988 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games respectively. In 1989, Bebeto was named South American Footballer of the Year.
In January 2013 and August 2014, Bebeto was named as one of the six Ambassadors of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Rio 2016 in Brazil, others being Ronaldo, Amarildo, Marta, Carlos Alberto Torres, Mário Zagallo. - Davor Suker is a Croatian former professional footballer and president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 to 2021. During his playing career, Suker featured as a striker. He began his footballing career in his hometown for local first division team NK Osijek as a 16-year-old. During his final season with the club, he became the league's top goal scorer. He made the move to sign for Dinamo Zagreb in 1989. The Croatian War of Independence halted a promising season for the 21-year-old, eventually resulting in Suker's move to Spanish club Sevilla in 1991.
- Demetrio Albertini was born on 23 August 1971 in Besana in Brianza, Lombardy, Italy.
- Actor
- Producer
Patrick Vieira is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at Cannes in 1994, where several standout performances in his debut season garnered him a move to Serie A club Milan a year later, though he had limited first-team playing time. In 1996, he relocated to England, where he was able to join his fellow countryman Arsène Wenger at Arsenal for a fee of £3.5 million.- Laurent Robert Blanc is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a center-back. He has the nickname Le Président, which was given to him following his stint at Marseille in tribute to his leadership skills.
Blanc played professional football for numerous clubs, including Montpellier, Napoli, Barcelona, Marseille, Inter Milan and Manchester United, often operating in the sweeper position. He is also a former French international, earning 97 caps and scoring 16 international goals. He represented the country in several international tournaments, including the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000, both of which France won. On 28 June 1998, Blanc scored the first golden goal in World Cup history against Paraguay. - Michael Owen is a former England footballer who played for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City. He claimed the Premier League Golden Boot twice and was the last English player to win the Ballon d'Or. Over the course of an impressive career, he won the FA Cup, Football League Cup (three times), UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Premier League title and appeared in three World Cups for England, amassing 89 caps. Michael is a co-owner of Manor House Stables racing yard near Chester and since retiring in 2013, he has been working as a pundit and co-commentator, an Ambassador for Bet Victor and Liverpool FC and alongside other commercial obligations, he has set up a football management company to help guide young players through their careers.
- Youri Raffi Djorkaeff is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward.
Throughout his club career, he played for teams in France, Italy, Germany, England, and the United States.
At international level, Djorkaeff scored 28 goals in 82 appearances with the French national team between 1993 and 2002. He won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, and the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, also taking part at Euro 1996 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He is the son of former player Jean Djorkaeff. On hanging up his boots in 2006 and after having played in France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and the US, Youri devoted himself to social projects, which eventually led him to establish the Youri Djorkaeff Foundation in 2014. He holds the position of CEO of the FIFA Foundation, following his appointment in September 2019. - Frank de Boer was born on 15 May 1970 in Hoorn, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. He is a director, known for Titan Outpost (2019), 1992 UEFA European Football Championship (1992) and UEFA Champions League (1992). He has been married to Helen van Haren since 28 December 1999. They have three children.
- Ariel Ortega was born on 4 March 1974 in Ledesma, Jujuy, Argentina. He is an actor, known for Claro Argentina (2012), Surfavela (1999) and Videomatch (1990). He was previously married to Danesa Molineris.
- Gheorghe Popescu is known for Legenda celor doua cruci (1925), Vitejii neamului (1926) and Napasta (1928).
- Carlos Valderrama was born on 2 September 1961 in Santa Marta, Colombia. He is an actor, known for Grampa (1996), The Trip 2 (2012) and Por un puñado de pelos (2014). He has been married to Elvira Redondo since 1993. They have two children. He was previously married to Claribeth Galván.
- Diego Simeone is an Argentine football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder.
He has been the manager of Atletico Madrid since December 2011. Simeone is considered to be a legendary figure in the history of Atletico Madrid, due to his achievements as a player and manager with them.
In his club career that started in 1987, Simeone played in Argentina, Italy, and Spain for Vélez Sarsfield, Pisa, Sevilla F.C., Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, S.S. Lazio and Racing Club de Avellaneda. He won a domestic double with Atletico Madrid in 1996, and the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998, also winning another domestic double with S.S. Lazio in 2000, as well as the 1999 UEFA Super Cup.
Simeone was capped over 100 times for the Argentina National Football Team and represented the country at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, and in four editions of the Copa América, winning the tournament in 1991 and 1993. He won the King Fahd Cup in 1992, and a silver medal at the Atlanta 1996: Games of the XXVI Olympiad (1996).
As a manager, Simeone has coached Argentine sides Racing Club de Avellaneda, Estudiantes de La Plata, River Plate, San Lorenzo and Italian club Catania before joining Spanish club Atletico Madrid in 2011. He won the Argentine Primera División both with Estudiantes and River Plate, and has had his biggest managerial success with Atletico Madrid, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey, two UEFA Europa Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, and being runner-up of the UEFA Champions League (1992) twice. - Brian Laudrup is a Danish former footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder.
He worked as a football commentator and analyst on Kanal 5. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for youth.
During his playing career which stalled due to injury, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby I.F., winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1993-94 Serie A as well as the 1994 UEFA Champions League (1992) title with A.C. Milan. He was a vital part of the Rangers F.C. team which dominated the Scottish Premier Division in the 1990s, winning three championships, among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup in his brief stint with English club Chelsea F.C., and had a brief spell with F.C. Copenhagen in Denmark, before ending his career with AFC Ajax in 2000.
Laudrup played 82 matches and scored 21 goals for the Denmark National Football Team, and was a vital part of the Danish teams which won 1992 UEFA European Football Championship (1992) and the 1995 Confederations Cup.
Laudrup won the Danish Football Player of the Year award a record four times. - Fabien Barthez is a French former footballer and racing driver who played as a goalkeeper.
At club level, he played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Olympique de Marseille, A.S. Monaco F.C., Manchester United F.C., and FC Nantes. At international level, he represented the France National Football Team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup France (1998), 2000 UEFA European Football Championship (2000), and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, representing his nation at a total of three editions of both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship; he also reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (2006), after which he retired from international football.
Barthez is France's most capped player in the FIFA World Cup, with 17 appearances at the finals and shares the record for the most World Cup finals clean sheets with Peter Shilton, with ten. In club football, he won the UEFA Champions League with Olympique de Marseille in 1993 as well as several Ligue 1 and Premier League titles.
After retiring from football in 2007, Barthez began a career in motorsport in 2008. - Michael Ballack was born on 26 September 1976 in Görlitz, German Democratic Republic. He is an actor, known for Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Eintracht Frankfurt (2000), Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Bayern Munich (2002) and Impossible Field (2005). He has been married to Simone Ballack since 14 July 2008. They have three children.
- Jan Koller is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was noted for his height, strong physique, and heading ability.
He began his career at Sparta Prague, then moved to Belgium, where he became the Belgian First Division top scorer with Lokeren. He won the league championship twice with R.S.C. Anderlecht and the Belgian Golden Shoe. In 2001, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Bundesliga title in his first season and scored 73 goals in 167 official games over five campaigns. He moved frequently in his later career, with stops in France, Germany and Russia.
Koller is the all-time top scorer for the Czech Republic National Football Team, with 55 goals in 91 appearances in a decade-long career starting in 1999. He represented the nation at three UEFA European Championships and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (2006). - Edwin van der Sar is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a member of the club's golden generation and was part of the Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995. A goalkeeper, he left Ajax for Juventus in 1999, where he spent two years before moving to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United in 2005. There he won a second Champions League title in 2008, making him one of just eight players at the time to have won the competition with more than one club. He retired as a professional in 2011, but briefly came out of retirement in 2016 to play a match for Dutch amateur team VV Noordwijk, for whom he had previously played as a youth. He played 130 times for the Netherlands national team, and was the nation's most-capped player until 2017, when he was overtaken by Wesley Sneijder.
Van der Sar is considered by critics and fellow players as one of the best goalkeepers of all time. He is also one of the most successful footballers ever, having won 26 major trophies in his career, mainly at Ajax and Manchester United. During the 2008-09 season, he set a world record by not conceding a league goal for 1,311 minutes. He is also the oldest player to win the Premier League, having done so in 2011 at the age of 40 years and 205 days. Van der Sar has won several individual awards, including Best European Goalkeeper in 1995 and 2009, and UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year in 2009. - Robert Pires is a French football coach and former professional player.
Pires played for French clubs F.C. Metz and Olympique de Marseille prior to his time with Arsenal F.C., where he won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles including the club's unbeaten season of 2003-04. A former France international, Pires earned 79 caps between 1996 and 2004 for his country, including winning both the 1998 FIFA World Cup France (1998) and UEFA Euro 2000 (2000). He has been included in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, was the Player of the Tournament for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, FWA Player of the Year for the 2001-02 season, Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year for the 1995-96 season, and was included in the FIFA 100 by Pelé. He was also voted by Arsenal F.C. fans as the 6th greatest player in the club's history.
Robert Pires played the majority of his career as a left winger, but could also play all across the midfield or in a position to support the forward line. Pires was coaching at Arsenal. - David Seaman was born on 19 September 1963 in Rotherham, Yorkshire [now South Yorkshire], England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Baby Juice Express (2004), Trevor's World of Sport (2003) and Operation Good Guys (1997). He has been married to Frankie Poultney since 7 February 2015. He was previously married to Debbie Rodgers and Sandra.
- Steve McManaman was born on 11 February 1972 in Liverpool, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Goal II: Living the Dream (2007), Liverpool FC & The Boot Room Boyz: Pass & Move (It's the Liverpool Groove) (1996) and 1996 UEFA European Football Championship (1996).
- Alan Shearer CBE is one of the all-time legends of English football and remains the greatest ever goalscorer in the Premier League with 260 goals. A childhood Newcastle United fan, he started his career playing for Southampton F.C. in 1988, but five years later was snapped up by Blackburn Rovers. Whilst there, he scored over 30 goals in three consecutive seasons and was part of Blackburn Rovers' only Premier League winning team in 1995. While playing for England under Terry Venables, he was also the top scorer of Euro '96 with five goals from playing in five games. Shearer became one of the most sought-after strikers in the world but he resisted the chance of a lucrative move to a foreign club or Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, and in 1996 he quit Blackburn to go back to the North East to become captain of Newcastle United. He joined the 'Geordies' in a deal worth £15 million - a then-world record.
He married his wife Lainya at the age of just 20 on June 8th 1991. He has two daughters, Chloe and Hollie. Quietly spoken, Shearer rejected much of the 'showbusiness' side of footballing fame, preferring to spend time with his family. As a consequence, the British tabloids branded him 'boring'. With good humour he capitalised on this image with an amusing advert for McDonalds and a cameo in the British comedy 'The Match' (1999). Because of his good looks and muscular physique, modest Alan was regularly voted 'Britain's Hunkist Footballer', much to his embarrassment.
Since retiring from football in 2006, he has been a regular football pundit on the BBC, often working with his England goal-scoring predecessor Gary Lineker. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Andy Cole was born on 15 October 1971 in Nottingham, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Football's 47 Best Worst Songs (2018), Nike - The Mission (2000) and UEFA Champions League (1992).- Dwight Yorke was born on 3 November 1971 in Canaan, Tobago. He is an actor, known for Pepsi - Manchester United vs Juventus Referee (1999), Nike - The Mission (2000) and The Joy of Pepsi (Foosball) (2001).
- Christian Karembeu was born on 3 December 1970 in Lifou, New Caledonia, France. He is an actor and writer, known for Kanak, l'histoire oubliée (2013), Joséphine, ange gardien (1997) and UEFA Champions League (1992). He was previously married to Adriana Karembeu.
- Thomas Häßler was born on 30 May 1966 in West Berlin, West Germany. He is an actor, known for Dit is Fußball! (2016), 1992 UEFA European Football Championship (1992) and 1996 UEFA European Football Championship (1996).
- Miroslav Klose was born on 9 June 1978 in Opole, Opolskie, Poland. He is an actor, known for SV Werder Bremen vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2005), UEFA Champions League (1992) and 2003-2004 Bundesliga. He is married to Sylwia. They have two children.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Gianluca Vialli was born on 9 July 1964 in Cremona, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for Lords of Football (2013), Dumar (2013) and Ramud Volume 2 (2018). He was married to Cathryn White-Cooper. He died on 6 January 2023 in London, England, UK.- Fabrizio Ravanelli was born on 11 December 1968 in Perugia, Umbria, Italy. He is an actor, known for Il maestro di lingue (2009), Emigratis (2016) and Premier Passions (1998).