Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982 in Brasília, Brazil), simply known as Kaká, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazil and the Serie A club A.C. Milan. He is one of the budding young stars in world football.
Family Kaká's younger brother Rodrigo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, known as Digão, followed in his brother's footsteps and is currently on loan with Serie B team Rimini, after having spent some time in the AC Milan youth squad.
Nickname The nickname Kaká, from his native Portuguese, is pronounced as it is spelt. The accent would signify that the stress is on the second syllable. In Italian, the language of his current team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kakà, which is used for Italian television graphics. However, the player's shirt name is spelt KAKA' (with an apostrophe, rather than an accented 'A') for both Brazil and Milan. An internet discussion forum explains the nickname as a commonly used shortened form of "Ricardo" in Portuguese. Kaká is supposed to have got his nickname because his little brother Rodrigo could not pronounce the word "Ricardo" when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca\ Kaká suffered an accident when he made a faulty jump off a diving-board, resulting in a vertebra fracture. This could have meant the end of his football career, but he believes that Jesus allowed him to recover and become the successful footballer he is now. When AC Milan won the Serie A title in 2004, Ricky, as he is called by his team-mates, sported a shirt with an "I Belong to Jesus" slogan. He also points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks every time he scores, for apparently the same reason.
Marriage Kaká married Caroline Celico on 23 December 2005 at the evangelical Reborn in Christ Church in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a wedding attended by fellow players from his national team, as well as other well known international players. Guests included Ronaldo, Adriano, Cafu, Dida, Julio Baptista and Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline and Kaká first met in 2002, and started dating soon after. The relationship survived Kaká's move from Sao Paulo to Italy in 2003, while Caroline was still at school. It is likely that Caroline will stay in Brazil in the short-run, but the couple plan to live together in Italy very soon. source: wikipedia.org
Born Edson Arantes Do Nascimento (better known as Pelé) is known as a legend and the best soccer player to ever play the game. He was raised in a very poor family in Tres Coracos, Brazil and his parents, Dondinho and Celeste Nascimento called Edson "Dico," growing up.
He first learned the game of soccer from his father, Dondinho, who was a decent center forward until his career was halted by a fractured leg.
Pelé began playing soccer for a local minor-league club when he was a teenager. When he wasn't playing soccer he shined shoes for pennies. He was discovered at the age of 11 by one of the country's premier players, Waldemar de Brito. When Brito brought Pelé to Sao Paulo he declared to the disbelieving directors of the professional team in Santos, "This boy will be the greatest soccer player in the world."
He was right! Pelé's impact was immediate! On his first appearance for the team, against Corinthians F.C., he scored a goal right away. He was only 16. Pelé went on to play in four World Cups with Brazil's National Team. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden -- one he nearly missed because of a knee injury -- Pelé stunned the world scoring six goals, including two in the championship game to help Brazil win its first World Cup 5-2 over Sweden. He was only 17 years-old, but a legend was born.
An average-sized man, he was blessed with speed, great balance, tremendous vision, the ability to control the ball superbly, and the ability to shoot powerfully and accurately with either foot and with his head.
Four years later he played on Brazil's World Cup team at in the finals in Chile, but an injury suffered in the first game of the tournament prevented him from helping Brazil win its second title.
Wealthy European clubs offered massive fees to sign the young player, but the government of Brazil declared Pelé an official national treasure to prevent him from being transferred out of the country.
At the 1966 World Cup in England, Pelé was the victim of some brutal tackles from Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders and left the finals injured and in tears. But the best of Pelé was still to come.
At the 1970 finals in Mexico, the 29-year-old Pelé, led one of the greatest teams ever assembled to win Brazil's third World Cup. In the 4-1 title triumph over Italy, Pelé, scored a glorious goal. It was Brazil's 100th World Cup goal, and the one he remembers the most.
"I have a special feeling for that goal because I scored it with my head," he said. "My father was a soccer player and once scored five goals in a game, all with his head. That was one record I was never able to break."
Pelé's statistics are staggering. During his career he scored 1,280 goals in 1,360 games, second only to another Brazilian, Arthur Friedenreich, who recorded 1,329 goals. He scored an average of a goal in every international game he played--the equivalent of a baseball player's hitting a home run in every World Series game over 15 years.
At the club level he shattered records in Brazil. He scored 127 goals for Santos F.C. in 1959, 110 in 1961 and 101 goals in 1965, and led the club to two World Club championships.
Pelé also holds the world record for hat tricks (92) and the number of goals scored on the international level (97). His statistics are all the more amazing when compared to today's top players who can barely score more that 30 goals in a season.
He retired from the game in 1974, but came out of retirement the following year to play in the North American Soccer League for the New York Cosmos for just over two seasons. A reported 7-million-dollar contract for three years made him the highest paid soccer player of the North American Soccer League.
His appearance in the NASL gave the American League instant credibility and made millions of Americans aware of the sport, he dubbed the "beautiful game." He said he came out of retirement, not for the money, but to "make soccer truly popular in the United States."
During his career he played in 93 full internationals for Brazil and in all first class matches scored a remarkable 1,280 goals, second only to Artur Friedenreich, another Brazilian, who holds the world record with 1,329.
In many ways, Pelé was the complete athlete. With his skill and agility, he could have played in any position on the field, but he chose on wearing the number-10 shirt as an inside-left forward. He had great balance, which enabled him to dribble effortlessly around defenders, and his heading ability was remarkable.
On Oct. 1, 1977, Pelé's mission in the NASL ended. His last match, an exhibition game between the Cosmos and Santos, was sold out six weeks beforehand, covered by 650 journalists and broadcast in 38 nations. Muhammad Ali embraced him in the locker room before the match and said, "Now there are two of the greatest." In a speech to dignitaries, celebrities and more than 75,000 fans, Pelé urged his audience to pay attention to the children of the world. At his request, the assemblage shouted, "Love! Love! Love!" Then he went out and played the first half for the Cosmos -- scoring a goal on a rocket from 30 yards out -- and the second half for Santos.
On Pelé's retirement, J.B. Pinheiro, Brazil's ambassador to the U.N., said Pelé had "spent 22 years playing soccer, and in that time he has done more for goodwill and friendship than all of the ambassadors ever appointed."
In addition to his great accomplishments in soccer, he published several best-selling autobiographies, starred in several documentary and semi-documentary films, and composed numerous musical pieces, including the entire sound track for the film 'Pelé' (1977). He was the 1978 recipient of the International Peace Award, and in 1980 he was named athlete of the century.
In 1993, Pelé was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame and is the former ambassador of sports in Brazil. He has also done extensive work for children's causes through UNICEF.
In 2000, Pelé was named second for the "Sportsman of the Century" award. The legendary Muhammad Ali got the honors.
Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Cavaliere Ufficiale (born August 9, 1973 in Piacenza) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan.
Club career
The brother of fellow footballer Simone Inzaghi, Inzaghi got his start playing for hometown club Piacenza Calcio as a teenager in 1991, but made only two appearances before being loaned to Serie C1 side Leffe, with whom he scored an impressive 13 goals in 21 matches. In 1993, Inzaghi moved to Serie B club Verona and scored 13 goals in 36 appearances. Upon his return to Piacenza, he scored 15 times in 37 games and proved himself as an exciting young prospect.
Inzaghi made his Serie A debut when he transferred to Parma in 1995, but scored only twice in 15 matches. He moved on to Atalanta the following season, finishing as the Capocannoniere (Serie A's top scorer) with 24 goals.
Juventus
However, he was soon on the move once again to his seventh team in seven seasons, this time to Juventus. He formed a formidable attacking partnership along with Alessandro Del Piero and Zinédine Zidane, a tandem which would last for four seasons, marking Inzaghi's longest stint with one team at the time. Juventus won the Scudetto in the 1997-98 season, but lost 1-0 in the Champions League final to Real Madrid.
Milan
Despite a solid tally of 58 goals in 122 games for the Bianconeri, Inzaghi was soon benched in favor of David Trézéguet, and he was bought by Milan for the 2001-02 campaign by Fatih Terim, but suffered a knee injury and missed the first half of the season. Upon his return, he was able to forge a strong goalscoring partnership with Andriy Shevchenko, and he soon racked up an impressive trophy count with the Rossoneri, among them the 2002-03 Champions League (in which Milan defeated his previous team, Juventus, in the final on penalties), along with the 2003 Coppa Italia and the 2003-04 Scudetto. He signed a contract extension in November 2004. Inzaghi was able to fully recover from persistent knee injuries that had dogged him for two years, as he also regained his predatory goalscoring form by scoring 12 goals in 22 Serie A matches in 2005-06, along with four scores in five CL appearances. On May 23, 2007, in the 2007 Champions League final in Athens, he scored both of Milan's goals in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool in a rematch of the 2005 final. He declared after the match:
It's a dream since I was a child to score twice in the final, and the ones I scored yesterday evening were the most important in my life. It was an unforgettable game. It's something that will stay with me all my life and two goals in the final speaks for itself.
At the start of the 2007-2008 season he picked up where he left off in Athens, scoring the equalizer in the Super Cup in Milan's 3-1 victory over Sevilla, a game in which he controversially celebrated his goal despite all the other goal scorers of the game (Renato, Marek Jankulovski and Kaká) not doing so, showing respect for the late Sevilla player Antonio Puerta. Inzaghi capped off the year by scoring two goals in the final of the 2007 Club World Cup, helping Milan win 4-2 against Boca Juniors to take revenge for the defeat on penalties in 2003.
On 24 February 2008, Inzaghi scored the matchwinning goal in Milan's 2-1 win over Palermo with a diving header; it marked his first Serie A goal in over a year. This was followed by ten more goals in the league, the last against Udinese. This strike against Udinese was his goal number 100 for the club in official games. In November 2008, he agreed for a contract extension to June 2010.[5] On 8 March 2009, Inzaghi scored his first hat-trick of the season against Atalanta when they won by 3-0 home at San Siro. His 300th career goal came in the 4-1 thrashing of Siena away from home. He then went on to score three goals against Torino, his second professional hat-trick in as many months.
European competition records
Inzaghi became the first player to score two Champions League hat tricks (both with Juventus) when he netted a treble during a 4-4 group stage draw with Hamburg on 13 September 2000; his first was in a 4-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv during the 1997-98 quarterfinals.
He scored his 62nd career European goal, and 33rd overall for Milan, in a 3-0 Champions League group stage win over Shakhtar Donetsk on 6 November 2007. This achievement put him level with Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller on UEFA's all-time scoring list.Inzaghi surpassed Müller after netting his 63rd career goal during Milan's final group stage match against Celtic on 4 December 2007. However, Raúl of Real Madrid scored a brace on 10 December 2008 in a game against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League, which put Raúl ahead of Inzaghi in the goal count.
International career
Inzaghi earned his first cap for Italy against Brazil on June 8, 1997, and has since scored 25 goals in 57 appearances. He was called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Inzaghi was Italy's top goalscorer during the qualifying rounds of the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, but missed the latter due to injury.
His persistent knee and ankle injuries put a halt to his international play for almost two years before his resurgence at the club level, which resulted in his being called up by Italy coach Marcello Lippi for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. Inzaghi made his only appearance in a group stage match against the Czech Republic on 22 June 2006, scoring his one goal of the tournament against Petr Čech in a one-on-one encounter.
He is currently the sixth-highest goalscorer in team history with 25 goals, which ties him with Adolfo Baloncieri and Alessandro Altobelli.
Name : Adriano Leite Ribeiro Born in : 17 february 1982 Birth's place : Rio de Janeiro, Brasile Height : 189 cm Weight : 87 kg Position : Striker Shirt's number : 10 Nickname : Imperatore or dinamite
Adriano Leite Ribeiro (born February 17, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro), known simply as Adriano, is a popular Brazilian footballer. Some of his clubs include Flamengo, Fiorentina, Parma, and his current club, Internazionale of Milan. Adriano, weighs 91 kg and is 189 cm tall. He is known for his agility, strength, balance, and ball control.
Adriano began his career in the youth squad of Flamengo, and played in the pro squad between 1999 to 2001.
Adriano entered the national youth teams as a teenager. He won the 1999 edition of the FIFA U-17 World Championship, and helped the Brazil team to the Quarter Finals of the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship; he was the top scorer for Brazil with 6 goals and won the silver boot award for the competition, with 5 goals, just behind the golden boot winner, Argentinian striker Javier Saviola.
Adriano came to international fame in his first appearance for Inter Milan, when he scored against Real Madrid in the 2001 Santiago Bernabeu Trophy with a powerful free kick. With Inter already boasting first-class strikers, they loaned him out to Fiorentina during 2002.[1] In the summer of 2002, a 2 year co-ownership deal with Parma of the player was agreed.[2] In Parma, he formed one of the most impressive striking duos of Serie's A last decade with Adrian Mutu. They scored more than 15 goals with assists from each other. Adriano's kicks are strong and accurate, though sometimes lacking technical execution.
He returned to the Nerazzurri in 2004 and signed 4 and a half year contract and has since been an asset to the team.[3] He has scored a total of 15 goals in his 16 appearances during the 2004-05 season. While playing for the Brazilian national team, he won the 2004 Copa América in Peru. Adriano was the leading goal scorer of the tournament and was selected as the best player.
Adriano is often considered as the long-term successor to Ronaldo in the Brazillian national team. When he scores a goal, he looks to the sky in memory of his recently deceased father. In Italy, he is known by the nickname of "L'Imperatore" ('The Emperor'), referring to the Roman emperor Hadrian (Adriano in Italian).
He had been linked with moves to Chelsea and Real Madrid, but this rumor was put to rest after Adriano signed a four-year contract extension in 2005 that will keep him with Inter until 2010. "It's flattering that so many prestigious clubs want him," Giacinto Facchetti, Inter Milan's club president, told journalists, "but we're keeping tight hold of him." However, after a somewhat dissapointing 2005/2006 season with only 13 league goals and some poor performances, he has again been linked with a move away to Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter's city rivals, AC Milan as they look for a replacment for Andriy Schevchenko. During the 2005 Confederations Cup, Adriano was named Player of the Tournament and was the competition's leading scorer with five goals. In the final, he steered Brazil to an unforgettable victory. Two outstanding goals helped Brazil to beat Argentina 4-1, the first one coming from a blistering left-footed shot in the 11th minute. The second came as a result of a Cicinho cross, with Adriano heading it in. This goal was also impressive because Brazil's players passed the ball among themselves for more than one minute, with most of the players 'participating' in the goal.
From 11 July 2004 through 25 June 2005, Adriano has scored an impressive total of 40 goals. They have come from an assortment of matches (28) including appearances in: Serie A, Coppa Italia & Champions League games for Inter in 2004/05; Copa America, South American World Cup qualifying, and Confederations Cup games for Brazil.
Adriano was called up to the Brazilian National side ahead of the World Cup in Germany. He is expected to line-up alongside Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka in an impressive attacking foursome. Brazil are favourites to lift the cup.
Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960, in Villa Fiorito, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was raised in an underprivileged family and spent his adolescence playing football in the streets of his neighborhood.
He made his debut at the age of 16 and throughout his professional career he played 692 official games scoring 352 goals. He played 90 games for the Argentine National Team and scored 33 goals, 8 of them in world cups. He was a five time maximum scorer and got 10 titles with: National Juvenile World Cup (1979), Boca Juniors (1981), Barcelona (Copa del Rey 1983), World Cup (Mexico, 1986), Napoli (Scudetto 1987 and 1990); Italian Cup (1987), UEFA Cup (1989), Italian Supercup (1991) and Artemio Franchi Cup (1993).
His first team was called Estrella Roja (Red Star) and was founded by his father for the neighborhood boys. One of the players was Gregorio "El Goyo" Carrizo, who played in the lower divisions of Argentinos Juniors, and who helped Diego to be part of the team called "Los Cebollitas" (the small onions). With only 14 years of age, he astounded the public at his first game with the team and gained reputation and respect as a player. With "Los Cebollitas" he kept a winning spree of over one hundred games.
At 16 he made his debut in the first division of the club Argentinos Juniors and soon after he scored his first goal against San Lorenzo de Mar del Plata. He played for Argentinos Juniors until 1980, totaling 166 games where he scored 115 goals.
In 1977, he debuted with the Argentine National Team against Hungary and in the 1978 World Cup, Menotti (National Teams' coach) excluded him from the team arguing lack of experience.
In the Juvenile World Cup held in Japan in 1979, Maradona was the captain and the team had an implacable campaign winning the Juvenile World Champion in Tokyo.
Afterwards, Diego signed with the Boca Juniors Athletic Club and played his first game with them in 1981 scoring 2 goals against Talleres de C?rdoba team and the team eventually won the national championship by Diego Armando Maradona's hand.
In 1984 he began to play for the Italian club "Napoli" and debuted at the San Paolo stadium during the Italian Cup where he scored the winning goal. From then on, Diego started a winning spree with Napoli and earned them their first championship (Scudetto) in the history of the club during the '86-'87 season.
In the 1986 World Cup Championship, held in Mexico, the Argentine National Team led by the coach Carlos Bilardo obtained the world's title after defeating Germany 3-2 in the final game.
The most controversial game of the championship was against England where Diego scored two goals. The first one was very questioned by the famous maneuver later called "La Mano de Dios" (God's Hand) where it was argued that Maradona used his hand to score the goal, while the second goal is considered to be the best goal of all the times. Diego took the ball behind the midfield line and after avoiding all the English players who were trying to stop him, he kept going and scored. In the decade of 1990, his reputation and his ability were damaged by his addiction to drugs, which he tried to control in various opportunities, including a detoxification in a clinic in Cuba. In July of 1990, Maradona played his second final in a World Cup, Italy ' 90, where Germany defeated Argentina for 1-0.
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.
Full name: Luis Lionel Andrés Messi Birth day: June 24, 1987 Birthplace: Rosario, Argentina Nationality: Argentinian Other nationality: Spanish EU passport: Yes Height: 169 cm Weight: 67 kg Club: FC Barcelona Position: Forward Debut: 17 November 2003
Lionel Andrés Messi (born June 24, 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine football (soccer) player.
Lionel Messi started playing football at a very early age in his hometown's Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11, he suffered from a hormone deficiency and as Lionel's parents were unable to pay for the treatment in Argentina, they decided to move to Barcelona, Spain.
In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium. The following championship-winning season, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1).
With several first team players seriously injured, the services of several reserve team players were called upon, and Messi became a regular feature of Barça squads. On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona - against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old.
He was offered the chance to play for the Spain national football team, but declined, prefering to wait for the opportunity to play for the country of his birth. In June 2004 he got his chance, playing in a U-20 friendly match against Paraguay. Lionel Messi wearing FC Barcelona's colorsIn June 2005 he starred for the Argentina U-20 team that won the Football World Youth Championship played in The Netherlands. Messi picked up the Golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals, and the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. Despite his youth, Lionel has already drawn comparisons with Diego Maradona, arguably the best football player of all time.
On September 25, 2005 Messi obtained a Spanish citizenship and was finally able to make his debut in this season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play because FC Barcelona had filled up all of their quota of non-EU players.
Messi's first outing in the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp was on Sept 28 against Italian club Udinese. He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd Nou Camp faithful. On December of that year, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, over Wayne Rooney and Lukas Podolski
In September 2005, Messi was given an improved and extended contract until 2014. source: wikipedia.org GNU Free Documentation License
