Nov 8, 2010
Alexandre Pato
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish footballer of Bosnian and Croatian heritage, who currently plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team.
Ibrahimović started his career at Malmö FF in the late 1990s under Roland Andersson. He was signed by Ajax, and made a name for himself under Ronald Koeman. Years later, he signed with Juventus for €16 million. Ibrahimović gained fame in Serie A while having a striking partnership with David Trézéguet. In 2006, he signed with league rival Internazionale, where he won individual awards such as theOscar del Calcio, the Guldbollen, and being named in the 2007 UEFA Team of the Year, in addition to finishing as the league's highest scorer in 2008–09 while winning three straight Scudetti. In the summer of 2009, he transferred to FC Barcelona before moving to AC Milanthe next season.
As of February 2009, Ibrahimović and Kaká were the highest-paid football players in the world, each with an annual salary of €9 million. He currently holds the record for the second highest transfer fee in football history, (next only to Cristiano Ronaldo) with a total of €69 million for his transfer from Internazionale to Barcelona.
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chelsea and at international level for the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for both his club side and national side.[3] He plays most often as a box-to-box midfielder and has also enjoyed spells in a more advanced attacking midfield. He is considered to be one of the best footballers in the world.[4][5][6][7]
Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club. He had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish 5th in the Premier League, their highest ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million.
From his debut onwards he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team, setting a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances. He established himself as a prolific scorer at the West London club and was a key part of the sides which won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest paid Premier League footballer at that time,[8] and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. On 23 December 2009, he was named the Premier League's Player of the decade by official statistics.[9]. In the 2009-10 season Lampard won the Premier League title and FA Cup (domestic cup double) also he had his best prolific season with Chelsea scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists [10].
Lampard has won the Chelsea Player of the Year award three times and is Chelsea's 3rd all-time goalscorer with 158 goals in all competitions, including over 100 league goals, the most in the club's history for a midfielder. Lampard is the highest goalscoring midfielder in Premier League history with 129 league goals[11] and he's 2nd in the Premier League's all-time assists table with 156 assists [12]. Also Lampard completes over 1400 successful passes and has 10 or more assists every season.[13]. In 2005, Lampard was voted second place in both the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year and the 2005 Ballon d'Or.
Internationally, Lampard has been capped 82 times by England since making his debut in October 1999, and has scored 20 goals. He was voted England player of the year for two consecutive years in 2004 and 2005. He played in Euro 2004, where he was named in the team of the tournament after scoring three goals in four games. He was top scorer for England in their successful2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, and played in the 2006 World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers he scored four goals, helping England qualify for the tournament proper in South Africa.
Van Der Vaart
Cesc Fàbregas
Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsɛsk ˈfaβɾəɣəs]; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder. He captains the Premier League side Arsenal and also plays for the Spanish national team.
Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with Barcelona but was signed by Arsenal in September 2003 at the age of 16. Following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, he established himself as Arsenal's starting central midfielder and playmaker. He went on to break several of the club's records, earning a reputation as one of the best young players for his position.
In international football, the Spaniard's national career began when he represented the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. As a result of his club performances, he was called up to the senior squad in 2006. He has played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup, helping Spain to become eventual winners in the two most recent tournaments.
Michael Essien
Michael Kojo Essien (also known as Mickaël Essien; born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for English club Chelseain the Premier League and Ghana national team. He is a midfielder who has often been touted as a box-to-box midfielder for his ability to exert boundless energy in supporting offensive and defensive play. Essien can also play in the defending position as a right back or centre back.
Essien began his career playing for Liberty Professionals in his home country. In 2000, he moved to France joining SC Bastia. Essien spent three seasons at the club appearing in over 60 matches before joining league champions Olympique Lyonnais in 2003. At Lyon, Essien won back-to-back league titles in 2003–04 and 2004–05 and also played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. During his five-year stint in France, he acquired French citizenship. In 2005, Essien signed with Chelsea for a fee of £24.4 million and, at the time of his signing, was the most expensive African footballer in history. At Chelsea, Essien helped the club win the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, as well as three FA Cups and one Football League Cup. In 2008, he appeared in the UEFA Champions League Final.
Essien is a Ghanaian international. At youth level, he represented his country at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with the latter team finishing as runner-up. Essien made his senior team debut in January 2002 and has represented his nation at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where Ghana reached the Round of 16. He is often referred to as the Bison for his tough tackling style, boundless energy and physical presence on the pitch.
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando ˈtores]; born 20 March 1984), nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish),[4] is a Spanish footballer who plays for Liverpool and the Spain national team as a striker.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in theSegunda División, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player, since Robbie Fowler in 1995–96, to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009.
He is also a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in four major tournaments, UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He did not score a goal at UEFA Euro 2004, but he scored three at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Torres scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, which included the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the Final. He won the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Spain, despite himself not scoring any goals.
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