Sergio Aguero - Player Profile

Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born on June 2, 1988 in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine football forward, who plays for Atlético Madrid.

Agüero started playing for Argentine First Division club Independiente becoming the youngest player to debut in the Argentine First Division at only 15 years and 35 days (On July 7, 2003, against Club Atlético San Lorenzo), breaking the record previously established by Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

After the 2005-06 season Kun Agüero transferred to Spanish club Atlético Madrid, and is considered by the world press an up-and-coming talent, together with fellow countryman Lionel Messi. Having played for the Argentina national youth team, he made his senior debut for Argentina in a friendly with Brazil national football team played at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on September 3rd 2006.

Due to his fantastic performances, especially during the 2005 Torneo Apertura, the young star attracted the interest of several top European clubs.

In April 2006, it was reported that Atlético Madrid had "pulled off a stunning transfer coup in the signing of Independiente striker Sergio Agüero". That same day, Independiente denied the reports, but the player himself later told Argentinian television, "Although I still don't know what's going to happen to me, this could have been my last goal and my last game for Independiente".

On May 29, 2006, it was announced at a news conference that Atlético Madrid had completed a deal to sign the striker for an unknown fee, which is believed to be a figure close to £18 million.. Other clubs rumoured to be interested in signing the player included Bayern Munich, Palermo and Liverpool.

On 31st May 2006, Atlético Madrid confirmed that Sergio Agüero has signed a six year contract with the club after negotiating a transfer fee of 23 million euros with Independiente, thus making Agüero the club's most expensive player of all time.

On the 13th of December 2006, Atlético played a Copa Del Rey match against Levante. They had lost the first leg at home 1-0. Until the 91st minute it looked like disappointment for Atlético, but then Agüero shot past Levante's goalkeeper from a difficult angle, scoring his first Copa del Rey goal. As a result of that goal, Atlético proceeded to extra time which ended in a draw, and then won the penalty shootout 4-2, where Agüero also verified the victory by scoring the last goal to 4-2.

At the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada he scored twice and helped setup 3 goals in a 6-0 win over Panama in the second game of the group stage of the tournament. Aguero then scored the only goal Argentina's third match against North Korea from a free kick. Having qualified to the round of 16, he scored 2 of the 3 goals against Poland that would eventually give them the win (3-1)to advance and play Mexico in the quarter finals.

However, Agüero's greatest moment in the Atletico shirt was an equalising goal in the Camp Nou against big rivals Barcelona, in a match which finished 1-1. "Kun" made an excellent run across Puyol and received a through-ball, before slotting past Valdes in the Barca goal. That was his fifth goal for Atlético, number four in La Liga.

Personal information
Full name : Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo
Date of birth : June 2, 1988
Place of birth : Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height : 170 cm
Playing position : Forward

Club information
Current club : Atlético Madrid

Senior clubs
2003–2006 CA Independiente - 53 apps (23 goals)
2006–present Atlético Madrid - 38 apps (6 goals)

National team
2006 - Argentina - 3 apps (0 goals)

Frank Lampard - Player Profile

Frank James Lampard, Jr., (born 20 June 1978) is an English football player currently at Chelsea and previously with West Ham United and Swansea City. He is a central midfielder known for his powerful long-range shots and prolific goalscoring abilities from midfield.

Lampard was born in Romford, Havering, England. He is the son of Frank Lampard Sr., the former England full back and two-time FA Cup winner with West Ham United. His family is related to another famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Lampard was educated at Brentwood School, a boys' independent school in Brentwood, Essex.

A current England national team regular, Lampard is acknowledged as one of the most improved players in English football over the past three years. He has won the English Premiership twice (with Chelsea, 2004-05 and 2005-06), the F.A. Cup (with Chelsea, 2007) twice the League Cup (with Chelsea, 2005 and 2007), the FA Community Shield (with Chelsea, 2005), and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (with West Ham, 1999).

In November 2005 he was named runner-up to Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho in the European Footballer of the Year awards. A month later he finished in second place, once again behind Ronaldinho, in the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was also named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2005.

Lampard joined West Ham United, where his father was Assistant Manager, as an apprentice in July 1994 as part of their Youth System, and signed his professional forms on July 1, 1995.

In October 1995, he was loaned to Division Two team Swansea City. He made his league debut in the colours of Swansea City on 7 October, 1995 in a match against Bradford City that Swansea won 2-0. He made a total nine league appearances for Swansea, and another two in Cup competitions, scoring one goal, his first in senior football against Brighton & Hove Albion, before returning to West Ham United in January, 1996.

Lampard's debut for West Ham came on 31 January 1996 against Coventry City F.C., but he did not become a team regular that season. He then broke his right leg in a game against Aston Villa on 15 March 1997, ending his season prematurely.

Lampard's first goal for West Ham came in the 1997-98 season, in an away win against Barnsley. Lampard was a regular in the West Ham youth team and captained his side to the final of the FA Youth Cup in 1996.

The 1998-99 season was a prolific one for the young Lampard. He became a regular in the West Ham first team, not missing a single game throughout the season as the club finished fifth in the Premiership standings.

Lampard had formed the core of a talented young West Ham team along with players like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand. But after Ferdinand, a close friend of Lampard's, was sold to Leeds United in the 2000-01 season, and his father, and uncle Harry Redknapp left West Ham, Frank decided to leave as well. Despite reported interest from Aston Villa and Leeds United, Lampard chose to remain in London by joining Chelsea for a fee in the region of £11m.

Lampard has scored 90 goals for Chelsea (as of 13 May 2007), making him the top goalscorer currently at the club, and 10th highest in total. He is also the highest-scoring midfielder in Chelsea's history, having passed Dennis Wise's record of 76 goals on 17 December 2006.

Lampard is regularly accused by rival fans and as The Guardian puts it, "Frankophobes", of scoring goals from deflections. However, a report from The Guardian newspaper shows that only six of his goals (6,7%) for Chelsea have been scored in that way.

Lampard is the holder of the Premiership record of playing consecutive league matches dating back to October 13, 2001, set on November 26, 2005, breaking the previous record of 159 appearances by David James. The streak was broken on December 28, 2005, after 164 games, when Lampard was taken ill before Chelsea's game at Manchester City. Lampard's 16 goals in the 2005-2006 season is a record for a midfielder in the English Premier League, but this record was beaten by Cristiano Ronaldo on 5 May 2007 in a match against Manchester City.

Personal information

Full name : Frank James Lampard, Jr.

Date of birth : June 20, 1978

Place of birth : Romford, England

Height : 183 cm

Playing position : Midfielder

Club information

Current club : Chelsea

Number : 8

Youth clubs
1994–1995 West Ham United

Senior clubs
1994–2001 West Ham United - 148 apps (24 goals)
1995–1996 Swansea City (loan) - 9 apps (1 goals)
2001– ? Chelsea - 223 apps (61 goals)

National team
1997–2000 England U21 - 16 apps (8 goals)
1998 England B - 1 apps (0 goals)
1999–? England - 54 apps (12 goals)

Ronaldinho - Player Profile

Ronaldo de Assís Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre) is a Brazilian footballer, also known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho (due to him being from the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil), or simply and most commonly Ronaldinho. He became a naturalized Spanish citizen in January 2007.

Ronaldinho, meaning "little Ronaldo", is better known in Brazil by the nickname Ronaldinho Gaúcho, in order to distinguish him from Ronaldo (already called Ronaldinho in Brazil). However, upon Ronaldo's move to Europe, he began to be known simply as 'Ronaldo', thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop Gaúcho and remain simply as 'Ronaldinho'.

Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005), as well as the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award twice (2005, 2006). He has downplayed suggestions that he is the best footballer in the world, telling FourFourTwo magazine, "I don't even feel I'm the best at Barça."

Currently, he plays for Barcelona as a forward. His contract with FC Barcelona expires in 2010.


Ronaldinho was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Ronaldinho's mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and footballer for Cruzeiro. The family moved to a more affluent home in Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was eight, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family's pool. This house was given to Roberto Assis as a present from Gremio to convince him to stay at the club. At the time, Torino were interested in him. Injuries ended Roberto's career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's sister Deisi works as his press coordinator. Ronaldinho's son, named João after his father, was born on February 25, 2005. João's mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.

In his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team, at just 13 years of age.[4] His reputation as a footballer was built up through his childhood, particularly since he was identified as a rising star at the Egypt 1997 under-17 world championship. He scored two goals in the tournament, both penalty kicks.

Personal Information

Full name
Ronaldo de Assís Moreira

Date of birth
March 21, 1980

Place of birth
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Height
1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)

Playing position
Attacking midfielder

International Team
Brazil (1999-?) (74 Appearances / 29 Goals)

David Beckham - Player Profile

Beckham was born in Leytonstone, London, England the son of David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham, a kitchen fitter and Manchester United fan, and Sandra Georgina West, a hairdresser. He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford as a child. His maternal grandfather, Joseph West, is Jewish, and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish" and spoken of the influence the religion has had on him, although he is not known to practice Judaism or any other faith. In his book Both Feet on the Ground, he stated that growing up he always attended church with his parents and sisters.

His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel to Old Trafford from London to attend Manchester United's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session at FC Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. As a child he played for a local youth team called the Ridgeway Rovers coached by his father, Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby.

He was Manchester United's mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club, Leyton Orient, and attended Tottenham Hotspur's, which was the first club he played for, school of excellence. During a two year period in which he played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990. He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his fourteenth birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.

He was part of a group of young players at the club who guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, with Beckham scoring in the second leg of the final against Crystal Palace. He made his first appearance for United's first-team that year, as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and signed his first professional contract shortly afterwards. United reached the final of the Youth Cup again the following year, with Beckham playing in their defeat by Leeds United, and he won another medal in 1994 when the club's reserve team won their league.

He went to Preston North End on loan in the 1994–95 season to get some first team experience, then made his first Premier League appearance for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a goalless draw against Leeds United.

Personal Information

Full name
David Robert Joseph Beckham

Date of birth
May 2, 1975

Place of birth
Leytonstone, London, England

Height
183 cm

Playing position
Right Winger, Central Midfielder

National Team
England (1996 - ?) (96 Appearances / 17 Goals)

Zinedine Zidane - Player Profile

Zidane was born in Marseille on 23 June 1972 as the youngest of five children, and was raised in La Castellane, a government-sponsored housing project (cité HLM) in the city's northern suburbs (the Quartier Nord). His parents, Ismail and Malika were originally Berbers from the village of Aguemone, Algeria, from where they had immigrated to France. In 1993, Zidane married Véronique Zidane (born Lentisco), a former French dancer of Spanish origin whose parents live in Rodez, Aveyron, France. They have four sons: Enzo (born 24 March 1995 and named after the Uruguayan Football player Enzo Francescoli, Zidane's childhood hero), Luca (born 13 May 1998), Théo (born 18 May 2002), and Élyaz (born 26 December 2005).

Zidane got his start in football at a young age when he joined the junior team of US Saint-Henri, his local club in the La Castellane district of Marseille. At the age of 14, Zidane left Septemes and participated in the first year junior selection for the league championship, where Jean Varraud, AS Cannes' recruiter, took notice of him. Zidane went to Cannes for what was intended to be a six-week stay, but remained at the club for four years to play with professionals. Showing the determination of an athlete who wanted to exceed expectations, Zidane played his first game in First Division at the age of 17, and it was from then that football went from an ambition to a passion. The Cannes midfielder scored his first goal on 8 February 1991 (he received a Clio as a promise from the Cannes President, who promised him a car when he scored his first goal as a professional), and his first season with the club was marked by a qualification for the UEFA Cup. Zidane's second season with Cannes was not as promising, but on the non-professional front he met his future wife Veronique, a Spanish dancer. Afterwards, Zidane spent four years with FC Girondins de Bordeaux, leading them to victory in the 1995 Intertoto Cup and to a 2nd place in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup tournament. In Bordeaux, he met Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, with whom he played a set of midfield combinations that would become the trademark of both Bordeaux and the 1998 French national team. In 1996, he was transferred to Italy's Juventus F.C. for a fee of £ 3 million.

At Juventus, Zidane was one of the top players and playmaker of Marcello Lippi's team, along with Didier Deschamps, Alessandro Del Piero, Angelo Di Livio, Ciro Ferrara and Edgar Davids. His team won two Serie A titles and reached two consecutive UEFA Champions League finals, in 1997 and 1998, losing both, the latter to the Spanish club Real Madrid.

In 2001, Zidane was transferred to Real Madrid on a four-year contract. The transfer fee was €66m, around £45.6m, the highest in football history. His fellow Galacticos at Madrid included Raúl, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, and later Ronaldo and David Beckham. He scored a spectacular winning volley in a 2-1 win over the German team Bayer Leverkusen in the 2001-2002 Champions League final at Glasgow's Hampden Park.

On 7 May 2006, Zidane played his last home game for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. His team-mates wore special jerseys that had ZIDANE 2001–2006 written on the bottom of the club logo. The Real Madrid fans gave him a warm reception and kept cheering him throughout the game. The opposing team was Villarreal CF, and the game ended in a 3-3 draw, where he scored the second goal for Real Madrid. After the game, Zidane swapped jerseys with Juan Román Riquelme, the Villarreal CF and Argentinean midfielder. Zidane was given an ovation by spectators chanting "merci", which left him in tears.

Personal Profile

Full Name
Zinedine Yazid Zidane

Nick Name
Zizou

Date of Birth
23 June 1972

Place of Birth
Marseille, France

Height
185 cm

Playing Position
Attacking Midfielder

National Team
France (1994-2006) (108 appearances / 31 goals)

Senior Clubs

1988-1992
Cannes (61 appearances / 6 goals)

1992-1996
Bordeaux (135 appearances / 28 goals)

1996-2001
Juventus (151 appearances / 24 goals)

2001-2006
Real Madrid (155 appearances / 37 goals)