He is the only player in football history who set world-record contract fees twice. The first, when he was transferred to Barcelona for a then world record £5m and the second, when he was transferred to Napoli for another record fee £6.9m. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals.
He played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 tournament, where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball
award as the tournament's best player. In that same tournament's
quarterfinal round, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history, though for two different reasons. The first goal was via an unpenalized handball known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal followed a 60 m (66 yd) dribble through six England players, voted "The Goal of the Century".
Maradona is considered one of the sport's most controversial and
newsworthy figures. He was suspended from football for 15 months in 1991
after failing a drug test, for cocaine, in Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup in the USA after testing positive for ephedrine. After retiring from playing on his 37th birthday in 1997, he gained weight, suffered ill health and the effects of cocaine use. In 2005, a stomach stapling
operation helped control his weight gain, and he overcame his cocaine
addiction. His outspoken manners have sometimes put him at odds with
journalists and sport executives. Although he had little managerial
experience, he became head coach of the Argentina national team in November 2008, and held the job for eighteen months, until his contract expired after the 2010 World Cup.
David Robert Joseph Beckham, (born 2 May 1975)is an English association footballer who currently plays for Los Angeles Galaxy. He has previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, A.C. Milan, as well as the England national team, for which he holds the all-time appearance record for an outfield player.
Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with
Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17.During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons,clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club.In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy,
signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy
player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010.
On 20 November 2011, he joined an elite group of players to have won
three league titles in three different countries, when Los Angeles won
their third MLS Cup.
In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996, at the age of 21. He was made captain from 15 November 2000 until the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, during which he played 58 times. He earned a much-publicised hundredth cap against France on 26 March 2008,and became the all-time outfield player appearance record holder on 28 March 2009 when he surpassed Bobby Moore's total of 108 caps.With 115 career appearances to date he has stated that he does not
intend to retire from international football, having missed the 2010 World Cup through injury and not featuring in England manager Fabio Capello's post-World Cup plans.
Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals.Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches.He is third in the Premier League's all time time assist provider chart, with 152 assists in 265 appearances.
When joining the MLS in 2007 he was given the highest player salary in
the league's history, with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the
next three years being worth US$6.5m per year.
He is married to Victoria Beckham
(previously Victoria Caroline Adams) and they have four children,
Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven. As of 2009,
the couple's joint wealth is estimated at £125 million.
A product of Barça's cantera, he initially left the club for Manchester United in 2004, where he remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first football club ever to complete The Sextuple. Piqué is one of four players to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.
Piqué has also represented the Spanish national team, making his debut on 11 February 2009. He played an integral role in the Spain team that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Piqué made his debut for Manchester United in October 2004, as a late replacement for John O'Shea in a 3–0 League Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra as a centre back. He made his full debut on 29 March 2006 against West Ham United, in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, playing at right back, as Gary Neville was unavailable through injury.
He played against his former club Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final on 27 May, which Barcelona won 2–0, hence completing a historic treble. On 26 February 2010, Pique signed a contract extension that will keep him at FC Barcelona until at least the summer of 2015. On 28 April 2010, Piqué scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Internazionale, scoring the only Barcelona goal of the game. Barcelona lost 3–2 on aggregate.
On 2 April 2011, Piqué scored the winning goal in an away La Liga
match against Villarreal CF, which saw Barcelona win 1–0, and hence
continue on top of the table for the 17th consecutive week, with an
8-point difference than second-place, longtime rivals, Real Madrid.
Gerrard is best known for his tremendous long-range striking ability and has scored in numerous cup finals, including the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final and the 2006 FA Cup Final.
Gerrard, who has spent his entire career at Anfield, made his début in 1998 and cemented his place in the first team in the 2000–01 season, succeeding Sami Hyypiä as Liverpool team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cup wins, two League Cup wins, a UEFA Cup win, and a UEFA Champions League win in 2005. In 2005, Gerrard came third in the voting for Ballon d'Or, given to the top player in Europe.
Gerrard made his international debut in 2000 and has represented England at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup, where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals. Gerrard is the current vice-captain of the England national football team. However, he captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand who missed the tournament through injury.
Gerrard is widely regarded as one of the greatest English footballers ever. Gerrard came second only to Kenny Dalglish in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, a Liverpool F.C. fan poll. Zinedine Zidane said in 2009 that he considers Gerrard one of the best footballers in the world.In 2010, The Guardian named Gerrard to their World XI team, which compiled the greatest footballers of all-time onto one squad.
Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha (born 17 November 1986), commonly known as Nani, is a Portuguese footballer currently playing as a winger for English club Manchester United in the Premier League and the Portugal national team. Although predominantly right-footed, he has been utilised on the left-wing on many occasions.
Nani was born in Cape Verde
and emigrated to Europe with his family at an early age. He was raised
in Portugal and began his football career playing for local side Real Massamá. At the age of 16, he began training with Sporting Clube de Portugal and S.L. Benfica
on alternate days, eventually joining Sporting's youth squad after they
offered him pre-season training. In 2005, he made his professional
debut with the club and won the Portuguese Cup during his second season with them. Nani was named the SJPF Young Player of the Month for May 2007 and his performances with Sporting culminated into a move to English club side Manchester United in July 2007 for a fee of €25.5 million. Nani won the Community Shield on his competitive debut at the club and has since added a number of trophies which included the Premier League and Champions League
during his debut season at the club. He has established himself as
first-choice winger at Manchester United and has won a further Premier
League title, the Football League Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, and three Community Shield titles. Individually, Nani has been included into the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Premier League Team of the Year on one occasion and was a nominee for the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2011.
Nani is also a Portugal international. Prior to playing at senior level, he played at under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in September 2006 in a friendly match against Denmark and scored his first international goal during the 4–2 defeat in Copenhagen. Since his debut, he has made 51 appearances and scored 12 goals for Portugal.
Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. He is occasionally utilised in a deeper playmaking role.
Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003 becoming the youngest player to represent England (a record later broken by Theo Walcott.) He is England's youngest ever goalscorer.He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer. Rooney featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and is widely regarded as his country's best player.[5][6][7][8][9][10] He has won the England Player of the Year award twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of September 2011, he has won 73 international caps and scored 28 goals.Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off twice.
Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside
club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004
summer transfer window. The same year, Rooney acquired the nickname
Wazza.Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League four times, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups.
He also holds two runner-up medals from both the Premier League and the
Champions League. In August of the 2011–12 season Rooney scored his
150th goal, becoming United's highest goalscorer since the inception of
the Premier League.
Rooney started the season with a goal in the first league game at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. Rooney played a cute one-two with Ashley Young
before a sharp turn and finish from outside the box which found the
bottom corner of the goal. He also scored in the second game of the
season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur, when he headed in a Ryan Giggs cross late in the game.In late August, Rooney scored his 150th goal for United, the first of a hat-trick, helping to demolish Arsenal 8–2. Rooney won man of the match, scoring two free kicks, a penalty, and also contributing an assist for Nani.
Inzaghi became the first striker to score in all international club competitions open to European teams after his double against Boca Juniors during the FIFA Club World Cup final in 2007.
Filippo Inzaghi is currently the second all time most prolific goal scorer in European club competitions with 70 goals only beaten by Raúl's
74 goals. He is also Milan's top international goal scorer in the
club's history with 43 goals. He also holds the record for most
hat-tricks in Serie A (10), and the UEFA Champions League (three – tied with Michael Owen).
Despite a very good tally of 89 goals in 165 games for the Bianconeri, Inzaghi was soon benched in favour of David Trézéguet, and later signed for A.C. Milan for reported 70 billion Italian Lire, or 45 million lire cash plus Cristian Zenoni.[citation needed][3] (Sky Sports reported a smaller total figure, £17M for the 2001–02 campaign by coach Fatih Terim. Juventus announced that the sale of Inzaghi produced a net profit of €31M to the club.However, Inzaghi 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. In the 2002–03 Champions League
campaign he scored his record third Champions League hat-trick against
Deportivo La Coruna in the Group stage and decisive goal in
quarter-finals against Ajax, totalling 12 European goals in that season.
In November 2004, he signed a contract extension.
