David Beckham

Name: David Robert Joseph Beckham
Nicknames: Becks, Goldenballs, DB7

Nationality: English

Date and Place of Birth: 2nd May 1975, Leytonstone, London, England.

Playing Position: Right midfield / central midfield

Current Club: Los Angeles Galaxy (Major League Soccer)

Previous Clubs: 1993–2003 Manchester United - 265 appearances, 61 goals
1995 Preston North End (loan) - 5 appearances, 2 goals
2003–2007 Real Madrid

2007 - present LA Galaxy

International Career: 1996 – present England

Former England captain.

Family: Wife: Victoria Beckham (a.k.a. Posh Spice)
Children: 3 sons (Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz)

About David Beckham:

As perhaps the most famous footballer on the planet, David Beckham should need no introduction. As famous for his pop star wife, his ever changing hairstyles and his multimillion pound endorsement deals with major worldwide companies such as Adidas and Gillette as he is for his football, David Beckham truly transcended the boundaries between football as a sport and as a promotional tool for the larger Beckham celebrity brand.

As a player he burst onto the scene as a fresh faced goalscoring midfielder at Manchester United in the mid 1990s and became the poster boy for that generation of talent nurtured by Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford which dominated English club football throughout the 1990s.

A dead ball specialist, Beckham was never blessed with great pace however his fantastic passing and crossing ability from wide areas and a high work ethic made him one of European football's hottest properties on the way to collecting numerous English Premiership and FA Cup titles as well as the European Cup in 1999 as part of Manchester United's legendary treble winning side.

As his notoriety increased after his sending off in the World Cup in 1998 Beckham's career continued to rise to make him England captain and second only to Rivaldo as European Footballer of the Year in 1999. As Beckham's off field fame grew, his relationship with mentor Sir Alex Ferguson deteriorated culminating in the infamous boot kicking incident in the Manchester United dressing room which saw Beckham sporting a cut head. The relationship between the two never recovered and Beckham eventually moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2003.

At Madrid the Beckham commercial machine went into overdrive as the most recognisable face in world football cashed in on his now worldwide appeal as a member of Real Madrid's "galactico" collection.

For England, Beckham scored in three separate World Cups and captained his country for six years, playing 94 times and scoring 17 international goals.

Beckham announced in January 2007 that he wouldn't be renewing his contract at Real Madrid and had signed a five year deal with Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer effective from July 2007 and worth a reputed £128 / $250 million.

His arrival at LA Galaxy in July 2007 saw a media frenzy as the US press and public rushed to catch a glimpse of the new "saviour" of Major League Soccer.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Nationality: Swedish

Date and Place of Birth: Born October 3, 1981 in Malmo, Sweden

Playing Position: Striker

Current Club: Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)

Club Career: 1999-2001 Malmo FF
2001-2004 Ajax
2004-2006 Juventus
2006–present Inter Milan

International Career: 2001–present - Sweden

About Zlatan Ibrahimovic:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was born in 1981 and has succeeded in rising to the top level of European football to be considered as one of the strongest and talented current strikers. Ibrahimovic grew up as a child in Malmo, Sweden and began playing football at the tender age of ten for a local club side. Ibrahimovic had an obvious talent and his impressive performances led him to join Malmo FC in 1995.

Ibrahimovic’s performances soon drew attention from larger clubs with Malmo turning down a request from English Premier League side Arsenal FC for the young man’s signature. Arsenal were not the only club interested in Ibrahimovic and he soon signed for Ajax in 2001.

At Ajax, Ibrahimovic forced himself into first team contention and secured his place as an integral member of the team. At Ajax, Ibrahimovic received the opportunity to showcase his talents on the European stage competing in the Champion’s League and gaining admiration for his strong and imposing performances.

Following a confrontation with fellow Ajax team mate Rafael van der Vaart, Ibrahimovic left the club signing for Italian giants Juventus. At Juventus, Ibrahimovic quickly stamped his authority on the team becoming a regular and he continued to impress with his prolific scoring ability. Due to his outstanding efforts Ibrahimovic received a nomination for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year. However, the following season saw Ibrahimovic struggle to score consistently and pressure mounted. After Juventus were relegated due to a match fixing scandal Ibrahimovic left the club for fellow Italian side Inter Milan.

At Inter Milan Ibrahimovic has shown consistent form helping the club to secure the Scuddetto at the end of the 2006-07 season. Ibrahimovic’s strong performances led him to be compared to legend Marco Van Basten and it is clear that he has a bright future in front of him.

Ibrahimovic plays for the Swedish national side and has competed in the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup as part of the Sweden squad.

Gigi Buffon

Nationality: Italian

Date and Place of Birth: Born January 28, 1978 in Carrara, Italy

Playing Position: Goalkeeper

Current Club: Juventus (Italian Serie A)

Club Career: 1995-2001 Parma
2001-Present Juventus

International Career: 1997 – Present - Italy

About Gigi Buffon:

Born into a family of athletes in Carrara, Italy in January 1978, Gianluigi Buffon always seemed destined to become a professional sportsman in his own right. Eschewing the athletic background of his parents, young Buffon followed in the footsteps of his grandfather's cousin, Lorenzo Buffon, a former Inter Milan and Italian international goalkeeper during the 1950s and 1960s.

Gigi Buffon worked his way through the youth ranks at Parma and was signed as a professional at the age of 17 in 1995, going on to make his Serie A debut for the club against AC Milan that year and winning the UEFA Cup with Parma in 1999.

Buffon went on to make 168 appearances for Parma while building a reputation as one of Europe's best young goalkeeping talents and it wasn't long until the major clubs starting looking his way. Juventus won the auction for Buffon's services in 2001 and paid Parma a world record fee of over £32m for the 23 year old shot stopper. Personal accolades such as UEFA's Most Valuable Player Award and Best Goalkeeper Awards have continued to add to Buffon's trophy cabinet alongside notable club and international successes as Scudetto champions with Juventus and in 2006 a World Cup victory with Italy.

The Calciopoli scandal which saw Juventus relegated to Serie B did not scare Buffon away from the club and he duly helped the club to the Serie B title in 2006/2007 as they battled their way back to Serie A in only one season.

Buffon's international career began as a 19 year old when he replaced the injured Gianluca Pagliuca in goal but it was to be a few years before he made the position his own. Buffon's greatest career triumph has to be the 2006 World Cup where he kept a 453-minute scoreless streak as he helped propel Italy to World Cup glory.

Kaka

Name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite
Nicknames: Kaká, The Golden Boy

Nationality: Brazilian

Date and Place of Birth: April 22, 1982 in Brasília, Brazil

Playing Position: Midfield

Current Club: A.C. Milan (Italian Serie A)

Club Career History: 2001-2003 São Paulo - 58 appearances, 23 goals
2003-present A.C. Milan

International Career: 2002-present Brazil

About Kaka:

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, or Kaká as he is better known, began developing his football talents at an early age in Brazil. However his footballing career was nearly brought to a premature end when in September 2000 at age 18 Kaká suffered a possible paralysis-inducing spine fracture as a result of a pool accident. Despite this career threatening injury Kaká made a full recovery and made his debut at Sao Paulo FC in 2001.

Kaká scored 22 goals in 49 appearances for Sao Paulo FC over the next two seasons attracting attention from the major European Clubs. AC Milan won the race for the young man’s signature and Kaká joined the Italian club in 2003 for a fee of £8.5 million. Kaká settled into life at the San Siro quickly and became a first team regular in his first month at the club. Kaká managed to score 10 goals in 30 appearances for Milan in the 2003-2004 season assisting the club to lift the Italian Serie A title and the European Super Cup.

Kaká’s career has flourished at AC Milan and his skills and talents were widely celebrated by the footballing world when he was awarded the Best Midfielder of the Champion’s League tournament in the 2004-2005 season, this despite Milan being beaten in the final by Liverpool. Kaká’s sparkling displays of footballing genius in the midfield position have seen football pundits drawing comparisons to Diego Maradona.

In 2006 Real Madrid set the football press gossip columns alight when they enquired about signing the Brazilian star but they were rebuked by Milan who insisted Kaká was not for sale. Kaká ended all speculation by signing a new contract with AC Milan keeping him at the San Siro until 2011.

Kaká has become an integral part of the Brazilian National team from first making his debut back in January 2002 and he even played a role in Brazil’s 2002 Fifa World Cup win. Kaká has matured into a midfield dynamo for Brazil and is currently considered as one of the national team’s best players. In the Fifa World Cup 2006 Kaká scored Brazil’s first goal of the tournament but despite a strong start in the group stages Brazil were knocked out by France in the quarter finals.

At only 24 years of age Kaká’s talents have seen him become a respected player in both the European and International stage playing for both club and country.

Ronaldinho

Name: Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
Nicknames: Ronaldinho Gaúcho, The One Man Show, Dinho, Ronnie

Nationality: Brazilian

Date and Place of Birth: March 21, 1980 - Porto Alegre, Brazil

Playing Position: Attacking Midfielder / Forward

Current Club: Barcelona (Spanish La Liga)

Previous Clubs: 1998-2001 Grêmio 110 appearances, 37 goals
2001-2003 Paris St. Germain 55 appearances, 17 goals
2003-present FC Barcelona

International Career: 1999-present Brazil

About Ronaldinho: Born into a footballing family (his late father Joao played for Cruzeiro and his brother, now his manager, Roberto played for Gremio), the young Ronaldinho found more enjoyment in futsal and beach football before graduating to playing the standard game.

He began his football career at his brother's old club Gremio in the youth team under future Brazil World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and progressed to the first team aged 18 in 1998 and had made his Brazilian national team debut a year later in 1999.

His goalscoring exploits and sublime skill on the ball drew much attention from Europe and in 2001 Ronaldinho left Gremio to move to France and Paris St. Germain. His time in Paris was littered with fallings out with then PSG coach Luis Fernandez who disapproved of Ronaldinho's love of Parisian nightlife and after two mildly successful years in France he again packed his bags and headed for Barcelona.

In his first season at Barcelona Ronaldinho more than justified his reputed £18m price tag as he helped coax the Catalan giants into second place in La Liga and earnt himself the title of 2004 World Player of the Year.

Having caught the eye of big spending Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Ronaldinho was the subject of a failed £60m bid from the West London club and despite the resignation of his friend Sandor Rosell as Barcelona's vice president of sports, he signed a new contract in late 2005 with the Catalan club.

As well as helping Barcelona to back to back La Liga titles in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 and the European Champion's League in 2006, Ronaldinho has also won a host of personal awards including:

FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005
FIFPro World Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006
European Footballer of the Year in 2005
UEFA Champions League Best Forward in 2004-05
World Soccer Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005
and UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player in 2005-06.

Ronaldinho also became a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002.

Robinho

Name: Robson de Souza

Nationality: Brazilian

Date and Place of Birth: January 25, 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo state, Brazil

Playing Position: Left Winger, Second Striker

Current Club: Real Madrid (La Liga)

Club Career: 2002 – 2005 Santos
2005 - present Real Madrid

International Career: 2003 - present Brazil

About Robinho:

Robson de Souza, more commonly known simply as "Robinho", is an exciting Brazilian footballer who is widely regarded as one of the most talented players in European football. Born in a poor Brazilian neighbourhood Robinho began to play football at an early age and signed for Biera-Mar at the tender age of six. Robinho's talents were obvious for all to see and he was soon playing at the Santos youth academy under the careful tutelage of Brazilian legend Pele.

Robinho signed his first professional contract with Santos after impressing the coaching staff with his speed and dazzling displays of exceptional trickery. At Santos Robinho was able to continue improving his skills and his impressive performances drew attention from some of Europe’s largest clubs. However, despite the interest in Robinho Santos were reluctant to let go of their influential goalscorer and playmaker and therefore Robinho remained at the Brazilian club until 2005 when he finally moved to European supremos Real Madrid.

At Real Madrid Robinho initially found it difficult to adapt to the European style of play and the Brazilian maestro struggled to impress showing only flashes of his outstanding capability. Things didn’t get any better as Robinho fell out of favour with Real Madrid’s then Coach, Fabio Capello. However, Robinho fought back concentrating on the football and had soon pushed his way back into the first team. It was during this time that Robinho finally settled at Real Madrid shining amongst his fellow team mates with some impressive performances. Robinho has become a key member of the squad and was influential in Real Madrid lifting the League title at the end of the 2006-07 season.

Robinho plays for the Brazil national team and was a influential member of the squad that participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Recently, Robinho celebrated with his fellow team mates as Brazil lifted the 2007 Copa America and personally as he was named top scorer and overall best player of the tournament.

Thierry Henry

Name: Thierry Daniel Henry
Nicknames: Titi, TH14

Nationality: French

Date and Place of Birth: August 17, 1977 in Paris, France

Playing Position: Forward

Current Club: Barcelona (Spanish La Liga)

Club Career History: 1994-1998 Monaco - 110 appearances, 20 goals
1998-1999 Juventus - 16 appearances, 3 goals
1999-2007 Arsenal
2007-present Barcelona

International Career: 1997-present France

About Thierry Henry:

Thierry Henry is a product of the French Football Federation's youth programme having graduated through the ranks at renowned youth football academy Clairefontaine before making his move into professional football with A.S. Monaco in 1994 at the age of 17.

Given his debut by then Monaco coach Arsene Wenger, the young Henry became a fixture on the Monaco left wing where his tricky skills and electrifying pace allowed him to skip past fullbacks almost at will.
Having layed 110 times and scored 20 goals in the red and white of Monaco, Henry used a fine set of displays during France's victorious 1998 World Cup campaign to earn himself a £10m move from the Principality to the more refined footballing air of Turin and Serie A with Juventus.

Henry found it difficult to adjust to the more defensive minded approach of the Italian game and was labelled something of a big money flop in Italy before his former mentor at Monaco, Arsene Wenger, paid £11m to rescue him from Turin and bring him to the English Premiership with Arsenal in 1999.

Still short of confidence following his year long ordeal in Italy, Henry failed to find the net in his first ten starts for Arsenal and was in danger of being labelled a failure again before Wenger decided to play him solely at centre forward rather than on the wing and the goals began to come.

Seven years later and Thierry Henry had been top scorer at Arsenal in each season he has been at the club and is now the club's all-time record goalscorer. Widely regarded by many as the greatest player to ever play for Arsenal, Thierry Henry repaid Arsene Wenger's early faith in him by refusing moves to Barcelona and Real Madrid and penning a new four year contract in the summer of 2006 despite Arsenal's defeat in the 2005/2006 European Cup final.

Arsenal's inability to compete in the transfer market or on the pitch, coupled with the departure of David Dein from the club and Arsene Wenger's inability to commit his own future beyond 2007/2008, led Henry to finally call time on his Arsenal career in the summer of 2007. A £16m move to long time admirers Barcelona was agreed and Thierry Henry now begins a new life as one of Barcelona's famous forward line at the Nou Camp.