Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Marco Van Basten

Marco Van Basten made his debut for Ajax in the 1982 Dutch League Championship by coming in as a sub for Johan Cruyff and scoring a goal. Two years later he was a starter for the Amsterdam club and scored 28 goals in 26 games. In that same season he made his debut for the Dutch National team. The following season crowned him as the greatest European attacker, scoring 37 goals in 26 games and winning the "Golden Boot".

After an entire winter of negotiations, Berlusconi managed to wrest Van Basten from the clutches of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Van Basten left Holland having scored 127 goals in 129 games, and won 3 league titles and 1 Cup Winners Cup. He made his debut at San Siro in 1987, but in his first year he only made a few appearances for the red-and-black due to an injury that kept him from playing most of the season.

In the following season Van Basten imposed himself as the leader of the team because of his numerous goals, assists and wonderful play. His contributions to the third and fourth Champions Cups won by Milan were fundamental. He won France Football's "Golden Ball" award three times and became champion of Europe with the Dutch National team in 1988. In the triumphant 1991/92 season with Milan he won the goal-scoring title with 25 goals.

Dribbling, ball skill, power, and precision are the qualities which have made him enter by force into the history of soccer, not only at the club level but at the international level as well. At the end of the 1992/93 season a prolonged injury kept him away from the fields of play. Because of this injury, he left soccer for good two years later.

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Diego Armando Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona is by many regarded as the greatest player in the history of the game. He was born on October 30th 1960 in Lanus outside Buenos Aires. There he played for Los Cebollitos (The little onions), before he joined Argentinos Juniors. At 16 he was Argentina's youngest-ever international when he played against Hungary. Two years later he captained the World Youth Cup winners and was soon transferred to Boca Juniors for £1.000.000. The success continued and he was voted South American Player Of The Year in 1979 and 1980.

In 1982 Maradona joined Spanish giants Barcelona for a world record transfer fee of £5.000.000. The same year the World Cup was held in Spain and Maradona made his World Cup debut on his new home ground Estadio Nou Camp. The tournament didn't end as Maradona had hoped and he was sent off against Brazil in the second phase, as Argentina bowed out.

In his first season for "Barca" he helped them win the league, league cup and the Super Cup. Two years later, another world record fee of £6.900.000 took him to success-starved Napoli, and in 1987 they won a league and cup double. A year earlier he had captained Argentina to a second World Cup triumph. It was a World Cup that forever will be synonymous with Maradona. He scored 5 goals in that tournament, including two against England. Both are among the most controversial in World Cup history. The first was the infamous "Hand of God" and the second probably the greatest goal ever scored in a World Cup game, as he ran from his own half showing magic displays and leaving seven English players for dead.

Success continued with Napoli as he again steered them to a league title and in 1989 even a triumph in the UEFA cup. In 1990 the World Cup was held in Italy and Maradona captained Argentina to yet another final. The Germans were once again the opponents and this time they proved too strong for the Argentineans. That loss was to be the beginning of the end for Maradona. Two drug scandals have created black spots on his name and reputation. Several come-backs have been tried since 1991 and after helping Argentina qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in USA, Maradona looked fit for fight again. A marvelous goal against Greece in the first match gave proves for that.

But in the next game against Nigeria he was caught for drug abuse, and the World Cup story of Diego Armando Maradona got a sad ending. That match meant that Maradona equaled the record of matches played in the World Cup of 21, held by Uwe Seeler and Wladislav Zmuda (Later beaten by Lothar Matthäus). Maradona retired from international football after that with a gallery of good and bad memories. But he is by neutral football lovers regarded alongside Pelé as the greatest player of them all.

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Saturday, December 8, 2007

Liverpool Football Club


Address: Anfield Road, LIVERPOOL. L4 0TH Telephone: (0151) 263 2361 Fax: (0151) 260 8813 Founded: 15-Mar-1892 Stadium: Anfield Website: www.liverpoolfc.tv

Liverpool Football Club is the most successful English football team, having won 4 European Cups and 18 league (English Premier League, formerly First Division) titles. Their home ground is the 45,362 capacity Anfield, which is about three miles from the city centre of Liverpool.

The club was founded on March 15, 1892 by John Houlding, the owner of Anfield. Houlding decided to form his own team after Everton FC were evicted from Anfield in an argument over rent. The original name was to be Everton FC but was changed to Liverpool FC after The Football Association refused to recognise the team as Everton.

On July 30, 2004, the Liverpool City Council granted the club planning permission to build a new 60,000 seat stadium, nearby at Stanley Park. For a time, it looked likely that the stadium would be shared with local rivals Everton, but talks on a groundshare failed in January 2005, and Liverpool will now have the stadium to itself despite continued pressure from Everton. It is hoped that if all goes to plan, construction of the new stadium will begin in the summer of 2005 and it will open in 2007. The old stadium will then become a public plaza surrounded by apartments, offices, bars, restaurants and a hotel. The treatment of the old stadium requires some sensitivity as a number of deceased fans have had their ashes officially scattered on the pitch over the years.

The club was especially dominant in the 1970s and 1980s. Great players from this time include Ray Clemence, Mark Lawrenson, Graeme Souness, Ian Callaghan, Phil Neal, Kevin Keegan, Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish (102 Caps) and Ian Rush (346 Goals).

The club was also present at two of the biggest tragedies in European football - at Heysel in 1985 and Hillsborough in 1989.

They completed an unprecedented treble of two domestic cups (the League Cup and the FA Cup) and the UEFA Cup in the 2000/01 season. However winning a treble was not something new to Liverpool. In 1984 they were victorious in the European Cup, the League Cup and the Championship. This was the first treble of major honours to be completed by an English club.

The Bill Shankly Era

Bill Shankly was appointed manager of Liverpool before the start of the 1959-60 season. The 35-year-old former Preston North End and Scotland player took charge of the Anfield side when they were in the Second Division and were hardly among the biggest clubs in the English league despite having won the League Championship five times in the past.

Promotion to the First Division was achieved in 1962 when Liverpool won the Second Division championship. In that season, centre forward Roger Hunt scored 41 league goals - a club record which remains unbroken to this day. Liverpool won the First Division Championship in 1964 and regained it two years later, winning their first F.A Cup in the season between their two title triumphs. Roger Hunt, Ian St John, Ron Yeats and Tommy Smith were key Liverpool players in this era. Liverpool won their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup, in 1973 - in that season they also lifted another League Championship. Shankly shocked the football world by announcing his retirement after Liverpool won the 1974 F.A Cup. A local factory even threatened to go on strike in protest against Shankly's decision. But Shankly would not be moved, he watched Liverpool play as a spectator from The Kop until his death from a heart attack in 1981 at the age of 67.

The Bob Paisley Era

Bob Paisley, Shankly's 55-year-old assistant, was promoted to the position of manager for the 1974-75 season after failing to persuade his predecessor to carry on. By the time he retired at the end of the 1982-83 season, Bob Paisley was the most successful manager in the history of Liverpool Football Club - he was even the most successful manager in English football, as far as winning trophies was concerned, for almost two decades after his retirement.

Some of the greatest names in English football turned out for Liverpool under Bob Paisley's management. They included goalkeeper Ray Clemence, captain Emlyn Hughes and striker Kenny Dalglish. Liverpool won six league championships in ten seasons while Paisley was manager, as well as lifting three European Cups, one UEFA Cup, three successive League Cups, one European Super Cup and three Charity Shields - a total of 21 trophies. Paisley's achievement remained unsurprassed in English football until Sir Alex Ferguson won the Premiership title with Manchester United in 2001.

Bob Paisley bowed out of management in May 1983 after guiding Liverpool to their second successive League Championship/League Cup double.

The Joe Fagan Era

Joe Fagan, who at the age of 63 became Liverpool manager after Bob Paisley's retirement, was the club's second manager to be promoted from the coaching staff into the manager's seat. He remained in charge for just two seasons before handing in his retirement, but his first season (1983-84) saw Liverpool set some of the most impressive records in English football. They won their fourth successive League Cup and their third successive League Championship as well as winning the European Cup for the fourth time in eight seasons, thanks to the efforts of Fagan and his high quality squad which was mostly made up of players from the Bob Paisley era. A significant breakthrough star in the Liverpool team was young striker Ian Rush, who had been signed from Chester in 1980 and after a couple of seasons in the reserves had broken into the first team and established himself as a prolific goalscorer. Captain Alan Hansen had some of the finest leadership skills in European football. Zimbabweian goalkeeper Bruce Grobelaar was capable of pulling off some of the most impressive saves from opposition players' shots.

Joe Fagan's second and final seasons as Liverpool manager had a traumatic ending. Liverpool lost out on the league title to neighbours Everton - with four matches to spare. They reached the European Cup final to face Italian champions Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. But before kick-off, violence between Liverpool and Juventus supporters resulted in the death of 39 (mostly Italian) supporters who were crushed to death by charging Liverpool supporters. The sequel to the tragedy was a 5-year ban on English clubs in European competition, with a 6-year ban on Liverpool.

Fagan retired after the Heysel Disaster and handed over the reins to Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish, who was given the role of player-manager.

The Kenny Dalglish era

Kenny Dalglish began his management career in style with League Championship/F.A Cup double success in the 1985-86 season. The club finished top of the First Division ahead of neighbours Everton, and to round it all off Liverpool hammered Everton 3-1 in the F.A Cup final. Dalglish was still a top striker despite his advancing years, and his partnership with Ian Rush was the most prolific in the English league. Midfielders Craig Johnston and Ray Houghton were also putting on impressive performances. Liverpool's 1986 double success made history as they were only the fifth team in English football to achieve such a feat, and the first team to win the F.A Cup without fielding a single English player.

Liverpool ended the 1986-87 season trophyless as they lost the League Championship to Everton and the League Cup to Arsenal. Pundits were predicting further disappointment for the following season when star striker Ian Rush was off-loaded to Juventus. Dalglish responded by adding John Barnes and John Aldridge to Liverpool's forward line. Liverpool secured the First Division championship with a nine-point gap over runners-up Manchester United and just two league defeats all season. Barnes was voted Footballer of the Year despite having to suffer the humiliation of monkey chants in a game against Everton where the opposition's chairman, Phillip Carter, disowned his own supporters as 'scum'. The downside to Liverpool's season was a shocking 1-0 F.A Cup final defeat against Wimbledon, who had been in the Football League for just eleven seasons and had just completed only their second season of top division football.

Ian Rush returned to Liverpool for the 1988-89 season, after an unsuccessful spell at Juventus, and was crucial in getting the club to their third F.A Cup final in four years. They beat neighbours Everton 3-2 but the triumph was overshadowed by tragedy in the F.A Cup semi final against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.

Before the F.A Cup semi final could kick off, 94 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death and around 300 others injured after forcing their way onto terracing through gates which the police had unlocked in fear of their own safety. A 95th fan died a few days after the tragedy, and the death toll became 96 in March 1993 when Tony Bland died after being in a coma for nearly four years.

After the F.A Cup final victory, Liverpool played their final league game of the season - a home fixture against their nearest challengers Arsenal, who were three points behind them and had scored two less goals. Liverpool went 1-0 down but still looked set to win the league until the last minute of the game, when a goal from Arsenal midfielder Michael Thomas (who ironically joined Liverpool a few seasons later) deprived Liverpool of the chance to repeat the double for the second season running.

Kenny Dalglish guided Liverpool to their third league title in five seasons in 1989-90. Although the 5-year ban on English clubs in European competition was lifted for the following season, Liverpool had to serve an extra year and were unable to compete in the 1990-91 European Cup.

On February 22nd 1991, with Liverpool halfway through a two-horse race with Arsenal for the league title, Kenny Dalglish dropped a bombshell on the club by handing in his resignation as manager and claimed he could no longer cope with the pressure of managing the club. First-team coach Ronnie Moran took temporary charge of team affairs for several weeks before Graeme Souness was named the club's new manager. But by that stage, Liverpool were slipping behind in the title race and finished runners-up to Arsenal who completed the season with just one defeat from 38 games.

The Graeme Souness Era

Graeme Souness had a reasonable start to his career as Liverpool manager. His first season as manager saw the club win the F.A Cup with a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Wembley, a success which ensured they would be competing in the European Cup Winners Cup for the 1992-93 season, which would also be the first season of the new Premier League. He spent recklessly on many new players who did not all prove to be successful, especially strikers Paul Stewart and Nigel Clough. Younger players like Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp were proving to be successful instead of these expensive acquisitions. The veteran Ian Rush, meanwhile, was still scoring goals as freely as ever despite now being in his thirties. Long serving goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar was often being kept out of the team by promising young shot-stopper David James.

Liverpool finished sixth in the first-ever Premier League and had never looked like title challengers at any stage in the 1992-93 season. The 1993-94 season was no different and Souness was dismissed in January 1994 after Liverpool suffered a shock defeat against Bristol City in the F.A Cup Third Round.

The Roy Evans Era

Roy Evans, a boot room veteran who had been on the club's pay roll since the late 1950's, was promoted to the position of manager following the dismissal of Graeme Souness. He guided Liverpool to an eighth place finish in the 1993-94 Premier League campaign, and made two expensive additions to the squad for the following season - central defenders Phil Babb and John Scales. Young striker Robbie Fowler netted 29 goals in all competitions and was voted Young Player of the Year by the PFA, while veteran striker Ian Rush was still scoring vast numbers of goals in his 34th year. Liverpool made big progress during the 1994-95 season, finished fourth in the Premiership and beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the League Cup final.

In the summer of 1995, Liverpool paid Nottingham Forest a British record fee of £8.5million for striker Stan Collymore. The high fee initially looked to have paid off, but during his second season at the club, Collymore's form dipped (and he appeared to be wasting his talent with incidents off the pitch) and he was sold to Aston Villa for £7million in May 1997. Within four years he had quit the game after brief unsuccessful spells with Fulham, Leicester City, Bradford City and finally Real Oviedo.

Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore formed an impressive partnership for the 1995-96 season which saw the veteran Ian Rush relegated to the substitute bench for much of the season before his departure on a free transfer to Leeds United. Liverpool finished third in the Premiership and were within shouting distance of the title right up to the final weeks of the season. They reached the F.A Cup final and were defeated by Manchester United. But Liverpool still qualified for the European Cup Winners Cup because United had won the Premiership/F.A Cup double.

Liverpool finished fourth in the 1996-97 season having frequently led the table for much of the early part of the season, and were defeated by Paris St. Germain in the semi finals of the European Cup Winners Cup.

1997-98 saw the emergence of a world class young player at Liverpool: Michael Owen. The 18-year-old Chester-born centre forward was a regular player in the first team almost all season long, relegating high profile German striker Karlheinz Reidle to the bench. He became the youngest-ever full England international in February 1998 and was voted Young Player of the Year by the PFA. Liverpool had an outside chance of winning the Premiership title for much of the 1997-98 season but were unable to catch champions Arsenal and runners-up Manchester United, so their place in Europe for 1998-99 was merely the UEFA Cup rather than the Champions League.

The Gerard Houllier Era

Gerard Houllier, the former French national coach, was drafted into the Liverpool management team for the 1998-99 season to work alongside Roy Evans. But Evans found that the partnership did not suit him and he quit during the 1998-99 season, at the end of which Liverpool finished a disappointing seventh - not even enough for a UEFA Cup place.

Liverpool had their best season for years in 2000-01 when they won a unique treble of the League Cup (beating Birmingham on penalties after a 1-1 draw), F.A Cup (beating Arsenal 2-1 with two last minute goals for Michael Owen) and UEFA Cup (beating CD Alaves 5-4). They became the first club in English football to achieve two 'trebles' of any kind. In 1999, Manchester United had become only the second English team to win a treble of any kind when they won the Premiership, F.A Cup and Champions League. The 2001 treble success confirmed Houllier's status as a world class manager.

By now, Liverpool's side contained a new set of players including goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, defender and captain Sami Hyppia, young midfielder Steven Gerard and Michael Owen's strike partner Emile Heskey. The new generation of players was so impressive that even Robbie Fowler had left the club, joined Leeds United in an £11million deal in November 2001.

2001-02 saw Liverpool progress even further. They ended the season without a major trophy, but finished league runners-up for the first time since 1991 - ironically ending Manchester United's 10-year run of top-two finishes which had begun when Liverpool's 10-year run had ended.

Liverpool won another League Cup in 2003 but Houllier had failed to deliver the league title which had eluded Anfield since 1990, although they did qualify for the Champions League three times during his tenure. Houllier was sacked at the end of the 2003-04 season and replaced by the Spaniard Rafael Benitez, who had just guided Valencia to the Spanish league title. Benitez's hopes of re-establishing Liverpool as a top club were dented when star striker Michael Owen moved to Real Madrid in an £8million deal.

The Rafael Benitez Era

Rafael Benitez has so far guided Liverpool to a League Cup final-losing to Chelsea in extra-time-and a Champion's League Semi-Final in his first season as manager. In the Premiership, Liverpool have fallen behind neighbours Everton during 2004-05, partly due to a crippling series of injuries to key players, but in recent weeks the gap has been closed and they remain in the running to take the last Champion's League position.

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Bufon & Alena Seredova

Bufon is the goal keeper from italy and Juventus. Bufon is consider one of the best goal keepers in the world. One thing is for sure: he is the most expensive goal keeper! Alena Seredova is a international top model.

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Careca

Antonio de Oliveira Filho, better known as Careca, was among his country’s most promosing players in the early eighties. His powerful right-foot shot and pace made him lethal in front of goal. He started his career in Guarani and would have played up front for Brazil in their magic World Cup team of 1982 had he not been injured on the eve of the finals.

He moved to Sao Paulo after the World Cup in Spain and had several successful seasons there and was Brazilian champion of 1986 beating his old club Guarani in the final. The World Cup was held in Mexico that same year, and Careca was determined not to miss it again. He played a key role in yet another great Brazilian team which reached the quarterfinals and were beaten by France on penalties in one of the classic games in soccer history. Personally, Careca had a great tournament and scored five goals making him second on the topscorers’ list after Lineker.

Careca was soon tempted to join a top club in Europe and after staying another season with Sao Paulo, he teamed up with Diego Maradona and fellow Brazilian Alemao in Napoli in 1987. Careca was now ranked as one of the best strikers in the world and with Napoli he won several trophies, among them the Scudetto (Serie A championship) and the UEFA Cup beating Stuttgart with Careca as one of the goalscorers.

After six years in Napoli, he moved to Japan in 1993 as one of the foreign stars trying to set the Japanese league alight. Careca was then 33 and spent three years in Asia before returning home to Brazil in 1997. He was nearly forty when he retired having played in the lower leagues for a couple of years.

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Emilio Butragueño

Nicknamed “The Vulture”, Emilio Butragueño went on to become one of the most lethal strikers in the Europe in the 1980s. He was a smart player and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time scoring most of his goals from inside the penalty box. He was born in Madrid and started playing for Real, the club he was about to serve for most of his career. Emilio formed a deadly partnership with Mexican Hugo Sanchez during many successful seasons.

Butragueño scored a goal in his international debut for Spain against Wales in October 1984, just months after Spain finished second in the European Championship. He was a regular in the team by the 1986 World Cup in Mexico as Spain looked like serious title contenders. They progressed rather easily from their first round group and met Denmark in the second round, a replay of the semifinal at Euro 84. Butragueño experienced one of his finest days as soccerplayer as he became the first man since Eusebio in 1966 to score four goals in a World Cup match as Spain ran out 5-1 winners against one of the tournament favourites. A defeat to Belgium on penalties in the following round ended Spain’s dream of a first World Cup title.

Emilio failed to show his real class in Italy four years later and did not manage to score a single goal in the four games he played as Spain reached the second round. He was then the new team captain and took more responsibility in the defensive work and let Julio Salinas do the running up front. It was to be the last tournament he played for Spain. At clublevel, Butragueño had much more success winning five straight league championships with Real Madrid during the second half of the eighties. He left Real in 1995 for a career in Mexican soccer and retired a couple of years later.

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Paul Breitner

Nicknamed “Der Afro” for his big curly hair, Paul Breitner was a starplayer at an early age. He signed for Bayern Munich when he was nineteen in 1970 and made his debut for the West German national team the following year. Paul started his career as a full-back, but moved up in midfield towards the end of his career. He had a very good right foot shot which he used frequently with great results.

Breitner was a member of some of the finest teams Europe has produced. West Germany won the European Championship in 1972 and two years later, on home soil, they mopped up their second World Cup title. Breitner scored three goals from his defensive position, two long range thunderbolts against Chile and Yugoslavia and a penalty in the final against Holland. Also in 1974, Bayern Munich won the European Cup making it a fantastic year for “Der Afro”. At 22, he had already won everything a footballer could dream about winning.

Breitner now searched abroad for new challenges. Real Madrid was next destination and he continued to win more trophies in the Spanish capital. When he came back to Bayern after three years in 1977, he had won two league championships with Real and a Spanish Cup title. Paul’s international career was in the meantime temporarily over. Disagreements with the coaching staff and certain players made him stay away from the West German national team for several years, but he changed his mind on the eve of the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Rummenigge was one of several players who said the team needed him after a run of poor results in the build-up to the finals.

In his midfield role, Breitner guided West Germany to the final where Italy beat them 3-1. Breitner scored the West German goal making him only the third man, after Pelé and Vava, to score in two World Cup finals. He retired in 1983 having won many trophies including seven league championships in Spain and West Germany. Breitner was also named German Player of the Year once.

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Friday, December 7, 2007

SoccerCam


6-in-1 Multi-functional Digital Camera:

Digital Still Camera, SD/MMC Camcorder, Digital Voice Recorder, PC Camera, Card Reader (SD/MMC), Mass Storage.
Up to 3.5 Mega Picture Resolution.
TV out for Easy Picture / Video on TV.
Digital Effects (Blur/Nature/Sepia/B&W).
Including Stand for Ball Display.
Unique Soccer Styling.

Detail info click here

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Brazil Hots




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Shiro AS Soccer Ball MP3 Player

The design of the Shiro AS digital audio player probably makes it pretty easy to keep a grip if you can only avoid the urge to play catch with it. This soccer ball-inspired MP3 player is spherical shaped with a design pattern similar to a soccer ball complete with navigation buttons and an OLED display built right into the pattern.

The actual features are nothing real special. It plays back MP3, WMA and WAV files, has a FM tuner and can support voice recording through a mic built into the device. It also functions as a USB storage device with capacities from 256MB to as much as 2GB, all transferred through a USB 2.0 connection. A rechargeable battery also gets juiced up through the USB cable giving up to 10 hours of playback time.

The design of this soccer ball MP3 player is just under 1.5 inches in diameter and weighs about 30 grams with the battery. Also, true to it’s sport design the Shiro AS also incorporates a stop watch and timer into the musical sphere to keep track of your game time.

Get it Now

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Soccer Ball Candy & Nuts Dispenser


Detailed Product Description
PLASTIC SOCCER BALL NUTS & CANDY DISPENSER

in Soccer Ball shape
size: 8.5 inches (17.5 cm) H.
5.5 inches (13.5 cm) ball

container.
made in China

Detailed Info Click Here

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Virtual Soccer Ball

Want to prove you are the next David Beckham on the soccer field? You can start practicing now and get feedback on your cool moves with the Virtual Soccer Ball.

This soccer ball for the next generation has a built-in sensor which keeps track of how many times you juggle the ball. A digital display in the ball also lets you know how long you can keep it in the air. We assume you can also use it for a long kick down field but wonder if the LCD display will be able to withstand the power of your foot.

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Mario Zagallo

Name: Mario Jorge Lobo Zagallo

Date of birth: 9 August 1931

The great history of Brazilian football is inextricably linked with one Mario Zagallo. The 'Professor,' as he is known to his players, is a legend not only in his homeland but in virtually every outpost of Planet Football, having played a role in four of the five FIFA World Cups TM won by the Seleçao.

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Cesar Luis Menotti

Cesar Luis Menotti

Name: Cesar Luis Menotti
Date of Birth: 5 November 1938

Strong-willed and with a flair for attacking football, Cesar Luis Menotti suffered slings and arrows for leaving Diego Maradona out of the 1978 Argentina squad. In the end, though, he had the last laugh as Kempes and co lifted the FIFA World Cup for a first time.

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Vittorio Pozzo

Vittorio Pozzo
Name: Vittorio Pozzo
Date of birth : 12 March 1886

In a brilliant four-year period, Vittorio Pozzo led Italy to two FIFA World Cups TM crowns and an Olympic gold medal, duly cementing his place in the coaching pantheon.

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Hugo Meisl

Hugo Meisl

Name: Hugo Meisl
Date of birth: 16 November 1881

In the 1930's Austria laid claim to a team whose quality and verve sent legitimate shockwaves throughout Europe. The mastermind and father of this Wunderteam often mentioned in the same breath as the great Hungarian side of the 1950s and Brazil of 1970, was Hugo Meisl.

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Aime Jacquet

Aime Jacquet
Name : Aime Jacquet
Born: 27 November 1941

After being criticised, lampooned and even insulted before being acclaimed and eventually adored, Aime Jacquet can truly say he traversed the full spectrum of managerial experiences during his four years in charge of the French national team.

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Rinus Michels

Rinus Michels

Name: Rinus Michels
Born: 9 February 1928

Rinus Michels was the innovative thinker whose concept of 'Total Football' helped first Ajax and then the Netherlands break new ground in terms of both tactics and success - as well as capturing the imagination of football lovers the world over.

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Alf Ramsey

Alf Ramsey
Name: Alfred Ramsey
Country: England

England have won just one FIFA World Cup and they owe that success to Alf Ramsey. Loyal to his players and an astute tactician, this former England full-back led the 'wingless wonders' to glory on home soil in 1966.

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Gusztav Sebes

Gusztav Sebes

Name: Gusztav Sebes
Born: 22 January 1906

Gusztav Sebes was the brains behind Hungary's 'Magical Magyars' of the 1950s. His revolutionary attacking tactics - a prototype of total football - inspired a golden generation of players who, for four years up to the 1954 FIFA World Cup, proved unbeatable.

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Enzo Bearzot

Enzo Bearzot

Name: Enzo Bearzot
Date of birth: 26 September 1927

Enzo Bearzot, who remains Italy's most beloved coach, led the Azzurri to a third FIFA World Cup title in 1982 playing an attacking brand of football with the accent on technique and individual expression.

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Sepp Herberger

Sepp Herberger

Name : Joseph 'Sepp' Herberger
Date of Birth: 28 March 1897

Mastermind of the 'Maracle of Berne', Joseph Herberger is widely accepted as a founding father of the new Germany after the Second World War. He was transformed by the seminal victory over prohibitive favourites Hungary into a social and cultural icon for the fledgling Federal Republic

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Van der vaart & Sylvie Meis

Van der vaart plays for Holland and for Hamburger SV. Sylvie Meis is a super model

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Levchenko & Victoria Koblenko

Victoria Koblenko is an actress. Levchenko plays for urkain and for FC Groningen.

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Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima




Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima (born September 22, 1976), simply known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. He plays as a striker for Brazil and the Italian club A.C. Milan. He has been nicknamed "The Phenomenon" (Portuguese: O Fenômeno, Spanish: El Fenómeno). He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest footballers in March 2004.

Ronaldo has enjoyed success at the international level, winning the 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cups with Brazil. Ronaldo has won three FIFA World Player of the Year awards (1996, 1997, 2002). Ronaldo and former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane are the only two men to have won the award three times.

Personal life

Ronaldo was born in Bento Ribeiro, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Like many of his friends, he began to play football in the streets of his neighborhood.

In April 1999, Ronaldo married Milene Domingues. The marriage lasted four years and ended in divorce. The couple had a son, Ronald (born 2000). In 2005, he got engaged to Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli, who became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage; their relationship lasted 3 months after their engagement. He is currently dating Brazilian supermodel Raica Oliveira. Writer Andrew Downie asserted a correlation between Ronaldo's personal life and performance on the pitch, noting that his most prolific periods of goalscoring have coincided with the times when he was happily married.[2]

In 2005, Ronaldo became co-owner of A1 Team Brazil, alongside Brazilian motorsports legend Emerson Fittipaldi. The team participates in the newly launched A1 Grand Prix series, with Nelson Piquet, Jr., Tony Kanaan and João Paulo Oliveira as drivers.

Football career

Ronaldo's football abilities were first recognised when he was 14. He was recommended to the Brazil youth team by World Cup winner Jairzinho, who also arranged for his own former club, Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, to sign him when he was old enough for a professional contract.[citation needed]

Ronaldo scored 12 goals in 14 games in the Brazilian National Championship, and in the Minas Gerais State Championship he scored all three goals in Cruzeiro's 3-1 victory against arch-rival Atlético Mineiro. After being scouted by Piet de Visser, he was soon transferred for US$6 million to PSV Eindhoven, where he scored 42 goals in 46 league games and reached a total of 55 goals in 57 official appearances. Later he attracted the attention of Spain's FC Barcelona. He played for Barça in the 1996-97 season, scoring 34 goals in 37 appearances (47 in 49, including appearances in the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup), and then transferred to Inter Milan the following year.

A year after the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he severely injured his right knee and was out of the game for several months. During his first comeback in 2000, he played only seven minutes during a league game against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.

After two operations and 20 months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002 he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid for approximately €39,000,000, after frequent disputes with Inter coach Héctor Cúper.[citation needed] His transfer to Madrid was the subject of a media frenzy not just laced with the usual hype because of his reputation, but more so because he was now the third successive Galactico (or superstar) signed in as many years by the Spanish giants as part of their policy of signing the world's biggest superstar football players in order to maintain their levels of success whilst broadening their reaches of fame.[citation needed]

Ronaldo was such a well-known signing that sales of his shirt on the day of his signing alone broke all records the world over.[citation needed] Proof of his fame came with the fact that even though Ronaldo was sidelined through injury until October 2002, fans continued to chant his name in the stands. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals (not including the goals in the UEFA Champions League that included a hat-trick away at Manchester United - which the Manchester United fans gave him a standing ovation for, as he was substituted, which showed great respect for Ronaldo's ability) and the La Liga Championship title for 2003, which Ronaldo had previously failed to win whilst at FC Barcelona.

Recently, he has been linked once again with Italian side AC Milan for a transfer of about $7.8 million.

On Thursday, January 25 of 2007, Ronaldo flew from Madrid to Milan to watch AC Milan in a cup tie against AS Roma. Statements on the clubs website said that Ronaldo was in Milan for a medical, and that a meeting had been arranged for Monday with Real Madrid officials to discuss and finalize his transfer to Milan.

On Friday, January 26 2007, Ronaldo successfully completed his medical tests at the Milanello training complex under the supervision of club doctors.

International career

Ronaldo made his international debut for Brazil in 1994, in a friendly match in Recife against Argentina. He went to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA as a 17-year-old but did not play. He was known then as Ronaldinho, since Ronaldo Guiaro, his older team-mate on the 1996 Olympic Games, was called Ronaldo. Another Brazilian player, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, who is widely known as Ronaldinho, was then called Ronaldinho Gaúcho'

Voted the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, he scored four goals and made three assists[4] during the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The night before the final, he suffered a convulsive fit. He was initially removed from the starting lineup 72 minutes before the match but he requested to play and was later reinstated by coach Mario Zagallo. Ronaldo did not perform well and he was injured in a collision with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Brazil lost the final to hosts France 3-0.[5] Adrian Williams, professor of clinical neurology at Birmingham University, said that Ronaldo should not have played, saying that he would have been feeling the after effects of the seizure and that " there is no way that he would have been able to perform to the best of his ability within 24 hours of his first fit -- if it was his first fit."[6]

Ronaldo won the Golden Shoe as the top scorer in the 2002 FIFA World Cup with eight goals. He scored against every team he came up against except England in the quarter finals and scored two in the final against Germany, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. He also equaled Pelé's Brazilian record of 12 World Cup goals, adding to the four he scored in the 1998 tournament.

On June 2, 2004, Ronaldo scored an unusual hat-trick for Brazil against arch-rivals Argentina in a CONMEBOL qualifier for the 2006 World Cup, scoring all three of Brazil's goals from the penalty spot.

Although Brazil won their first two group games against Croatia and Australia, respectively, Ronaldo was repeatedly jeered for being overweight and slow (Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva questioned the national coach "Ronaldo is fat or isn't he?"). Nonetheless, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept him in the starting lineup in face of calls to have Ronaldo replaced. With his two goals against Japan in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups. Ronaldo scored in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. On June 27, 2006, he broke the all-time World Cup Finals scoring record of 14, held by Gerd Müller after scoring his 15th World Cup goal against Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Round of 16. He also equaled a much less talked about mark: with his third goal of the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became only the second player ever (Jürgen Klinsmann being the other) to score at least three goals in each of three World Cups. However, Brazil was eliminated by France 1-0 in the quarter-finals. During the game, he was booked for a handball when he and his teammates tried to deflect Zinedine Zidane's free kick. Though Ronaldo was criticized for his performance due to level of fitness and a few extra pounds, much of the blame went towards teammate Ronaldinho, who was partying after Brazil's defeat.

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