Monday 18 July 2011
Sunday 17 July 2011
Didier Drogba
| Name: | Didier Drogba |
| Nationality: | Ivorian |
| Date of Birth: | 11/03/1978 |
| Height: | 6' 2" (189cm) |
| Weight: | 14st 5lbs (91.0kg) |
| Previous | |
| Clubs: | Marseille, Guingamp |
| Position: | Striker |
Chelsea careerA big man with a growing reputation, Didier signed from Marseille in the summer of 2004. Though a groin operation forced him out for two months midway through his first season and it took time to reach full power again, he ended the league-winning campaign with 16 goals to his name in all competitions, including one in the Carling Cup Final.
In 2005/06 his season's tally was again 16, 12 coming during the successful defence of the Premiership, but before that triumph, there was also adversity.
Following handball incidents in two games and accusations of diving, it took character to respond with an awe-inspiring showing against West Ham at the Bridge in March 2006.
Chelsea came back from a goal and a man down to win 4-1, prompting manager Jose Mourinho to say:
'Didier should go home, switch on the TV, listen to the pundits, buy every single paper tomorrow and listen and read to see if the same people who wanted to kill him have now the common sense to say what he deserves.'
The 2006/07 campaign was when it all came together for the Ivorian, whose pace, strength and aerial power made him the type of forward not seen at Chelsea for some time. He netted 33 times in all competitions after moulding a strike partnership with newly-arrived Andriy Shevchenko.
His 20 in the league won the Premier League's Golden Boot for the first time. His 60 games tally was the second highest appearances in a season in the club's history - and he ended the campaign with the first club goal at the new Wembley as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in stoppage time of the 2007 FA Cup Final.
There were high hopes that he could repeat the feat in 2007/08 but knee injuries and an African Nations Cup meant it was hard to put a run of games together, and he ended a disrupted season with 15 goals, including another at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final defeat to Spurs.
After his double at the Bridge against Liverpool in the semi-finals, the Champions League ended with shame as he was red-carded the Final in Moscow against Man United.
If there had been ups and downs in that campaign, 2008/09 would be even more extraordinary.
The arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari into the manager's chair was greeted with excitement, but the Brazilian struggled to utilise the injury-affected Didier alongside the free-scoring Nicolas Anelka, eventually opting to go with the Frenchman alone.
Lacking match fitness, Didier found it hard to make an impact, eventually doing so against Burnley in the Carling Cup, but a fine individual goal was ruined by its celebration.
Showered by coins from the away end at Stamford Bridge, Didier reacted, tossing one back into the Shed End, earning him a three-match ban that would further hinder his involvement.
Scolari's dismissal and Guus Hiddink's arrival in mid-February sparked a return to form, and the starting line-up for the Ivory Coast captain, and he repaid the Dutchman with a number of vital goals.
Controversy though was never far away. Eliminated from the Champions League in injury time of the semi-final against Barcelona, he did not react well, confronting referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in front of the TV cameras. Again there was a three-match ban, reduced on appeal from four.
Still there was one more twist to come, as he powered home a header in the FA Cup Final against Everton, levelling up Louis Saha's opener for his fourth goal in as many Wembley visits.
From the moment his two-goal salvo turned a deficit into victory versus Hull on the opening day of the 2009/10 campaign, the signs were good that Didier could pick up where he left off the previous season.
The early season formation adopted by the Dutchman's successor, Carlo Ancelotti, allowed Didier to play close to Anelka and he locked into an incredibly consistent run of scoring. By Christmas he had found the net 18 times in 21 games as he departed for the African Nations.
On his early return to club duty at Hull, Didier scored his third direct free-kick of the season before he went on the rampage against Arsenal with a brace - making it 12 goals in 12 games against the Gunners.
However as Champions League ambition faded once again, Didier was sent off near the end of defeat by Inter, maintaining his now nearly traditional ban for the start of the next Euro campaign. It was his one red card of the season.
Back in the middle of a three-man attack, Didier netted the winner at Old Trafford before a lacklustre display at Spurs happily proved a blip.
An historic 8-0 win and a second-half hat-trick was the way to reclaim both the Premier League and the Golden Boot, even if the first 45 minutes did contain a moment of anxiety about his personal tally for our centre-forward.
His winner in the 2010 FA Cup Final meant the season had a pair of Ivorian bookends - a Didier goal at its start and at its finish.
Voted Player of the Year by the fans, Didier's 37 goals is the second best total in Chelsea history and included strikes at Anfield, the Emirates and Old Trafford.
Following hernia surgery that saw him miss most of pre-season, Didier began 2010/11 in the same flow, with a hat-trick against West Brom, followed by a hat-trick of assists at Wigan. It looks like being another scary season for defences around Europe.
Pre-Chelsea
Didier was signed in the summer of 2004 from Marseille where he had been named France's Player of the Year. A reported fee of £24 million was paid.
The man who spearheaded Ivory Coast to a first World Cup Finals in 2006 moved from Africa to live in France as a young child and played his early junior football at right-back.
He dabbled with various small clubs and even turned down the chance of a trial at Paris St-Germain, preferring to learn his trade before moving onto the big stage.
He did so at Second Division Le Mans before shifting up a division to Guingamp, a club he had been prevented from joining some years earlier due to injury.
It was during this spell in Brittany that Didier first came to the attention of Mourinho - but after scoring 17 goals in 2002/03 and becoming an international, he had moved out of Porto's price range.
Marseille swooped and they did not regret their move. In his second season at l'OM, he netted 18 times in 35 league games and six times as the 2004 Uefa Cup Final was reached, including braces against Liverpool and Newcastle.
In addition to his France Footballer of the Year award, Fifa recognised the achievements with a nomination for World Player of the Year. Mourinho made the player a top target in his first summer of transfer activity at Chelsea - and this time the price wasn't a problem.
International career
Didier made his Ivory Coast debut in 2002, and captained his country to their first ever World Cup appearance in 2006, where he scored in a narrow defeat by Argentina which was followed by an equally-close reverse against Holland.
There may have been a few choice words from the 32-year-old when Ivory Coast were drawn in the 'group of death' for the second World Cuprunning ahead of South Africa 2010.
Chelsea's all-time international goalscorer who had netted 43 times in 69 matches suffered a broken arm in a pre-tournament warm-up game left his participation in 2010's Finals in question leading up to the opening game. He came on as sub although was restricted in many eyes, although he did find the net in defeat to Brazil next match. Once again Ivory Coast left after three games.
Continentally, Ivory Coast have struggled to live up to expectations, with regular underachievement at the Cup of Nations - in Ghana in 2008 they were expected to challenge but eventually finished fourth, having lost the Final on penalties to Egypt in 2006.
In 2010, they bowed out in extra-time of the quarter-finals as coach Vahid Halilhodzic lost his job, making way for Sven Goran Eriksson to coach the side in South Africa after Hiddink had turned the post down.
In 2005/06 his season's tally was again 16, 12 coming during the successful defence of the Premiership, but before that triumph, there was also adversity.
Following handball incidents in two games and accusations of diving, it took character to respond with an awe-inspiring showing against West Ham at the Bridge in March 2006.
Chelsea came back from a goal and a man down to win 4-1, prompting manager Jose Mourinho to say:
'Didier should go home, switch on the TV, listen to the pundits, buy every single paper tomorrow and listen and read to see if the same people who wanted to kill him have now the common sense to say what he deserves.'
The 2006/07 campaign was when it all came together for the Ivorian, whose pace, strength and aerial power made him the type of forward not seen at Chelsea for some time. He netted 33 times in all competitions after moulding a strike partnership with newly-arrived Andriy Shevchenko.
His 20 in the league won the Premier League's Golden Boot for the first time. His 60 games tally was the second highest appearances in a season in the club's history - and he ended the campaign with the first club goal at the new Wembley as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in stoppage time of the 2007 FA Cup Final.
There were high hopes that he could repeat the feat in 2007/08 but knee injuries and an African Nations Cup meant it was hard to put a run of games together, and he ended a disrupted season with 15 goals, including another at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final defeat to Spurs.
After his double at the Bridge against Liverpool in the semi-finals, the Champions League ended with shame as he was red-carded the Final in Moscow against Man United.
If there had been ups and downs in that campaign, 2008/09 would be even more extraordinary.
The arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari into the manager's chair was greeted with excitement, but the Brazilian struggled to utilise the injury-affected Didier alongside the free-scoring Nicolas Anelka, eventually opting to go with the Frenchman alone.
Lacking match fitness, Didier found it hard to make an impact, eventually doing so against Burnley in the Carling Cup, but a fine individual goal was ruined by its celebration.
Showered by coins from the away end at Stamford Bridge, Didier reacted, tossing one back into the Shed End, earning him a three-match ban that would further hinder his involvement.
Scolari's dismissal and Guus Hiddink's arrival in mid-February sparked a return to form, and the starting line-up for the Ivory Coast captain, and he repaid the Dutchman with a number of vital goals.
Controversy though was never far away. Eliminated from the Champions League in injury time of the semi-final against Barcelona, he did not react well, confronting referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in front of the TV cameras. Again there was a three-match ban, reduced on appeal from four.
Still there was one more twist to come, as he powered home a header in the FA Cup Final against Everton, levelling up Louis Saha's opener for his fourth goal in as many Wembley visits.
From the moment his two-goal salvo turned a deficit into victory versus Hull on the opening day of the 2009/10 campaign, the signs were good that Didier could pick up where he left off the previous season.
The early season formation adopted by the Dutchman's successor, Carlo Ancelotti, allowed Didier to play close to Anelka and he locked into an incredibly consistent run of scoring. By Christmas he had found the net 18 times in 21 games as he departed for the African Nations.
On his early return to club duty at Hull, Didier scored his third direct free-kick of the season before he went on the rampage against Arsenal with a brace - making it 12 goals in 12 games against the Gunners.
However as Champions League ambition faded once again, Didier was sent off near the end of defeat by Inter, maintaining his now nearly traditional ban for the start of the next Euro campaign. It was his one red card of the season.
Back in the middle of a three-man attack, Didier netted the winner at Old Trafford before a lacklustre display at Spurs happily proved a blip.
An historic 8-0 win and a second-half hat-trick was the way to reclaim both the Premier League and the Golden Boot, even if the first 45 minutes did contain a moment of anxiety about his personal tally for our centre-forward.
His winner in the 2010 FA Cup Final meant the season had a pair of Ivorian bookends - a Didier goal at its start and at its finish.
Voted Player of the Year by the fans, Didier's 37 goals is the second best total in Chelsea history and included strikes at Anfield, the Emirates and Old Trafford.
Following hernia surgery that saw him miss most of pre-season, Didier began 2010/11 in the same flow, with a hat-trick against West Brom, followed by a hat-trick of assists at Wigan. It looks like being another scary season for defences around Europe.
Pre-Chelsea
Didier was signed in the summer of 2004 from Marseille where he had been named France's Player of the Year. A reported fee of £24 million was paid.
The man who spearheaded Ivory Coast to a first World Cup Finals in 2006 moved from Africa to live in France as a young child and played his early junior football at right-back.
He dabbled with various small clubs and even turned down the chance of a trial at Paris St-Germain, preferring to learn his trade before moving onto the big stage.
He did so at Second Division Le Mans before shifting up a division to Guingamp, a club he had been prevented from joining some years earlier due to injury.
It was during this spell in Brittany that Didier first came to the attention of Mourinho - but after scoring 17 goals in 2002/03 and becoming an international, he had moved out of Porto's price range.
Marseille swooped and they did not regret their move. In his second season at l'OM, he netted 18 times in 35 league games and six times as the 2004 Uefa Cup Final was reached, including braces against Liverpool and Newcastle.
In addition to his France Footballer of the Year award, Fifa recognised the achievements with a nomination for World Player of the Year. Mourinho made the player a top target in his first summer of transfer activity at Chelsea - and this time the price wasn't a problem.
International career
Didier made his Ivory Coast debut in 2002, and captained his country to their first ever World Cup appearance in 2006, where he scored in a narrow defeat by Argentina which was followed by an equally-close reverse against Holland.
There may have been a few choice words from the 32-year-old when Ivory Coast were drawn in the 'group of death' for the second World Cuprunning ahead of South Africa 2010.
Chelsea's all-time international goalscorer who had netted 43 times in 69 matches suffered a broken arm in a pre-tournament warm-up game left his participation in 2010's Finals in question leading up to the opening game. He came on as sub although was restricted in many eyes, although he did find the net in defeat to Brazil next match. Once again Ivory Coast left after three games.
Continentally, Ivory Coast have struggled to live up to expectations, with regular underachievement at the Cup of Nations - in Ghana in 2008 they were expected to challenge but eventually finished fourth, having lost the Final on penalties to Egypt in 2006.
In 2010, they bowed out in extra-time of the quarter-finals as coach Vahid Halilhodzic lost his job, making way for Sven Goran Eriksson to coach the side in South Africa after Hiddink had turned the post down.
| Competition | Apps (as sub) | Goals | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| League | 30 (6) | 11 | 6 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Euro Cups | 5 (2) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Career History: | ||||
| Club | Season | Comp. | Apps (as sub) | Goals |
| Chelsea | 2009 - 10 | League | 31 (1) | 29 |
| FA Cup | 4 (0) | 3 | ||
| League Cup | 0 (2) | 2 | ||
| Euro Cups | 5 (0) | 3 | ||
| Chelsea | 2008 - 09 | League | 15 (9) | 5 |
| FA Cup | 5 (1) | 3 | ||
| League Cup | 2 (0) | 1 | ||
| Euro Cups | 7 (3) | 5 | ||
| Chelsea | 2007 - 08 | League | 17 (2) | 8 |
| FA Cup | 0 (1) | 0 | ||
| League Cup | 1 (0) | 1 | ||
| Euro Cups | 11 (0) | 6 | ||
| Chelsea | 2006 - 07 | League | 32 (4) | 20 |
| FA Cup | 6 (0) | 3 | ||
| League Cup | 3 (2) | 4 | ||
| Euro Cups | 12 (0) | 6 | ||
| Chelsea | 2005 - 06 | League | 20 (9) | 12 |
| FA Cup | 3 (0) | 1 | ||
| League Cup | 0 (1) | 0 | ||
| Euro Cups | 5 (2) | 1 | ||
| Chelsea | 2004 - 05 | League | 18 (8) | 10 |
| FA Cup | 1 (1) | 0 | ||
| League Cup | 3 (1) | 1 | ||
| Euro Cups | 8 (1) | 5 | ||
| Marseille | 2003 - 04 | League | 30 (5) | 19 |
| Euro Cups | 14 (2) | 11 | ||
| Guingamp | 2002 - 03 | League | 26 (8) | 17 |
| Guingamp | 2001 - 02 | League | 8 (2) | 3 |
Christiano Ronaldo
If you need to learn dribbling the best teacher its Ronaldo. can you see an adam's apple in his neck its full of skillsNow ronaldo us in the real madrid team.
Lionel Andre Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi[3] (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987 in Rosario) is a football player who currently plays for FC Barcelona and theArgentina national team as a forward or winger. Considered one of the best football players of his generation,[4][5][6] Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009[7][8][9][10] and 2010.[11] His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".[12][13]
Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke his team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in the 2006–07 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the 2008–09 season, in which he scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. This record breaking season was then eclipsed in the following 2009–10 campaign, where Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record in the 2010–11 season with 53 goals in all competitions.
Messi has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, scoring in two of those finals, against Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011. He was not on the pitch as Barcelona defeated Arsenal in 2006, but received a winners' medal from the tournament. After scoring 12 goals in the 2010–11 Champions League, Messi becomes the third player after Gerd Müller and Jean-Pierre Papin to top-score in three successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. However, Messi is the first one to win the Champions League top scorer titles for three consecutive years after Champions League changed its format in 1992.[14]
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team.
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