Football-the game which has the most number of fans in the world.
This very Football had witnessed many marvellous players during course of time.This blog shows the most popular footballers in the present.
Wayne Rooney
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. 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.
In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. Rooney has won the Premier League 'Goal of the Season' award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions. He was named in the FIFPro World 11 for 2011. Rooney is the third highest-paid footballer in the world after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with an annual income of €20.7m (£18m) including sponsorship deals.
Lionel Andrés Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi], born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who plays in La Liga for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a forward.
Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Messi began playing football at a young age and his skill and potential was soon realized 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. Messi scored his first goal for Barcelona in official competition on 1 May 2005 at the age of 17 years, 10 months and 7 days. 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. In the following season 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, a record which he has since surpassed again in the still-ongoing 2011–12 season.
By the age of 21, Messi received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations, won both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009, and won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011. He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. His playing style and small stature has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".
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 became only 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. Messi is the fourth football player to win three Ballons d'Or, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballons d'Or, after Michel Platini (however, two of his Ballons d'Or are FIFA Ballons d'Or, which he won consecutively). In 2012, Messi made UEFA Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match, in a 7–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.
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. At international level Messi has scored 22 goals in 67 games.
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Clube de Futebol Andorinha de Santo António, where he played for two years, before moving to Clube Desportivo Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup and played at Euro 2004 with Portugal. Ronaldo scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece and also helped Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team of this competition.
Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. He was third in the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award and second in the 2007 Ballon d'Or award. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the competition's top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies, only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro, World Soccer, Onze d'Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years. Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, in 2009, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against F.C. Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United." He was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award.
Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in a season in the history of Real Madrid with 53 goals, surpassing the club's previous high of 49 by Ferenc Puskás. Six days later, Ronaldo broke the record of most goals ever scored in a season in La Liga with 40, surpassing Telmo Zarra's and Hugo Sánchez's mark (38 goals) established in 1951 and 1990, respectively. Ronaldo also broke Zarra's record of most goals per minute, with a goal scored every 70.7 minutes. The newspaper Marca, the official deliverer of the Pichichi Trophy (the top La Liga goalscorer award), claimed that Ronaldo scored 41 goals (Marca assigned one more goal to Ronaldo than La Liga, which attributed it to Pepe). By doing so, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different championships. He was third in the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, behind Lionel Messi and Xavi, and second in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, behind Messi and ahead of Xavi. On March 24, 2012, with the first of two goals scored in the match against Real Sociedad, Ronaldo became the fastest La Liga player to score 100 goals in the league.
Ronaldo has been described as a skillful winger who will take on any defender with his dribbling and pace; and who possesses a powerful, accurate free-kick and crossing ability. Ronaldo is able to score with his head and feet.
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando ˈtores]; born 20 March 1984), nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish), is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División for Atlético Madrid, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009. He left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which also made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.
Torres is a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in four major tournaments, UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Torres did not score at Euro 2004, but netted three at the 2006 World Cup. He scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, including the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the Final. He won the 2010 World Cup with Spain, but did not score any goals during the tournament.
Kaka
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaɾdu iˈzɛksõw duˈsɐ̃tus ˈlejtʃi]; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká (Portuguese: [kaˈka] ), is a Brazilian football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club. At the time, he also played tennis, and it was not until he moved on to São Paulo FC and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 15 that he chose to focus on football.
In 2003 he joined Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a transfer fee of €65 million, second only to that of Zinedine Zidane, €75 million. Later Real Madrid transferred Cristiano Ronaldo for a fee of €96 million, setting a new transfer fee record, making Kaka's fee the third highest ever. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the UN World Food Programme.
Wayne Rooney
| Full name | Wayne Mark Rooney | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 October 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Croxteth, Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Manchester United | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2002 | Everton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2004 | Everton | 67 | (15) |
| 2004– | Manchester United | 242 | (122) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2000–2001 | England U15 | 4 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | England U17 | 12 | (7) |
| 2002 | England U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2003– | England | 73 | (28) |
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.
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. 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.
In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. Rooney has won the Premier League 'Goal of the Season' award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions. He was named in the FIFPro World 11 for 2011. Rooney is the third highest-paid footballer in the world after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with an annual income of €20.7m (£18m) including sponsorship deals.
LIONEL MESSI
| Full name | Lionel Andrés Messi | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 June 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Rosario, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Barcelona | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–2000 | Newell's Old Boys | ||
| 2000–2003 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2004 | Barcelona C | 8 | (5) |
| 2004–2005 | Barcelona B | 22 | (6) |
| 2004– | Barcelona | 205 | (154) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2005 | Argentina U20 | 7 | (6) |
| 2008 | Argentina U23 | 5 | (2) |
| 2005– | Argentina | 68 | (22) |
Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Messi began playing football at a young age and his skill and potential was soon realized 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. Messi scored his first goal for Barcelona in official competition on 1 May 2005 at the age of 17 years, 10 months and 7 days. 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. In the following season 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, a record which he has since surpassed again in the still-ongoing 2011–12 season.
By the age of 21, Messi received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations, won both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009, and won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011. He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. His playing style and small stature has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".
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 became only 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. Messi is the fourth football player to win three Ballons d'Or, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballons d'Or, after Michel Platini (however, two of his Ballons d'Or are FIFA Ballons d'Or, which he won consecutively). In 2012, Messi made UEFA Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match, in a 7–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.
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. At international level Messi has scored 22 goals in 67 games.
Cristiano Ronaldo
| Full name | Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 5 February 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Funchal, Madeira, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Real Madrid | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1995 | Andorinha | ||
| 1995–1997 | Nacional | ||
| 1997–2002 | Sporting CP | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2003 | Sporting CP | 25 | (3) |
| 2003–2009 | Manchester United | 196 | (84) |
| 2009– | Real Madrid | 92 | (101) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2002 | Portugal U17 | 9 | (6) |
| 2003 | Portugal U20 | 5 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Portugal U21 | 6 | (3) |
| 2004 | Portugal U23 | 3 | (1) |
| 2003– | Portugal | 88 | (32) |
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (born 5 February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive player in football history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94 million). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid football players in the world, and his buyout clause is valued at €1000 million (€1 billion, in English usage), as per his contract.Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Clube de Futebol Andorinha de Santo António, where he played for two years, before moving to Clube Desportivo Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup and played at Euro 2004 with Portugal. Ronaldo scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece and also helped Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team of this competition.
Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. He was third in the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award and second in the 2007 Ballon d'Or award. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the competition's top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies, only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro, World Soccer, Onze d'Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years. Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, in 2009, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against F.C. Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United." He was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award.
Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in a season in the history of Real Madrid with 53 goals, surpassing the club's previous high of 49 by Ferenc Puskás. Six days later, Ronaldo broke the record of most goals ever scored in a season in La Liga with 40, surpassing Telmo Zarra's and Hugo Sánchez's mark (38 goals) established in 1951 and 1990, respectively. Ronaldo also broke Zarra's record of most goals per minute, with a goal scored every 70.7 minutes. The newspaper Marca, the official deliverer of the Pichichi Trophy (the top La Liga goalscorer award), claimed that Ronaldo scored 41 goals (Marca assigned one more goal to Ronaldo than La Liga, which attributed it to Pepe). By doing so, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different championships. He was third in the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, behind Lionel Messi and Xavi, and second in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, behind Messi and ahead of Xavi. On March 24, 2012, with the first of two goals scored in the match against Real Sociedad, Ronaldo became the fastest La Liga player to score 100 goals in the league.
Ronaldo has been described as a skillful winger who will take on any defender with his dribbling and pace; and who possesses a powerful, accurate free-kick and crossing ability. Ronaldo is able to score with his head and feet.
Fernando Torres
| Full name | Fernando José Torres Sanz | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 March 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Fuenlabrada, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Chelsea | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–2001 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2007 | Atlético Madrid | 214 | (82) |
| 2007–2011 | Liverpool | 102 | (65) |
| 2011– | Chelsea | 39 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2000 | Spain U15 | 1 | (0) |
| 2001 | Spain U16 | 9 | (11) |
| 2001 | Spain U17 | 4 | (1) |
| 2002 | Spain U18 | 1 | (1) |
| 2002 | Spain U19 | 5 | (6) |
| 2002–2003 | Spain U21 | 10 | (3) |
| 2003– | Spain | 91 | (27) |
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División for Atlético Madrid, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009. He left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which also made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.
Torres is a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in four major tournaments, UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Torres did not score at Euro 2004, but netted three at the 2006 World Cup. He scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, including the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the Final. He won the 2010 World Cup with Spain, but did not score any goals during the tournament.
Kaka
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite | ||
| Date of birth | 22 April 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Gama, DF,  Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Real Madrid | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–2000 | São Paulo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2003 | São Paulo | 59 | (23) |
| 2003–2009 | Milan | 193 | (70) |
| 2009– | Real Madrid | 62 | (20) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002– | Brazil | 82 | (27) |
In 2003 he joined Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a transfer fee of €65 million, second only to that of Zinedine Zidane, €75 million. Later Real Madrid transferred Cristiano Ronaldo for a fee of €96 million, setting a new transfer fee record, making Kaka's fee the third highest ever. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the UN World Food Programme.
