Personal Life of Football Stars
Raúl González
Raúl grew up in a modest neighbourhood of Madrid, in the suburb Marconi de San Cristóbal de los Ángeles. His father, don Pedro, was a fan of Atlético Madrid, the club where he started playing after a short period in San Cristóbal’s team. Atletico Madrid coach didn’t notice anything special about him because he was very thin and weak. Raul later turned to Real Madrid’s C team and quickly made it to the first team in 1994/1995 season. Raúl possesses a distinctive celebration, with each goal acclaimed by a kiss of his wedding ring, an acknowledgement to his wife Mamen Sanz. They have four sons: Jorge (February 25, 2000), who is named after Jorge Valdano, Hugo (November 20, 2002) and twins Héctor and Mateo (November 17, 2005). He likes reading, especially the books of Arturo Pérez Reverte, and listening to all sorts of Spanish music. He also enjoys hunting and watching bullfighting.
Luís Nazário de Lima ‘Ronaldo’
Ronaldo was born in Bento Ribeiro, a neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Like many of his contemporaries, he began to play football in the streets of his neighbourhood.
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 and married Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniella Cicarelli, who became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage, their relationship lasted only 3 months. He is currently dating brazilian model Raica Oliveira. Besides being of interest to tabloid journalists, Ronaldo’s relationships with women apparently have a deep effect on his performances on the pitch. A soccernet.com article by Andrew Downie assessing Ronaldo’s fitness ahead of the 2006 World Cup pointed out a correlation between the striker’s form and the happiness of his love life, noting that his most prolific periods of goalscoring have coincided with the times when he was happily married 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.
It is rumored that Ronaldo is considering leaving Real Madrid, expressing discomfort with their fans at the stadium. He has been linked with a return to former club F.C Internazionale, where he has often spoke of his desire to one day return. AC Milan could also show some interest in his name, especially after Andriy Shevchenko has left for chelsea F.C.
Major League Soccer has also expressed interest in signing him. According to reports, Ronaldo turned down a ten-year, $120 million contract from the New York Red Bulls of MLS, saying
Right now I have a contract with Real Madrid and I’m only thinking about the World Cup, but without a doubt, the American market is one of my goals for the future.
(It was reported on ESPN during the broadcast of the Brazil-Croatia match on June 13 that the Red Bulls actually denied making Ronaldo an offer.)
Michael Ballack
Ballack is 6′ 2 ½” (189 cm) tall and weighs 179 lbs (80 kg). He and his girlfriend Simone have three children – Louis, Emilio and Jordi.
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira ‘Ronaldinho Gaúcho’
Ronaldinho was born on March 21, 1980 in Vila Nova, a poor suburb of Porto Alegre, Brazil. He was the youngest of three children. Ronaldinho’s mother Miguelina is a former salesperson who later studied to become a nurse. His father João was a shipyard worker and amateur footballer for Cruzeiro. The family moved to a more affluent district of Porto Alegre when Ronaldinho’s older brother Roberto signed to play professional football for Grêmio. João died when Ronaldinho was 8, after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the family’s pool. Injuries ended Roberto’s career prematurely, and he now manages Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho’s sister Deisi works as his press coordinator. Ronaldinho’s son, named João after his father, was born on 25 February, 2005. João’s mother is Janaína Nattielle Viana Mendes, a former dancer on the Brazilian television show Domingão do Faustão.
In his childhood, Ronaldinho’s skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after a 23 goal flurry against a local team, at just 13 years of age. His reputation as a footballer was built up through his childhood, particularly since he was a prolific goalscorer in the Egypt 1997 under-17 world championship. His stylish play at the tournament also caught the eye of many. He is a huge fan of Brazilian music, and occasionally plays the drums and sings with friends in Barcelona.
David Beckham
In 1997, Beckham started dating the Spice Girl Victoria Adams and their relationship attracted a great deal of media interest.
He married Adams at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland on 4 July 1999. The wedding attracted tremendous media coverage. Beckham’s teammate Gary Neville was the best man, and the couple’s son Brooklyn was the ring bearer. The media were kept away from the ceremony as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine, but newspapers were still able to obtain photographs showing them sitting on golden thrones. 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000.
The Beckhams have three sons: Brooklyn Joseph Beckham (born 4 March 1999), Romeo James Beckham (1 September 2002) and Cruz David Beckham (20 February 2005).
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite ‘Kaká’
Kaká married Caroline Celico on 23 December 2005 in São Paulo, Brazil. The wedding was attended by fellow players from his national team, as well as other well known international players. Guests included Ronaldo, Adriano, Cafu, Dida, Júlio Baptista and Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Kaká first met Celico in 2002, and they started dating soon after. The relationship survived Kaká’s move from São Paulo to Italy in 2003, while she was still at school. It is likely that Celico will stay in Brazil in the short-run, but the couple plan to live together in Italy soon. Against the stereotypical trend of football stars, Kaká is proud he was a virgin when he married. Celico’s mother, Rosangela Lyra, is the director of Dior in Brazil.
Zinedine Yazid Zidane
His wife, Veronique, is a former dancer and model of French-Spanish ancestry. They married in 1993 and have four sons named Enzo, Luca, Théo and Elyaz.
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Manchester United Hope For Another Win at Biggest Rivals
Manchester United head to Anfield to face their biggest rivals liverpool, in the first big clash of the new season.
After some less than impressive performances in the opening games of the season, liverpool take on their arch enemy in a game which should give an indication of how close Rafa Benitez’s side is to finally winning the top league in England for the first time since 1990.
Even though their performances against Sunderland, Middlesborough and Aston Villa have been poor, Liverpool still have seven points from a possible nine.
And with the potentially explosive strike force of Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres, there will be a lot of money going pouring in for a Liverpool victory. However, these spread betters will have to consider one amazing statistic – Benitez has yet to see a Liverpool player score against United!
Liverpool did score against United in the Premiership in Benitez’s first game in charge against United but that was a John O’Shea own goal at Old Trafford back in September 2004. You have to go back to the 2001/2002 season to find the last time that Liverpool beat United at Anfield in the league, when two goals from Michael Owen and a John Arne Riise goal were enough to cancel out a David Beckham strike.
In their opening game against Sunderland they failed to sparkle, and it took an 83rd minute strike from Fernando Torres to grab the win. In their following game against Middlesborough, it was two late goals from Jamie Carragher in the 86th minute and an injury time winner from Steven Gerrard which kept their 100% record intact.
The last league game before the International break was a dour 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, in which Liverpool, without Gerrard and with Torres picking up an injury, failed to even have a shot on target during the entire 90 minutes, and with a strike force of Keane and Torres, a football bet of no strikes on target from Liverpool would have yielded high dividends.
It is also looking like Liverpool will have to do without their inspirational captain Gerrard, for this game after he had to withdraw from Fabio Capello’s England Squad through a groin injury. And without that spark in midfield Liverpool could struggle to contend with United’s potential trio of Scholes, Carrick and Anderson. Scholes has certainly provided spark in recent fixtures between the two sides in recent years, having scored in the Old Trafford meeting in 2006, and then getting himself sent off in the return fixture at Anfield in March 2007.
As you expect in a match that involves the two biggest clubs in the country, Scholes’ dismissal at Anfield hasn’t been the only flashpoint in recent years. Spread betters will be interested to know that in the last two seasons, there have been 17 bookings and 2 sendings off, including Mascherano’s breakdown at Old Trafford in March. They will also like to know that in the last four meetings at Anfield there have been 18 bookings and 2 sendings off.
As mentioned earlier United have a fantastic record against Liverpool in recent years taking 16 points out of a possible 18 from their local rivals.
In 2005, in another early season meeting, the sides drew 0-0 in a drab Sunday lunch time affair, with the only notable occurrence being the last ever appearance in a United shirt by Roy Keane.
Fast forward to January 2006 and another drab affair, this time at Old Trafford, was heading for a scoreless draw before United grabbed a late winner through a powerful Rio Ferdinand header to send the United fans into raptures and prompting Gary Neville to run the length of the field to celebrate infront of the travelling Liverpool fans. This occurred after Djbril Cisse had missed a relatively easy chance for Liverpool early in the second half.
October 2006 saw Liverpool travel to Manchester eight points behind United, and by full time they would be 11 points further back. Offering little threat throughout the game, they fell behind to a Paul Scholes strike on the half hour, before Rio Ferdinand made the game safe with a sweet left foot volley.
In March 07 United travelled to Merseyside with a nine point lead over rivals chelsea, but were second best for most of the contest, with Edwin Van Der Sar having to make some big saves during the game and Liverpool having a Craig Bellamy goal disallowed on the hour mark. Then after Scholes had been dismissed in the 86th minute, United grabbed the win through a John O’Shea strike, after Reina had spilled a Ronaldo free kick. In hindsight it was probably the result that clinched United the title.
Last season United grabbed another double over Liverpool. First in December, Argentine Carlos Tevez grabbed the winner just before half time after turning in a Wayne Rooney centre. In a match dominated by United’s centre-half pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand, Liverpool couldn’t break down United’s back line and their supporters were again left frustrated.
Their luck didn’t change much in the return fixture, although their performance certainly didn’t merit any rewards on this occasion as United stormed to an easy 3-0 victory through a Wes Brown header and, after Javier Mascherano was sent-off, late strikes by Ronaldo and Nani sealed the win.
With United heading to Anfield, not only as Champions of England, but also as Champions of Europe, it is sure to be a raucous atmosphere as the Kop tries to spur their team on to an overdue victory over their biggest rivals. This is the happy season for football spread betters [http://www.sportingindex.com/sportingindexweb/spread-betting/football-uk-season] who are all game for the biggest game of the season with sparks flying all around.
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