Cesc Fàbregas – Captain of Arsenal F.C.
Francesc “Cesc” Fàbregas i Soler (born 4 May 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. He captains the English Premier League club Arsenal and plays for the Spanish national team.
Arsenal-Captain-Cesc-Fabregas.jpg”>
Personal information
Full name : Francesc Fàbregas i Soler
Date of birth : 4 May 1987 (1987-05-04) (age 22)
Place of birth : Vilassar de Mar, Spain
Height : 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Playing position : Midfielder / Captain
Club information : Arsenal F.C.
Number : 4
Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with Barcelona but was signed by Arsenal in September 2003 at the age of 16. Following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, he established himself as Arsenal’s starting central midfielder and playmaker. He went on to break several of the club’s records, earning a reputation as one of the best young players for his position of his generation.
In international football, the Spaniard’s ntional career began when he represented the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. As a result of his club performances, he was called up to the senior squad in 2006. He has played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008, where he helped Spain to become eventual winners in the latter.
Captaincy
In the opening league game of 2009–10 season, Fàbregas scored a brace and managed two assists in Arsenal’s 6–1 away win against Everton. Arsenal went on to secure qualification for the Champions League by beating Celtic over two legs, but their early momentum to the season was disrupted by consecutive league game losses to Manchester United and Manchester City. The team bounced back strongly after this setback, and with Fàbregas being prolific in scoring (9 goals in all competitions) and setting up his teammates (12 assists), it went unbeaten in the next 13 games.
Source: Cesc Fàbregas, Captain of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Midfielder, English Premier League Football Club information at wikipedia.org
Damien Duff – Fulham F.C.’s Midfielder / Winger
Damien Duff – Midfielder / Winger of Fulham F.C. – English Premier League
Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish footballer. He currently plays as a winger for Premier League club Fulham and internationally for the Republic of Ireland.
At Fulham F.C.
After playing one game for Newcastle in 2009–10, Duff returned to the Premier League, signing for Fulham for an undisclosed fee, and re-joining Roy Hodgson, his first manager at Blackburn Rovers. He made his Fulham debut coming on as a substitute against Amkar Perm in the Cottagers’ Europa League qualifier match, setting up the third goal in a 3-1 win.
Duff played his first Premiership game against one of his old clubs Chelsea. The game was at Craven Cottage and Chelsea went on to win the game with a comfortable 0-2 win. Duff scored his first league goal for Fulham in a 2 – 1 victory over Everton, scoring in the 79th minute to give the Cottagers a vital win. His second goal for Fulham was scored against Man City after Zamora had set him up.
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Damien Anthony Duff | |
| Date of birth | 2 March 1979 (1979-03-02) (age 30) | |
| Place of birth | Ballyboden, Ireland | |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |
| Playing position | Winger | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Fulham | |
| Number | 16 | |
International career
At junior level, Duff played for Ireland in the 1997 and 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Duff made his senior début for the Republic of Ireland in 1998 against the Czech Republic. He has since gone on to win 75 caps for the Ireland Squad, scoring seven goals. He played every game for them at the 2002 World Cup and was voted their player of the tournament scoring a goal against Saudi Arabia en route to the second round.
Source: Fulham Midfielder, Fulham Winder, Damien Duff information at wikipedia.org.
Clint Dempsey – Fulham’s Midfielder
Clint Dempsey – Midfielder / Striker / Winger of Fulham F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Clinton Drew “Clint” Dempsey (born March 9, 1983, in Nacogdoches, Texas) is an American soccer player who plays for Fulham in the English Premier League and for the United States national team.
Youth
Dempsey was born in Nacogdoches, Texas, a small town roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston. For much of his childhood, Dempsey’s family lived in a trailer park, where Clint and his siblings grew up playing soccer with the local Mexican immigrant children.
His older brother Ryan was offered a tryout for the Dallas Texans, one of America’s elite youth soccer clubs, but young Clint, who had come along, was noticed and recruited while passing time juggling a ball on the sidelines. Dempsey became a standout on the team at an early age, but had to quit due to his poor family’s time and money constraints as his eldest sister Jennifer was becoming a ranked youth tennis player. But several parents of his teammates with the Texans offered to assist the Dempseys with expenses and travel, allowing him to rejoin the club. He went on to be the captain and high scorer of the Texans and was honored with MVP in the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl tournament.
Dempsey studied the play of Argentina, especially Diego Maradona. Clint was heartbroken when the news came to Nacogdoches that Maradona would not be playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup game played in the Cotton Bowl.
Dempsey attended Furman University as a health and exercise major and a key player for the Paladins. In his three seasons at Furman, Dempsey started 61 out of 62 games in central midfield and scored 17 goals.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clinton Drew Dempsey | ||
| Date of birth | March 9, 1983 (1983-03-09) (age 26) | ||
| Place of birth | Nacogdoches, Texas, United States | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger/Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fulham | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
At Fulham F.C.
In December 2006, Fulham offered MLS a $4 million transfer fee for Dempsey, then the largest amount ever offered for an MLS player. The league agreed to the transfer; however, Dempsey still needed to receive a work permit from the United Kingdom Home Office. On January 10, 2007, the Home Office granted Dempsey the work permit, thus allowing him to play in England.
Dempsey made his first appearance for Fulham shortly thereafter, coming on as a late substitute in Fulham’s match against Tottenham Hotspur on January 20, 2007. However, for the remainder of the spring of 2007 Dempsey was used only sparingly by a relegation-threatened Fulham. On May 5, 2007, Dempsey scored his first and only goal of the 2006-07 season for Fulham after coming on as a 54th minute substitute against Liverpool, in a vital match which Fulham won 1-0. The goal ensured Fulham’s top flight status for the 2007-08 season.
Dempsey was a key part of the starting squad for Fulham during the 2007-08 Premier League season. His six goals, all scored in the Premier League, made him Fulham’s top scorer in league play and tied for the club lead in all competitions. In May 2008, Dempsey received an automatic contract extension from Fulham that would have kept him at the club through 2010.
Dempsey scored his first goal on the 2008-2009 campaign on October 26, 2008, against Portsmouth. Coming on as a 70th-minute sub, Dempsey volleyed home an Erik Nevland cross past David James to tie the game at 1-1. On December 28, 2008, Dempsey started in the SW6 Derby against Chelsea and scored both goals for Fulham, one a chest and flick past Petr ?ech that put Fulham ahead, and the other an 89th-minute equalizing header off a Simon Davies corner. On April 12, 2009, Dempsey was voted Man of the Match in a 3-1 win over Manchester City at Eastlands, in which he scored two goals.
On August 13, 2009, Dempsey signed a contract extension to remain with Fulham through 2013. On August 20, 2009, he scored his first goal in European competition, in the newly formed Europa League, netting Fulham’s second goal in a 3–1 win against Amkar Perm in the play-off round.
Source: Fulham Midfielder, Fulham Winger, Fulham Striker, Clint Dempsey information at wikipedia.org.
Frank Lampard – Chelsea’s Midfielder
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English footballer who plays for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team. He plays most often as a box-to-box midfielder and has also enjoyed spells in a more advanced attacking midfield role.
Lampard is Chelsea’s top active goalscorer with 136 goals, the most in club history for a midfielder, and is the highest goal-scoring midfielder in Premier League history with 111 league goals in total[3], he is also 2nd in the all-time Premier League assists table with 71[4]. Lampard established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world by coming second in both FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or in 2005[5][6][7][8].
Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father’s former club. Joining the youth team in 1994, he had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–1998 season. He helped the team to their highest ever finishing position Premier League in the 1998–99 season. The following season Lampard scored 14 goals in all competitions from midfield. With progress stagnating at West Ham, he moved to rival London club Chelsea in 2001 for £11 million.
From his debut onwards he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team, setting a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances. He established himself as a prolific scorer at the West London club and won his first major honours in 2005, winning the Premier League and League Cup. Lampard won more club honours under coach Jose Mourinho; the 2005–06 Premier League title and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest paid Premier League footballer at that time,[9] and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA cup for the second time in the 2009 final in which he scored the winning goal.
Internationally, Lampard gained his first senior England cap in 1999 team and has played in Euro 2004 (scoring three goals in four games), the 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2008 qualifiers. He has two children, Luna and Isla, with Elen Rives.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frank James Lampard[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 June 1978 (1978-06-20) (age 31)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Romford, England | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft +1?2 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Chelsea | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
Source: Frank Lampard, Chelsea Midfielder, English Premier League Football Club, Chelsea F.C. information at wikpedia.org
Martin Petrov – Man City Midfielder
Martin Petrov – Midfielder of Manchester City F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Martin Petyov Petrov (Bulgarian: ?????? ?????? ??????) (born 15 January 1979 in Vratsa, Vratsa Province) is a Bulgarian football player currently playing for Manchester City in the Premier League. He is famous for his lightning pace down the left wing and his powerful shots.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Petyov Petrov | ||
| Date of birth | 15 January 1979 (1979-01-15) (age 30) | ||
| Place of birth | Vratsa, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Manchester City | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps (Gls)† | |
| 1995–1996 | Botev Vratsa | 18 (4) | |
| 1996–1998 | CSKA Sofia | 19 (3) | |
| 1998–2001 | Servette FC | 61 (20) | |
| 2001–2005 | VfL Wolfsburg | 116 (28) | |
| 2005–2007 | Atlético Madrid | 49 (3) | |
| 2007– | Manchester City | 46 (6) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999– | Bulgaria | 75 (19) | |
Manchester City Football Club
Martin Petrov left Atletico Madrid for the blue half of Manchester on 26 July 2007, and although having big reputation on European stage, was a relatively unknown talent to the Premiership. That soon changed after he participated in his first Premier League game on 11 August 2007. He played an important role in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over West Ham at Upton Park, making long runs down his favoured left flank, wreaking havoc among West Ham’s defence, and never shying away from taking a powerful long range shot at goal with his trademark left foot. He had to wait until 22 September 2007 to score his first goal in Manchester City’s sky blue colours, minutes before netting another one at Fulham’s Craven Cottage. One of the goals was a superb individual effort, and the other a one-two combination with Elano. Since then Petrov has scored 2 more goals, one in the 3-1 win over Newcastle United the other one in the 2-1 win over Reading F.C. and also notched up 6 assists. Making himself well known for his blistering pace, brilliant runs down the wing, and a great eye for a pass. He was sent off by referee Rob Styles in the home loss to Everton F.C., for kicking Leon Osman. The challenge earned him a straight red card which banned him for 3 games. The Bulgarian added to his tally with a goal against Portsmouth. A goal hit with his weaker right foot, which managed to go between the legs of Sol Campbell and into the net.
It has been announced that Petrov’s number will change from 15 up to 17 which is his international number. During the first round of the UEFA cup in the 2008/09 season, Petrov scored a rifle of a shot after a Michael Johnson dummy against Faroe side EB/Streymur in Citys 2-0 away win. He also scored a goal in the home leg against EB/Streymur along with Darius Vassell’s late goal. He scored another trademark rocket from just inside the area against Celtic in a pre-season friendly for Manchester City. He returned back from injury to compete in the reserves game away at Newcastle United, playing 45 minutes. He marked his return to Premier League action in Manchester City’s home clash against Fulham FC on 12 April 2009, playing 63 minutes before being substituted by Robinho.[4]
Following the influx of new players at Manchester City such as Carlos Tévez and Emmanuel Adebayor, Petrov was linked with a move away from the City of Manchester Stadium. On 1 September 2009, Transfer deadline day, it was speculated that he would transfer to Tottenham, in a move which would see David Bentley heading to Eastlands.[5] Tottenham would also receive £10 million as part of this deal,[6][7] however Manchester City later denied they would be signing Bentley, either on-loan or permanently.[8] Luchezar Tanev, Petrov’s agent, later stated that the move broke down “because, in the final reckoning, Manchester City rejected the deal mainly due to manager Mark Hughes’s unwillingness.”
Source: English Premier League Football club, Premier League Midfielders, Manchester City F.C., Man City Midfielder, Martin Petrov information at wikipedia.org