Gareth Bale

Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team. Bale began his professional career with Championship side Southampton in 2005 and was transferred to Tottenham two years later.
Bale was born in Cardiff to parents Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie, an operations manager; he attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike. It was while at this school he first came to the attention of Southampton at nine years old, when he was playing in a six-a-side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service Football Club.[6] Growing up his football hero was fellow Welshman and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.

On 17 April 2006, at the age of 16 years and 275 days, Bale became the second youngest player ever to play for Southampton (after Theo Walcott, who was 132 days younger) when he made his debut in the Saints' 2-0 victory against Millwall. On 6 August, Bale scored his first league goal, a free kick, to level the score at 1–1 against Derby County. The final score at Pride Park was 2–2.[
On 25 May 2007, Bale signed a four-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur with Spurs paying an initial £5 million for Bale, potentially rising to £10 million based on appearances and success.[20] However, Tottenham paid Southampton an early settlement payment of £2 million in 2008 to reduce the final fee to £7 million and allow the Saints the immediate cash that they desperately needed.
Bale was selected by Wales at the end of the 2005–06 season and made his international debut on 27 May 2006.[47] He first appeared as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Trinidad and Tobago, making him the youngest ever player to play for Wales.[48] Bale, who was just 16 years and 315 days, assisted the winning goal scored by Robert Earnshaw.

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Jermaine Defoe

Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982 in Beckton, London) is an English footballer who currently plays as a striker for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team.

Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team at age fourteen, before moving to West Ham United aged sixteen, and rising through the ranks.


He made his professional debut for West Ham in 2000, and after a season-long loan spell at Bournemouth during the 2000–01 season, established himself in the West Ham lineup. A move to Tottenham in 2004 soon followed, and Defoe also spent a year at Portsmouth after he was deemed surplus to requirements at White Hart Lane. He has since returned to Tottenham in the January 2009 transfer window.

Defoe made his England debut in 2004 and as of August 2009, has made 36 appearances, scoring 10 goals.

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Pepe Reina

José Manuel Reina Páez (born 31 August 1982), commonly known as Pepe Reina, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the English Premier League club Liverpool F.C. and the Spain national team. He is believed by many[who?] to be one of the best goalkeepers around, an opinion often shared by his club manager Rafael Benitez[citation needed].

The son of famed FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, José Reina began his career with the FC Barcelona youth team and made his La Liga debut in the 2000–01 season. He was sent on loan to Villareal CF in 2002, becoming their first choice goalkeeper, and signed a permanent deal in 2004.

However, he soon moved on to Merseyside club Liverpool, making his debut in 2005 and instantly becoming first choice goalkeeper. Reina won his first major honour in 2006, saving three out of four penalties in the final to help win the FA Cup. In 2007 he reached the Champions League Final, matching the feat achieved by his father in 1974, but the team lost to A.C. Milan. Reina has set a number of goalkeeping records for Liverpool and he won the Premier League Golden Glove award for clean sheets in his first three seasons at the club.

At international level, Reina played for Spain's youth team, winning the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in 1999. He made his senior debut in 2005 and has generally been selected as the second choice keeper behind Iker Casillas. He was part of the Spain squad for the 2006 World Cup and made one appearance in their victorious Euro 2008 campaign, earning him his first international honour.


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Robinho

Robson de Souza (born 25 January 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo), commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian footballer, who currently plays for Manchester City and the Brazilian national team.Robinho was personally picked by Pelé as his heir apparent at only 15 years of age and went on to lead Santos to its first Campeonato Brasileiro title since Pelé himself played for the same legendary Brazilian club. Since then he won another title with Santos, two more with Real Madrid, one Copa América title with Brazil and two Confederations Cup, as well with Brazil. In 2009, Robinho married Vivian Guglielmetti.Robinho is widely known for his dribbling skills and step overs.


On 1 September 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a €42.5 million (£32.5m) move to Manchester City, with wages in the region of £160,000 per week. This occurred on the same day the club was bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.

He had previously been linked with a transfer to Chelsea, and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer. On 27 August, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said that the club were "confident" that the transaction would go through, and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave.

In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that City being a big club and the presence of friends Jô and Elano were incentives for him to join the team. He made his team debut and scored his very first Premier League goal on 13 September 2008, in a 3–1 home defeat to Chelsea. On 26 October, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Stoke City, and he scored his first European goal for City in a 3–2 UEFA Cup group stage win over Twente on 6 November. He was given the captain's armband for the match against Hull City, due to Richard Dunne's suspension, which ended in a 2–2 draw.

On 19 April he scored his 13th league goal for Manchester City in the 2–1 win away at Everton on 25 April, Manchester City's first away win since 31 August 2008. The following week, he scored his third consecutive goal in three games, against Blackburn Rovers to help Manchester City to a 3–1 win. Robinho has his own song from the City fans, which is simply "We've got Robinho", which they sang on the night they signed him and continue to sing on match days. Robinho finished the season as City's top goal scorer with 14 and the 4th top scorer in the league.


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Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar (born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English Premier League club Manchester United.He is the Netherlands national team's most capped player of all-time and one of the few footballers to have won the Champions League with two different teams, having won it with Ajax in 1995 and Manchester United in 2008, the latter where he was named UEFA Man of the match.
Van der Sar moved to Manchester United on 10 June 2005 for a reported fee of £2 million, although the exact transfer fee was undisclosed. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson considered him the best goalkeeper to play for the club since Peter Schmeichel.

On 5 May 2007, his penalty save helped assure a 1–0 triumph over Manchester City in the Manchester derby. The following day, Chelsea's failure to beat Arsenal at the Emirates ensured Manchester United's ninth Premier League trophy and Van der Sar's first. He was also named to the 2006–07 PFA Team of the Year. Three months later, he was a catalyst in Manchester United's 16th FA Community Shield victory, as he saved three consecutive penalties in a shootout after Manchester United and Chelsea played to a 1–1 draw at the end of regular time.

The 2007–08 season was Van der Sar's best season since his arrival; he had several great performances despite a niggling groin injury. He would help United secure their second successive Premier League title on the final day and win the Champions League by saving the final penalty of the shoot-out from Nicolas Anelka.

Van der Sar signed a one-year extension to his current contract with Manchester United on 12 December 2008, keeping him at the club until at least the end of the 2009–10 season.

On 27 January 2009, Van der Sar helped Manchester United set a new club and Premier League record for consecutive clean sheets — the club's 5–0 win over West Bromwich Albion meant that they had gone 11 games and 1,032 minutes without conceding a goal, beating the previous record of 10 matches and 1,025 minutes set by Petr Čech in the 2004–05 season. He then broke the overall English league record in the club's following game four days later, beating the previous record of 1,103 minutes, set by Steve Death of Reading in 1979. Another clean sheet, against West Ham on 8 February 2009, extended the record to 1,212 minutes, beating the British top-flight record of 1,155 minutes previously set by Aberdeen's Bobby Clark in 1971. Finally, on 18 February 2009, Van der Sar further extended the record to 1,302 minutes, and in doing so, he broke José María Buljubasich's single-season world record of 1,289 minutes, set in the Chilean Clausura in 2005. His clean sheet record ended on 4 March, when he made an error allowing Peter Løvenkrands of Newcastle United to score after 9 minutes. In total, Van der Sar had gone 1,311 minutes without conceding in the league. These clean sheets were a major factor in United clinching their 11th Premiership title as United won a lot of games 1–0 to clinch the title ahead of Liverpool. With a total of 21 clean sheets he also won the Barclays Golden Glove for 2008–09. However, he missed out on winning his third Champions League winners medal as United succumbed to a 2–0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona on 27 May 2009.


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Gary Neville

Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975 in Bury, Greater Manchester) is an English football player. He is England's most capped right back and Manchester United's club captain. Neville started at and has played his entire career so far at Old Trafford, making him to date a rare one club man. He made his international debut in 1995 and was first choice right back for club and country for more than ten years.

He is the brother of fellow Premier League footballer and Everton captain Phil Neville, who was also a Manchester United player (from 1993 until 2005). His sister Tracey Neville plays netball for England, his mother Jill is a receptionist for Bury and his father Neville Neville was once a cricketer for Lancashire.


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