RONALDINHO

TEAMS PLAYED FOR

AC Milan: 2008 -
FC Barcelona: 2003 - 2008
Paris Saint-Germain: 2001 - 2003
Gremio: 1997 - 2001

BIO

Ronaldinho (full name Ronaldo de Assis Moreira) was born on March 21, 1980 in Vila Nova, a poor suburb of Porto Alegre, Brazil.  His father, Joao was a huge fan of Gremio Football Club and worked as a car park attendant for the team.  His brother Roberto was a young promising player for Gremio but a serious knee injury ended his career prematurely. 
When Ronaldinho was 8 years old, a tragedy struck his family when his father suffered a heart attack while swimming and drowned in a pool.  Around the same time, Ronaldinho followed in his brother's steps and joined the Gremio soccer school where he became the most promising and exciting player in Brazil at that time. 

CLUB CAREER

In 2001 Ronaldinho signed a contract with French team Paris Saint-Germain where he spent 3 years where he became a fan favorite with his tremendous flair and exciting style of soccer, also contributing a great amount of goals.
Although Manchester United were calling Ronaldinho to join their team, he chose to sign with Spanish club FC Barcelona for 21 million pounds, a steal price for such a player. 
The move to Barcelona was a very significant one in terms of the power shift in the world of soccer. Barcelona was in a mini crisis period, outshone domestically by bitter rivals Real Madrid. New president Joan Laporta had promised to bring in changes at the club, and the signing of Ronaldinho from PSG on a 5 year contract was one of those.
While at Barcelona Ronaldinho continued to amaze everyone around him.  There seems to be no limit to his skills.  The ability to play comes to him naturally, and the ball looks alive when at his feet.  There are times when Ronaldinho makes his move, the rest of the players just stand there awestruck.
While at Barcelona Ronaldinho won the La Liga twice, the Spanish Cup and added the Champions League title.  On a personal note he won the FIFA world player award twice. 
After seemingly flawless career at Barcelona, Ronaldinho suffered setback in fitness form primerily caused by his desire to enjoy the night life and subsequent injuries.  As a result, the club decided to sell the player to AC Milan.  However, playing for Milan he has only shown glimpses of his former abilities. 
With the new season just underway in Italy, the supporters hope that the old Ronaldinho will resurface.  He is, after all, a special player, World Cup winner with a special talant.  He is only 29 years old and can still amaze the supporters for many years to come.

PERSONAL INFO 

Ronaldinho's brother Roberto is his sports agent and his sister is his press coordinator... He has a son named Joao after his father... His first brush with the media came after a 23 goal flurry against a local team, at just 13 years of age... Huge fan of Brazilian music... Plays the drums and sings...

TITLES AND AWARDS

FC Barcelona

La Liga: 2005, 2006
Spanish Super Cup: 2005, 2006
UEFA Champions League: 2006

International

FIFA under-17 World Cup: 1997
Copa America: 1999
FIFA World Cup: 2002
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005
2008 Summer Olympics: Bronze Medal

THIERRY HENRY

TEAMS PLAYED FOR


FC Barcelona (Spain): 2007 -
Arsenal (England): 1999 - 2007
Juventus (Italy): 1999
Monaco (France): 1992 - 1999
Clairefontaine (France): 1992
Viry-Chatillon (France): 1990 - 1992
US Palaiseau (France): 1989 - 1990
CO Les ulis (France): 1983 - 1989


BIO

Thierry Henry was born on August 17, 1977, in the small suburban Paris town of Les Ulis. His parents, Antoine and Marylese, left the French Antilles one year earlier in search of a better life.
When the parents arrived in Paris, the state issued the family a subsidized two-bedroom apartment, which was buried amidst the tall, concrete, sixties-style buildings that served as Les Ulis' trademark. The high percentage of immigrants, combined with the narrow roadways and lack of public parks, made the town a ghetto in the eyes of many Parisians.
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, Antoine stressed the importance of athletics to Thierry, specifically soccer. Marylese worried that her son spent too much time on the pitch and not enough time studying. Thierry listened to both his parents and became a great student and an even better soccer player.
Antoine continually took Thierry to local soccer camps and matches, and it soon became evident that the youngster was an above-average player for his age. As Thierry reached his early teenage years, he started opening the eyes of local scouts. Thierry starred for both the junior team of Les Ulis and the neighboring town of Palaiseau.

CLUB CAREER

At the age of 13, Henry started playing for a semi-pro team Viry-Chatillon. He only played 26 games but managed to score 77 goals.
Just before his 14th birthday, Thierry was one of the 25 boys selected for the French Football Federation's Clairefontaine Academy, located about 30 miles west of Paris. Like every teen who receives this prestigious honor, he lived at the school and concentrated almost exclusively on soccer. William Gallas, Louis Saha and Nicolas Anelka were among Thierry’s classmates at Clairefontaine.
While at the Academy, the specialists noticed his amazing speed and intelligence, but were worried that his ball handling and goal scoring would not improve. Arsene Wenger, however, saw far greater potential in Thierry. The manager of Monaco at the time, Wenger didn't hesitate to sign the 16-year-old to a contract.
That was the beginning of Henry's friendship and fruitful work with Arsene Wegner. When the latest was appointed the coach of London's Arsenal, Henry was signed from Juventus on a US$10 million transfer.
While at Arsenal, Henry became one of the most prolific scorers in the Premiership history scoring 174 goals in various competitions. He won numerous personal and team awards including the Premiership and FA Cup titles.
In 2007 Henry transferred to Spanish club FC Barcelona for 24 million euros. He left Arsenal as the team's all-time league goal-scorer with 174 goals and all-time goal-scorer in Europe with 42 goals. Henry continued to impress at Barcelona scoring goals and winning titles. He won the La Liga title, Copa del Ray and his most desired UEFA Champions League title.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

Henry had a very successful career with the France National Team. He was a member of France World Cup winning team in 1998. He also won the European Championship in 2000 by beating Italy in the final.

PERSONAL INFO

Henry was married to an English model Nicole Merry and they had a daughter Tea... the couple divorced in 2007... Thierry is a big fan of the NBA and is close friends with Tony Parker of San Antonio Spurs... He is a spokesperson against racism...

TITLES AND AWARDS

Monaco

Ligue 1: 1997
French Super Cup: 1997

Arsenal

Premier League: 2002, 2004
FA Cup: 2002, 2003, 2005
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004

Barcelona

La Liga: 2009
Copa del Rey: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2009
Spanish Super Cup: 2009
UEFA Super Cup: 2009

International

FIFA World Cup: 1998
UEFA European Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
European Golden Boot: 2004, 2005
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

LIONEL MESSI

TEAMS PLAYED FOR

FC Barcelona (Spain): 2000 -
Newell's Old Boys (Argentina): 1995 - 2000

BIO

Lionel Messi (full name Luis Lionel Andrés Messi) was born on June 24th, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina.  He is an Argentine soccer player currently plaing for Spanish Club Barcelona.  His father, Jorge, was a factory worker and his mother, Celia, was a house cleaner.  Lionel has two older brothers and a sister.

CLUB CAREER

Lionel Messi started playing football at a very early age in his hometown's Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11, he suffered from a hormone deficiency and as Lionel's parents were unable to pay for the treatment in Argentina, they decided to move to Barcelona, Spain.
In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium. The following championship-winning season, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1).
With several first team players seriously injured, the services of several reserve team players were called upon, and Messi became a regular feature of Barça squads. On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona - against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old.
In 2006 Messi established himself as one of the leaders of the first team.  His skills with the ball earned him a comparison with one of the greatest soccer players in history, Diego Maradona.  For a 17 year old boy, that was the highest compliment he could get.  In fact, only a year later, Messi proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by near-replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season. On April 18th, 2007, Messi scored two goals against Getafe, one of which was very similar to the goal scored by Maradona during the 1986 FIFA World Cup agains England.
Playing for Barcelona Messi has scored over 50 goals and has earned numerous team and personal achievement awards.  Most notably, he won La Liga title three times and UEFA Champions League twice.  His unbelievable perfomance has earned him a lot of money.  It is said that a new contract is under negotiations which will set his transfer fee at US$426 million with annual salary of US$14 million.  In one of the interviews after winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar, Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola said that Messi was the best player he had ever seen.  What is even more amazing is that Messi is only 22 years old and has his whole career ahead of him.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

Messi debuted for Argentina in June 2004, playing a friendly match agains Paraguay.  In 2005 he won FIFA Youth World Championship and earned a Golden Ball and Golden Shoe for the most goals scored.  During 2006 World Cup, Messi became the youngest player to play for Argentina when he came on as a substitute in the game against Serbia.  He has played in 2007 Copa America and 2008 Summer Olympics which he won. 


PERSONAL INFO

Messi has dual citizenship of Argentina and Spain... Plans to wed his girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo in 2010... Nickname "New Maradona".

TITLES AND AWARDS

Barcelona

La Liga: 2005, 2006, 2009
Copa del Rey: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2006, 2009
Spanish Super Cup: 2005, 2006, 2009
UEFA Super Cup: 2009

International

FIFA under-20 World Cup: 2005
Summer Olympics: 2008
Argentine Player of the Year: 2005, 2007