Franck Bilal Ribéry (born April 1, 1983 in Boulogne-sur-Mer) is a French football midfielder who plays for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich.
Height:1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Club career
After spending the first four years of his career in his home country with four different clubs, Ribéry relocated to Turkey in January 2005, signing a three-and-a-half year contract with Galatasaray S.K., with whom he won the 2005 Fortis Turkey Cup by scoring one goal and assisting one other in a 5-1 win in the final against league rivals Fenerbahçe SK.
On April 25, 2007, an appeal by Galatasaray against Ribéry’s move to Olympique de Marseille was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), who ruled in a statement that Ribéry had terminated his contract with the Turkish club at the end of the 2004-05 season on just grounds, and that Galatasaray was therefore not entitled to any compensation. Ribéry had opted out of his deal in May 2005 in order to return to France after having gone over four months without wages. Galatasaray had sought €10 million in compensation from Marseille, and appealed to CAS after FIFA ruled in Ribéry’s favor in July 2005.[1]
(more…)
David Robert Joseph Beckham,[1] OBE[2] (born 2 May 1975) is an English footballer, who plays in midfield. He plays for and captains Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy[4] and is also a member of the England national team. He earned his much publicised 100th cap for England against France in March 2008.[5]
Height :6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
He has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year[6], and in 2004 was the world’s highest-paid footballer.[7] He was Google’s most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004.[8] Such global recognition has made him an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon.[9][10] Beckham was captain of England from 15 November 2000[11] to 2 July 2006. He made 58 appearances as captain, and ended his tenure in that role after the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals,[12] however, continued to make contributions for the England national team in competitions after this.[13] Beckham captained Manchester United for the first time on 21 October 2000 in a Premiership match against Leeds United, coming on as a substitute for injured team captain Roy Keane.[14]
Beckham’s career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team début in 1992 aged 17.[6] During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.[6] He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons.[15] While at Madrid, Beckham became the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches.[6] In his final season, Real clinched the 2006–07 La Liga championship title—Beckham’s only major trophy with the club—in the final game of the season on 17 June.[16] In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy.[17]
Beckham’s contract with Los Angeles Galaxy became effective on 1 July 2007 and gave him the highest salary of any MLS player in history.[18] He débuted for the team on 21 July in a friendly versus Chelsea at The Home Depot Center,[19] and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the 2007 SuperLiga semi-final.[20] His first league start then came on 18 August in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.[21]
(more…)