Tirend все записи автора 7 LUIS FIGO

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Date of birth: 4 November 1972
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 75 kg
Position: Forward
Current Club: Inter (ITA)
Int'l Goals: 32 (as of 8-Jul-2006)
Int'l Caps: 127 (as of 8-Jul-2006)
First Int'l Cap: Luxembourg v. Portugal (12-Oct-1991)



StatsKey
MP MinP GF PG A SOG S FRE YC RC FS
7 528 0 0 3 4 8 0 1 0 23


Budweiser Man of the Match
11 Jun Angola 0:1 (0:1) Portugal More...



Club History
1989-1995 Sporting. 129 matches, 16 goals
1995-2000 Barcelona (ESP). 172 matches, 30 goals
2000-2005 Real Madrid (ESP). 164 matches, 38 goals
Since 2005 Inter (ITA). 27 matches, 4 goals



Profile
Luis Figo is one of the best-known faces in world football, and indisputably one of the most talented players to grace the game in recent years. Masterful with the ball at his feet, Figo’s precision passing, pinpoint crossing and innate leadership qualities have seen him ranked among the greatest Portuguese footballers of all time.
Luis Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo was born on 4 November 1972 in the working-class neighbourhood of Almada in Lisbon. As a youngster, Figo played street football for a side called Os Pastilhas, and by the age of eleven had already been signed up by superpower Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he would stay until he was 22. From an early age, Figo stood head and shoulders above his peers, making his debut for the Sporting Lisbon first team at just 17. He made his full international debut two years later, in 1991.

In 1989, the lithe and speedy winger was part of the Portugal side that came third at the FIFA U-16 World Championship in Scotland. Two years later, he was a key member of Portugal’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ that strode to victory at the FIFA World Youth Championship played on home soil. Figo went on to form an integral part of the senior national team, along with other members of that celebrated U-20 side including Rui Costa and Joao Pinto.

A solitary Portuguese Cup win, picked up in 1994/95, was scant reward for Figo’s efforts in the green and white of Sporting, but upon leaving the Estadio Arvalade, his trophy cabinet would fill at an astonishing rate. In 1995, Figo was snapped up by Catalan giants FC Barcelona where, coached by the likes of Johan Cruyff, Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal, he would make the transition to superstardom, being voted Portuguese player of the year on five occasions. Figo was a key figure in the Barcelona side that won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1997, the European Super Cup in 1998, the Primera Liga title in 1998 and 1999 , as well as the Copa del Rey in 1997 and 1998.

But perhaps Figo’s greatest performances came at UEFA Euro 2000, where he was the heart and soul of a Portugal side which wowed the fans with scintillating attacking football. Eventual winners France may have put paid to Portuguese hopes at the semi-final stage, but Figo was widely considered to be one of the players of the tournament.

Record transfer
In the aftermath of EURO 2000, controversy reigned as Figo left Barcelona for arch-rivals Real Madrid for a then world record fee of €59m. After the smoke cleared, Florentino Perez was elected President of Real, in the process converting Figo into the first of his ‘Galacticos’. The Portuguese international made short work of adapting to life in the Spanish capital, winning the Primera Liga title in his first season. During his spell at the Bernabeu, Figo won the Primera Liga twice (in 2001 and 2003), lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2002 and the Toyota Intercontinental Cup the same year.

Figo once again showed he was the man for the big occasion with his displays at Euro 2004 in Portugal. However, unlike the ‘Golden Generation’ of 13 years earlier, Portugal were unable to make home advantage count, falling to a surprise defeat against Greece in the final.

In 2005 the Portuguese superstar made the move to Serie A side Inter Milan, where he quickly found his feet, leading by example with a series of eye-catching displays in his first season in Italy.

Among the many honours bestowed upon him during the course of a glittering career, two stand out most of all: Figo is Portugal’s most-capped player ever, with more than 115 appearances to his name; while in 2001, the classy winger was honoured with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award.