Jaap Stam

Jakob "Jaap" Stam (born 17 July 1972 in Kampen) is a retired Dutch football player who was twice voted best defender in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.

Jaap Stam started his career with local amateur football club DOS Kampen. On 15 August 1992, Stam made his professional debut for FC Zwolle in a 1–1 draw against SC Heracles in the Eerste Divisie. He became a first team regular right away and moved to Eredivisie side Cambuur Leeuwarden for the following season, but relegated in his first season which brought him back into the Eerste Divisie. Two seasons at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie side Willem II. At Willem II he impressed at the Eredivisie level straight away, which meant his final breakthrough. A shock 1–0 home victory over Ajax led to Stam's transfer to PSV Eindhoven in the same season in which they eventually won the KNVB Cup, his first professional trophy.

Jaap Stam was a key player for PSV in the 1996–97 season, as the team won the Eredivisie Championship and the Johan Cruijff-schaal (the Dutch Super Cup); Stam won the VVCS Footballer of the Year award. In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive Dutch football player in history and the most expensive defender in history, when Manchester United bought him for £10.6 million.

Jaap Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, during which time United won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League. He scored his only goal for the club in a 6-2 away victory against Leicester City.

Early in the 2001–02 season, Jaap Stam was controversially sold to Lazio in Italy, after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly furious with allegations Stam had made in his autobiography Head to Head about himself and the club. Stam made numerous statements in the book about his views on opposing players, and notoriously alleged that Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of PSV Eindhoven. Laurent Blanc was signed as his replacement.

During his time with Lazio, Jaap Stam was found guilty of having the banned steroid nandrolone in his system following a Serie A game, and received a five-month ban, which was eventually reduced by a month after appeals. In his last season at the club, he won the Coppa d'Italia with Lazio.

Jaap Stam joined A.C. Milan after Euro 2004. He reached his second Champions League final with the Italian team in 2005, but was a runner-up after being defeated by Liverpool. On 30 January 2006, it was announced that he would return to the Eredivisie and play for Ajax, where he signed a two-year contract for €2.5 million transfer fee. Jaap Stam was named team captain upon his arrival in Amsterdam. In his first season, he won both the Johan Cruijff-schaal and the KNVB Cup, and another Johan Cruijff-schaal was added at the start of the 2007–08 season.

Jaap Stam made his debut for the Netherlands on 24 April 1996, in the 1–0 defeat to Germany. He was also an important player in the Dutch team that finished fourth in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Stam reached his third semi finals in an international competition with his nation during Euro 2004 in Portugal and retired from international football after the tournament. The reason for his international retirement was that he wanted to focus on his new team AC Milan and his family. In total he played 67 matches for the Netherlands, scoring 3 goals. [source : Jaap Stam]

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Javier "Il Trattore" Zanetti

Javier Adelmar Zanetti (born 10 August 1973 in Dock Sud, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Serie A club Internazionale. Javier Zanetti has played for Inter since 1995, taking the captain's armband in 1999. Known for his versatility, he is adept on both the left and right wing, having played on both flanks as a fullback as well as a winger. He slots into several midfield positions with ease, particularly as a defensive or central midfielder. Internationally, he holds the record of the most capped player in the history of the Argentine national team and has played in the 1996 Olympic tournament and in two World Cups, in 1998 and 2002.

Known as "Pupi" in Argentina, Zanetti was born in Buenos Aires, picking up the nickname "Il Trattore" (The Tractor) soon after his move to Italy where his strength, resilience, stamina, and his ability to run past opposing defenders when joining the attack from his right back position earned him notoriety. More recently, he plays in the right midfield. He ended a 4-year goal drought when he scored on 5 November 2006. In the national team, he is deployed as a right back but is able to switch between defense and attack easily.

Javier Zanetti has won five Serie A titles with Inter, having earned the nickname "Il Capitano" (The Captain) among the fans and media since taking captaincy at Inter. He holds the record for the highest all-time appearances by a non-Italian born player for an Italian club. Zanetti also has played in the 1,000th competitive match of his eventful football career on May 11, 2011. 

Javier Zanetti, who plans to retire with Inter and continue to work with the club thereafter, is also noted for his charity work, running a foundation to benefit disadvantaged children in Argentina. He has been named an ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages project in Argentina by FIFA, and in 2005, he received the Ambrogino d'Oro award from the Milan town hall for his social initiative. Zanetti is also a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics. [source : Javier Zanetti]

Javier Zanetti Pictures and Wallpapers

Bobby Moore: The First Gentleman of English Football

Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (Bobby Moore) was born in Barnet in April 1941. He was recruited to West Ham’s junior team in 1956, making his debut for the senior team as a replacement for Malcolm Allison against Manchester United in September 1958.

In 1960, at the young age of 19, Bobby Moore was called up to the England under-23’s, and earned his debut cap in 1962 in Peru. Already in 1963 he was made captain of the squad, quickly earning the trust of his coach and manager. At first Moore was just filling in for more senior players, but the position was made permanent in 1964. That year Moore was treated for testicular cancer, but he did not let that stop him winning the FA Cup with West Ham United. He was also named Football Writer’s Association Football player of the Year. 

In 1966, the year of his famous victory, Bobby Moore was on the verge of arranging a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur when England manager Alf Ramsey intervened prior to the World Cup and urged a reconciliation with West Ham United, which was swiftly effected. 

England moved with little difficulty through the rounds in the World Cup, but the final itself was one of the most intense matches in the history of the game. England initially went 1-0 down to West Germany, before Geoff Hurst equalized, and Peters put them 2-1 up. Worryingly, however, Wolfgang Weber equalized just before full-time. The match went into extra time, and Hurst put England 3-2 up, but the goal was hotly contested, and it was not until the final minute when Hurst scored a third goal that England’s win was cemented. Many of the most famous images of that day centre around Moore as captain of his team.

After the World Cup, Bobby Moore continued to play for West Ham and England, as well as promoting the British pub industry and opening his own sports shop. In the second half of the decade, he received national recognition. In 1966 Moore was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and in 1967 he was awarded an OBE, and a punk band even recorded a song about him entitled ‘Viva Bobby Moore’. 

Bobby Moore was again named captain of England again for the 1970 World Cup. A rare controversial episode followed when he was arrested for the theft of a bracelet from the shop of the hotel that the squad was staying in in Columbia for a warm-up match. Although Moore was questioned on more than one occasion, and detained in Columbia when the rest of his team-mates travelled home, the charges were eventually dropped. The tournament was not a wild success for England, but it went down for one piece of genius from Moore when, during their match with Brazil, he performed a spectacular tackle on the advancing Jairzinho - still considered perhaps the finest (if not, the most iconic) tackle in history.

The later years of Moore’s English career passed with relative quiet. In 1970, he and two of his West Ham team-mates were fined for going out drinking heavily the night before a third-round FA Cup tie. Nonetheless, he continued to play well for them. Bobby Moore made his final appearance for England in 1973, when they failed to qualify for the World Cup. 

Bobby Moore led his country to its greatest footballing victory as captain of England’s winning team in the 1966 World Cup. Moore’s skill as a defender was matched by his generous and intelligent leadership, and by his mere personality, which earned him the nickname of ‘the first gentleman of English football’. He was famous for his grace and class, and for the apparently effortless tackles and passes that he seemed to perform in slow-motion. Moore was not a particularly fast nor a showy footballer - his composure and thoughtful approach to the defensive role marked him out as a highly gifted player and the natural leader that England needed. [source : Bobby Moore]

Bobby Moore Pictures and Wallpapers

Franco Baresi

Franco Baresi, born in Travagliato, is one of very few players at top international level to have spent an entire career at one club. He made his debut for AC Milan in 1978 and won the Serie A already in his first full season the following year. Franco was one of these players that didn’t look very impressive physically compared to what you would expect from a central defender. He usually operated as a sweeper behind the defensive line, and controlled the pace of the game from there. He read the game impressively well, which was the main reason to why he was so outstanding.
 

It took some time for him to break into the national team because Enzo Bearzot, the coach at the time, preferred the Juventus trio Cabrini, Gentile and Scirea in defence. The latter occupied the sweeper’s position in the World Cup winning team of 1982. Baresi was included in that squad, but never played a minute in Spain which he didn’t like. He then rejected to play for Italy as long as Bearzot was in charge which made him miss the 1986 World Cup. Bearzot then retired and Baresi once again said yes to the Azzurri. Italy reached the semifinals at Euro 88, Franco’s first tournament with Italy, and another semifinal in their own World Cup in 1990. Italy lost to Argentina on penalties, but beat England in the bronzematch.

Baresi was captain when Italy travelled to America for the World Cup in 1994. At 34, he knew this was his last chance to win the World Cup, but an injury in the first round against Norway made him miss several matches and he wasn’t ready until the final against Brazil, where he played the game of his life. Brazil evenutally won on penalties and Franco missed one of the penalties for Italy. It was his 81st and final match for Italy.
 

He played three more years for Milan before retiring, having won six Serie A championships, three European Cups and two World Club Cups among his many titles. AC Milan paid tribute to him by making his number 6 jersey immortal. No player in the future will ever wear that jersey again for Milan. [source : Franco Baresi]

Franco Baresi's Pictures