Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, known as Ronaldo or Ronaldo Nazário, is a Brazilian business owner and president of Segunda Division club Real Valladolid, owner of Brasileiro Série A club Cruzeiro, and a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed O Fenômeno and R9, he is considered as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, Ronaldo has been an influence for a generation of strikers that have followed. His individual accolades include being named FIFA World Player of the Year three times and winning two Ballon d'Or awards.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 32 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (123) and international appearances (200). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances, and has scored over 800 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the highest goalscorer of all time.
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range shots, and excellent technique and ball control. He is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and is one of the most decorated footballers in the world, having won 34 trophies in his career. He has scored over 570 career goals, including more than 500 club goals, and has scored in each of the last four decades.
Football boots, called cleats or soccer shoes in North America, are a type of shoe worn when playing association football (soccer). Those designed for grass pitches have studs on the outsole to aid grip. From simple and humble beginnings football boots have come a long way and today find themselves subject to much research, development, sponsorship and marketing at the heart of a multi-national global industry. Modern "boots" are no longer truly boots in that they do not cover the ankle - like most other types of athletic footwear, their basic design and appearance has converged with that of sneakers since the 1960s.
Andrés Iniesta Luján is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is currently a free agent, having last played for Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, during his peak years he was lauded for his balance, ball control and agility in close spaces, combined with his skill, composure, and flair on the ball. Iniesta has spent most of his career at Barcelona, where he served as the captain for three seasons.
Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry is a French former professional footballer who primarily played as a winger, preferably on the left side, and was known for his pace, energy, skill, and precise passing. Ribéry has been described as a player who is fast, tricky and an excellent dribbler, who has great control with the ball at his feet. While with Bayern, he was recognised on the world stage as one of the best players of his generation. The previous talisman of the French national team, Zinedine Zidane, once referred to Ribéry as the "jewel of French football".
Paul Mitchell is a Scottish football commentator for BBC Scotland and was their main commentator for a six-year period from 2004 to 2010.
Wieden+Kennedy is an American independent global advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the largest independently owned advertising agencies in the world.
The Mercurial Vapor is a football boot manufactured by Nike. The boot is known for being lightweight and has been endorsed by players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Eden Hazard, Raheem Sterling, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Didier Drogba, Luka Modrić, Arturo Vidal, Douglas Costa, Xherdan Shaqiri, Stephan El Shaarawy, Alexis Sánchez, Philippe Coutinho and many more.
The UEFA Celebration Match was a football match played at Old Trafford, Manchester, on 13 March 2007 as a celebration of both the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundations for the European Union, and the first participation of Manchester United F.C. in UEFA competitions. Manchester United won the match 4–3 against a Europe XI managed by Italian World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi. All the hosts' goals came before half-time, while Florent Malouda scored for the Europe XI midway through the first half and El Hadji Diouf scored twice in the second.
International Superstar Soccer, known as Jikkyō World Soccer Perfect Eleven in Japan, is a football video game developed by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the first title in the International Superstar Soccer (ISS) series of sports video games.
The 2009 UEFA Champions League final was played on 27 May 2009 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. The match determined the winners of the 2008–09 season of the UEFA Champions League, a tournament for the top football clubs in Europe. The match was won by Barcelona of Spain, who beat England's Manchester United 2–0. Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring in the 10th minute, and Lionel Messi added another goal 20 minutes from the end to earn Barcelona a historic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, a feat never before achieved by a Spanish club. The match was refereed by Swiss referee Massimo Busacca.
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, known as Neymar Júnior or mononymously as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. The most expensive player ever, he is a prolific goalscorer and renowned playmaker widely regarded as one of the best players in the world and one of the greatest Brazilian players of all time. Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making him one of four players to achieve this feat.
Write the Future is an advert made by Nike football for the 2010 World Cup and directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu for the UK based production company, Independent Films Limited. The full version is over three minutes in length and features football players Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro, Wayne Rooney, Franck Ribéry, Ronaldinho, and Cristiano Ronaldo as its main players. All of the players play in a scenario during a World Cup match and after significant events occur, the players usually see a significant ripple effect outside the world of football. The advert aired during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It features the song "Hocus Pocus", by progressive rock band Focus. It was created by Wieden+Kennedy and written by Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy, Stuart Harkness and Freddie Powell. The Sound design and mix was done by Raja Sehgal working out of Grand Central Recording Studios in London. The advertisement won the Film Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Lions festival.
The UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award is an association football award given to the footballer playing for a men's football club in Europe that is considered the best in the previous season of both club and national team competition. The award, created in 2011 by UEFA in partnership with European Sports Media (ESM) group, was initially aimed at reviving the European Footballer of the Year Award, which was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or. It also replaced the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.
The Globe Soccer Awards popularly known as 'Dubai D'or' are football awards organised by the European Club Association (ECA) in conjunction with the European Association of Player's Agents (EFAA) and delivered by the organisation Globe Soccer. The award ceremony is held in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which brings together the main representatives of the world of football, the League of the United Arab Emirates, major world clubs and their managers, encouraging an exchange of views on the world of football as a major goal, alongside transfer-related issues and the football market.
The 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fourth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 13 January 2014. The deadline for voting was 15 November 2013 but was extended to 29 November 2013 for the first time in history.
The following article outlines statistics for UEFA Euro 2016, which took place in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. Goals scored during penalty shoot-outs are not counted, and matches decided by a penalty shoot-out are considered draws.
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2017 were held on 23 October 2017 in London, United Kingdom. The ceremony was held at the London Palladium and was hosted by Idris Elba and Layla Anna-Lee. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lieke Martens, Gianluigi Buffon, Zinedine Zidane and Sarina Wiegman were among the award-winners.
