Friday, August 10, 2007

TOP SOCCER PLAYERS

TOP 5 STRIKERS AT PRESENT
1)Thierry Henry


Thierry Daniel Henry (born August 17, 1977 in Les Ulis, Essonne, Paris) is a French football player.He's a prolific goal scoring machine who can score both in and out of the D or from any angle and just makes knotty goals look so easy . He currently plays as a striker for the French national team, and for Spanish club Barcelona . Outstanding pace, fantastic mobility, and magnificent first touch and clinical finishing characterize his game. Henry has been twice nominated and finished runners-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year.He has surpassed Ian Wright to take over as Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with over 200 goals for the club. Although he plays as a striker, his versatility at all aspects of the game makes him more influential than traditional strikers . Subsequently, Henry has consistently featured among the top FA Premier League's scorers (in 2006 he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in five consecutive seasons) and he claimed the "Golden Boot" in 2002, 2004, and 2005.Thierry has now also scored over 160 Premiership goals, which takes him above Robbie Fowler to become the third most prolific Premier League striker of all time.Thierry Henry trained at the French Football Federation's academy at Clairefontaine and played at a youth level for CO Les Ulis (1983-1989), then Palaiseau (1989-1990), Viry-Châtillon (1990-1992) and FC Versailles (1992-1993).Thierry Henry is the only player ever to have won three FWA Footballer of the Year awards, in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

2)Ronaldinho

Ronaldo de Assís Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto alegre) is a stunning dribble king and a Brazilian footballer, also known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho (due to him being from the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil), or simply and most commonly Ronaldinho. He became a naturalized Spanish citizen in January 2007 .He was introduced into the Brazilian national team in 1999. He debuted for the national team on June 26, 1999, and in his first appearance he scored the winning goal against Venezuela which helped the team win the Copa América.Ronaldinho justified the purchase, leading Barcelona to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 2003/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Lionel Messi, Ludovic Giuly and Thierry Henry, he comprises part of an awesome strike force for FC Barcelona. On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko .


3)Wayne Rooney





Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Liverpool) is an English footballer.He currently plays for the Premiership club Manchester United and the England national football team. He normally played as a second striker to Ruud van Nistelrooy for his club team before van Nistelrooy's move to Real Madrid C.F., although during 2005-06, he has shown his versatility as a player by shifting to the midfield and playing on both flanks. He's young , flexible and highly versatile which makes him one of the key figures both in his club and national team . Together withChristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez he plays a vital role in forming a venomous attack which can baffle any defence .


4)Ruud van Nistelrooy


Rutgerus Johannes Martinius Ruud van Nistelrooy( born 1st Jul 1976, Oss, Holland ) nick named 'Van The Man' is undoubtedly the best goal scorer inside the box . The Dutchman struck 100 goals in his first three seasons in Manchester. He overtook United legend Denis Law’s title as the club's all-time top scorer in European competition in his fourth term, and by the end of his fifth year at Old Trafford he’d reached 150 goals in fewer than 200 starts.Ruud is a natural striker with phenomenal finishing. He has great instinct inside the penalty box. He is also a regular penalty taker. Ruud began his playing career with FC Den Bosch in the Dutch Second Division in the 1993/94 season. After four seasons in the lower Leagues, he was bought by top flight club Heerenveen in 1997, and went on to score 13 goals in 30 appearances in 1997/98. His strike rate caught the eye of PSV Eindhoven who swooped for the striker, signing him on his 22nd birthday in 1998 for £4.2 million, a record between two Dutch clubs. After having scored 29 goals in 1999/2000, Ruud picked up a knee injury in a friendly against Silkeborg on 6 March 2000. The next month, a proposed move to Manchester United fell through because he could not complete a medical at United, causing the deal to be postponed. Ruud finally signed for Manchester United on 23rd April 2001, for a British record of £19 million .Now he plays for Real Madrid and has scored more than 30 goals in his first season for the Spanish club .


5)Andriy Shevchenko

Andriy Shevchenko(born September 29, 1976, Dvirkivschyna, Kiev Oblast) is a in Ukrainian football player who is a striker for Chelsea and Ukrainian national team . Shevchenko started off his career with Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv, with whom he won five league titles and two national cups in five seasons between 1994 and 1999. He has won one Serie A title, one UEFA Champions League, one European Super Cup, one Italian Cup and one Italian League Super Cup with Milan till now .