Gonzalo Higuain Biography

GONZALO HIGUAIN BIOGRAPHY
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín was born in December 10, 1987 in Brest, Finistère, France. He is a French footballer of Argentine origin. He currently plays as a striker at the Spanish club Real Madrid.
Gonzalo Higuaín was born in France whilst his father, professional Argentine footballer Jorge "El Pipa" Higuaín, was playing for Brest, at that time in the French Ligue 1. Having left the country at the age of 10 months, not returning until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Even though he does not speak French, he holds a French passport, because his father was naturalized French.
He has rejected calls from both the Argentine Under 20s and French national teams, like a friendly against Greece, November 15, 2006, claiming he is still to decide for which country he would prefer to play. Touted by many as a star of the future, he has attracted the interest of several big clubs such as A.C. Milan, Lazio, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea. Numerous French clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille have also sent scouts to Argentina to negotiate a possible transfer for the promising young player.

Following his double strike in the Superclásico local derby against Boca Juniors, River Plate manager Daniel Passarella declared that he had an 'enormous future' and was 'destined for superstardom'.
Higuaín's international career looks set to mirror that of David Trézéguet, whose father was Argentinian, and who was raised in Argentina, but went on to play successfully for France. When France national team call-up Higuaín against Greece, they assigned him No.20, the number originally worn by Trézéguet.
He is the younger brother of Federico Higuaín, who plays football for Nueva Chicago.
After Real Madrid's capture of another South American starlet, Marcelo, rumours were mounting that Higuaín and Gonzalo Higuain of Boca Juniors will be signing for the Whites in the future.
AC Milan were also linked with Higuaín. Milan director Ariedo Braida is frequently reported to be in Argentina, looking for possibility to bring Higuaín, together with his compatriots Gonzalo Higuain and Rodrigo Palacio, on January transfer window.
Spanish giants Real Madrid successfully signed Higuaín for 13 million Euros, seeing that River Plate turned down a 10 million Euro offer for 19-year-old striker earlier by Real. Higuaín will be on the roster at the turn of the year when the transfer goes through at the opening of the January transfer window.
The striker, who has been heavily courted by European clubs, announced at the signing of his six and a half-year contract "It's great to have the chance of playing for such an important club as Real Madrid. I feel proud that Madrid has noticed me".
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Carlo Ancelotti Biography

CARLO ANCELOTTI BIOGRAPHY
Name : Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti :
Personal information : Full name
Date of birth : Place of birth
Height : Playing position
Club information : Current club
Senior clubs1 : Years
Club : App (Gls)*
1976-1979 1979-1987 1987-1992 : Parma A.C. A.S. Roma A.C. Milan
: National team
1981-1991 : Italy
25 (1) : Teams managed
1995-1996 1996-1999 1999-2001 : 1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)


CARLO ANCELOTTI DETAILED BIOGRAPHY
Carlo Ancelotti (born June 10, 1959 in Reggiolo) is a former football player and now coach. He has been coach of the Italian team A.C. Milan since November 2001 when he succeeded Fatih Terim. Before that he coached A.C. Reggiana 1919, Parma A.C. and Juventus F.C..

With numerous titles, notably two UEFA Champions League trophies and the prestigious Scudetto, won under his reign, he is arguably one of the most successful Milan coaches of all time.

As a player, "Carletto" appeared 26 times for Italy, and played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He started his career in 1976 with Parma AC. In 1979 he transferred to AS Roma, as captain and midfielder, where he won the Italian championship and 4 times the Italian Cup. From 1987 until 1992 he played for AC Milan. He was in the legendary AC Milan team that won the 1989 and 1990 Champion Clubs' Cups in Barcelona and Vienna.

Ancelotti's first coaching job was with Serie B squad A.C. Reggiana 1919 in 1995. In his only year with the club, Reggiana earned promotion to Serie A. Ancelotti moved on to Parma F.C. - which included upstart goalkeeper Gigi Buffon and current Milan goalkeeping trainer Villiam Vecchi - and promptly won the 1997 UEFA Cup. In 1999 he became the successor of Marcello Lippi at Juventus, but went trophyless during his two-year stint at the club, finishing runner-up twice in Serie A. That all changed when he went to AC Milan in 2001 as a replacement for the fired Fatih Terim.

He was inheriting another recently trophyless team in Milan, as the rossoneri had foundered domestically and in Europe since winning the Scudetto in 1999. In his first full season, Ancelotti soon had Milan back in European competition, leading them to the semi-finals of the 2001-02 UEFA Cup, in which Milan finished fourth. The following season, Ancelotti, who was heavily criticized by club president Silvio Berlusconi due to his defensive tactics, was able to adopt a creative play in Milan while making several roster changes. He made Dida, still maligned for his 2000 Champions League howler against Leeds United, his new starting goalkeeper barely a month into the 2002-03 campaign, while converting budding striker Andrea Pirlo to a defensive playmaker and playing him alongside Manuel Rui Costa. At the same time, the striking partners of Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko were dominant and dynamic. Milan won the Champions League, beating Ancelotti's old team, Juventus, 3-2 on penalties at Old Trafford, and took home the Scudetto and Coppa Italia in 2004.

Under Ancelotti's reign, Milan were also back-to-back Serie A runners-up to Juventus in 2004-05 and 05-06 (both Scudetti were later wiped from the record books due to Juventus' involvement in the Calciopoli scandal), and lost the 2005 CL final in horrific fashion to Liverpool F.C., in which Milan lost 3-2 on penalties after blowing a 3-0 halftime lead. Two years later, though, Milan avenged their defeat to Liverpool with a 2-1 win at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on May 23, 2007, leading to Ancelotti's second Champions League trophy as Milan coach and his fourth title overall, having won it also twice as a Milan player in 1989 and 1990. One week later, Ancelotti signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at Milan until 2010.

Ancelotti is only the fifth coach to win the Champions League as both a player and a coach, along with Miguel Muñoz (Real Madrid player 1956, 1957, Real Madrid coach 1960, 1966); Giovanni Trapattoni (AC Milan player 1963, 1969, Juventus coach 1985); Johan Cruyff (AFC Ajax player 1971-73, FC Barcelona coach 1992) and former Milan teammate Frank Rijkaard (AC Milan player 1989, 1990, Ajax player 1995, FC Barcelona coach 2006). He also ranks second in number of Milan matches coached with 322, trailing Nereo Rocco (459).

He has often expressed interest in coaching Italy after his Milan contract expires in 2010.
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About Luiz Filipe Scolari

LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI BIOGRAPHY
Luiz Felipe Scolari is a former Brazilian footballer, born on November 9, 1948 in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul. As of 2008, he is the manager of Chelsea Football squad. Luiz Felipe Scolari holds a professional degree in physical education.

This uncompromising player followed the footsteps of his father, Benjamin one of the best central defenders in 1940s. Luiz Felipe Scolari holds dual citizenship for Brazil and Italy, since his family moved to Italy. This tough-guy gaucho from Southern Brazil was popularly known as “wooden leg” among his social group and also known by his nickname “Big Phil”.

As a player, Luiz Felipe Scolari started his career at the age of seventeen in the junior team of Aimore and has also played for Caxias, Juventude, Novo Hamburgo and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). He was observed by Carlos Froner, his early coach, as a respected player of the squad and a fearsome player among opposing strikers. During his striking career, he won the 1987 Gaúcho state championship.

Luiz Felipe Scolari was lucky enough to be in charge of two international teams, Brazil and Portugal. His international career began, when Luiz Felipe Scolari, then manager of Brazil, guided the national team to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. He became the Portugal manager in 2003 and helped the country to prepare for the Euro 2004 to be the host nation. In the 2006 World Cup held in Germany, he took Portugal to the semi-finals. In the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Euro 2008, Luiz Felipe Scolari lead Portugal into knockout stages and won Group A title. Soon after Portugal’s Euro 2008 match, he made an announcement about his appointment as the manager of Chelsea F.C, where he guided his team in 4-0 win over Portsmouth in the Barclay’s English Premier Club.

After he retired as a player in 1982, Luiz Felipe Scolari held his first managerial post with CSA and guided his team to win at the Alagoano state championship. After heading most of the Brazilian clubs, he was made in charge of Kuwait’s Al Qadisiya for two years, during which his team won the 1989 Kuwait Emir Cup. Later, he became the manager of the Kuwait national team and led them to win the 10th Gulf Cup in Kuwait. He then returned to Brazil to coach Criciuma FC to the Copa do Brasil.

In 1993, Luiz Felipe Scolari switched to Gremio, where he won six titles in just three years, including the Copa Libertadores in 1995 and the Brazilian Championship in 1996. After his stint with Gremio in 1997, he became the manager of Jubilo Iwata’s Junior League and began managing Palmeiras after finishing eleven games. He helped them earn their first Copa Libertadores title after defeating Deportivo at the Mercosur Cup. Luiz Felipe Scolari was honored as the ‘South American Coach of the Year’ for 1999.

Luiz Felipe Scolari visited the ASPIRE Dome in 2008, where he got the opportunity to train 24 successful players from “ASPIRE Africa Football Dreams”, the world’s largest football talent search.
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Manchester United

Manchester United arrives in Japan
TOKYO — Manchester United arrived in Japan for the Club World Cup on Monday, receiving a welcome befitting one of the world’s richest and best known football clubs.

An enthusiastic group of Japanese fans greeted the team at Narita Airport hoping to catch a glimpse of star players Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who stopped to sign autographs for fans before boarding a shuttle bus to Yokohama.

United enters the tournament in the semifinals stage and will play Japan’s Gamba Osaka at Yokohama on Thursday. Asian champions Gamba defeated Australia’s Adelaide United 1-0 on Sunday to set up a dream match with the English powerhouse.

United, heavily favored to win the trophy here, was held to a scoreless draw against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday before embarking on the 12-hour flight to Japan.

The winner of Thursday’s match advances to the Dec 21 final, where it will meet the winner of Wednesday’s other semifinal between Mexico’s Pachuca and South American champion Liga de Quito of Ecuador.

Alex Ferguson’s squad qualified for the Club World Cup in May after beating fellow English side Chelsea in a penalty shootout in the UEFA Champions League final at Moscow.

The trip to Japan comes at a busy time of the season for United, which is six points behind Premier League leader Liverpool.

United already has a huge following in Japan and the rest of Asia. The team toured the region in 2007 playing against teams in Japan, South Korea and China.

The last time a team from the English Premier League played in the Club World Cup was in 2005 when Liverpool lost 1-0 in the final to Brazil’s Sao Paulo.

This is United’s second appearance in the expanded Club World Cup, after having controversially sat out the English F.A. Cup in 2000 to participate.

The tournament features the club champions from football’s six continental confederations and is an extension of the former Intercontinental Cup contested by European and South American champion clubs. AC Milan won last year’s tournament, beating Boca Juniors 4-2 in the final.
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Real Madrid Football Club

Real Madrid Club Details
Full name: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol
Previous Name: Sociedad Madrid FootBall Club
Nickname(s): Los Blancos, Los Merengues, Los Vikingos, Los Madridistas
Ground/Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain

Founded
Founded: March 6, 1902 as Sociedad Madrid Football Club
Notable Staff:

President: Ramón Calderón
Coach: Bernd Schuster
La Liga Champions:

1931/32, 1932/33, 1953/54, 1954/55, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1971/72, 1974/75, 1975/76, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1994/95, 1996/97, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2006/07
European Cup / UEFA Champion's League Winners:

1955/56 4-3 vs. Stade de Reims-Champagne
1956/57 2-0 vs. A.C. Fiorentina
1957/58 3-2 vs. AC Milan
1958/59 2-0 vs. Stade de Reims-Champagne
1959/60 7-3 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
1965/66 2-1 vs. FK Partizan
1997/98 1-0 vs. Juventus F.C.
1999/00 3-0 vs. Valencia CF
2001/02 2-1 vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Copa Del Rey Winners:

1904/05, 1905/06, 1906/07, 1907/08, 1916/17, 1933/34, 1935/36, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1961/62, 1969/70, 1973/74, 1974/75, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1988/89, 1992/93
UEFA Cup Winners:

1984/85, 1985/86
Other Honours:

Intercontinental Cup/World Club Championship: 1960, 1998, 2002
European Super Cup: 2002
Copa de la Liga: 1984/85
Supercopa de España: 1947, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003
Copa Latina: 1955, 1957
About Real Madrid:

Madrid's first forays into football were began by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza in 1895 which split in 1900 to become New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Español de Madrid with Español de Madrid splitting again in 1902 to become Sociedad Madrid FC, a club which is now known throughout the world as Real Madrid.

One of the most vital cornerstones of the Real Madrid story come sin the shape of Santiago Bernabeu who became club president in 1945 after previously filling the roles of player, first-team captain, club maintenance, first-team manager and director. Under Bernabeu the club was rebuilt following the Spanish Civil War and, with a sweeping set of reforms, the club's organizational structure was completely reformed by the forward thinking visionary Bernabeu.

He was also one of the proponents of the European Cup in the mid 1950s, a competition Real Madrid have dominated since first competing by winning the tournament a record nine times. Before passing away in 1978, Bernabéu left a lasting impression on Real Madrid by overseeing 1 Intercontinental Cup, 6 European Cups, 16 La Liga titles and 6 Spanish Cups.

The glory years of the great 1950s Real Madrid side of Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Francisco Gento set the standard for Real Madrid as a club and their five European Cup wins in a row between 1955 and 1960 which earned them the UEFA Badge of Honour still ranks as probably the greatest footballing achievement of any club side in UEFA history.

By the early 1980s Madrid had lost their grasp on the La Liga title until a new batch of homegrown stars, known as 'El Quinta del Buitre', took the club to five back to back league titles. Emilio Butragueño, Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vazquéz, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza alongside Mexican superstar Hugo Sanchez only failed in one arena and that was the European Cup, in fact Sanchis was the only one of this team to ever gain a European Cup winner's medal, as a Real Madrid veteran in both 1998 and 2000.

Deep in debt by 2000, the club controversially got their training ground re-zoned and used the money to begin to assemble the famous "Galactico" side including players such as Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raul and David Beckham. The huge gamble didn't pay off however and despite a European Cup win in 2002, the club had failed to win a major trophy since 2003 until they clinched the La Liga title in an amazing comeback in 2007.
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Aston Villa Football Club

The History of Aston Villa Football Club
A sleeping giant amongst English Football’s elite
Four members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel of Aston founded Aston Villa Football Club in 1874; they were Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood.

By 1880, the club had established themselves as one of the best teams in the Midlands and secured their first piece of silverware by winning the Birmingham Senior Cup.

Aston Villa, also known as Villa or The Villains tasted FA Cup success as early as 1887 when they defeated local rivals West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at the Kennington Oval. One year later and Villa were competing in the first Football League competition.

England’s most successful club during the Victorian era

Villa emerged as the most successful club in England, winning five League titles and three FA Cups, culminating in them securing the prestigious League and FA Cup double in 1897.

Aston Villa went on to win three more FA Cups, securing their sixth in 1920. This success though, sparked an alarming fall from grace during the 1920’s and early 1930’s, resulting in relegation to the second division in 1936.

On football’s return after the Second World War, the club faced years of re-building the squad and did so under Alex Massie who guided them back to the top flight of English football. However, they didn’t experience further trophy success again until 1957 when an unexpected run in the FA Cup saw them crowned eventual winners thanks to a final defeat of the famous Manchester United ‘Busby Babes’.

The elation was short lived though as Villa were once again relegated from the First Division in 1959, but were crowned Second Division champions in 1960. The following season the club won the first ever League Cup competition to complete a remarkable few years.

The late 1960’s and 1970’s saw further difficulties for the club as Villa were relegated again in 1967. Mounting pressure from the supporters forced the clubs whole board to resign as Villa sat bottom of the Second Division. This led to Pat Matthews taking control of club and bringing in with him, Doug Ellis as Chairman.

The new regime was unable to prevent Aston Villa from being relegated for the first time in their history to the Third Division of English football in 1970. However, the club returned to the Second Division as champions in 1972 and under the guidance of Ron Saunders got back to the First Division by 1977.
Villa secure league title and European Cup success

Saunders led Villa to the League title in 1981, but after falling out with the club Chairman; quit his position halfway through the 1981 -1982 season despite getting Villa to the quarterfinals of the European Cup. His replacement Tony Barton, guided the club to a famous European Cup Final victory against Bayern Munich, winning 1-0 in Rotterdam.

The remainder of the 1980’s saw Villa in decline and relegation occurred again in 1987, only for them to return to the top flight the next season and achieve a league runner-up slot in 1989.

Aston Villa, one of the founder members of the Premier League in 1992 again finished as runners-up during this year. Despite two more League Cup wins in 1993 and 1996 and an FA Cup final appearance in 2000 where they lost to Chelsea, Villa rarely threatened league title glory.

In 2006 American millionaire, Randy Lerner bought out Doug Ellis after 23 years as chairman and majority shareholder and he appointed Martin O’Neill as his manager. The arrival of a new owner and manager sparked a new wave of optimism amongst the Villa Park faithful who will be hoping for a return to the years of trophy success.
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The History A.S Roma Football Club

A.S. Roma Football Club History
AS Roma Information

Address:		via di Trigoria, km. 3.600, 00128 ROMA
Telephone:		06/50.60.200
Fax:		06/50.61.736
Founded:		7-Jun-1927
Stadium:		Olimpico
		Noticias del AS Roma

A.S. Roma (Associazione Sportiva Roma) is a Italian football club. Nicknamed the giallorossi, it plays in Serie A. Roma's home uniforms are dark red shirts with dark yellow borders, white shorts and black socks.
The emblem is the Capitoline she-wolf lactating twins, symbol of Rome, superimposed a bipartite golden-yellow over red shield; official colors are the same as those of Rome, red for imperial dignity, gold for the Christian God.
The current stadium is the 82,656 seater Stadio Olimpico, which is shared with S.S. Lazio. The two teams compete against one another each year in the Rome derby, a major and emotional event in Italian football.
A.S. Roma was founded in July 1927, when Rome already had three teams in the Italian football league - Alba, Fortitudo and Lazio. The Fascist regime's idea at the time was to merge all the Rome clubs into one which the many newly-arrived immigrants could identify with, Lazio considered very much a patrician club of the Roman social elite, and strong enough to challenge the northerners. Lazio refused even a meeting but Alba, Pro Roma, Fortitudo and Roman attended and Roma was formed. Roma was named after the city and with the red and yellow strip of the Roman club. The initial stadium was Motovelodromo Appio. They took part in their first league in the 1929-30 season.
A.S. Roma won their first scudetto in the 1941-42 season. The second was won in the 1982-83 season and the third in 2000-01. They were runners-up in 1930-31, 1935-36, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1985-86, 2001-02 and 2003-04. They were relegated only once, at the end of the 1950-51 season.
The club has won the Coppa Italia seven times: 1963-64, 1968-69, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1985-86, and 1990-91, and the UEFA Cup (Fairs Cup) once in 1960-61, defeating Birmingham City. In 1984, A.S. Roma lost the final match of the European Cup, played in Rome, against Liverpool F.C., after a penalty shootout.

AS Roma Honours, Trophies & Awards

• Italian League Champions (Scudetti): 3
  1941-42 1982-83 2000-01
• Italian Cup: 7
  1963-64 1968-69 1979-80 1980-81 1983-84 1985-86 1990-91
• Italian SuperCup: 1
  2000-01
• UEFA Cup: 1
  1960-61
• Anglo-Italian Cup: 1
  1971-72

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