Soccer Superstars

SOCCER SUPERSTARS Soccer has had many famous names and continues to have shining stars. Here is the story behind just a small number of them; where and when they were discovered, what their career highlights are and more, RONALDINHO Brazil Career Highlights Discovered Aged 17 2002 FIFA World Cup Medal Winner, two-time FIFA World Player of the Year, 2005 Ballon d'Or winner and Champions for Grêmio (Brazil) League winner with Barcelona Born: 1980 Earnings to Date: (2013) £63million (€78.5million) Interesting Fact His father, João Moreira, was a former professional soccer player PLATINI Discovered By Nancy-Lorraine coach Antoine Redin Career Highlights France Won three straight Ballon d'Or Awards as a player Born: 1955 Earnings to Date: Unavailable Elected UEFA president in 2007 Interesting Fact BECKENBAUER Germany Discovered Joined Career Highlights Bayern Munich World Cup title as a player in 1974 and as its manager in 1990, Ballon d'Or winner, Laureus World Sports Award for at the age of 14 Lifetime Achievement. Born: 1945 Earnings to Date: Unavailable Interesting Fact Nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style ROONEY Discovered Career Highlights England Aged 9 by He has won eight major trophies with Bob Pendleton for Everton AON Born: 1985 Manchester United. Earnings to Date: Endorsements take his earnings to £17m a year (€21million) Interesting Fact In October 2002, when he was 16, he scored the winning goal for Everton against Arsenal. It made him the youngest scorer in Premier League history. MESSI Discovered Argentina Aged 13 by Career Highlights First four-time winner of the FIFA Player of the Year award after shattering the world record with 91 goals last year for Barcelona and Argentina. Josep Maria Minguell and signed'to Bărcelona Born: 1987 Earnings to Date: £29million (€36million) per year approx. Interesting Fact At the age of 11 Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency that required expensive treatment «««««<««««««««« «««««««< PELE • Discovered . At age 11, Pele was discovered by Waldemar de Brito, one of Brazil's top players Brazil Career Highlights Pele won three World Cups, two World Club Championships and nine Sao Paulo State Championships. Born: 1940 Earnings to Date: The Brazilian footballer has an estimated net worth of £143million (€178million) Interesting Fact The Pele brand will generate £14million (€18million) in revenue this year from appearances, licensed merchandise, endorsements and a movie about his life being made by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment. Discovered RONALDO Aged 11 Portugal by Paulo Cardoso for Career Highlights FIFA World Player of the year award, Sporting Lisbon's also won the coveted Ballon d'OR, the Golden Boot, and been named the UEFA Club Forward of the Year. Academy Born: 1985 Earnings to Date: £16.5million (€20.6million) per year Interesting Fact Manchester United paid £12million (€14.9million) to sign him in 2003-a record fee for a player of his age. Discovered Aged 8 by MARADONA Francisco Cornejo, the youth coach Argentina Career Highlights at Argentinos Junior 1986 world Cup (as captain), 8 National Tournaments & Cups (Argentina/Spain/Italy) Born: 1960 Current Earnings: Unavailable (has been subject to tax penalties also) Interesting Fact Maradona holds the record for suffering the most number of fouls in a World Cup - 53, during the 1986 world Cup in Mexico. BEST Discovered Aged 15 Northern Ireland Career Highlights by Bob Bishop for Manchester United In 1968 he won the European, Cup with United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. Born 1946-2005 Career Earnings: Largely unknown. Famous Best quote: "I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." Interesting Fact Best was rejected by Glentoran (Northern Ireland) for being too small and lightweight before being spotted by United. ««<<<<«<<<<<<<< «<<<<<<<«<<<<<<<<<« REFERENCES: http://www.nickhumph.com/2011/11/05/how-to-be-a-pro-soccer-player-late-bloomer/#.U5sbY11dXog http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9164536.stm http://www.georgebest.com/about-george/ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1981917-birth-of-the-baby-footballer-at-what-age-can-you-spot-true-sporting-talent http://blog.fieldoo.com/2013/09/agent-who-discovered-messi-searching-for-new-talent-on-fieldoo/ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/237096-the-lionel-messi-story-how-did-he-get-to-the-top-of-the-world http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.ie/2009/07/first-scouting-report-on-messi.html http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1orjm7/scouting_report_of_a_17_year_old_diego_maradona/ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/jul/17/the-knowledge-maradona-sheffield-united http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpools-luis-suarez-loves-maths-2967380 http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=30921 http://www.biography.com/people/ronaldinho-16636081#awesm=-oHryL8icG4wFDC http://www.espnfc.com/story/1291730/lionel-messi-wins-fifa-ballon-dor-for-fourth-straight-year http://balls.ie/uncategorized/george-best-oddest-strangest-facts/ http://www.georgebestofficial.co.uk/fact-file#.U7FTNLE3@P0 http://www.biography.com/people/michel-platini-21302385 SPORT4 KIDS sport4kids.biz