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2009 Ballon D'Or
The 2009 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in the world as judged by an international panel of sports journalists, was awarded to Lionel Messi of Barcelona on 1 December 2009. Messi won the award by a then record margin, 240 points ahead of 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo. Xavi was the second Barcelona player in the top three, finishing a further 63 points behind Ronaldo. Messi's win made him the first Argentine-born player to win the award since Omar Sívori in 1961; however, Sívori had taken Italian citizenship by that time and is recognised to have won the Ballon d'Or as an Italian player. Rankings References External links ''France Football'' Official Ballon d'Or page {{Ballon d'Or recipients 2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ... 2009–10 in ...
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Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, and science. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its very early system of street lighting, in the 19th century it became known as "the City of Light". Like London, prior to the Second World War, it was also sometimes called the capital of the world. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12,262,544 in 2019, or about 19% of the population of France, making the region France's primate city. The Paris Region had a GDP of €739 billion ($743 billion) in 2019, which is the highest in Europe. According to the Economist Intelli ...
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Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. 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 active 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. Ibrahimović began his career at Malmö FF in 1999, and signed for Ajax two years later, where he gained a reputation as one of the most promising forwards in Europe. He departed two years later to sign for Juventus before joining domestic rivals Inter Milan in 2006, where he won three consecutive Serie A titles. In the summer of 2009, he moved to Barcelona in one of the world's most expensive transfers. After ju ...
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Luís Fabiano
Luís Fabiano Clemente (born 8 November 1980), commonly known as Luís Fabiano, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a striker most notably for Sevilla, São Paulo, and the Brazil national team. He is a prolific goalscorer and was ranked the second-highest-scoring Brazilian of the 21st century, according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics. Club career Early career Luís Fabiano enjoyed great success during two spells with Brazilian side São Paulo, with a disappointing period at French side Rennes sandwiched in between. His strength on the ball, accurate finishing and pace made him a vital part of the side that fell in the semi-finals of the 2004 Copa Libertadores de América. Luís Fabiano was labeled the "bad boy" of Brazilian football when playing for São Paulo after a number of brawls. During a 2003 Copa Sudamericana match for São Paulo against River Plate of Argentina, a fight between the players broke out. Luí ...
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Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players to play in the Premier League, Henry was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 2003, FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004, and finished third place for the Ballon d'Or in 2006. He was named the FWA Footballer of the Year a record three times, the PFA Players' Player of the Year a joint-record two times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. Henry made his professional debut with Monaco in 1994 before signing for defending Serie A champions Juventus. However, limited playing time, coupled with disagreements with the club's hierarchy, led to him signing for Premier League club Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. Under ...
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Ryan Giggs
Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entire professional career for Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and briefly served as the club's interim manager. The son of rugby union and Wales national rugby league team, Wales international rugby league footballer Danny Wilson (rugby league), Danny Wilson, Giggs was born in Cardiff but moved to Manchester at the age of six when his father joined Swinton Lions, Swinton RLFC. Predominantly a Midfielder#Wide midfielder, left midfielder, he began his career with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, but joined Manchester United on his 14th birthday in 1987. He made his professional debut for the club in 1991 and spent the next 23 years in the first team. Towards the end of the 2013–14 Manchester United F.C. season, 2013–14 season ...
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VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. It is best known for its football department, but other departments include badminton, handball and athletics. The men's professional football team play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, the DFB-Pokal in 2015 and the DFL-Supercup in 2015. Professional football is run by the spin-off organization ''VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH'', a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. Since 2002, Wolfsburg's stadium is the Volkswagen Arena. History A new team in a new city The city of Wolfsburg was founded in 1938 as Stadt des KdF-Wagen to house autoworkers building the car that would later become famous as the Volks ...
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Edin Džeko
Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan and captains the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Džeko was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year for three years in a row. He has been nicknamed "Bosnian Diamond" ( bs, Bosanski dijamant) or simply "Diamond" (''Dijamant'') by football fans and journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to joining Inter Milan, he played for Manchester City and Roma, but he made a name for himself while playing for German club VfL Wolfsburg, with whom he won the Bundesliga in the 2008–09 season. He was second-highest goalscorer with 26 goals. In the 2009–10 season, Džeko was the top scorer with 22 goals. He also registered ten assists in both seasons. During the 2011–12 Premier League season, Džeko scored four goals in one game for Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. On the final day of that season, he scored an equaliser against Que ...
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Arsenal F
An arsenal is a place where weapon, arms and ammunition are made, maintenance, repair, and operations, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether Private property, privately or state-owned, publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly regarded as synonyms, although subtle differences in usage exist. A sub-armory is a place of temporary storage or carrying of weapons and ammunition, such as any temporary post or patrol vehicle that is only operational in certain times of the day. Etymology The term in English entered the language in the 16th century as a loanword from french: arsenal, itself deriving from the it, arsenale, which in turn is thought to be a corruption of ar, دار الصناعة, , meaning "manufacturing shop". Types A lower-class arsenal, which can furnish the materiel and equipment of a small army, may contain a laboratory, gun and carriage factories, small-arms ammunition, sm ...
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Cesc Fàbregas
Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when he was signed by Premier League club Arsenal in September 2003. Following injuries to key midfielders in the early part of the 2004–05 season, he went on establish himself in the team. He broke several of the club's records in the process, earning a reputation as one of the best players in his position, and won the FA Cup in 2005. After a protracted transfer saga, Fàbregas left London on 15 August 2011 to return to Barcelona in a deal worth up to £35 million. During his three-year spell at the Camp Nou, Fàbregas played alongside Xavi and Andrés Iniesta and won a La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and two Spanish Super Cups. He returned to London in June 2014 to Arsenal's cross-town r ...
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Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, Torres came to be nicknamed El Niño ('The Kid'). In his prime, he was praised for his pace, accurate finishing, and proficiency in heading. In 2008, he finished third for the Ballon d'Or and in 2008 and 2009 he was named in the FIFA World XI. Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad. He made his first-team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club with 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Torres joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007, after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season to score more than 20 league goals in a season. The most pr ...
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Liverpool F
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its ESPON metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom, metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.24 million. On the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, Liverpool historically lay within the ancient Hundred (county division), hundred of West Derby (hundred), West Derby in the county of Lancashire. It became a Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in 1207, a City status in the United Kingdom, city in 1880, and a county borough independent of the newly-created Lancashire County Council in 1889. Its Port of Liverpool, growth as a major port was paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, and raw materials such as coal and cotton ...
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Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Gerrard spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team, captaining both. Born in Merseyside, Gerrard played for Liverpool from 1998 to 2015, winning nine trophies, including the UEFA Champions League, two FA Cups, and three League Cups. He was Man of the Match in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, in which Liverpool overturned a 3–0 deficit to defeat AC Milan on penalties, and the 2006 FA Cup Final, which has been termed ''The Gerrard Final'' in homage to his performance. Despite success in cup competitions, he never won the Premier League. Gerrard won 114 England caps between 2000 and 2014, captaining the team 38 times and scoring 21 goals. He played at three UEFA Europ ...
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