Biography of My Idols

Wayne Rooney Biography

Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Liverpool) is an English footballer. He currently plays for the English Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. He normally played as a second striker to Ruud van Nistelrooy for his club team before van Nistelrooy's move to Real Madrid, although during 2005-06, he showed his versatility as a player by shifting to the midfield and playing on both flanks. He wears number 8 for Manchester United and wears number 9 the English national team.

Rooney was brought up in an urban area of eastern Liverpool called Croxteth, where he and his two brothers attended the local De La Salle Catholic School.

His boyhood team was always Everton; his love for his home town club was famously bore out when he wore a T-shirt reading "Once a blue, Always a blue". However, he would end up playing just two seasons with Everton before demanding, and then executing, a transfer. This has left him on unfavourable terms with Everton fans, as they showed when he returned to Goodison Park and he was booed severely.

Although he has been under an intense media spotlight since first arriving on the scene in 2002, it was not until his performances at Euro 2004 that he gained a reputation on the world stage, as he spearheaded the English attack, scoring four goals. Rooney is also on the cover of the FIFA 07 video game in the United Kingdom.

Rooney has also been compared to George Best and Paul Gascoigne in terms of talent.

Wayne Rooney Private Life

Wayne Rooney married Colleen Rooney on 12 June 2008. They had been dating for six years. They had a first child, Kai Wayne Rooney, on 2 November 2009. His younger brother John Rooney is also a professional footballer, playing for Macclesfield Town.

Wayne Rooney in the Premiership

After excelling for Liverpool Schoolboys and The Dynamo Brownwings, Rooney was signed by Everton shortly before his 11th birthday. Rooney gained national prominence on the 19th of October 2002 when he became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League at 16 years and 360 days while playing for Everton (though this record has since been surpassed twice). His goal against then-champions Arsenal was a last-minute winner and brought to an end the London side's 30-match unbeaten run. At the end of 2002 he won the BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year award. On 26 December 2002 he "achieved" the record of becoming the youngest player ever to be sent off in a Premiership game. This is also his only standing record in the Everton books.

National team career

He has also figured prominently in recent England international matches, after having become the youngest ever player to play for England, in a friendly against Australia, on 12 February 2003, aged 17 years, 111 days. This record has since been surpassed by Theo Walcott, who came off the bench to play in England's friendly against Hungary on 30 May 2006. England's youngest ever player previous to Rooney was James F. M. Prinsep of Clapham Rovers, who made his debut almost one and a quarter centuries before, on 5 April 1879, aged 17 years, 253 days. Rooney is also the youngest England scorer ever (17 years, 317 days).

His reputation as one of the world's most exciting young players was further enhanced by his impressive performances for England at Euro 2004 in Portugal. At the tournament Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in the UEFA European Football Championships, when on 17 June 2004 he scored twice against Switzerland; although the Swiss player, Johan Vonlanthen, broke this record against France four days later. Unfortunately Rooney was injured early in the quarter final match against Portugal and England were subsequently knocked out on penalties.

World Cup 2006 - Wayne Rooney

There was concern for Rooney's fitness ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup after the fourth metatarsal on his right foot was broken, possibly in several places, following a seemingly innocuous challenge from Paulo Ferreira during Manchester United's 3-0 defeat away at Chelsea on 29 April 2006, putting him out of action for an estimated six weeks. This was also the first match he played in the re-branded Nike Total 90 'Supremacy'. The boot's safety went under the spotlight after many considered it unsafe to wear.

A bone scan on 25 May 2006 suggested he would not be expected to return in time for the World Cup group ties, with a decision to be made on his return to training after these games had passed. Shortly afterwards his international manager confirmed he would travel with the squad to Germany, and would return to have another bone scan on 7 June. Ahead of this scan, Wayne claimed to be feeling fine and was "300% confident" of his own fitness. Rooney was reported to be back, doing light training on 2 June, working on kicking the ball and running.

On 7 June, Wayne Rooney had his second scan, with reports saying he would play in the World Cup as he boarded a flight to Baden-Baden to regroup with the England squad.

On 8 June, Sven-Göran Eriksson said that he was "injury free" and that "he just needs to get back his fitness before he can play". Eriksson hinted at a possible involvement in the later group stage matches and almost certainly, should England progress, in the second round of the competition.

On 15 June, Sven-Göran Eriksson and FA doctors declared Rooney match fit in time for the match against Trinidad & Tobago. Prior to the match there was much speculation as to whether his health would be risked by playing him at this stage; the speculation was ended when he entered the match in the 58th minute, replacing Michael Owen. Although Rooney did not score, England's fans were keen to see him running with pace (as if he was match fit many weeks before his medical clearance) and making his presence felt on the attack. On 18 June, Eriksson announced that Rooney would be starting England's next game. Rooney's rush into play was much to the dismay of his club team, Manchester United, who were concerned that a full recovery would be jeopardised.

On 20 June, Rooney started in the final group match, England against Sweden, helping England to a 2-2 draw.

On 25 June, Rooney once again started in England's second round game (knock-out rounds) against Ecuador. Although he failed to score, he looked lively and appeared to be fully fit and definitely match fit.

On 1 July, Rooney was sent off in the quarter final against Portugal while fighting for possession with Chelsea and Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. Rooney appeared to stamp down on Carvalho's groin and was sent off by referee, Horacio Elizondo. Rooney later announced, through the serialisation of his biography in the Daily Mail, that the stamp on Ricardo Carvalho was unintentional. He became only the third English player to be sent off in a World Cup Finals. Due to his red card, he missed England's opening Euro 2008 qualifiers against Andorra on 2 September and Macedonia on 6 September.

2009–10 Season

On 22 August 2009, he became the 20th Manchester United player to have scored over 100 goals for the club, finding the net twice in a 5-0 away win at Wigan Athletic.

His performance for Manchester United have led many to say he is one of the greatest football players in the world. If not the best player, then in the top two with Lionel Messi of Barcelona

2010 World Cup

The 2010 World Cup was another comparative disappointment for Wayne Rooney. England lost in the second round against Germany, and Wayne failed to find his great form of the previous domestic season. In the lead up to the World Cup finals, much media speculation suggested Wayne Rooney was the key to a good England performance. It is possible this weight of expectation played on Rooney's mind.

2010/11 Season

In November of 2011, Wayne Rooney shocked fans by suggesting he was ready to leave Manchester United, even raising the possibility of moving to Manchester City. In the end, he signed for Manchester United on a new contract making him one of the best paid players in the world. With Manchester United, he won his 4th Premier League winners medal. It was Manchester United's 19th.

Career Statistics for Wayne Rooney

• Total Club Appearances - 424. Total Goals - 181
• Total International Appearances - 73. Total Goals - 28

Stats correct 22nd Jan 2012

Club Honours

With Manchester United

• Premier League (4): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
• Football League Cup (2): 2005–06, 2009–10
• FA Community Shield (3): 2007, 2010, 2011
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2007–08
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

Individual

• PFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2009–10
• PFA Young Player of the Year (2): 2004–05, 2005–06
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year (2): 2005–06, 2009–10
• PFA Premier League Team of the Year (2): 2005–06, 2009–10
• FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 2009–10

http://www.biographyonline.net/sport/football/wayne_rooney.html

Biography of My Idols

Name:	Didier Drogba
Nationality:	Ivorian
Date of Birth:	11/03/1978
Height:	6' 2" (189cm)
Weight:	14st 5lbs (91.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Marseille, Guingamp
Position:	Striker

Chelsea career
When Didier signed from Marseille in the summer of 2004 he was a big man with a growing reputation, Though a groin operation forced him out for two months midway through his first Chelsea season and it took time to reach full power again, he ended the league-winning campaign with 16 goals to his name in all competitions, including one in the victorious Carling Cup Final against Liverpool.

In 2005/06 his season's tally was again 16, 12 coming during the successful defence of the Premiership, but before that triumph, there was also adversity.

Following handball incidents in two games and accusations of diving in the media, it took character to respond with an awe-inspiring showing against West Ham at the Bridge in March 2006.

Chelsea came back from a goal and a man down to win that game 4-1, prompting then manager Jose Mourinho to say: 'Didier should go home, switch on the TV, listen to the pundits, buy every single paper tomorrow and listen and read to see if the same people who wanted to kill him have now the common sense to say what he deserves.'

The 2006/07 campaign was when it all came together for the Ivorian, whose pace, strength and aerial power had made him the type of forward not seen at Chelsea for some time. He netted 33 times in all competitions after moulding a strike partnership with newly-arrived Andriy Shevchenko.

His 20 goals in the league won him the Premier League's Golden Boot for the first time. His 60 games tally was the second highest appearances in a season in the club's history - and he ended the campaign with the first club goal at the new Wembley as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in stoppage time of the 2007 FA Cup Final.

There were high hopes that he could reach the heights again in 2007/08 but knee injuries and an African Nations Cup meant it was hard to put a run of games together, and he ended a disrupted season with 15 goals, including another at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final defeat to Spurs.

After his double at the Bridge against Liverpool in the semi-finals, the Champions League ended with shame as he was red-carded the Final in Moscow against Man United.

If there had been ups and downs in that campaign, 2008/09 would be even more extraordinary.

The arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari into the manager's chair was greeted with excitement, but the Brazilian struggled to utilise the injury-affected Didier alongside the free-scoring Nicolas Anelka, eventually opting to go with the Frenchman alone.

Lacking match fitness, Didier found it hard to make an impact in the first half of that season, eventually doing so against Burnley in the Carling Cup, but after a fine individual goal, he reacted to coins thrown from the away end and was punished with a three-match ban that further hinder his involvement.

Scolari's dismissal and Guus Hiddink's arrival in mid-February sparked a return to form and the starting line-up for the Ivory Coast captain, and he repaid the Dutchman with a number of vital goals.

Controversy though was never far away. Eliminated from the Champions League in injury time of the semi-final against Barcelona, again he did not react well, confronting referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in front of the TV cameras. Another three-match ban followed, reduced on appeal from four.

Still there was one more twist to come, as he powered home a header in the FA Cup Final against Everton, levelling up Louis Saha's opener for his fourth goal in as many Wembley visits. Chelsea lifted the Cup once more.

From the moment his two-goal salvo turned a deficit into victory versus Hull on the opening day of the 2009/10 campaign, the signs were good that the player could pick up where he left off the previous season.

The early season formation adopted by the Dutchman's successor, Carlo Ancelotti, allowed Didier to play close to Anelka and he locked into an incredibly consistent run of scoring. By Christmas he had found the net 18 times in 21 games as he departed for the African Nations.

On his early return to club duty at Hull, he scored his third direct free-kick of the season before he went on the rampage against Arsenal with a brace - making it 12 goals in 12 games against the Gunners.

However as Champions League ambition faded once again, Didier was sent off near the end of defeat by Inter, maintaining what was almost becoming a traditional ban for the start of the next Euro campaign. It was his one red card of the season.

Back in the middle of a three-man attack for the league run-in, Didier netted a vital winner at Old Trafford that put Chelsea on top of the table and with our destiny in our own hands.

An historic 8-0 win against Wigan on the final day and a second-half hat-trick was a great way way to reclaim both the Premier League and the Golden Boot.

His winner in the 2010 FA Cup Final, a direct free-kick against Porstmouth meant the season had a pair of Ivorian bookends - a Didier goal at its start and at its finish.

Voted the club's Player of the Year by the fans, his 37 goals is the second best total in Chelsea history and included strikes at Anfield, the Emirates and Old Trafford.

Following hernia surgery that saw him miss most of pre-season, he began 2010/11 with a hat-trick against West Brom, followed by a hat-trick of assists at Wigan in the first away game. It looked like being another scary season for defences around Europe.

However illness struck in the autumn in the form of malaria. Didier battled on and was captain for a spell with Terry and Lampard both injured, but his power was down and Chelsea's flying start to the campaign gave way to an extended period of well-below-par results with important players missing. Coming on as a sub away to Spurs before Christmas, he scored to salvage a point but frustratingly missed out on a winner when his penalty was saved, a rare spot-kick failure indeed.

A stunning long-range strike away to Bolton in January 2011 was his last for 11 games as Fernando Torres came onto the scene and the right mix up front was sought by Ancelotti.

Didier was on the bench for a Champions League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford and although he came on at half-time and scored, Chelsea went out. It was a sad way to mark his 300^th appearance for the club.

Although 13 goals in all competitions and no medals in 2010/11 suggests an indifferent season by his standards, his combined league total of goals and assists was still the second highest by any top-flight player in that season. His 109 shots were the most attempts on goal.

Physically a match for any defender and able to score any type of goal, his ability to make and take chances as well as take on the opposition backline single-handed has marked Didier down as one of the world's very finest strikers for many seasons.

In 2011-12 we have seen another healthy goal return posted for the Ivorian, who missed eight games and over five weeks at the start of 2012 on international duty. Most crucially for his club, he netted a brace in the vital 3-0 Champions League win over Valencia at the start of December that ensured European progression, as group winners, for the Blues.

With 12 goals by the end of March, including a recent winner against Stoke City and the all-important opener in that memorable extra-time victory over Napoli and, with his habit of scoring very big goals in very big games, Didier will inevitably continue to play a big part as the Blues hunt domestic and continental glory.

Pre-Chelsea
Didier was signed in the summer of 2004 from Marseille where he had been named France's Player of the Year. A reported fee of £24 million was paid.

The man who spearheaded Ivory Coast to a first World Cup Finals in 2006 moved from Africa to live in France as a young child and played his early junior football at right-back.

He dabbled with various small clubs and even turned down the chance of a trial at Paris St-Germain, preferring to learn his trade before moving onto the big stage.

He did so at second division Le Mans before shifting up a division to Guingamp, a club he had been prevented from joining some years earlier due to injury.

It was during this spell in Brittany that Didier first came to the attention of Jose Mourinho, then Porto's manager - but after scoring 17 goals in 2002/03 and becoming an international, he had moved out of the Portuguese club's price range.

Marseille swooped and they did not regret their move. In his second season at l'OM, he netted 18 times in 35 league games and six times as the 2004 Uefa Cup Final was reached, including braces against Liverpool and Newcastle.

In addition to his France Footballer of the Year award, Fifa recognised the achievements with a nomination for World Player of the Year. Mourinho made the player a top target in his first summer of transfer activity at Chelsea - and this time the price wasn't a problem.


International career
Didier made his Ivory Coast debut in 2002, and captained his country to their first ever World Cup appearance in 2006, where he scored in a narrow defeat by Argentina which was followed by an equally-close reverse against Holland.

There may have been a few choice words from the 32-year-old when Ivory Coast were drawn in the 'group of death' for the second World Cup running ahead of South Africa 2010.

Chelsea's all-time international goalscorer, having netted 43 times in 69 matches by that stage, suffered a broken arm in a pre-tournament warm-up game which left his participation in 2010's Finals in question leading up to the opening game. He came on as sub although his play looked restricted, but he did find the net during defeat to Brazil next match. Once again Ivory Coast left after three games. Didier was again the captain.

In the Africa Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast have struggled to live up to expectations. In Ghana in 2008 they were expected to challenge but eventually finished fourth, having lost the final on penalties to Egypt in 2006, Drogba missing his. In an incredible shoot-out in the quarter-final against Cameroon that eventually ended 12-11, Didier scored as the first of the original five takers and then later scored the decisive spot kick.

In 2010, they bowed out in extra-time of the quarter-finals as coach Vahid Halilhodzic lost his job, making way for Sven Goran Eriksson to coach the side in South Africa after Guus Hiddink had turned the post down.

Didier's exploits for club and country won his Africa's Player of the Year in 2006 and 2009. For Ivory Coast, he is simply their biggest star, but expectation weighs heavy even on the broadest of shoulders.

At the 2012 African Nations, Drogba once more helped his side to the final, but against Zambia, he had the chance to win it for his country, only to send his penalty over the bar. The game went to a shootout, and although Didier converted, his side were beaten once again. There will be one more chance, at least, in 2013.

 

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~28142,00.html

Biography of My Idols

Name:	Petr Cech
Nationality:	Czech
Date of Birth:	20/05/1982
Height:	6' 5" (196cm)
Weight:	14st 6lbs (91.71kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Sparta Prague, Stade Rennais
Position:	Goalkeeper

Chelsea Career
Petr Cech arrived in 2004 for £7 million, more than all the past goalkeepers in Chelsea history combined, with the task of challenging established number one Carlo Cudicini.

He immediately caught the eye with his height, incredible reaction speed and confidence in leaving his goal-line and began his Chelsea career as Jose Mourinho's first choice. He had to be good to keep Cudicini out.

A clean-sheet laden first season at Stamford Bridge was statistically the most accomplished by any Chelsea keeper - a run of 1,024 minutes without conceding a goal between December and March set a new English top flight record.

By the end of that season he had his first championship medal plus records for the fewest goals conceded and most clean sheets in an English top-flight season, recognised with the award of the Barclays Golden Gloves for 2004/05.

Though the 2005/06 version of the Chelsea defence was never quite as watertight as the season before, Petr continued to excel and was a major force in capturing a consecutive Premiership title.

Serious injury in October 2006 cast big doubts over the future of his career, but Petr overcame a fractured skull that had required immediate surgery, 30 stitches and much rest to return just three months later.

Within weeks he had recorded a seven-game run for club and country without conceding a goal, all while sporting the skull protection that has become a trade mark, and he ended the season with both domestic cups.

Injuries took their toll again during 2007/08, and change of management brought a change of goalkeeping coach - Christophe Lollichon, his coach at former club Rennes, joined the Blues - as Silvino Louro left with Mourinho.

Despite calf, hip and facial afflictions, 6ft 4in Petr was there as we reached the Champions League Final in Moscow, making a string of vital saves before we were eventually beaten on penalties by Manchester United - his save from Cristiano Ronaldo in the shootout proving academic.

After a typically consistent opening to the 2008/09 campaign, Petr's form, and those in front of him, took a dip around Christmas and new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari experimented with a set-piece zonal marking system which contributed to points being lost against Fulham and Manchester United, while we were nearly embarrassed in the FA Cup by Southend and then Ipswich.

Scolari's exit brought about an improvement in form under Guus Hiddink, the highlight of Petr's season coming in the Camp Nou as Barcelona were kept at bay, important saves made against Samuel Eto'o and Alex Hleb.

For the first season in three there were no major injury problems, with 35 Premier League appearances and an ever-present record in the Champions League.

In 2009/10 Petr further enhanced his own reputation with a solid season and a major contribution towards a first Premier League and FA Cup Double.

Individual errors were reduced, though a couple of mishaps occurred at Stoke and Aston Villa, but Petr bounced back to concede just two more in the next eight games as we entered the Christmas period on top of the league, and while a calf injury at the San Siro prevented him from participating in our Champions League second-leg defeat against Inter, causing him to miss five games, he returned for the run-in and had a big say in the direction the silverware went, earning the Premier League's Golden Glove on the final day of the season with his 17th clean sheet from 34 games.

Petr kept perhaps his best for last. In the FA Cup Final he first pulled off an amazing instinctive save to prevent Frederic Piquionne from opening the scoring, and then kept out Kevin-Prince Boateng's spot-kick with his feet, moments before Didier Drogba went up the other end and scored a superb free-kick.

Cech's next campaign began with a calf strain in pre-season, but he returned in time for the first league game and he would be an ever-present, surpassing the 300-appearance mark. He has since become Chelsea's highest appearing foreign player, going past Gianfranco Zola's 312. At the end of the season he was voted Chelsea's Player of the Year for the first time.

A knee injury hampered the early stages of 2011/12 causing him to miss two games, but he was soon back between the sticks, though facing criticism with goals flying past him. He was beaten five times by Arsenal in late October, the first time we had conceded as many since 2002, but if anyone has the strength of character to deal with such issues it is Cech, and he kept a clean sheet at Blackburn on Bonfire Night despite sustaining a broken nose in the early stages of the game, after a collision with his own defender Ashley Cole.

Since then he has been an ever-present in both league and cup, surviving the upheaval of Andre Villas-Boas's exit, and pulling off a string of crucial saves in big games, notably in the memorable extra time victory over Napoli at the Bridge that secured a Champions League last-eight place.

In the hunt for Champions League qualification for next season, the Czech international has also been integral, keeping Tottenham at bay with some superb stopsand making his 50th appearance for club and country of the season in the 4-2 win at Aston Villa at the end of March.

Pre-Chelsea
A precocious talent, Petr built his reputation at Sparta Prague where at the age of 19 he broke the national record for the longest spell without conceding a goal.

Equally hard to beat in the Champions League, over 1,000 minutes in all competitions passed without a goal.

That earned a move to Rennes in France where midway through his second season he agreed to join Chelsea for the next campaign on a five-year contract.

International Career
At Under 21 international level Petr was a major factor in the crowning of the Czech Republic as 2002 European Champions while at senior level, Euro 2004 brought five clean sheets, a semi-final and a place in Uefa's all-star squad of the tournament.

His reputation on the international stage continued to grow and he represented his country at both the World Cup in 2006, Czech Republic's first since splitting with Slovakia in 1993, and Euro 2008, where it was his unfortunate late error in the group stages that saw his country eliminated.

He bounced back to be named Czech Footballer of the Year for the fifth time in 2010 and although they failed to qualify for South Africa 2010, Petr continues as team captain.

 

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~30593,00.html