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| Birth Name(s) : Luis Figo |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Athlete |
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Full Luis Figo Biography
1 Senior club appearances and goalscounted for the domestic league only andcorrect as of 21:14, 21 October 2007 (UTC).2 National team caps and goals correctas of 21:27, 20 September 2007 (UTC).* Appearances (Goals)
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, born November 4, 1972 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a professional Portuguese football player. In his homeland Figo is considered by some second only to Eusebio as Portugal’s greatest player ever. He plays as a midfielder and winger, currently for Inter Milan.
Known as the original Golden Boy (a name which now belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo, a teammate from the Portugal national football team), Figo gained fame as the main football player behind Portugal's prominent Golden Generation that consisted of fellow legends like Rui Costa, and was the reason why the term came into use.
Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100. Known for his exceptional trickery and dribbling skills on either wing (though he predominantly plays on the right), Figo is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Figo started his career at Sporting Clube de Portugal, a club which has developed many other great Portuguese players. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-20 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside compatriot Rui Costa and a significant part of his nation's so called 'golden generation'.
It was with FC Barcelona from 1995 that the career of the 'Lion King' really took off: Figo won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996/97, successive Primera División titles and went on to appear 172 times for the Blaugrana, scoring 30 goals. Figo was able to garner many plaudits while at the Nou Camp, such as Sir Alex Ferguson, who it has been later claimed almost brought him to Manchester United before Euro 2000 in a swap deal with David Beckham. Figo reached a rather unique position in Barcelona, becoming the first non-Catalan to wear FC Barcelona's captain's band.
On May 29, 2007, in a spectacular about-face, Luis Figo broke off his deal with the Al Ittihad club, saying that they hadn't fullfiled their obligations..
On June 10, 2007, Figo renewed his contract until June 30, 2008 and will afterwards take a directorial role at Inter. It has been reported that Figo could migrate to North America and play in the MLS next year when his contract expires with Inter.
The leader of Portugal's 'golden generation', Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his senior debut against Luxembourg, at 16 October 1991, in a friendly match, that ended 1-1, when he was only 18 years old. He has performed at the highest level ever since, gracing Euro 96, Euro 2000, and the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup. He announced his retirement from international football following the UEFA EURO 2004 final defeat by Greece, having won 117 caps and scored 31 goals. However, in June 2005 he reversed his decision and returned for 2006 World Cup qualifying wins against Slovakia and Estonia. He again vowed to retire from international football after the 2006 World Cup where he lead the team to the semi-finals where Portugal lost 0-1 to France. He made his last appearance playing around 10 minutes at the end of the third place play-off game where he set up Portugal's only goal for Nuno Gomes in a 3-1 defeat against Germany.
Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by France. Many blamed Figo's diving and poor play making as the main reasons for the loss. This was the furthest Portugal had reached in the tournament since 1966. A penalty, scored by French captain Zinedine Zidane stood as the winning goal. At the end of the match, Zidane and Figo, formerly teammates on Real Madrid during the club's glory years, swapped shirts and hugged. The third place playoff caused some controversy as Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However, Portugal fell behind 0-2 to hosts Germany and Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, regaining his captaincy during the substitution. Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo's entrance, he ended his final cap for his country on a high note as he set up Nuno Gomes's goal in the 88th minute to help Portugal claw back a marker.
Luís Figo is married to Swedish model Helen Svedin. The two met at a flamenco show and are now married with three daughters, Daniela (born in March 1999), Martina (born in April 2002), and Stella (born December 9, 2004).
Along with his countryman, football manager Carlos Queiróz, Figo was briefly joint seat holder for A1 Team Portugal, in A1 Grand Prix, during the 2005-06 season. Figo also performs a nixer with the Portuguese police and is contactable by post at Sgt. Luis Figo, Portugal CSI, Lisbon street, Lisbon, Portugal. |
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