Profile Football Stars | Luís Figo | Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100.
Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He had a career highlighted by Several Successful trophy wins, Such as one Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one
UEFA Champions League titles, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two
UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and Italian Super Cups three.
Figo started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-21 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside
Rui Costa,
Joao Pinto and he was also a significant part of Portugal's
"Golden Generation".
In 1995,
Figo looked poised to join one of the big clubs of Europe, but a dispute Between Italian clubs
Juventus and
Parma, with
Figo having signed contracts with both clubs, resulted in an Italian two-year transfer ban on
Figo, Effectively stopping any moves to Italy. However, the situation was eventually resolved for Figo, with a move to Spanish club
FC Barcelona for a fee of £ 2.25 million, under Dutch coach
Johan Cruyff. It was with Barcelona from 1995 That his career 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 Barcelona, scoring 30 goals. In 2000,
Figo made a hugely controversial move to Barcelona's bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Figo's arrival signaled the beginning of
Florentino Pérez's' Galactico era ". With Madrid
Figo won La Liga in 2001 and 2003 as well as the 2001-02 Champions League.
During the summer of 2008,
Figo's compatriot
José Mourinho joined Inter on a managerial level. On 16 May 2009,
Figo Announced his retirement from football, the same day
Internazionale won the 2008-09 title, and re-confirmed this on 30 May; his final game was on 31 May against Atalanta at the San Siro. At
Javier Zanetti's insistence,
Figo captained the side for his very last match.
Figo said, "I am leaving football, not Inter.
Luis Figo was on the sidelines when Internazionale Milano won the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League on 22 May 2010.
Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where They were beaten by France courtesy of a penalty from his club-mate and former French captain
Zinedine Zidane. The third place playoff Controversy Caused some as
Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However,
Portugal fell behind 2-0 to hosts
Germany and
Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, who handed him back the captain's armband, to cheers from both Portuguese and German fans. Despite having no trophies to show for the "
Golden Generation," Figo managed to captain the team to Their best World Cup performance since the Eusebio era in 1966. He finished his international career with 127 caps and scoring 32 goals.
Personal informationFull name Luís Filipe Madeira Figo Caeiro
Date of birth 4 November 1972 (age 39)
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder / Winger
Youth careerUnião de Pastilhas
1984-1989 Sporting CP
Senior careeryears Team
1989-1995 Sporting CP 137 (16)
Barcelona 1995-2000 172 (30)
2000-2005 Real Madrid 164 (36)
Internazionale 2005-2009 105 (9)
Total 579 (91)
National team1991-2006 Portugal 127 (32)
HonoursClubSporting CP Taça de Portugal (1): 1995
Barcelona La Liga (2): 1997-98, 1998-99
Copa del Rey (2): 1997, 1998
Supercopa de España (1): 1996
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1997
UEFA Super Cup (1): 1997
Real Madrid La Liga (2): 2000-01, 2002-03
Supercopa de España (2): 2001, 2003
UEFA Champions League (1): 2002
UEFA Super Cup (1): 2002
Intercontinental Cup (1): 2002
Internazionale Serie A (4): 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09
Coppa Italia (1): 2006
Supercoppa Italiana (3): 2005, 2006, 2008
Portugal FIFA World Cup (1): 2006 Fourth Place
UEFA European Football Championship (2): 2000 Semi Finalist,
2004 Runner-Up
FIFA U-20 World Cup (1): 1991
UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship (1): 1989
UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship (1): 1994 Runner-Up
Individual Figo's Ballon d'Or
Ballon d'Or (1): 2000
FIFA World Player of the Year (1): 2001
World Soccer Player of the Year (1): 2000
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (1): 2006
UEFA Euro All-Star Team (2): 2000, 2004
UEFA Team of the Year (1): 2003
La Liga Foreign Player of the Year (3): 1999, 2000, 2001
Portuguese Footballer of the Year (6): 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Portuguese Golden Ball (1): 1994
FIFA 100
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