5th February is surely a date football fans can't forget? Hmm what does it mean? This date marks the birthday of two of modern times great players Neymar Jr and offcourse, the iconic and one and only Cristiano Ronaldo. Coincidentally it also marks the birthday of a Cult Hero in Manchester going by the name of Carlos Tevez.
Cristiano Ronaldo-
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| Ronaldo in his last match for Real Madrid |
No Introduction needed here.He is the most followed individual on Instagram with around 259 million followers. If you ask any person who is not well customed to football, he will definitely say that two names he knows is Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Like Messi,Ronaldo has won it all at club level. He has also found success on International stage winning the UEFA Euros 2016 with Portugal and the 2019 UEFA Nations League.
Born in Madeira, Portugal in 1986 Ronaldo would go on to start his career at Sporting CP in 2002. At the age of 18 in 2003, he was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United and then there was no looking back for him.
After winning the FA Cup in his first season, he would go on to win PFA Player and Young Player of the year in 2006-07 season and won the PFA Player of the year again in 2007-08 season. In the meantime he would go on to win three successive Premier League Titles in 06-07,07-08,08-09 season. A Champions League triumph over Chelsea in 2008 in which he missed his Penalty in the shootout and almost cost the game but United were lucky in the end and won the title.
For his outstanding performance in 2008, he would go on to win his first of 5 Ballon d'Or in that year which is only bested by Lionel Messi' six.
In 2009 he would go on to join Real Madrid on a then world recording breaking fee of €94 million. In his 9 years at Real, he became the top scorer of the Los Blancos with 454 goals. He won the La And the Copa Del Rey twice and won the Champions League 4 times with 3 successive titles between 2015-2018. In 2018 he shockingly left for Italian Giants Juventus where at the age of 36 he is still going strong. Yeah he even won the Series A last season.
Neymar Jr-
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| Neymar for PSG against Leipzig in UCL last season |
Next up on our list is the Brazilian sensation Neymar. Born in 1992 in Brazil he would start his career as a forward for Brazilian club Santos where he spended 4 years before joining FC Barcelona. At his time at Santos he would go on to win the Puskas Award for the best goal in 2011 Against Flamengo scoring in a 5-4 loss.
Neymar would go on to spend 4 years at Barca after arriving in 2013. After the arrival of Luis Suarez from Liverpool FC in 2014, both of them along with Messi would go on to make up the one of the games most prolific attack trio of MSN(Messi-Suarez-Neymar).
He won the Treble with Barcelona in 2014-15 and would enjoy 2 more Copa Del Rey and a La Liga Title along with his name. In the 2016-17 season he would create history with Barcelona as they overcame a 4-0 first leg deficit and went to win 6-1 against PSG in the second leg. He scored a sublime free kick in the 88th minute and a Penalty in injury time in that game before Sergio Roberto stole the show.
However after the conclusion of the season he would shock the world and leave Barcelona and join Paris Saint Germain for a world Record fee of €222 million making him the most expensive player.
At PSG he has won 3 French League Titles already with domestic cups. He also won the Golden Medal at Olympics 2016 with Brazil and took PSG to its first ever UEFA Champions League Final since the competition's named was changed in 2020.
Carlos Tevez-
On to the last player. We now move on to Carlos Tevez. The Argentine might not be remembered by many but will certainly always be in the minds of mancunian people. After playing in South America, Tevez arrived in England in 2006-07 season playing for West Ham United. He was a key figure in West Ham's survival that year. In the following year he was signed on a two year loan deal for Manchester United.
In his time at United he would form a great partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney helping United to the Premier League crown in 2 years and winning the Champions League in 2008. However he got frustrated when United didn't sign him on a permanent basis.
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| The infamous "Welcome to Manchester" billboard erected just near the road leading to Old Trafford |
He shocked the world when he then turned down United and joined cross town rivals, Manchester City. Taking out his attitude he would spend 4 years at Manchester City leading the club to its first major hounour in 36 years when they won the FA Cup in 2011. He was also the part of 2011-12 Premier League Winning side as City won the title on Goal Difference thanks to a late iconic strike from Sergio Agüero. During the parade he would hold up a signboard which sparked controversy. When asked to SAF about City ever finishing top of United, Ferguson replied "never in" my lifetime. He holded a board "RIP Fergie".
He would leave City in 2013 and then spend spells at Juventus, Boca Juniors and Shanghai Shenhua. He is currently back at his boyhood club Boca and is till playing at the age of 37. Keep it up Carlos.
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