Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker 2011
Personnel
Surname	Gary Winston Lineker
birthday	November 30, 1960
place of birth	Leicester ,  England
size	177 cm
position	Storm
Juniors
Years	station
1976-1988	Leicester City
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1978-1985	Leicester City	194 (95)
1985-1986	Everton FC	41 (30)
1986-1989	FC Barcelona	103 (43)
1989-1992	Tottenham Hotspur	105 (67)
1992-1994	Nagoya Grampus Eight	23 0(9)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1984-1992	England	80 (48)
1 Only league games are given.

Gary Winston Lineker , OBE (born November 30, 1960 in Leicester ) is a retired English football player . He was considered the best English striker in the 1980s and is the top scorer for the English national team at world championships with ten goals . At club level he played for Leicester City , the Everton FC , the FC Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur . During his 16 year professional career, he received neither a yellow nor a red card.

Today Lineker works as a football commentator for the BBC , BT Sport and Al Jazeera Sports . In Germany he is best known for his often quoted bon mot about football, which translates as: "... and in the end the Germans always win".

youth

Gary Lineker was born the son of the greengrocer Barry Lineker and his wife in Leicester, England. Even as a young boy, Lineker was an avid footballer who spent almost every free minute with his brother playing on the streets of his hometown. After leaving school, the 16-year-old talent moved to Leicester City .

Club career

After two years in the youth department, Lineker made the leap into the professional squad for the 1978/79 season. Leicester City then played in the second division ( Second Division ), in which Lineker made his first footballing steps. In the following three years he did not get beyond the status of a supplementary player. After a year in the First Division (1980/81) Lineker rose again with Leicester City, but he now made the big breakthrough with 17 goals this season. In the following season he developed into a crowd favorite on Filbert Street and shot his club back in 1983 with 26 goals in the top division. There he continued to score goals and was involved in establishing the team in the league. Lineker met 24 times in 1984/85 and was the top scorer with Kerry Dixon .

Lineker left Leicester for around £ 800,000 in the summer of 1985 and moved to the then champions Everton . There he was again top scorer with 30 goals. Everton could not defend the title and became runner-up behind local rivals Liverpool FC . Also in the final of the FA Cup you had to admit defeat to the "Reds".

After that year with Everton and his achievements at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico , the Spanish club FC Barcelona signed Lineker for around 2.8 million pounds . The Catalans were trained by Lineker's compatriot Terry Venables , who knew the qualities of the agile striker. Lineker scored 20 goals in his first season, including a hat trick in a 3-2 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid . With Barça he won the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989 . When Johan Cruyff became coach in 1988, Lineker was used on the unfamiliar right wing and later lost his regular place. After three years in Barcelona, ​​he said goodbye to Camp Nou in 1989 and returned to England.

In England, Lineker signed a three-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur because he was able to play under Terry Venables again. With the North Londoners he found his old strength again and was the top scorer in 1989/90 with 24 goals. With the "Spurs" he defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the final of the FA Cup in 1991 and won his first title in England. In its final 1991/92 season, Linekers saved 28 goals Tottenham from relegation. He played his last game on May 2, 1992 against Manchester United and scored the consolation goal in the 3-1 defeat.

In the summer of 1992 Lineker accepted a financially lucrative offer from Japan and played for Nagoya Grampus Eight for another two years . However, his time in Asia was marked by injuries, which is why he only played 23 games. In autumn 1994 he ended his career at the age of 33.

Lineker embodied a typical penalty area striker, as he usually hit from close range. His game was not particularly spectacular, but due to his nose for goals and his chances, he was one of the best strikers in England. During his entire professional career, he was never warned or even sent off, which is why he is still called the epitome of "fair play" today.

National team

In 1984 Lineker played his first international match for England in a game against Scotland . Lineker was an important part of the team for the next eight years.

In 1986 Lineker was part of the squad for the World Cup in Mexico . In the tournament they lost 1-0 to Portugal and only played 0-0 to Morocco . At the center of the criticism was Lineker, who was derided by the tabloids as a "sports car idling". Only in the decisive game against Poland did England pull themselves together and Lineker led his team to a 3-0 victory with a flawless hat trick , which qualified them for the knockout round. Coach Bobby Robson had replaced Lineker's strike partner and brought in Peter Beardsley, a new striker who harmonized well with Lineker. In the 3-0 win over Paraguay in the round of 16, Lineker was again the match winner of his team with two goals. But in the quarter-finals, the Argentinians around Diego Maradona were too strong and England had to travel home after their 2-1 defeat. Lineker scored his sixth tournament goal with the consolation goal shortly before the end of the game and was the first Englishman ever to become the top scorer in the World Cup. He was elected to the World Cup All-Star Team and came second behind Igor Belanov in the European Footballer of the Year election .

In 1988 England played a disappointing European Championship . They lost all three preliminary round games, Lineker was without a goal. It was later discovered that Lineker had developed hepatitis during the tournament .

Lineker played his second world championship in 1990 in Italy . In the preliminary round he scored a goal against Ireland (1-1), but he broke a rib and completed the rest of the tournament in great pain. In the quarter-finals, Lineker scored twice on penalties against Cameroon . His goal for the 3-2 victory afterwards in the 105th minute ensured England's entry into the World Cup semi-finals. There you met the old rival Germany . Here, his equalizer to 1-1 just before the end saved the English initially in extra time. After all, England had to admit defeat on penalties . After losing to Italy in the game for third place, England had achieved their best position since winning the 1966 title .

His last major tournament was to be the 1992 European Championship in Sweden . But the English were eliminated without a win in the group stage. He played his last game here on June 17, 1992 against Sweden , when he was substituted on after 65 minutes. Lineker was visibly disappointed with his departure and ignored coach Graham Taylor as he walked to the bench. After 80 international matches and 48 goals, he ended his career in the jersey of the national team. He ranks third on the all-time scoring list for England's national team, behind Wayne Rooney (53 goals) and Bobby Charlton (49 goals).

successes

Personal awards

• England's Footballer of the Year : 1986, 1992
• European Footballer of the Year : Second in 1986
• English top scorer: 1985 (24 goals), 1986 (30 goals), 1990 (24 goals)
• World Cup top scorer 1986 (six goals)
• FIFA Fair Play Award : 1990 (15 years without yellow or red card)
• Member of the English Football Hall of Fame since 2003
• In 2004 he was named by Pelé on the list of the 125 best footballers still alive ( FIFA 100 ).
• In 2009, Leicester City fans voted him the best player in club history in a Sky Sports poll . He received 37 percent of the vote, more than twice as many as runner-up Gordon Banks .

title

• Copa del Rey : 1988
• European Cup Winners' Cup : 1989
• World Cup fourth in 1990
• FA Cup : 1991

Season statistics

society	league	season	league		Nat. Cup		League Cup		European Cup		total
			Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates
Leicester City	Second Division	1978/79	7th	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7th	1
		1979/80	19th	3	1	0	-	-	-	-	20th	3
	First Division	1980/81	9	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	10	3
	Second Division	1981/82	39	17th	5	2	3	0	-	-	47	19th
		1982/83	40	26th	1	0	2	0	-	-	43	26th
	First Division	1983/84	39	22nd	1	0	1	0	-	-	41	22nd
		1984/85	41	24	4th	3	3	2	-	-	48	29
total			194	95	13	6th	9	2	-	-	216	103
Everton FC	First Division	1985/86	41	30th	6th	5	5	3	-	-	52	38
total			41	30th	6th	5	5	3	-	-	52	38
FC Barcelona	Primera División	1986/87	41	21st	1	1	-	-	8th	0	50	22nd
		1987/88	36	16	5	2	-	-	8th	2	49	20th
		1988/89	26th	6th	4th	1	-	-	8th	4th	38	11
total			103	43	10	4th	-	-	24	6th	137	53
Tottenham Hotspur	First Division	1989/90	38	24	1	0	6th	2	-	-	45	26th
		1990/91	32	15th	6th	3	5	1	-	-	43	19th
		1991/92	35	28	2	0	5	5	8th	2	50	35
total			105	67	9	3	16	8th	8th	2	138	80
Nagoya Grampus Eight	J. League	1992	6th	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	6th	3
		1993	7th	1	-	-	5	4th	-	-	12	5
		1994	11	3	-	-	1	0	-	-	12	3
total			24	7th	-	-	6th	4th	-	-	30th	11
Career total			467	242	38	18th	36	17th	32	8th	573	285

Television commentator

In 1994, Gary Lineker began his television career, initially as an expert. In 1999 he became the front man of Match of the Day on the BBC . Together with ex-international striker Alan Shearer and ex- Liverpool FC player Alan Hansen , he summarizes the day of the Premier League in this broadcast .

The moderation of a program in April 2010 was remarkable. The British island was cut off from air traffic by an ash cloud from Iceland ; Lineker was on a short vacation in Tenerife . Through a 24-hour trip he could appear to show time: By plane he flew to Madrid , and from there he went by car to Paris and got into the Euro Star -Schnellzug to eventually less than two hours before they start broadcasting in London arrive . Lineker analyzed games on this show that he could not see before.

Lineker is one of the UK's highest paid television stars and the highest paid on the BBC. He rakes in £ 2 million a year for his Match of the Day presentation. In autumn 2014 he founded the TV production company Goalhanger Films with his son Harry (* 1994). This produces interviews and short documentaries on athletes.

Others

From 1987 to 1989 various Gary Lineker computer games were published , especially for the C64 .

One of his four sons, Tobias, was signed by Chelsea in 2007 at the age of 11 .

Lineker is a very active user of the short message service Twitter and has over 7 million followers (as of June 2018). In January 2013, he announced that Twitter was taking up too much space in his life and he wanted to leave his account on hold. Just a few days later, he revised his statement and returned to Twitter.

social commitment

Lineker is an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card .

Quotes

Lineker is known for the following saying after the defeat of the English against the German team in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Turin on July 4, 1990:

Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.

"Soccer is a simple game: 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and in the end the Germans always win."

In his BBC -Fußballsendung Match of the Day is Lineker recalled Diego Maradona FIFA - World Cup goal of the century , that this in the 1986 World Cup scoring quarter-final match between Argentina and England, with the words:

It was probably the one and only time in my whole career that I felt like applauding the opposition scoring a goal.

“ It was probably the only time in my entire career that I wanted to applaud the opposing team for a goal. "

After the semi-final match between Brazil and Germany at the 2014 World Cup , which Germany won 7-1, Lineker posted on his Twitter account:

In nigh on half a century of watching football, that's the most extraordinary, staggering, bewildering game I've ever witnessed.

“ In nearly half a century of watching football, this is the most extraordinary, breathtaking, confusing game I have ever seen. "

Web links

Commons : Gary Lineker  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Gary Lineker in the catalog of the German National Library
• Profile at Leicester City
• Gary Lineker as England international
• Gary Lineker in the soccerbase.com database

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dan Sabbagh: BBC cuts pay of million-pound stars , The Guardian , July 13, 2012.
2. ↑ Gary Lineker sets up own TV production company ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Goalhanger Films - Official Site
4. ↑ FOCUS online: Soccer - England: Chelsea FC signed son of Gary Lineker , October 24, 2007
5. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/now-that-gary-lineker-has-left-twitter-well-just-have-to-get-used-to-the-idea-hes -a-real-person-again-8459061.html
6. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2268999/Gary-Lineker-returns-Twitter-just-EIGHT-days-quitting.html
7. ↑ Show Racism the Red Card-Hall of fame ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ England Caps: Gary Lineker , accessed June 26, 2010.
9. ↑ Gary Lineker @GaryLineker - Twitter-Tweet of 9 July 2014 . Gary Lineker's Twitter account posted around midnight. Retrieved July 9, 2014.