Luís Figo

Luís Figo
Luís Figo (2017)
Personnel
Surname	Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo
birthday	4th November 1972
place of birth	Almada ,  Portugal
size	180 cm
position	midfield
Juniors
Years	station
1984-1991	Sporting Lisbon
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1989-1995	Sporting Lisbon	137 (16)
1995-2000	FC Barcelona	172 (30)
2000-2005	real Madrid	164 (36)
2005-2009	Inter Milan	105 0(9)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1988-19 ??	Portugal U16
1989-19 ??	Portugal U17
1988-19 ??	Portugal U18
1990-19 ??	Portugal U20	at least 6 0(0)
1991–199?	Portugal U21	at least 1 0(0)
1991-2006	Portugal	127 (32)
1 Only league games are given.

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo [ luˈiʃ ˈfiɣu ] (born November 4, 1972 in Almada ) is a former Portuguese football player . He started his career in the men's field in 1989 with Sporting Lisbon . In his senior year at the club in 1995, he won the national cup . He then went abroad to Spain with the commitment from FC Barcelona . In Catalonia he developed into one of the best players of his time and won six national titles with the team, including two championships, as well as the 1996/97 European Cup Winners' Cup . For the 2000/01 season he moved to Real Madrid within the league . With the Royal, he continued his successful time, also won two championships and the Champions League in 2001/02 . Because of his achievements, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or in 2000 , and a year later he was named World Player of the Year by FIFA . After ten years in Spain with a total of 15 titles, he moved to Italy for Inter Milan in 2005 . He played four successful seasons with the Nerazzurri , was champion in all and won the Coppa Italia three times . In 2009, after 20 years in professional football, he ended his active career at the age of 36.

Figo played in Portugal's junior teams from 1988. In 1991 he came to his first of 127 international matches for the A-selection , which he completed until 2006, scoring 32 goals. This made him the record international player in his country until June 2016. With the selection he reached the final of the competition at the 2004 European Championships in his own country . He also took part in the European Championships in England in 1996 and in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000, as well as in the 2002 World Championships in Japan and South Korea and in Germany in 2006 .

Life

Luís Figo was born in Almada in 1972, the only child of Antonio Caeiro Figo and Maria Joana . He grew up in the working-class district of Cova da Piedade , Almada near Lisbon. His first club was UFC Os Pastilhas before joining the youth division of Sporting Lisbon at the age of eleven .

societies

When he was 17 he made his debut for Sporting in the Portuguese Championship . At just 19 years of age, he had already attracted international attention.

In 1995 Figo moved from Sporting Lisbon to FC Barcelona . In Barcelona he was trained by Johan Cruyff , Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal and became one of the most famous footballers of his time.

After the European Football Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000, where he was voted the best player of the tournament, he moved to Real Madrid for the record sum of 58.2 million euros at the time .

In June 2005 he got clearance from Real Madrid, apparently no longer playing a role in the planning of coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo , and moved to Inter Milan .

After completing the 2006/07 season, Figo wanted to move to the Saudi football club Al-Ittihad to end his career there. He has already signed a pre-contract for one year and should play in Saudi Arabia from July 1, 2007. However, since there were problems between the club and Figo, the transfer was not carried out. Figo therefore decided to stay at Inter Milan for another season and signed a one-year contract there.

On November 4, 2007, Luís Figo broke his right fibula several times in the Serie A game against Juventus Turin after a foul by Pavel Nedvěd . On February 16, 2008 Figo made his comeback in the game against AS Livorno . After several disagreements with coach Roberto Mancini , he originally wanted to leave the club at the end of the season. But when Mancini was replaced by Figo's compatriot José Mourinho , he decided to extend his contract in Milan for a year.

After the 2008/09 season, he ended his playing career. Figo Scout has been with Inter Milan since 2010.

National team

Luís Figo as captain of the Portuguese national team (2006)

Figo finished third at the U-16 World Cup in Scotland in 1989 as a member of the Portugal U-16 national team . Two years later he won the Junior World Cup in Portugal with the U-20 team .

At the European Football Championship 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands Figo was voted the best player of the tournament. Portugal put in a good performance and reached the semi-finals after four wins in four games (including a 3-0 win over defending champions Germany). In the semifinals they failed to world champions France after they had been 1-0 in the lead. Henry had equalized and a converted penalty from Zidane made the decision.

Figo experienced his bitterest defeat in the final of the 2004 European Championship against Greece. Portugal reached the quarter-finals as group winners and reached the finals in their own country via England and the Netherlands. The technically superior Portuguese team bit their teeth against the Greeks trained by Otto Rehhagel and lost 1-0.

On August 18, 2004, he announced his temporary resignation from the Portuguese national team in Madrid , but celebrated his comeback on June 4, 2005 in the qualifying game for the 2006 World Cup against Slovakia .

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Portugal made it into the last four again. With three wins in the preliminary round, they reached the round of 16 as group winners and defeated, as in 2004, the Netherlands and England. Again France waited in the semi-finals and again they lost to a penalty converted by Zidane. On July 8, 2006, Figo played his last international match for Portugal in the 3-1 defeat in the game for third place against Germany at the World Cup.

Luís Figo has been the Official UniCredit Brand Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League since September 2010 .

After active football

Figo and Paulo China have been running a bar in Vilamoura , the Café Sete, since 1998 .

In January 2015 he announced that he would run for the office of FIFA President. On May 21, 2015, he withdrew his candidacy out of indignation at the reality of the power structures in FIFA and Blatter's preferential treatment before the election and declared: "I will continue to be available as soon as it is proven that FIFA is not a dictatorship."

successes

The Ballon d'Or for Europe's Footballer of the Year

As a national player

• U-16 European Champion : 1989
• U-16 World Cup third : 1989
• Junior world champion : 1991
• Vice European Champion : 2004
• World Championship fourth : 2006

With his clubs

• Portuguese Cup Winner : 1994/95
• European Cup Winners' Cup : 1996/97
• Spanish Cup Winner : 1996/97 , 1997/98
• Spanish champions : 1997/98 , 1998/99 , 2000/01 , 2002/03
• Champions League winner : 2001/02
• European Super Cup winner : 2002
• World Cup Winner : 2002
• Italian Cup Winner : 2005/06
• Italian Super Cup winner : 2006 , 2008
• Italian champion : 2005/06 ^a , 2006/07 , 2007/08 , 2008/09

^aawarded as a result of the Italian football scandal in 2005/2006

Personal awards

• Europe's footballer of the year : 2000
• FIFA World Player of the Year : 2001
• Portugal's Footballer of the Year : 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
• Best foreign player in the Primera División (Don Balón) : 1999, 2000, 2001
• Best foreign player in the Primera División (El País) : 2000, 2001
• European Football Championship 2000 : All-Star Team
• European Football Championship 2004 : All-Star Team
• Football World Cup 2006 : All-Star Team
• UEFA Team of the Year : 2003
• FIFA 100
• Awarded the Portuguese Order of Our Lady

Season statistics

society	league	season	league		Cup		European Cup		Other		total
			Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates
Sporting Lisbon	Primeira League	1989/90	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	0
		1990/91	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	0
		1991/92	34	1	7th	0	2	0	-	-	43	1
		1992/93	32	0	8th	1	2	0	-	-	42	1
		1993/94	31	8th	1	0	3	0	-	-	35	8th
		1994/95	34	7th	7th	3	2	0	-	-	43	10
total			137	16	23	4th	9	0	-	-	169	20th
FC Barcelona	Primera División	1995/96	35	5	8th	1	10	3	-	-	53	9
		1996/97	36	4th	9	2	8th	1	-	-	53	7th
		1997/98	35	5	4th	0	7th	1	-	-	46	6th
		1998/99	34	7th	10	1	6th	1	-	-	50	9
		1999/00	32	9	2	0	13	5	-	-	47	14th
total			172	30th	33	4th	44	11	-	-	249	45
real Madrid	Primera División	2000/01	34	8th	2	0	14th	5	-	-	50	13
		2001/02	29	7th	6th	1	10	3	-	-	45	11
		2002/03	33	10	1	0	15th	2	-	-	49	12
		2003/04	36	8th	8th	3	11	1	-	-	55	12
		2004/05	32	3	-	-	10	4th	-	-	42	7th
total			164	36	17th	4th	60	15th	-	-	241	55
Inter Milan	Series A	2005/06	34	5	3	0	8th	1	-	-	45	6th
		2006/07	32	2	7th	0	7th	0	-	-	47	2
		2007/08	17th	1	1	0	3	0	-	-	21st	1
		2008/09	22nd	1	-	-	3	0	-	-	19th	1
total			105	9	11	0	21st	1	-	-	130	10
Career total			578	91	84	12	134	27	-	-	795	130

Others

Luís Figo (in Munich, Sept. 2010)

• Luís Figo is a fan of motor racing . This made itself felt internationally when he and his compatriot and football manager Carlos Queiroz set up a racing team ( A1 Team Portugal ) for the A1 Grand Prix , which he led.
• Figo has been married to the Swedish model Helen Svedin since 2001 . The two have three daughters together.
• On November 23, 2002 he was pelted with a pig's head during a league match between his then club Real Madrid and his ex-club FC Barcelona when he was about to take a corner kick.

See also

• List of football players with at least 100 international matches

Web links

Commons : Luís Figo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Games in the national team
• Luís Figo at footballdatabase.com ( Memento from December 27, 2004 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Luís Figo. www.expertfootball.com, January 2, 2013, accessed August 5, 2014 . 
2. ↑ Luis Figo extended with Inter Milan. www.focus.de, June 26, 2008, accessed July 15, 2008 . 
3. ↑ The port bar of the Portuguese captain. www.ksta.de, July 3, 2004, accessed on August 5, 2014 . 
4. ↑ FAZ.net: Prominent challenger for Blatter
5. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Figo withdraws candidacy

predecessor	Office	successor
João Pinto	Portugal's Footballer of the Year 1995–2000	Petit