Michael Chopra
| Michael Chopra | ||
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| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Rocky Michael Chopra | |
| birthday | December 23, 1983 | |
| place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne , England | |
| size | 175 cm | |
| position | striker | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| 1993-2000 | Newcastle United | |
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 2000-2006 | Newcastle United | 21 (1) |
| 2003 | → Watford FC (loan) | 5 (5) |
| 2004 | → Nottingham Forest (loan) | 5 (0) |
| 2004-2005 | → Barnsley FC (loan) | 39 (17) |
| 2006-2007 | Cardiff City | 42 (22) |
| 2007-2009 | Sunderland AFC | 39 (8) |
| 2008 | → Cardiff City (loan) | 11 (5) |
| 2009 | → Cardiff City (loan) | 16 (4) |
| 2009-2011 | Cardiff City | 78 (27) |
| 2011-2013 | Ipswich Town | 78 (18) |
| 2013-2014 | Blackpool FC | 18 (0) |
| 2014– | Kerala Blasters FC | 2 (0) |
| National team | ||
| Years | selection | Games (goals) |
| 2002 | England U-21 | 1 (1) |
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1 Only league games are given. As of November 8, 2014 |
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Rocky Michael Chopra (born December 23, 1983 in Newcastle upon Tyne ) is an English football player .
The striker had previously been under contract with Newcastle United and Cardiff City . Other club stations were Watford FC , Nottingham Forest and Barnsley FC , where he was employed on loan for a short time. In addition, he had passed through the youth teams of England and was represented in all teams from the U-15 to the U-21 national team.
Chopra became known as the son of an English mother and an Indian father as the first player of Indian origin to play a game in the Premier League and score a goal there.
Athletic career
Training at the Newcastle United Academy
Michael Chopra was interested in football at a very young age, was trained by his father and was able to show his first successes as a student. In the school team of the "Gosforth High School" in Newcastle, which Alan Shearer had previously attended, and for the "Montagu Boys' Club", he attracted attention through his scoring qualities, so that Newcastle United him in July 1993 - in old age from nine years - accepted into the club's own academy.
In the 2000/01 season he scored 28 goals for the youth team from Newcastle United and moved into the play-off of the "FA Premier Academy League U17". In December 2000 he signed his first professional contract in Newcastle and played for the Academy's U-19 selection. After 14 goals in the first nine games, he rose to the senior division of the club and was part of the extended squad of the professional team from October 2001 with the allocation of a fixed shirt number. By the end of the season he had seven goals in 17 missions in the reserve team.
Entry into professional football
Also at the beginning of the 2001/02 season , Chopra underlined his good goal numbers and scored nine goals in the first five games of the U-19 youth team and the reserve team. He signed a new three-year contract with his club in November and came on November 6 in the League Cup for the first time for the first team. In the game against Everton he was substituted on for Lomana LuaLua and when the game ended 3: 3 after regular time, Chopra missed a penalty - Newcastle was subsequently eliminated from the competition.
Also in the Champions League he came to his debut when he in December 2002 at the Camp Nou against FC Barcelona came on. He then played against Bayer 04 Leverkusen before being loaned out to Watford FC for a month at the end of March 2003 . He scored five times in six games, completed the FA Cup semi-finals against Southampton FC and scored four goals in the 7-4 win against Burnley FC .
Back in Newcastle, he came to his first Premier League game on May 11, 2003 at 2-2 at West Bromwich Albion and then took part in the Junior World Cup in the United Arab Emirates .
In the 2003/04 season , Chopra completed four games for Newcastle United and was finally loaned out to Nottingham Forest again in February 2004 for a month . After five games for Nottingham, he acted two more times for the "Magpies".
Only a short time later, he should be loaned to another club and spent the entire 2004/05 season in the third-tier League One at Barnsley FC . In a total of 39 games he scored 17 goals, including three hits each against Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town . He was also used for this team in the FA Cup and the League Cup, became the club's top goalscorer and was awarded the club's best player of the season.
Chopra started the 2005-06 season in the Newcastle United starting lineup and acted in the early UI Cup games . In the 3-1 away win against the Slovak representative FK ZTS Dubnica on July 17, 2005, he scored his first goal for the professional team and exactly nine months later he also scored in the Premier League for the first time. What was remarkable about this derby against AFC Sunderland (Newcastle won 4-1 at their rivals) was that Chopra was able to score his goal just ten seconds after being substituted on in the 60th minute, setting a speed record in Premier League history.
Cardiff City
On June 14, 2006, Chopra joined Cardiff City for a transfer fee of £ 500,000 after previously declining to extend the contract for another year. Chopra preferred the prospect of a permanent place in the second-rate Football League Championship and with his new club he got off to a good start to the season. Cardiff was at the top of the table with 36 points from their first 17 games, and with his seven championship goals, Chopra was voted best second division player of the month in September and October. On January 27, 2007 he got all three goals for his club's 3-2 win over Leicester City .
On April 5, 2007, Chopra extended his contract with Cardiff City and he was nominated for the championship team of the year at the end of the season. Although Cardiff City was eventually ousted by promotion, Chopra had a successful season with 22 goals in 42 games.
Sunderland AFC
Despite his previous contract extension, Chopra signed a four-year contract with the Premier League promoted AFC Sunderland on July 13, 2007, with Sunderland taking advantage of Chopra's release clause, which allowed a club change at a sum of five million pounds. This high price aroused criticism from the supporters of Sunderland AFC - especially since Chopra had also previously played for rivals Newcastle United. In a preseason game against Bohemians Dublin he made his debut for his new club and shot in the first Premier League game of the 2007/08 season - 13 seconds before the end of stoppage time - the decisive goal to 1: 0 win over Tottenham Hotspur , where he first came on late in the second half. He also scored a goal in the second championship game against Birmingham City , showing good early form of the season.
Return to Cardiff
After two loan periods from November 2008 to the end of the year and February 2009 to the end of the 2008/09 season, Chopra finally returned to Cardiff in July 2009 and cost the Welsh club the record transfer fee of three million pounds.
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Chopra signs contract extension" (BBC Sport)
- ^ "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double" (BBC Sport)
- ^ "Sunderland wrap up Chopra signing" (BBC Sport)
- ^ "Striker Chopra to be a record signing for City" (Wales Online)
Web links
- Michael Chopra in the soccerbase.com database
- Profile at Cardiff City
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chopra, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Chopra, Rocky Michael (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 23, 1983 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Newcastle upon Tyne , England |