Luis
Figo Biography - Preview With Eusebio being considered the best
footballer Portugal ever came up with, it was a tough challenge for
anyone to top his achievements and take the Mozambique Pearl
off his throne.
Still, being an ambitious and
talented Footballer, Figo managed to do so in his extraordinary career
that had him playing at some of the most important European
soccer clubs, such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or
Internazionale. For this reason, a Luis Figo biography could not have
missed from my list.
Luis Figo Biography
– Sporting CP Portuguese soccer is well known for having
some of the most prestigious and well-equipped
youth training camps in the World and Sporting's youth facilities are
amongst them. It is here that Luiz Figo started out playing soccer,
being born in Lisbon himself.
He grew up in a team that
would later be a large part of the "Golden Generation"
of Portuguese soccer, with other important teammates such as Rui Costa.
Although growing up in such a professional and competitive environment,
the pressure didn't slow down the footballer, Figo shining out whenever
he played and eventually winning his first senior
game at Sporting in 1989 (age 17).
Although not a first squad
constant (as would be expected from a 17 year old footballer), Figo
managed to win his place in the team the following
years and started showing more and more of his brilliance with each
passing year.
Already having spent 6 seasons
at Sporting, a move to a bigger club was inevitable and it was Juventus
and AC Parma who made the first move, both teams
offering him a contract.
Still young and being ill
consulted, Luiz Figo signed for both clubs at the same time, triggering
a scandal that resulted in a 2 year ban
for him to transfer in the Italian Serie A. I think this was for the
best,
as Spanish giants FC Barcelona immediately moved in and signed the
young midfielder.
Luis Figo Biography
– FC Barcelona Almost any Luis Figo biography will point out
that the time spent with FC Barcelona was the footballer's best point
in his career.
Although not winning as many
trophies with Barcelona as he did with Real Madrid, it's at the Catalan
side that he had his blast, becoming a fan-favorite
and one of the most dominant figures in the locker room, his charisma
and leadership earning him a rightful Barcelona captain's armband, a
honor that is rarely given to a player that is not Spanish.
Having such a status at Barcelona, after 4 impressive seasons with the
team, Luiz Figo's unexpected move to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 2000
was an international shocker and so was his
transfer fee, a world record at that point: 46 million dollars.
Luis Figo Biography
– Real Madrid In his first season at Real, Luis Figo was
caught between a rock and a hard place.
His former Barcelona fans
hated him for his move, booing and jeering him with every possible
occasion and his new Real fans were circumspect that a player with such
a long history with FC Barcelona will be able to play regularly for
their team. Add that to a long list of injuries in the first seasons
and you'll know why many rushed to consider Figo as a "done
footballer".
After a difficult first season
at Real however, Luiz Figo started a new wonderful stage of his career,
winning the next three La Liga titles with his team and being an
essential player in, then coach, Vicente Del Bosque's
squad.
He finally won the club's
supporters on him side, although the passionate Barcelona ones still
didn't forget him. During this period, he also had a lot of successful
runs with his national side, alongside many Sporting CP youth team
ex-colleagues, reaching the 2004 European Championship final
(losing it to Greece) and a few years after that, reaching the World
Cup semi-finals in 2006. But by that time, he had already moved from an
apparently falling Real Madrid side to Inter Milano.
Luis Figo Biography
– Inter Milano Inter being an equally reputable team as Real
Madrid, but in a constant lack of form in the last decade, Figo managed
to remain at the height of his game here, eventually leading
Inter to two consecutive Serie A titles (although one was won
after the Calciopoli scandal, which stripped Champions Juventus of
their 2005-2006 title, giving it to second-place Inter instead).
Approaching the end of his
career, Figo was linked to a move to Al-Ittihad, where he was supposed
to receive one of the highest salaries in
international football, however this transfer was cancelled due to
Figo's desire to play a few more years at the highest competition level
for Inter. It is yet unknown if the Al-Ittihad contract was simply
postponed or cancelled entirely.
