alberto gilardino

• Date of Birth: 5 July 1982
• Height: 184 cm
• Shirt number: 11
• Position: Forward
• Current club: Fiorentina (ITA)
• International Caps: 41
• International Goals: 16
• First international: Italy - Norway
  (4 September 2004)

Club History

• AC Milan (ITA): From 2005 to 2008
• Parma (ITA): From 2002 to 2005
• Verona (ITA): From 2000 to 2002
• Piacenza (ITA): From 1997 to 2000

Of all the strikers Marcello Lippi has called upon in his time as Italy coach, Alberto Gilardino is without doubt the most technically adroit. While he might lack the aerial presence of Luca Toni and his left foot does not bear comparison with that of Christian Vieri, Gilardino is a genuine all-round forward and can pose a threat to even the best organised of defences.

At ease on either flank, the Fiorentina forward has plenty of pace, good heading ability and a fine appreciation of team play.

Gilardino played his first game in Serie A for Piacenza as a 17-year-old. Three years later he moved to Parma, making an impact at the highest level by scoring 50 goals in 96 appearances spread over three seasons. A first choice for the Italy U-21 side at the time, he struck 19 goals in 30 matches (a scoring record that still stands today) and helped the Azzurrini win the UEFA European Under-21 Championship and the bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Men's Olympic Football Tournament.

Lippi promoted him to the full national team in a 2-1 defeat of Norway in September 2004. Having become a regular fixture in the side, he scored against USA in the group phase of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and set up Alessandro Del Piero for Italy's second goal in their semi-final win over Germany.

Despite making Gilardino captain for the first time in an October 2007 meeting with South Africa, Roberto Donadoni left him out of the squad for UEFA EURO 2008 following some unconvincing performances for AC Milan in what turned out to be his final season with the club. Having now switched to Fiorentina he has struck up a formidable partnership with Adrian Mutu, leading to a recall to the national set-up.

fabio cannavaro

• Date of Birth: 13 September 1973
• Height: 175 cm
• Shirt number: 5
• Position: Defender
• Current club: Juventus (ITA)
• International Caps: 133
• International Goals: 2
• First international: Italy - Northern Ireland
  (22 January 1997)

Club History

• Real Madrid (ESP): From 2006 to 2009
• Juventus (ITA): From 2004 to 2006
• Parma (ITA): From 1995 to 2002
• Napoli (ITA): From 1991 to 1995

Italy's FIFA World Cup™ winning captain Fabio Cannavaro is a worthy successor to the country's dynasty of great defenders, acquiring hero status in a land where making a perfect tackle is accorded the same importance as a spectacular volley.

Realising that the skills of dribbling and scoring goals were beyond him, Cannavaro honed his defensive attributes in the streets of the working-class Naples suburb of Fuorigrotta, overlooked by the Stadio San Paolo. Those makeshift games, played with dustbin bags for goals, served him well, and over the course of nearly 500 Serie A matches and 100 Liga outings, he has perfected the sliding tackle and the art of anticipation, dominating the penalty box with his sheer physical presence.

A ball boy during Napoli's glory years, Cannavaro was inspired by the exploits of Diego Maradona and his team-mates. His role model, however, was not the Argentinian magician but the dependable stopper Ciro Ferrara, who was seven years his elder but would quickly become a trusted team-mate and mentor.

The youngster took his Serie A bow against Juventus at the imposing Stadio delle Alpi on 7 March 1993. At the age of 22 he moved to Parma, where he formed a formidable rearguard with France's Lilian Thuram and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Having been an integral part of Cesare Maldini's U-21 team, under whom he won the UEFA European U-21 Championship in 1994 and 1996, he stepped up to the full national side in January 1997, appearing in a 2-0 defeat of Northern Ireland in Palermo. Yet his first major finals ended in disappointment when Italy were knocked out by the hosts at France 1998, with the French again thwarting Cannavaro and Co in the final of UEFA EURO 2000.

Another sad exit at Korea/Japan 2002 was followed by his departure to Inter Milan. A broken tibia cut short his season in 2003/04 but before he had made his recovery, the centre-half decided to jump ship to Juventus, where he teamed up once more with Thuram and Buffon. Before long, he had established himself as a leader of the Bianconeri pack.

Cannavaro arrived at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany having taken over the captaincy from Paolo Maldini, who had just retired from the international scene. His calm approach set the tone for the team and his outstanding performances showed that he was a player at the peak of his powers.

Stylish and unflustered throughout, Cannavaro even had the pleasure of celebrating his 100th cap in the Final, an occasion made even sweeter by Italy's shootout win over the French.

In the wake of that triumph Cannavaro signed for Real Madrid. There he pulled on the prestigious No5 jersey, worn before him by a certain Zinedine Zidane. He later returned to Turin and rejoined Juventus, where he was expected to end his playing career.

But in 2010 Cannavaro announced that he would finish his career in the UAE, signing a two-year deal with league champions Al Ahli.

gigi buffon

• Date of Birth: 28 January 1978
• Height: 190 cm
• Shirt number: 1
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Current club: Juventus (ITA)
• International Caps: 101
• International Goals: 0
• First international: Russia - Italy
  (29 October 1997)

Club History

• Parma (ITA): From 1994 to 2001

Gianluigi Buffon is the latest in a long and distinguished line of gifted Italian goalkeepers, continuing the legacy bequeathed by the likes of Giampiero Combi, Aldo Olivieri and Dino Zoff. As the Azzurri know perhaps better than anyone, a great side needs a great keeper and in Buffon they have perhaps the perfect custodian. The outstanding No1 of his generation, he has been named Serie A's goalkeeper of the season seven times and four times world goalkeeper of the year.

With his tall, slender frame, Buffon was destined to be a goalkeeper. Capable of making the most difficult saves look easy, whether from distance or at point-blank range, there is no apparent weakness in his game and few strikers have ever managed to get the better of him on a regular basis. Perhaps one of his main qualities is an ability to put whatever errors he makes to the back of his mind and focus on the match again.

Hailing from a sporting family (his mother Maria Stella Masocco was an Italian discus champion), the young Buffon made his first league appearance for Parma at the age of 17 years and nine months on 19 November 1995, keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw with AC Milan.

He would go to play 168 games in six seasons with I Gialloblu, winning an Italian Cup, Italian Super Cup and the UEFA Cup before moving to Juventus in 2001 as Edwin van der Sar's replacement. He brought his skills to bear in his very first season, making a vital contribution to Juve's title success by conceding only 23 goals in 34 games. He has remained loyal to the Turin giants ever since, becoming a cornerstone of the club.

Buffon's first international appearance came in a match against Russia in October 1997. The following year he travelled to the 1998 FIFA World Cup France™ as Italy's second-choice keeper. Forced to pull out of the squad for UEFA EURO 2000 with injury, he made his mark at Korea/Japan 2002 by saving a penalty in Italy's fateful golden-goal elimination to Korea Republic in the Round of 16. And at EURO 2004 in Portugal his luck was out once again when Italy were eliminated in the group phase.

Those disappointments were all forgotten at Germany 2006, however, when Buffon won his first major international trophy with the national team. The Juventus shotstopper had a vital part to play in Italy's penalty-shootout win in the Final against France, keeping out Zinedine Zidane's extra-time header with a superb leaping save and then winning a bout of spot-kick mind games with his Juve team-mate David Trezeguet, forcing the Frenchman to change his usual penalty-taking technique.

Never less than fully committed, Buffon has also suffered his fair share of injuries, not unlike his idol, the former Cameroon star Thomas N'Kono, after whom the Juventus and Italy legend named his son.

gonzalo higuain

In a similar case to David Trezeguet, who could have opted to represent Argentina instead of France, Gonzalo Higuain may well have been turning out for Les Bleus instead of La Albiceleste at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Born in the French city of Brest, where his father Jorge Nicolas Higuain played professionally, the Real Madrid goal-getter decided to wait for the call from Argentina, despite an invitation from France supremo Raymond Domenech to turn out in a November 2006 friendly.

Indeed, he spent just ten months of his childhood on French soil and did not return until 1998, when he accompanied his father on a scouting job for then Argentina boss Daniel Passarella. In a curious quirk of fate, it was Passarella who eight years later gave Higuain junior regular first-team football and the chance to make his name at River Plate.

Quick, clever and able to finish with either foot, El Pipita was signed by Spanish giants Real Madrid within a year of breaking into Los Millonarios’ first-team squad. And despite having to compete with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooij, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart, Javier Saviola and Karim Benzema since arriving at the Bernabeu, Higuain has made a starting berth his own.

A look at his career stats underlines the coolness in front of goal El Pipita will be hoping to bring to the Argentina cause in South Africa. In his 35 appearances for River he netted 13 times, including a decisive brace in his first superclásico against Boca Juniors in 2006. At Madrid, Higuain has improved his tally year on year, and this season has already surpassed the 22 Liga strikes he fired in 2008/09.

On the international stage he is something of a novice, having failed to appear for either France or Argentina at youth level. Called up to train with the Albiceleste’s U-18 side, he was unable to attend as he did not hold an Argentinian passport. With this document safely obtained in 2007, and after turning down those French overtures, the striker was linked strongly with a place in the Argentina squad for that year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup and Copa America - which overlapped – only to miss out on both campaigns.

Come 2009, after turning out in friendly action for his country’s U-23 team, he was finally called up by Diego Maradona for the senior national squad. And he has not disappointed, hitting a well-taken goal against Peru in a crucial qualifier and the winner against Germany in a high-profile friendly in March this year.

maroune chamakh menyertai arsenal secara percuma

pemain bordeaux,maroune chamakh mengumumkan beliau akan menyertai arsenal secara percuma apabila kontraknya tamat.penyerang maghribi itu menyatakan beliau sangat gembira dapat menyertai arsenal kerana beliau sudah ingin bersama arsenal sejak awal tahun ini.

mampukah arsenal mengekalkan tempat ke 3 EPL

apakah rencana arsene wenger untuk menyekat musuh tradisi tottenham merampas tempat ke 3 musim ini?dengan persembahan tidak konsisten kebelakangan ini ,tidak mustahil spurs mampu merebut kedudukan ke 3 dan layak secara automatik ke CL musim depan.kemenangan menentang fulham adalah diperlukan bagi mengelak daripada dicemuh oleh peminat setia mereka kerana musuh spurs berada di depan mereka kelak.harap arsenal mampu memberikan persembahan terbaik untuk penyokong di stadium mereka sendiri.