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LuÃs Figo
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Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, (born 4 November 1972 in Almada, Portugal) is a professional Portuguese footballer. He plays as a midfielder and winger, currently for Internazionale.
Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100. Figo is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.
started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991.
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Encyclopedia
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, (born 4 November 1972 in Almada, Portugal) is a professional Portuguese footballer. He plays as a midfielder and winger, currently for Internazionale.
Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100. Figo is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Club career
Sporting CP
Figo started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-20 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside Rui Costa, João Vieira Pinto and he was also a significant part of Portugal's 'Golden Generation'.
Barcelona
In 1995, Figo looked poised to join one of the big clubs of Europe, but a dispute between Italian clubs Juventus and Parma, with Figo having signed contracts with both clubs, resulted in an Italian 2-year transfer ban on Figo, effectively stopping any moves to Italy. However, the situation was eventually resolved for Figo, with a move to Spanish club Barcelona, under coach Johan Cruijff.
It was with Barcelona from 1995 that his career really took off: Figo won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996–97, successive Primera División titles and went on to appear 172 times for the Blaugrana, scoring 30 goals.
Real Madrid
In 2000 came his controversial, world-record transfer to rivals Real Madrid, which only intensified the great animosity between the two clubs. The move caused outrage among Barcelona fans and many others baulked at the €65M or £38m fee. Yet Figo justified the investment by helping Madrid to the Primera División title and UEFA Champions League semi-finals as well as winning the FIFA World Footballer of the Year award. In 2001–02, he went one better, playing through injury against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final as Madrid prevailed 2-1. Figo also occupied a major role as Madrid won the 2003 Spanish title, scoring ten times. The success made up for the disappointment of a Champions League semi-final loss to Juventus, but the next season, despite Figo's nine league goals, Madrid finished fourth and lost in the Champions League last eight and Copa del Rey final. He went from being one of the most cherished players in Catalonia to being the most hated. There was a short-lived website, AntiFigo.com, devoted to insulting "Judas Figo".
On 21 October 2000 he returned to Camp Nou for the first time in a Real Madrid shirt. In his second season with the merengues, he missed his team's visit to Camp Nou due to injury; but in 2002, Barcelona's ground was almost closed after objects (including a pig's head, whiskey bottles, etc.) were thrown at Figo, while chants calling him Pesetero (which can be roughly translated to money whore) echoed around the stadium; and finally, during the final match of Euro 2004 between Greece and Portugal, a Barça fan known as Jimmy Jump ran across the field and threw a Barcelona flag at Figo in an apparent act of defiance.
He struck four goals in the Champions League group stage in 2004-05 but it was another mixed campaign for Madrid, coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo had a fall-out with Figo after he relegated the Portugal International to the bench for the second half of the 2004-05 Primera Liga season and David Beckham was moved to the right. During the off-season, he was linked with a move to the English Premiership with Liverpool or to Serie A's Internazionale. Given permission to leave by Madrid, on 5 August 2005, Figo moved to Inter on a free transfer and a two-year deal worth £6 million.
Internazionale
In his first season at Inter, Figo notched up 34 appearances as the club finished third in the league. However, Inter were later awarded the league title (scudetto) in the controversial match-fixing scandal (popularly known as 'Calciopoli') that saw Juventus stripped of the league title and relegated to the second division, while second-placed Milan were docked 30 points from the final standings. In the 2006-07 season Figo appeared 32 times and scored two goals as Inter won the Serie A title by a huge margin, because many clubs started off with point deductions or were playing in Serie B such as Juventus. Inter achieved a European record of 17 consecutive match wins in a row.
In December 2006, Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad reported Figo would transfer to the club in January 2007. Figo traveled to Saudi Arabia to sign a contract, but after talks with Inter owner and President Massimo Moratti, Figo decided to remain at Inter and renewed his contract until the end of the 2007–08 season. Thus, a statement was made on 3 January 2007 on the official Inter website declaring: "There are no negotiations for the transfer of Luís Figo to another club. The recent news of a possible transfer of the Portuguese midfielder is, therefore, completely groundless." (Inter.it) Despite this statement, it was announced on 5 January 2007 on the website of La Gazzetta dello Sport that Figo had signed a contract in Saudi Arabia, starting on 1 July 2007.
On 29 May 2007, Figo broke off his deal with the Al-Ittihad club, saying that they hadn't fulfilled their obligations. Two weeks later Figo renewed his contract with Inter until 30 June 2008 and looked towards taking a directorial role at the club once the contract expired. It has been reported that Figo could migrate to North America and play in the MLS in 2008. However, in recent statements made to the media, Figo expressed that his will is to remain with Internazionale.
International career
The leader of Portugal's 'Golden Generation', Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his senior debut against Luxembourg, at 16 October 1991, in a friendly match, that ended 1-1, when he was only 18 years old. He has performed at the highest level ever since, making appearances at Euro 96, Euro 2000, and the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup. He announced his retirement from international football following the UEFA Euro 2004 final defeat by Greece, having won 117 caps and scored 31 goals. However, in June 2005 he reversed his decision and returned for 2006 World Cup qualifying wins against Slovakia and Estonia.
Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by France. This was the furthest Portugal had reached in the tournament since 1966. A penalty, scored by French captain Zinédine Zidane stood as the winning goal. The third place playoff caused some controversy as Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However, Portugal fell behind 0-2 to hosts Germany and Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, regaining his captaincy during the substitution. Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo's entrance, he ended his final cap for his country on a high note as he set up Nuno Gomes's goal in the 88th minute to help Portugal claw back a marker. Despite having no trophies to show for the "Golden Generation" Figo managed to bring the team to their first World Cup semifinal since the Eusébio era in 1966.
Personal life
Figo is married to Swedish model Helen Svedin. They met at a flamenco show and are now married with three daughters - Daniela (born in March 1999), Martina (born in April 2002), and Stella (born 9 December 2004). They are currently expecting their fourth child.
Along with his countryman, now Portugal national team manager and former youth team coach Carlos Queiroz, Figo was briefly joint seat holder for A1 Team Portugal, in A1 Grand Prix, during the 2005-06 season.
Career statistics
Honours
Sporting CP
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Internazionale
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Portugal
Individual honours
External links
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- Your source for Portuguese football in English.
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