European Super Football

Let's explore a World Cup icon.  Nobby Stiles played for England for five years, winning 28 caps and scoring one goal.  He played every minute of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign.  The last and only time they won a major tournament. Can they repeat the fate in 2022? You certainly won't see any players like Stiles this winter. In the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup against Portugal, he was given the job of marking Eusébio. His incredible performance resulted in Eusébio being nullified for most of game. Stiles then played in the final, which England won 4–2 against West Germany.  His post-match jig and dance at Wembley, holding the famous World Cup trophy in one hand and his false teeth in the other, was widely broadcast. It has also been referenced in a fairly popular song. Stiles spent the majority of his club career for Manchester United , spending 11 years at Old Trafford, where he became renowned for his tough tackling and ball-winning qualities. He was cruc

RIP Ronnie Radford The name Ronnie Radford might not seem familiar to many football fans across Europe but in the UK, he's synonymous with the magic of the FA Cup. Everyone at European Super Football was devastated to hear of his, and we wish to extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends at this very sad time. Radford played for Hereford, Leeds United, Cheltenham Town and Newport County. He will go down in FA Cup folklore for his incredible strike from distance against the Magpies that helped secure a giantkilling as they won 2-1.  Video credit -  Steve Hume - YouTube A statement on Hereford's website says: NEWS | Hereford United Legend Ronnie Radford Passes Away | Hereford FC - The Official website of Hereford FC "Ronnie is not just a part of Hereford United folklore, he is a part of football history and has kept Hereford on the football map since 1972.  "His mild manner, and friendly and modest approach to life epitomised the man he was and he was al

It's time to look at another football icon.  This time it's Nemanja Vidic.   A quick summary of his club career  After establishing himself at Red Star Belgrade during the early 2000s, Vidić moved to Spartak Moscow in the summer of 2004. His form for club and country prompted a £7 million transfer to Manchester United in January 2006.  The video below contains some of his early career moments. Footage from DelijeTube on YouTube Vidić established a prominent defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand the following season, and was eventually selected as the new team captain of Manchester United at the start of the 2010–11 season. His captaincy ran over the course of four seasons, until his departure in July 2014. He played his last home match for Manchester United on 6 May against Hull City, in which he received three standing ovations: one during a pre-match presentation for him by Sir Bobby Charlton, the second when he came on as a substitute for Phil Jones, and the thir

Let's have a look at another football icon. This one's a keeper Edwin van der Sar is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax.  Time at Ajax and Juventus He began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a member of the club's golden generation and was part of the Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995. He left Ajax for Juventus in 1999 He spent two years at Juventus but his time there was mixed. After a series of mistakes, he lost his place in the summer of 2001, after the Bianconeri purchased Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from Parma for approximately £32.6 million, a world-record fee for a goalkeeper. Unwilling to remain as second-choice behind Buffon, Van der Sar made it clear he wished to move on after two years in Serie A Fulham Premier League news (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) On 1 August 2001, Van der Sar opted to play in England and

Edward Paul Sheringham, known by most as Teddy Sheringham, is another football icon.  He played mostly as a second striker in a long and eventful professional career. Early career He began his career at Millwall, where he scored 111 goals between 1983 and 1991. The forward is the club's second all-time leading scorer. He eventually left to join First Division Nottingham Forest. A year later, Sheringham scored Forest's first-ever Premiership goal. Move to Tottenham  Not long after that goal for Forest, he was signed by Tottenham Hotspur.  Sheringham had a great start to his career at the club by being the Premiership's top goalscorer in its inaugural season, scoring 22 goals. His strike partners at White Hart Lane included Gordon Durie, Ronny Rosenthal, Jürgen Klinsmann and finally Chris Armstrong.  In 1993–94, he was the Spurs top scorer with 14 Premiership goals but only played in just 19 games due to injury. In that campaign, they finished 15th.  The following sea

Let's take a closer look at Lionel Messi.  The Argentian player is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. How did his career develop? What were his best moments? Keep reading for the story of a football legend. Quick summary Messi has won seven Ballon d'Or awards and six European Golden Shoes. In 2020, he was named to the Ballon d'Or Dream Team. Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona.  With the Spanish giants,  he won a club-record 35 trophies. This included ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and four Champions Leagues. He is known for being a prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker. Records He holds the records for most goals in La Liga, a La Liga and European league season, most hat-tricks in La Liga and the Champions League, and most assists in La Liga, a La Liga season and the Copa América. He also holds the record for most international goals by a South American. Messi has scored over 7

It's time to have another look at an icon from the history of football. This time it's Michael Ballack. A former German midfielder who played at the highest level of the game.  A summary Ballack is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. During his career, he won the German Footballer of the Year award three times. The midfielder was known for his passing range, powerful shot, physical strength and commanding presence in midfield. The one negative from his career was that he never won the Champions League. He did pick up two runner-up medals in 2002 with Leverkusen and 2008 with Chelsea.  The start of his career Ballack's career started to take off when he was transferred to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga in his first season at the club, his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for the German national side. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen for €4

Let's take a look at another football icon. This time it's Wayne Rooney. Early career Rooney joined the Everton youth team at the age of nine and made his professional debut for the club in 2002 at the age of 16. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United. Move to Manchester United He cost the Old Trafford club£25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. He would have a fantastic career at Manchester United. He won 16 trophies and became the only English player, alongside teammate Michael Carrick, to win the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and FIFA Club World Cup. Rooney scored 253 goals for United in all competitions to make him their top goalscorer of all time, with 183 Premier League goals being the second-most scored by a player for any single club, behind Sergio Agüero Rooney's 208 Premier League goals make him the Premier League's second-top scorer of all time. He also has

Zlatan Ibrahimović is a former professional footballer who recently played as a striker for Serie A club AC Milan and the Sweden national team.  He is widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time. Ibrahimović is one of the most decorated active footballers in the world, having won 31 trophies in his career.  He has scored over 570 career goals, including more than 500 club goals, and has scored in each of the last four decades. Let's take a look at his career. The start of a decorated career Ibrahimović began his career at Malmö FF in 1999, and signed for Ajax two years later. At Ajax, he gained a reputation as one of the most promising forwards in Europe, and departed two years later to sign for Juventus.  Shining in Italy He excelled in Serie A in a strike partnership with David Trezeguet, before joining domestic rivals Inter Milan in 2006, where he won was Serie A top scorer in 2008–09 and won three consecutive Serie A titles.  An interesting season at Barcelo

The Dutch striker scored 150 times for Manchester United and is often considered one of the best of his generation. Let's take a look at his career. This is based on article originally posted by Greater Manchester Football. They asked the question, how good was Ruud van Nistelrooy? Goals at PSV catch the eye He scored 77 goals in 90 matches for PSV. This earned him a move to Manchester United.  In the Spring of 2000, he looked set to complete a then club-record £18.5 million transfer to Manchester United. He was to be unveiled at a press conference four days later, but it was instead announced that the transfer had been postponed over concerns about his fitness. Not long after, he suffered a rupture to his anterior cruciate knee ligaments during a training session, leaving him injured for a year. Eventual move and success at Manchester United In his first season at Old Trafford, he scored 36 goals in 49 appearances. One of his best performances came in a 3-2 FA Cup win over Ast

Gianfranco Zola is another football icon that a wonderful career He is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. Quick summary of his career He spent the first decade of his playing career playing in Italy, most notably with Napoli, alongside Diego Maradona and Careca, where he was able to win the Serie A title, and at Parma, where he won the Italian Super Cup and the UEFA Cup.  He later moved to Chelsea, where he was voted the Football Writers' Player of the Year in the 1996–97 season. During his time at the club, he won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, two FA Cups, the League Cup, and the Community Shield.  Who remembers this wonderful goal against Manchester United? In 2003, he was voted Chelsea's greatest player ever. You could even argue that he played a crucial part of Chelsea's rise to become a force across England and then the continent. With

Franz Beckenbauer is a German former professional footballer and manager.  Quick summary of his career During an illustrious career, he was nicknamed "The Emperor" because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the field, The first name "Franz" is reminiscent of the Austrian emperors. He is widely regarded to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He was a versatile player who started as a midfielder, Beckenbauer made his name as a central defender. He is often credited with having invented the role of the modern sweeper. Very few players have had that level of impact on the sport.  Club career At club level with Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976. The latter feat made him the first player to win three European Cups as captain of his club. He became team manager and later president of Bayern Munich. After two spells with the New York Cosmos, he

Another day and another look at a football icon.  This time it's Edgar Davids. The Dutch midfielder won several trophies throughout an eventful career. Summary of his career After beginning his career with Ajax, winning several domestic and international titles, he subsequently played in Italy for Milan, and later enjoyed a successful spell with Juventus, before being loaned out to Barcelona in 2004. He went on to play for Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur before returning to Ajax. Having struggled with injuries for two years, Davids returned to competitive football during a brief spell with Crystal Palace before retiring at the age of 37. In 2012, he was appointed player-manager at the English League Two club Barnet. He resigned by mutual agreement as a manager in January 2014.  He was capped 74 times by the Netherlands. He also scored six goals for his country represented his country at major tournaments.  Davids is regarded as one of the greatest and most recognisable player

Raúl González Blanco, known to most within football as Raúl, is considered one of the most important players in the history of Real Madrid. He is regarded as one of the greatest Spanish players of all time and also one of the best forwards ever. Key events in his career He started his career in the academy of the Atlético Madrid before later moving to Real Madrid's youth academy and played at its various levels. He signed professional terms in 1994. He spent 16 years of his career playing for Real Madrid and is the club's second all-time top goalscorer with 323 goals and has the most appearances in the history of the club, with 741. With Los Blancos, Raúl won six La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, scoring in two finals, four Supercopa de España titles, one UEFA Super Cup and two Intercontinental Cups.  Throughout his time in Madrid, he would have played with some of their greatest ever players. This includes the likes of Zidane, Roberto Carlos, David Beck

Let's take a look at another football icon. This time it's Walter Smith He achieved legendary status as manager of Rangers. He won 21 trophies in two spells making him the second most successful Rangers boss ever. Walter Smith as a player Smith was a defender that played more than 200 games for Dundee United. He quickly began his coaching career under Jim McLean when a pelvic injury forced him to retire early. Throughout his career, he also played for Dumbarton and had a loan spell at Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League. He was destined for a career in coaching and management. Becoming a legend at Ibrox When Souness left for Liverpool in April 1991, Smith was appointed interim manager.This was made permanent in May 1991, after the club clinched another league title. Six more league titles in succession followed under Smith's tenure, including a domestic treble in 1992–93. He also won the Scottish Cup and the League Cup three times each. Smith took Rangers

It's time to have a look at another football icon.  This is a slightly altered version of an article first published here on Greater Manchester Football. (Gullit played for Sampdoria between 1993 and 1995) Ruud Gullit is a Dutch legend who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. Early career In 1978, Gullit signed professionally for HFC Haarlem. He made 91 league appearances for Haarlem and scored 32 goals. He made his debut for the club at just 16 years old, becoming at the time the youngest player in the history of the Eredivisie. In his first season at the club, they finished bottom of the Eredivisie, but bounced back the following season winning the Eerste Divisie. Gullit was named as the best player in the Eerste Divisie that season. Click here to read about more football icons In the 1981–82 season, Gullit was in fine form as Haarlem finished fourth and qualified for Europe for the only time in their history.  First two transfers The young Gullit was considered as a

Everyone at European Super Football was saddened by the death of Jimmy Greaves Greaves is often regarded as one England’s greatest strikers and a member of the squad that won the 1966 World Cup During his career, Greaves scored 132 goals for Chelsea in 169 matches between 1957 and 1961. He then moved to Tottenham and becoming their all-time top scorer with 266 goals in 379 appearances. He also scored 44 England goals in 57 appearances – including six hat-tricks. A statement on the Tottenham website read : “We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of the great Jimmy Greaves, not just Tottenham Hotspur’s record goalscorer but the finest marksman this country has ever seen.” It goes onto say: "there’s no question that Jimmy’s arrival in N17 made us an even better team. He was a natural goalscorer, always in the right place at the right time to add the finishing touch to another well-worked move, while he could also create his own goals, as he did on numerous occasions by g

We now take a look at one of Manchester United's greatest ever players This article was originally posted on Greater Manchester Football. The news of Eric Cantona's impending transfer from Leeds to fierce rivals Manchester United was met with hostility from Leeds fans.  However, the transfer was seen as a good piece of business by most football experts. The Yorkshire club had removed a troubled player from their side and got decent money for him even though he played a part in them winning the league during the previous season.  Watch: Eric Cantona's 14 goals for Leeds United Eric The King Cantona made his first appearance for the club on 1 December 1992 in a friendly match against Benfica in Lisbon to mark Eusébio's 50th birthday, wearing the number 10 shirt.  Eric made his competitive debut as a second-half substitute against Manchester City at Old Trafford on 6 December. United only lost on two occasions in the 92/93 season after his arrival. They finished the se

This was an article first published in Greater Manchester Football's European Legends series Zinedine Zidane is a legend that played for Juventus and Real Madrid (Zidane celebrates winning the World Cup in 1998) Early life One of Zidane's earliest memories involving football came when he was watching the 1986 World Cup. The performance in that tournament of Diego Maradona had a huge impact on him. He said "Maradona was another level." Move to Juventus After playing professionally in France for Cannes and Bordeaux, Zidane moved to Juventus in 1996. The Italian giants had just won the European Cup so they had signed him from a position of strength.  Zinédine Zidane stats for Juventus (All tournaments) 🏃 212 Appearances; ⚽ 31 Goals; 🅰 38 Assists. #ZinedineZidane #Juventus #SerieA #France pic.twitter.com/E9ZnzCOfWt — Buaksib (@buaksib) April 21, 2021 In his first season, Juventus won the 1996–97 Serie A title and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup. They won the Seri