Luís Figo

Luís Figo
Personal information
Full name	Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo[1]
Date of birth	4 November 1972 (1972-11-04) (age 36)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position	Right Winger
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Number	7
Youth clubs
	União Futebol Clube "Os Pastilhas" Sporting CP
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989–1995 1995–2000 2000–2005 2005–	Sporting CP Barcelona Real Madrid Internazionale	137 (16) 172 (30) 165 (36) 085 0(8)
National team
1991–2006	Portugal	127 (32)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 September (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, (born 4 November 1972 in Almada, Portugal) is a professional Portuguese footballer. In his homeland Figo is considered second only to Eusébio as Portugal’s greatest player ever. 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. Known for his exceptional trickery and dribbling skills on either wing (though he predominantly plays on the right), Figo is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Club career

Sporting CP

Figo started his career at Sporting Clube de Portugal. 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 a significant part of his nation's so-called 'Golden Generation'.

FC Barcelona

In 1995, Figo looked poised to join one of the big clubs of Europe, but a dispute between Italian clubs Juventus F.C. 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 FC Barcelona, under coach Johan Cruijff, and within four years he became a fan-favourite, captain and symbol of the Spanish side.

It was with FC 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. Figo was able to garner many plaudits while at the Nou Camp, such as Sir Alex Ferguson, who it has been later claimed almost brought him to Manchester United before Euro 2000 in a swap deal with David Beckham.

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. The decibels of the crowd's whistles against him surpassed those of an airplane taking off according to a study made by Televisió de Catalunya. 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 an FC Barcelona flag at Figo in an apparent act of defiance.

Luís Figo: Portugal captain.

Despite the detractors and some critics' claims that he was a vastly 'overrated' player, Figo played out some of the best attacking football ever seen in both an individual and in his Real Madrid team. It was not hard to see why though, given that Figo was one of the linchpins at the heart of an ever increasing star studded squad that included Zinedine Zidane, Fernando Hierro, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, David Beckham, and Raúl González, and dubbed the 'Greatest Club in the World' first, and then, officially crowned as the 'Club of the Century' by FIFA in the year he joined. Alongside his equally illustrious team mates, Real Madrid with Figo at the core swept the titles for the next three years under coach Vicente Del Bosque.

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. On 01/16/2005, he injured Zaragoza's César Jiménez in a horrific tackle. Jimenez retired after two years of unsuccessful treatment for the terrible injury on his left knee caused by Luis Figo. It was widely believed that Figo would leave Los Merengues for first-team football elsewhere. During the off-season, he was linked with a move to the English Premiership with Liverpool or to Serie A's Inter Milan. 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 A.C. 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, achieving 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^[3]. Figo traveled to Saudi Arabia to sign a contract, but after talks with Inter Milan owner and President Massimo Moratti, Figo decided to remain at Inter and renewed his contract until the end of the 2007–08 season.^[4] 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.^[5]

On 29 May 2007, Figo broke off his deal with the Al-Ittihad club, saying that they hadn't fulfilled their obligations.^[6] 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.^[7] 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 Inter Milan.^[8]

International career

Figo playing for Portugal

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 Zinedine Zidane stood as the winning goal. At the end of the match, Zidane and Figo, formerly teammates on Real Madrid during the club's glory years, swapped shirts and embraced. 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 Eusebio 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 C.P.

• Cup of Portugal: 1995

FC Barcelona

• La Liga: 1997-98, 1998-99
• Copa del Rey: 1997, 1998
• Supercopa de España: 1996
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1997
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997

Real Madrid CF

• La Liga: 2000-01, 2002-03
• Supercopa de España: 2001, 2003
• UEFA Champions League: 2002
• UEFA Super Cup: 2002
• Intercontinental Cup: 2002

Inter Milan

• Serie A: 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08
• Coppa Italia: 2006
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2005, 2006, 2008

Portugal

• FIFA World Cup: (4th Place) 2006
• European Football Championship: (runner-up) 2004
• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1989, 1991

Individual honours

• Ballon d'Or: 2000
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2001
• FIFA World Player of the Year: (runner-up): 2000
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2006
• FIFA 100
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2003
• Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
• Portuguese Golden Ball: 1994

Notes and references

External links

• FootballDatabase provides Luís Figo's profile and stats
• Luís Figo's photo profile
• Portuguesefutebol.com Your source for Portuguese football in English.
• [http://web.archive.org/web/20001217065100/

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Baía • 2 Secretário • 3 Paulinho Santos • 4 Oceano • 5 Couto • 6 Tavares • 7 Paneira • 8 Pinto • 9 Sá Pinto • 10 Costa • 11 Cadete • 12 Alfredo • 13 Dimas • 14 Barbosa • 15 Domingos • 16 Hélder • 17 Porfírio • 18 Folha • 19 Sousa • 20 Figo • 21 Madeira • 22 Correia • Coach: Oliveira

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2000 semi-finalists 1 Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Vidigal • 5 Couto • 6 Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 Pinto • 9 Sá Pinto • 10 R. Costa • 11 Conceição • 12 Espinha • 13 Dimas • 14 Xavier • 15 Costinha • 16 Beto • 17 Bento • 18 Pauleta • 19 Capucho • 20 Secretário • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Quim • Coach: Coelho

Portugal squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Xavier • 4 Caneira • 5 Couto • 6 Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 Pinto • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Conceição • 12 Viana • 13 Andrade • 14 Barbosa • 15 Nélson • 16 Ricardo • 17 Bento • 18 Frechaut • 19 Capucho • 20 Petit • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Beto • 23 Rui Jorge • Coach: Oliveira

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Andrade • 5 Couto • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 R. Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 Valente • 15 Beto • 16 Carvalho • 17 Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari

Portugal squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Caneira • 4 Costa • 5 Meira • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 Viana • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 Valente • 15 Boa Morte • 16 Carvalho • 17 Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Santos • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari