THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS

After a gentle-paced start to his career in France, Didier hit full sprint after his move to the big time at Marseille where his stunning form and goalscoring helped his club to the 2004 UEFA Cup Final and himself to the France Footballer of the Year Award. And sprinting plays a big part in the big man's armoury; his pace allied to strength making Didier the type of forward not seen at Stamford Bridge for a long, long time. He also possesses aerial power in front of goal that at times borders on awesome. Signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2004, Didier's transfer fee makes him the second most expensive striker in British football history, only surpassed by the money paid by Man United for Wayne Rooney. The man who has spearhead the Ivory Coast to a first World Cup Finals moved from Africa to live in France as a young child and played his early junior football at right-back. He dabbled with various small clubs and even turned down the chance of a trial at Paris Saint-Germain, pr

Thierry Henry believes Arsenal are paying a heavy price for their mistakes this season. The captain was disconsolate as he spoke after Tuesday’s heartbreaking exit from the Carling Cup at the hands of Wigan. Arsenal were on the cusp of another trip to Cardiff before Jason Roberts profited on hesitancy in the home defence to fire in from close range. “I think that is a reflection of our season right there,” said Henry. “It is difficult to take. I know they had a lot of opportunities to score but we had a lot of opportunities. “On the other side it difficult with the goal we conceded. We conceded the same goal at Everton when maybe we were not playing that great but it looked like we were going to get back to a good position. “It was a long ball not really looking for anyone. It would have been sweeter if they had scored with one of their better chances. “When you play like we did — desire, commitment and creating chances — there is nothing to say about it. I thought we played tremendous

Birthdate: 24 Oct 1985 Birthplace: Croxteth, Liverpool Position: Striker Appearances: 271 Goals: 122 Joined United: 31 Aug 2004 United Debut: 28 Sept 2004 v Fenerbahce (H) International: England Wayne Mark Rooney was born on October 24th, 1985 at Croxteth, Liverpool. He is the first child of parents of Irish descent Thomas Wayne and Jeanette Marie Rooney. Wayne Rooney burst onto the Old Trafford stage in September 2004, netting an unforgettable hat-trick against Fenerbahce on his debut। He'd arrived from Everton, his boyhood club, a few weeks earlier, becoming the world's most expensive teenager in the process. But it wasn't his performances for the Toffees that had sparked United's interest, mind you. Staff at Carrington knew about Wayne from a much, much earlier age. "Our U-9 side played Everton's boys one day and they absolutely hammered us," now-Academy manager Paul McGuinness remembers. "Rooney scored a few [six, actually], but there was one

" I still have a video of my father, which I watch before every game I play for Brazil. It gives me strength, makes me determined ." - Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira -- or Ronaldinho Gaucho to nickname-happy Brazilians -- was born on March 21, 1980 in the southern city of Porto Alegre. Like most Brazilian soccer prodigies, he came from a poor family and was raised in the heart of the dirt road-laced settlements known as favelas. But his family loved the sport and found joy in playing it. Ronaldinho's father, Joao da Silva Moreira, played in an amateur club when he wasn't working as a welder or guarding the Gremio soccer stadium. Even though it was Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto who was a rising star in the Gremio club, Joao saw in young Ronaldinho a true champion. The way the boy dribbled a ball around the furniture at home was unbelievable. Sadly, Joao would never get to see Ronaldinho shine on the world stage. When Ronaldinho was only eight, Joao drowne

Imagine being a full-back confronting Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo in full stride - the ball is at his feet, except you can't keep track of it as he drags his legs and steps over it two, three, four times and all the while you are scrambling backwards, trying to maintain concentration. Ronaldo is most certainly a Player to Watch - but only if you can keep your eyes on him for long enough. If such a hypothetical scenario had been played out in reality, at least you would have been in good company because Ronaldo has been tormenting the world's finest full-backs over the course of the past few years. Manchester United broke the world record transfer fee for a teenager when they paid Sporting Lisbon £12.24m for the youngster in August 2003 - handing the then 18-year-old a five-year deal. United, who had just sold David Beckham to Real Madrid, needed a new star on the right flank to somehow plug the gap left by the England captain. Their attention was fir

In the fast-track world of Wayne Rooney, the Player to Watch tag could be considered a good three years too late. All eyes have been on the young Manchester United and England striker ever since 17 August 2002 when he made his debut for his boyhood club, Everton. Indeed his first senior goal of any description, in an Everton pre-season friendly against Austrian minnows SC Bruck earlier that summer, prompted an excited stadium announcer to declare: "The third Everton goal is scored by Wayne Rooney, who many believe will be England's next Alan Shearer!" But where Shearer was 21 when he made his England debut, Rooney – who today celebrates his 20th birthday – has already become his country's key player. His first goal in the English Premiership, a spectacular last-minute strike that ended then champions Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten run in October 2002, signalled that with Rooney anything is possible. Just as defenders bounce off his stocky boxer's frame, so Rooney