This is Figo. He is the retired Portuguese star of international and European soccer. He is arguably the biggest star to come out of Portugal (Rolando might argue that..Ana, what say you?). He is was favorite player and the reason I followed World Cup so closely back when he was active. I have a Portugal/Figo shirt and I love it when someone recognizes the meaning and strikes up a conversation.
He also played for both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona which is like playing for the Yanks and Red Sox multiplied by 1000. Those two clubs were on a collision course in the Champions League but both suffered one-sided losses to the strong German sides and now it appears unlikely that Portugal will have to deal with an title game, fueled by a deep rivalry, that would be..well... interesting. We will know after the semis on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Here is the pertinent data from Figo's Wikipedia page:
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, (born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale. He retired from football on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portuguese national football team, making him the most capped Portuguese player in history. Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst (sic) the FIFA 100.
Here is my favorite line from that page:
When he was born he was a baby and the only son of parents Antonio Caeiro Figo and Maria Joana,
Wikipedia can be a wacky place when you start crossing language barriers.
But as much as I followed Figo and am glad to own a couple of his cards, the real reason to make this entry was to have an excuse to post this picture of Figo's wife, Swedish model Helen Svedin.
You're welcome.
i do love futbol posts.
ReplyDelete:::cough:::
DeleteI know. LOL
Eheh I knew you had to post about Figo's wife =P
ReplyDeleteWe had Eusébio in the old days and then we had Figo. Since I like Barcelona I really didn't like when he went to Real Madrid. But I kept repescting him. He was a true player and played well until an old age for a football player (I cannot say soccer sorry).
He had the oportunity to win two Euro Cups (semi-final in 2000), speciayl when Portugal reached the final in 2004. And that's what is missing from Figo's great career.
Nice cards. I think I have some stickers of him from when he played in Portugal in Sporting.
And he was the true number 7 in the Portugal team. I know Cristiano Ronaldo has quite the hype around him but he's not so complete as Figo was.
Keep writing football (futebol in Portuguese) posts ;)
Ana, thanks as always for adding your perspective on my posts. I appreciate your readership and insights.
DeleteOh, and how could I pass up a pic of Mrs. Figo?!?!
;-)