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Uchenna Kizito Okafor, often shortened to Uche Okafor (8 August 1967 – 6 January 2011) was a football defender who played 34 international matches for Nigeria.

Okafor’s club career took him to many countries before he settled in the USA. Okafor was drafted to Kansas City Wizards in the 9th round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft, and played there for five seasons before retiring after the 2000 season.

Okafor played every match when Nigeria won the 1994 Arican Cup of Nations, but sustained an ankle injury shortly thereafter. He was part of the squad to the 1994 World Cup but did not get any playing time. He played 1 out of their 4 games in the 1998 World Cup, though, as well as at the 1988 Olympics.

Okafor coached for the Associated Soccer Group, a member of the North Texas Soccer Association. He was head coach for the 91 Gold Central boys team and the 93 HP Central boys team who play in the Plano Premier Select Soccer league.

Other notable professional footballers who coach for ASG are Dave Dir, Zequinha, Oscar Pareja, and Bobby Rhine.

Death: Okafor’s body was discovered by his wife shortly after he returned home from dropping off his daughter in school. It was ruled a suicide. Okafor’s body was discovered Thursday afternoon by his wife in their house in Little Elm, a town about 30 miles northwest of Dallas. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday that he hanged himself in an upstairs hallway…

Uche Okafor Death News:

Uche Okafor Dies: Ex-Nigerian Soccer Player Found Dead In Texas

Uche Okafor, a defender on two Nigerian World Cup teams and a stalwart player for the Kansas City Wizards in the U.S., committed suicide this week at his Dallas-area home, authorities said Friday. He was 43.

Okafor’s body was discovered Thursday afternoon by his wife in their house in Little Elm, a town about 30 miles northwest of Dallas, Detective Oscar Hinojosa said. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday that he hanged himself in an upstairs hallway.

A friend who could not reach Okafor called Ifeyinwa Okafor, the former star’s wife, police said.

“She was at work and she came home and found him,” Hinojosa said.

Okafor played on the 1994 Super Eagles team that won the African Cup of Nations.

Nigeria reached the second round of the World Cup that year and again in 1998, with Okafor on the team both times. He didn’t play in 1994 and played in one match in the first round in 1998, a 3-1 loss to Paraguay after they had beaten Spain and Bulgaria. He didn’t play in the second-round loss to Denmark

“We are totally shocked by the news. Uche Okafor was a great player who represented his country at the highest level,” said Musa Amadu, acting secretary general of the Nigerian Football Federation.

Okafor was with the Wizards from 1996 to 2000, playing in 119 regular-season games and seven Major League Soccer playoff games. His professional finale came on Oct. 15, 2000, when Kansas City beat the Chicago Fire for its only MLS Cup championship.

When Okafor retired before the 2001 season, he was one of only three Kansas City players to have competed every season since the Wizards’ inception in 1996, the team said.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká, is a Brazilian football midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team.

He also holds an Italian passport, which enables him to play as an EU player. He started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club. At the time, he also played tennis, and it was not until he moved on to São Paulo FC and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of fifteen that he chose to focus on football.

In 2003 he joined A.C. Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a world record fee of $89 million, smashing the previous record of Zidane, $75 million. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

- Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite was born in Brasília to Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite (a civil engineer) and Simone dos Santos (an elementary school teacher). He had a financially secure upbringing that allowed him to focus on both school and football at the same time. His younger brother Rodrigo (best known as Digão) and cousin Eduardo Delani are also professional footballers.

When he was seven, his family moved to São Paulo. His school had arranged him in a local youth club called “Alphaville,” who qualified to the final in a local tournament. There he was discovered by hometown club São Paulo FC, who offered an assignment.

At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.

São Paulo: Kaká began his career with São Paulo at the age of eight. He signed a contract at fifteen and led the São Paulo youth squad to Copa de Juvenil glory. He made his senior side debut in January 2001 and scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, in addition to leading São Paulo to its first and only Torneio Rio-São Paulo championship, in which he scored two goals in two minutes as a substitute against Botafogo in the final, which São Paulo won 2–1.

He scored 10 goals in 22 matches the following season, and by this time his performance was soon attracting attention from European clubs. Kaká made a total of 58 appearances for São Paulo, scoring 23 times.

AC Milan: The steady European interest in Kaká culminated in his signing with Italian club AC Milan in 2003 for a fee of €8.5 million, described in retrospect as “peanuts” by club owner Silvio Berlusconi. Within a month, he cracked the starting lineup, and his Serie A debut was in a 2–0 win over Ancona. He scored 10 goals in 30 appearances that season, as Milan won the Scudetto and the UEFA Super Cup.

Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004–05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored seven goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up in the Scudetto race. Despite Milan losing the 2004–05 Champions League final to Liverpool on penalties, he was nonetheless was voted the best midfielder of the tournament.

2005–06 saw Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic competition. On 9 April 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo; all three goals were scored in the second half. The following season, he scored his first Champions League hat-trick in a 4–1 group stage win over the Belgian side Anderlecht.

Andriy Shevchenko’s departure to Chelsea for the 2006–07 season allowed Kaká to become the focal point of Milan’s offense as he alternated between the midfield and striker positions. He finished as the top scorer in the 2006–07 Champions League campaign with ten goals. One of them helped the Rossoneri eliminate Celtic in the quarter-finals on a 1–0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals, despite Milan losing the first leg.

Kaká added the Champions League title to his trophy case for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool on 23 May 2007. Though he went scoreless, he won a free kick that led to the first of Filippo Inzaghi’s two goals, and provided the assist for the second. For his stellar play throughout the competition, he was voted the Vodafone Fans’ Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. On 30 August, Kaká was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006–07 Champions League season and UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.

He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1–1 home draw with Catania on 30 September, and on 5 October, he was named the 2006–07 FIFPro World Player of the Year. On 2 December 2007, Kaká became the eighth Milan player to win the Ballon d’Or, as he finished with a decisive 444 votes, long ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo. He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008.

Due to his contributions on and off the pitch, Time magazine named Kaká in the Time 100, a list of the world’s 100 most influential people, on 2 May. On 14 October, he cast his footprints into the Estádio do Maracanã’s sidewalk of fame, in a section dedicated to the memory of the country’s top players. He won the honor again in 2009.

BBC reported on 13 January 2009 that Manchester City made a bid for Kaká for over £100 million. Milan director Umberto Gandini replied that Milan would only discuss the matter if Kaká and Manchester City agreed to personal terms. Kaká initially responded by telling reporters he wanted to “grow old” at Milan and dreamed of captaining the club one day, but later said, “If Milan want to sell me, I’ll sit down and talk. I can say that as long as the club don’t want to sell me, I’ll definitely stay.” On 19 January, Silvio Berlusconi announced that Manchester City had officially ended their bid after a discussion between the clubs, and that Kaká would remain with Milan. Milan supporters had protested outside the club headquarters earlier that evening, and later chanted outside Kaká’s home, where he saluted them by flashing his jersey outside a window.

Real Madrid: On 3 June 2009, Football Italia reported that newly-elected Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez had offered Milan a €68.5 million deal for Kaká, two days after the player had left for international duty with Brazil. Milan vice president Adriano Galliani did not deny the reports, and confirmed that he and Kaká’s father, Bosco Leite, had traveled to Mexico to meet with La Volpe. “We had lunch and spoke about Kaká. I don’t deny it.

Negotiations exist, but a deal has yet to be done.” On 4 June, Galliani told Gazzetta dello Sport that financial reasons were his motive for the talks with La Volpe. “We cannot allow -Milan- to lose €70 million The reasons behind Kaká’s departure would be economic.” On 8 June, Milan and Real Madrid confirmed Kaká has moved to the Bernabéu on a six-year deal.

Kaká made his unofficial debut in a friendly against Toronto FC, and scored his first goal for Madrid during a preseason match against Borussia Dortmund, which Madrid won 5-0. He scored his first official goal for Real Madrid on week 5 against Villareal from a penalty kick. On 5 August 2010, Real Madrid announced that Kaká had undergone successful surgery on a long-standing left knee injury and will face up to four months on the sidelines.

Jared Francisco Borgetti Echeverría (born 14 August 1973) is a retired Mexican footballer.

Borgetti is the all-time leading goal scorer for the Mexican national team, with 46 goals. A prolific goal scorer at club level, Borgetti is renowned for his heading ability.

He is popularly known by his nickname of El Zorro del Desierto meaning “The Desert Fox” due to his first professional team and his birthplace.

Full name: Jared Francisco Borgetti Echeverría
Date of birth: August 14, 1973
Place of birth: Culiacancito, Sinaloa, Mexico
Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position: Striker

Borgetti began his young career with Atlas in the Primera División de México on 6 March 1994 debuting in a 3–1 loss over Club América.

After two successful seasons, he signed with Santos Laguna, where he claimed three golden boot titles for most goals in the season in his seven year participation with club.

With Santos, he won two league championships.

Borgetti later signed a one-year contract with promoted team Dorados de Sinaloa, where he stated he wanted to play in his home team, before joining Pachuca, where he had little activity due to the qualifying games for the World Cup.

León F.C.: After his departure from Morelia, Borgetti was considering retirement, but after getting an agreement with Club León, he played for the team in Mexico’s Liga de Ascenso in the fall of 2010.

After failing to make it to the play-offs he was released from his contract.

On December 5, 2010, he announced his retirement from professional football.

Ibrahim Afellay (born 2 April 1986 in Utrecht) is a Dutch footballer of Moroccan descent (Rif region) playing for PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie. He has played for the Dutch national youth team and is now part of the senior Dutch national team, who he represented at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He usually plays as the centre attacking midfielder for PSV Eindhoven but can also play at either Wings due to his pace and creative qualities.

In 2007, Afellay was awarded the Johan Cruijff Award for “Young Player of the Year” in the Netherlands.

Barcelona: On 16 November 2010, Barcelona and PSV have confirmed Affellay will join Barcelona in January 2011.

International career: After both the Moroccan and the Dutch national teams managers selected him for their squads, he was caught in the dilemma to either play for the Moroccan national team, because of his Moroccan descent, or to play for the Dutch team, the Netherlands being his place of resident. He has finally decided to play for the Dutch national team despite the heavy competition for places in midfield. He made his international debut in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovenia on 28 March 2007. On October 12th, 2010 Ibrahim Afellay scored his first international goals in a EURO 2012 Qualifier against Sweden.

Euro 2008: Afellay was included in Marco van Basten’s squad for Euro 2008 and was mostly used as a substitute. Just seconds after replacing Dirk Kuyt in the group match against Italy he nearly scored a goal but his volley went off the crossbar. In their last match against Romania, he was given a place in the starting 11 alongside Robben and van Persie in midfield.

2010 World Cup: Afellay was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup managed by Bert van Marwijk. The player came on as a substitute for their first and second matches in the competition, a 2-0 victory over Denmark and 1-0 victory over Japan respectively, as well as the round of 16 match against Slovakia.

Ibrahim Afellay Biography and Video

Mesut Özil (born 15 October 1988) is a German footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and for the German national team.

Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, when he debuted for first professional league season and a member of the German national team since 2009.

He gained international attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was nominated for the Golden Ball Award which is awarded to the tournament’s best player. Following his breakout performance at the World Cup, he was transferred to Real Madrid in August 2010.

His nicknames include “der neue Diego” – the new Diego – in reference to the Brazilian playmaker whose role he inherited at Werder Bremen and “German Messi” for his remarkable playmaking and ball control resembling Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi’s. Özil is a third-generation Turkish-German, who, in reference to his game, concludes, “My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game. The discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.”

Mesut Ozil Freekick 2-0 – Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 2-0 – Goals & Highlights – 07/11/2010 Video

Real Madrid: Due to his performances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he ensured his place among Europe’s top young talents, with Real Madrid wasting little time in signing him ahead of the 2010-11 season. On 17 August 2010 Werder Bremen announced that they had reached an agreement with Real Madrid. The transfer fee is believed to be in the region of €15m. He made his debut on 22 August in a friendly match against Hércules, which Real Madrid won 3-1.

He then made his La Liga debut for Real Madrid as a substitute for Ángel di María in the 62nd minute against Mallorca, which Real Madrid drew 0–0. Özil made his season debut in Champions League on 15 September. He got his first assist with Real Madrid in the 74th minute against Ajax after he crossed in the ball, resulting in a Higuaín goal. Özil’s performances for Real Madrid have been praised by media, fans and players.

He walked off the pitch as a second half substitute to standing ovations in his first two games as a starter at the Santiago Bernabéu. His first goal came in a league match against Deportivo La Coruña on 3 October 2010, in a 6–1 victory. Özil’s first Champions League goal with Real came in the 14th minute against Milan on 19 October 2010. He scored two other goals in the league matches, one against Racing de Santander, and another from a wonderfully struck free kick which the Atlético Madrid keeper could do nothing about.

International career: In September 2006, Özil was called up for the Germany U-17 team. Özil has been a member of the German U-21 team since 2007. On 29 June 2009, Özil was the catalyst in a 4–0 win over England during the U-21 European Championship final.

He made his debut for the Germany national football team during a friendly match against Norway on 11 February 2009. He scored his first goal for the senior team in his third appearance, another friendly, against South Africa on 5 September in Leverkusen.

2010 World Cup: He was selected for the Germany national squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, starting in the team’s first four games. He scored a left-footed half-volley from the edge of the 18 yard box against Ghana in the final group game, ensuring Germany progressed to the second round as group winners. On 27 June 2010, he played in Germany’s win over England in the last 16 match, setting up the fourth goal with a cross to Thomas Müller as Germany triumphed 4–1. During the quarter-final match against Argentina he assisted the second goal for Miroslav Klose with a low cross to make it 4-0 to the Germans. Germany went on to win the match 4–0. FIFA announced him as one of the ten nominations for the Golden Ball.

Heather Blaine Mitts Feeley (born June 9, 1978) is an American professional soccer player who is a defender in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league. Mitts played college soccer for the University of Florida, and thereafter, she has played professionally for the Philadelphia Charge, Boston Breakers and Philadelphia Independence of WPS. She is also a member of the United States women’s national soccer team, and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Personal: Mitts is known for her her athletic ability and her looks, and as a result, has delved into the world of modeling. In 2001, Mitts was voted as the sexiest player in the WUSA on Playboy Online. In addition, she appeared on the cover of Philadelphia magazine in June 2002 as one of the city’s “Sexiest Singles.” In 2004, she was voted ESPN.com’s “Hottest Female Athlete” in 2004. She also appeared in the 2005 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Mitts has parlayed her looks into a number of television commentary jobs. She has served as a studio analyst for ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 during the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup and was a sideline reporter for several MLS broadcasts in 2005. In addition to soccer, she also was a sideline reporter for college football during 2005 for ESPN.

After several years of an on-again-off-again relationship, Mitts married NFL quarterback A.J. Feeley in February 2010.

Full name: Heather Blaine Mitts Feeley
Date of birth: June 9, 1978
Place of birth: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Height: 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position: Defender

2004: A member of the USA’s 2004 Olympic Residency Camp, she had a breakout year, playing in 28 games while starting 17 … Played in her first world championship at the 2004 Olympics, seeing time in two matches included playing 90 minutes against Australia … Scored the first two
goals of her career in 2004, both game-winners on goalmouth scrambles after corner kicks, tallying against Canada on July 3 and in a wild 4-3 win over Iceland during the “Fan Appreciation Tour” on Sept. 25 …

2005: Started and played every minute of the 2005 Algarve Cup at right back … Started eight of the USA’s nine matches during the year …

2006: Played in three games at the Four Nations
Tournament, starting two. Had an excellent tournament at the Algarve Cup, starting all four games. On the year started 20 of 22 games and led the team with the most minutes played of 1,759 minutes.

2007: Started and played every minute of the 2007 Four Nations Tournament at right back. Started three games in the Algarve Cup,helping her team to victories in both tournaments. A member of the USA’s World Cup residency camp. Started against Canada, on May 12, recording her first assist of the year on a cross to Lindsay Tarpley in the 13th minute. In the 25 minute she went down on a collision with Christine Sinclair, tearing her ACL and placing her out of contention for her second consecutive World Cup due to an injury.

2008: Returned from major knee injury just in time to be considered for a spot on the Olympic Team, starting all three of the USA’s domestic games over late April and early May …Since returning from her injury, she started all 11 games the U.S. played heading into the Olympics. Started every game of the Beijing Olympics and helped shut out Brazil in the finals to win her second Gold Medal. Spent the
last half of 2007 and first half of 2008 rehabilitating
from ACL surgery.

2009: Has started 6 of the 7 games thus far in the 2009 schedule. Became the 25th female player in U.S. history and only the 7th defender to earn her 100th cap on March 11, 2009. Currently playing with the Boston Breakers of the new Women’s Professional Soccer League.

Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986 in Copenhagen) is a Danish professional football goalkeeper, and son of legendary keeper, Peter Schmeichel. He has recently signed for Leeds United, and has played 17 games for the Denmark under-21 national team. He joined Leeds United on 1 July 2010.

Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, for whom his father, Peter Schmeichel, was playing at the time, but he had loan spells with Darlington, Bury and Falkirk before he made his City debut. Although Schmeichel appeared to have made the City #1 jersey his own at the start of the 2007–08 season, the emergence of Joe Hart resulted in Schmeichel being loaned to Cardiff City. He expressed an interest in remaining with Cardiff, but the departure of Andreas Isaksson meant that Schmeichel was recalled from his loan spell. The signing of Republic of Ireland international Shay Given in January 2009 meant that Schmeichel fell even further down the pecking order at City, and in August 2009, he was allowed to link up with former manager Sven-Göran Eriksson at Notts County.

Personal life: Schmeichel is the son of former Denmark international and Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who finished his career with Manchester City. Schmeichel is also cousin of ex England Under 17 Stephen Schmeichel-Jarreau. Kasper spent most of his childhood living in England, due to his father’s playing career, and speaks with an English accent. He attended Hulme Hall school in Cheadle. When Alex Bruce joined Kasper at Leeds United, the move saw the two players re-unite after both previously played football together on the streets as children after school.

Biography

The hard-working England international midfielder arrived at White Hart Lane from Newcastle United in August 2005.

Since then, Jermaine’s consistent performances has become an integral part of the Spurs engine room.

In his maiden campaign, ‘JJ’ was a key member of the side that earned a top five Premier League finish, scoring seven goals along the way.

Another eight goals during 2006-07 proved that Jermaine was one of our main goalscoring threats from midfield.

But arguably his best season to date was the 2007-08 campaign, when his six goals in 45 appearances played a key role in our run to the Carling Cup Final at Wembley in February 2008, where we defeated Chelsea to claim our first trophy in nine years.

Two of those goals came in each leg of the memorable semi-final against North London rivals Arsenal, during which Jermaine was the outstanding player.

In July 2008, he signed a new five-year contract at the Club, and continued to impress with four goals in 39 appearances during the 2008-09 season.

Jermaine made his name at hometown club Nottingham Forest, whom he captained at 17, before a high-profile switch to Premier League Newcastle in February 2002, aged just 18. He made 149 appearances for the Toon, scoring 12 goals.

He was first capped at senior level by England as a 19-year-old in a friendly defeat against Australia at Upton Park. Despite only coming on as a half-time substitute, he was still awarded the Man of the Match award.

Jermaine has since gone on to win over 20 caps for his country, without ever really being a regular at international level – much due to the staunch competition he faces from messrs Gerrard and Lampard in his position.

He did, however, score the first goal of Fabio Capello’s reign as Head Coach in a friendly win over Switzerland at Wembley in February 2008 and regained his place in the Three Lions fold after a year out of the frame, playing 90 minutes in a friendly defeat against Brazil in November 2009.

A combination of injuries and the form of Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios and later Luka Modric in central midfield restricted JJ to 23 appearances including 13 starts in all competitions in 2009-10.
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Biography

The lightning England international winger was in the form of his life before his 2009-10 campaign was cut short by injury.

‘Azza’ was flying in the first half of the season. He scored back-to-back winners against Birmingham and West Ham and bagged a number of assists as he started 18 of our first 20 matches.

However, a groin problem then got the better of him in late December and he didn’t return to action until April 24 as a substitute at Old Trafford.

He started the final two matches of the season but his form over the campaign was enough for inclusion into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad – his second World Cup Finals at the age of 23.

Aaron joined us as an 18-year-old from hometown club Leeds United in July 2005 and burst onto the scene during his maiden campaign.

He scored two goals in 29 games before earning a shock call-up to the Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England squad for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.

Aaron went on to bolster his Premier League experience in 2006-07 with 24 appearances in all competitions, netting five goals including a famous winner against Chelsea at the Lane in November, 2006.

He was part of the side that won the Carling Cup at Wembley in February 2008, and has now played nearly 200 games for the Club.

Aaron was named the supporters’ Player of the Season for 2008-09 as he terrorised left-backs up and down the country during his 47 games in all competition, earning a new five-year contract at the Club in March 2009 as well as a recall to the England senior squad the same week.

Before joining Spurs, Aaron had already made history at White Hart Lane by becoming the youngest Premier League player ever after coming off the bench for Leeds against us in August 2003 for his senior debut aged 16 years and 129 days old.
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Biography

The stylish midfielder has earned the reputation as one of the country’s best young players since joining us as an 18-year-old from Derby County in July 2005.

In November 2009, Tom won his first senior England cap when he represented the Three Lions in a friendly with Brazil held in Doha, Qatar.

The call-up came on the back of an impressive start to the 2009-10 campaign, in which Tom started every single Premier League game, mainly in the heart of midfield but also at centre-half when needed, right up until Boxing Day!

In the end, he started more Premier League games than anyone else (33/38) and made more starts (41/50) in all competitions than anyone apart from goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who made 42.

Tom also played a key role as we finished fourth in the Premier League, partnering Luka Modric in central midfield in those huge wins against Arsenal, Chelsea, Bolton and Manchester City – not forgetting his wonderful strike to beat Bolton 1-0 at the Lane on May 1.

His form earned a call into Fabio Capello’s provisional 30-man World Cup squad, but he was unfortunately cut from the final 23.

Having played only 31 games in all competitions during the previous season, the statistics go to show the effort the big man has made to become one of Harry Redknapp’s most important players.

A product of Derby County’s youth academy, Tom made his senior debut aged just 16 in August 2003, and went on to make 95 appearances for the Rams before arriving in N17.

During the early part of his Spurs career, Tom was loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers for further Championship experience, where he made 13 appearances and scored one goal – ironically against Derby at Pride Park, for whom he never found the net in two seasons!

Tom returned from Molineux to make his Spurs first team debut in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Fulham in January 2006.

During the following campaign, the England Under-21 international established himself in the first team at The Lane, scoring three goals in 35 games.

Still only 20 years of age at the beginning of the 2007-08 campaign, Tom still had to work hard to prove himself as a first-choice central midfielder at the highest level.

But as the season progressed, Tom made the most of every opportunity given to him, and ended the campaign with his best return of both goals and games for the Club to date – four in 43.

He was a member of the side that won the Carling Cup at Wembley in February 2008, and it soon led to England Head Coach Fabio Capello first showing an interest in Tom.

In May 2008, he was called up to the senior England squad for the first time for end-of-season friendlies with USA and Trinidad & Tobago.

Although Tom did not get on the pitch over the two games, he would eventually get his chance to perform on the biggest stage.

The arrival of Redknapp as Spurs manager in October 2008 saw Tom’s career kick on another level, and he was even given the captain’s armband for the first time in a UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie with Shakhtar Donetsk in February 2009.

Before gaining his first senior honours, Tom had been a regular England youth international, representing his country at Under-15 level through to Under-21s, where he won over 30 caps.
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