Archive for the ‘Defender’ Category




Heather Mitts Biography

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

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.





Jonathan Woodgate Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Jonathan Woodgate
Jonathan Woodgate

Biography

The England international defender secured ‘hero’ status just five games into his Spurs career when he headed home our winning goal in the League Cup Final at Wembley in February, 2008.

‘Woody’ soon established himself at the heart of our back-line following his move from Middlesbrough in January 2008, developing a solid partnership with Ledley King.

In 2008-09, his first full season in N17, was the definition of consistency during a season in which we conceded only 10 goals at home in the league.

He played 44 games in all competitions as one of the Club’s vice-captains, once again scoring one of the key goals of the campaign – a late winner in a 2-1 win at Hull City in February 2009 that sparked an incredible run of form, taking us to 8th in the Premier League by the end of the season.

However, groin trouble caused ‘Woody’ to miss the entire pre-season campaign in preparation for the current season.

He did not return to action until late October, 2009, but after just three games was back on the sidelines over the turn of the year thanks to further groin trouble.

Earlier on in his career, Jonathan had shot to prominence as a young defender in the Leeds United side that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001, prompting Newcastle United to snap him up in January, 2003.

He moved to La Liga giants Real Madrid in the summer of 2004, but injury his number of appearances in Spain to just 12 over the next two seasons.

He made the switch back to England and the Premier League with his home-town club Middlesbrough, initially on loan, in August 2006 before the move was made permanent in April, 2007.

An England international with eight caps to his name, Jonathan made his senior international debut in a European Championsip qualifier against Bulgaria in May 1999 having also featured at Under-21 level.
(more…)




Benoit Assou Ekotto Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Benoit Assou Ekotto
Benoit Assou Ekotto

Biography

The Cameroon international left back signed from French club RC Lens in the summer of 2006.

After an injury-hit start to his White Hart Lane career, Benoit’s game has progressed unmeasurably since the arrival of Harry Redknapp as manager.

His performances led to him being offered a new contract at the start of the 2009-10 season, seeing him at White Hart Lane until 2013.

He celebrated with his first goal in a Spurs shirt and one to remember – the opening goal of the 2009-10 season, an absolute cracker into the top corner as we toppled Liverpool at the Lane.

That laid down a marker for the season for Benoit, who made 34 appearances in all competitions including 29 starts in the league before joining the Cameroon squad in the World Cup.

Benoit made a promising start to his Spurs career with 24 appearances before suffering a knee injury in February 2007 that ultimately ruled him out for the rest of that season.

Benoit returned to action in September 2007 but, after two appearances, the same knee problem resurfaced and ended his campaign early – as well as threatening to end his career altogether.

However, after a summer of rehabilitation, pre-season saw him return to the first team fold in preparation for the 2008-09 season.

Over the course of the campaign, he made 36 appearances in all competitions and earned rave reviews from the manager and fans alike, who voted him the Club’s Most Improved Player of the season.

The following season could not have begun any better for Benoit!

Not only did the tough full-back put pen to paper on his new deal, he also scored our first goal of the 2009-10 campaign – an absolute scorcher in our opening day victory over Liverpool. What a way to score your first ever career goal!

In February 2009, Benoit earned his first international honours for Cameroon, the country over his father’s birth.

By November of the same year, he had become a key member of the Indomitable Lions side that earned qualification for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.

However, that hip injury suffered at the end of 2009 meant Benoit missed out on the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola

Born in Arras, France, Benoit played 73 games in total for first club Lens before making the move to N17 as one of the continent’s most highly-rated young full-backs.
(more…)




Ledley King Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Ledley King
Ledley King

Biography

Club captain and longest-serving member of our playing staff, Ledley’s performances at the end of the 2009-10 campaign earned a place in England’s World Cup squad.

Injuries again took their toll during the season but it wasn’t his now famous knee problems but muscle injuries that cost Ledley time out of the team.

As always though, when Ledley played, he underlined his class and that was enough for Fabio Capell to take him to South Africa.

Ledley actually started 19 games in the Premier League – half of the season – skippering the side to a fourth-place finish and, 11 years after making his first-team debut, securing a place in the Champions League.

Having come through the Club’s Academy ranks, Ledley made his senior debut as an 18-year-old, coming on as a substitute during a 3-2 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield in May 1999.

It took another season before the London-born youngster properly established himself in the First Team, but once he did so during the 2000-01 campaign, there was no looking back.

Over the next few seasons, Ledley earned recognition as one of the best young defenders in the country, also often operating as a defensive midfielder.

He gained full international honours for England during this time, and was part of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Euro 2004 squad, starting the first game of the tournament against holders France.

But the pivotal season of his career was the 2004-05 campaign. Ledley was an ever-present in our Premier League campaign, in which we conceded just 41 goals and kept 13 clean sheets. During that season, he was also named Club captain.

The following season, he led the Club to a top five Premier League finish, but missed the final games of that campaign due to a broken foot that kept him out of that summer’s World Cup Finals in Germany.

Since then, injury problems, particularly knee trouble, have blighted Ledley’s career.

This forced him to feature in less than half of our 59 competitive games in 2006-07.

The following season did not kick off for Ledley until Boxing Day, but although he only managed to play 10 games in 2007-08, the defining moment of his career so far came during this campaign.

He lived a boyhood dream of captaining Spurs to their first major trophy in nine years after a heroic performance in a 2-1 extra-time win over Chelsea in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley in February 2008.

Ledley called time on the season soon after, and following a summer of rehabilitation, 2008-09 saw a marked improvement in his fitness levels as he played 29 games in all competitions.

He established a strong defensive partnership with Jonathan Woodgate as the foundation of a back-line that conceded just 10 goals at home in the league all season.

At present, Ledley still holds the record for the fastest ever goal in Premier League history, scored after 10 seconds against Bradford City at Valley Parade in December 2000. This was also his first ever goal for the Club!
(more…)




Vedran Corluka Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Vedran Corluka
Vedran Corluka

Biography

Super-consistent Croatian international full-back, Vedran started 29 of our first 30 games in the Premier League until injury ended his campaign early.

Affectionately known as ‘Charlie’, he’d established himself as the Club’s first choice right-back and opened his goalscoring account for us in a 2-2 Premier League draw at Bolton Wanderers in October 2009.

Vedran joined us from Manchester City in August, 2008 and enjoyed an impressive first season at The Lane, making 41 appearances and operating right across the back-line.

A regular for Croatia, he played in every match of his country’s campaign at Euro 2008 where, along with Spurs team-mates Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar, Slaven Bilic’s side reached the quarter-final stage.

Back home in Croatia, Vedran came through the ranks at Dynamo Zagreb and after a season on loan at NK Inter Zapresic, winning successive titles with Dynamo in 2006 and 2007.

He left for the English Premier League and Manchester City in August 2007, making 41 appearances in all competitions before joining Spurs.
(more…)




Michael Dawson Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson

Biography

The popular central defender capped an outstanding 2009-10 campaign with an initial call into England’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup and then, following the heartbreak of missing out, being called back into the 23 following injury to Rio Ferdinand.

Many pundits believed ‘Daws’ should have been in the 23 anyway after playing a key role as we finished fourth in the Premier League.

Despite not featuring at the tournament in South Africa, Michael finally won his first senior international cap in a friendly with Hungary at Wembley in August, 2010.

Ever-reliable, Michael has become one of the most important players in Harry Redknapp’s side and captained the side for much of the 2009/10 campaign.

Laid low by an Achilles problem at the start of the season, Michael returned for the 9-1 hammering of Wigan in November and missed just one of our next 35 games.

His form earned a number of awards including One Hotspur Player of the Season, Boxholders Player of the Season and Supporters’ Clubs Player of the Year.

Michael has been a key part of our back-line every since his arrival from Nottingham Forest as a 21-year-old in January, 2005.

The affable Yorkshireman made his name at Nottingham Forest, where he progressed through the ranks to make his debut in 2002 and 91 appearances in total before heading to N17.

After recovering from an initial injury, Michael made his Spurs debut in a 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at Anfield in April 2005.

For the following two seasons, he was rarely out of the side, establishing an impressive partnership with Ledley King as we finished in the Premier League’s top five for two consecutive seasons.

In 2006-07, Michael played in 58 of our 59 competitive games that season, and was awarded the captain’s armband for the first time in an FA Cup quarter-final tie with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in March 2007.

Injuries to Ledley meant Daws often found himself playing alongside of various partners for much of the 2007-08 campaign, arguably leading to a dip in form.

This was compounded by the heartbreak of missing out on our famous Carling Cup Final success of February 2008 through an ankle injury.

But following the arrival of Redknapp as manager in October 2008, he quickly re-gained his most consistent form and battled hard to earn the right to be considered as first-choice centre-half alongside evergreen pair King and Jonathan Woodgate

Michael made 28 appearances in 2008-09, scoring twice, picking up the supporters’ Team Player of the Year award thanks to his outstanding contribution.

A former England Under-21 captain, Michael was also placed on stand-by for the senior national side prior to the 2006 World Cup Finals and has two England ‘B’ caps.

Michael signed a new contract at the Club in January 2010, which will keep him at The Lane until 2015.
(more…)




Kyle Walker Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Kyle Walker
Kyle Walker

Biography

The England Under-19 international joined us from Sheffield United, along with fellow young defender Kyle Naughton, in July 2009.

He was subsequently loaned back to The Blades to gain further first team experience for the 2009/2010 campaign.

Kyle made 28 appearances for the Blades during the first half of the season before being recalled from his loan on February 2, 2010.

He then made his Spurs first team debut in our 2-0 Premier League victory over Portsmouth in March, 2010.

Following his arrival at the Lane, Kyle also won his first cap for England at Under-21 level having previously represented his country at Under-19 level.

Walker progressed through the ranks at Bramall Lane to before making his debut in an FA Cup tie against Leyton Orient in January 2009.

He made seven appearances for Kevin Blackwell’s side all in all during 2008-09, becoming the youngest player ever to represent Sheffield United at Wembley in their play-off final defeat against Burnley in May 2009.

Prior to this, Kyle also featured nine times during a loan spell at League One Northampton Town at the end of 2008.
(more…)




Sebastien Bassong Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Sebastien Bassong
Sebastien Bassong

Biography

Strong central defender joined us from Newcastle United in August, 2009.

And he could not have made a better start to his Spurs career – scoring the winning goal against Liverpool on his debut in our opening game of the 2009-10 season.

A Cameroon international, Sebastien has been a regular fixture and reliable figure at the heart of our defence his maiden campaign.

With fellow centre-halves Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate injured for the majority of the season, Sebastien’s regular partnership with Michael Dawson at the back has been a solid foundation on which the team has been built.

He eventually made 38 appearances for us in 2009-10 including 25 starts out of 38 in the Premier League. His form earned a call into Cameroon’s World Cup squad.

Sebastien moved the move to England, and previous club Newcastle, in July 2008 from Metz where he made 79 appearances in three seasons.

He played 34 times for the Magpies during his debut campaign in the Premier League, but could not help the North East side avoid relegation from the Championship, before arriving in N17.
(more…)




Kyle Naughton Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Biography

The England Under-21 international full-back joined us from Sheffield United, along with fellow young defender Kyle Walker, in July 2009.

A product of the Academy at Bramall Lane, Naughton got his first taste of professional action during a loan spell at Scottish club Gretna during the 2007-08 season, where he made 19 appearances.

Kyle Naughton
Kyle Naughton

Having impressed north of the border, Kyle finally made his first team debut for hometown club United in a League Cup tie against Port Vale in August 2008.

From there, he never looked back, going on to make 50 appearances and scoring three goals as Kevin Blackwell’s men reached the 2009 Championship play-off final.

His performances earned him a place in the Championship’s PFA Team of the Year for 2008-09, as well as United’s Young Player of the Year award.

The campaign included another career highlight when Kyle made his debut for England Under-21s at Bramall Lane, in a 2-0 friendly win over Czech Republic, since going on to establish himself in Stuart Pearce’s Young Lions squad.

On joining Spurs, Kyle impressed during pre-season before making his Premier League debut as a substitute in our win at West Ham in August 2009.

Days later, he made his full Spurs debut in a Carling Cup second round victory over Doncaster Rovers.

But the youngster made only one more appearance in our colours during 2009/10 before agreeing to join Championship club Boro on loan for the rest of the campaign in January, 2010.

Kyle went on to make 15 appearances in the Championship.
(more…)




William Gallas Biography

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
William Gallas
William Gallas

Biography

The experienced French defender joined us on a one-year contract in August, 2010.

William arrives in N17 with nearly a decade of Premier League and Champions League experience under his belt having previously plied his trade for Chelsea and Arsenal.

He crossed the North London divide having left the Emirates on the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2009-10 season.

Having captained the club, William made 142 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 17 goals, following his arrival from Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2006.

It was at Chelsea where the now 33-year-old experienced greatest success, winning back-to-back Premier League titles and a League Cup in his five seasons with the Blues.

William originally arrived on these shores in the summer of 2001 having spent four campaigns with Olympique Marseille in his homeland.

He started his professional career at SM Caen, making his debut in the 1995-96 season and subsequently helping the club to the French Second Division Championship by the end of that year.

To date, William has won 84 senior international caps for France, representing Les Bleus at two World Cups and two European Championships, and was also part of the side that won the Confederations Cup in 2003.

He previously earned international honours at Under-21, Under-20 and Under-18 level, and was part of the French side that won the UEFA Under-18 Championships in 1996.


(more…)