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Totti is known for celebrating his goals as well as scoring them. His most famous celebration was in the second Derby della Capitale of the 1998-99 season, in which he scored during the final minutes of the game and celebrated by flashing a T-shirt under his jersey, which read "Vi ho purgato ancora" ("I've purged you guys again"), in reference to his scoring against Lazio in the previous derby on 29 November 1998. Another derby goal against Lazio saw him take over a sideline camera and aim it at the Roma fans. As a tribute to his then-pregnant wife, Ilary Blasi, Totti imitated a childbirth scene by stuffing the ball under his shirt and laying on his back while his teammates extracted the ball. His current ritual of sucking his thumb after a goal began after his son was born and subsequently after the birth of his daughter. Blasi has revealed that Totti actually sucks his thumb in honor of her, as she has a habit of sucking on her thumb.

(born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who is the current captain of Italian Serie A club Roma. His position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as a second striker. He has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history.

Totti won several awards in Italy during his career including a record 5 times Italian Footballer of the Year and 2 times Serie A Footballer of the Year. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Totti is currently the top active Serie A goalscorer, and joint-eighth all-time in league history (along with Gabriel Batistuta) with 184 goals.

After three years on the youth team, Totti made his first appearance for Roma's senior side at the age of sixteen, when coach Vujadin Boškov let him play in the 2-0 away victory against Brescia on 28 March 1993. In the following seasons, he began to play more games, and thus he succeeded in scoring his first goal on September 24, 1994 in a 1-1 draw against Foggia. By 1995, Totti had become a regular in the starting eleven and scored 16 goals in the next three seasons. When he assumed the team captaincy in 1997, he began to gain recognition as a club symbol. Manager Zdeněk Zeman played with an offensive 4-3-3 formation, in which Totti was the left winger. Totti scored 30 goals during Zeman's two-year managerial stint.

Though Totti was not called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he was named the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in the 1998-99 season.

Ukrainian powerhouse Dynamo Kiev started this year’s Champions League campaign with a 3-1 home victory against Rubin Kazan. The guests took the lead before the break, but Dynamo fought back to record a win, much to the satisfaction of veteran forward Andriy Shevchenko .
“I enjoy playing for the team a lot, so Dynamo’s result is all that matters for me. If I score, then it is good, but if I do not, I do not care as long as my team is OK. I am very happy we won,” said Shevchenko after his side’s victory.

“To tell you the truth, I was a bit nervous because the last time I played for Dynamo in the Champions League was ten years ago. It was very important for us to win our first match at home, because we have a very tough group. We need to get maximum points at home if we want to make it to the first knockout round.

“Rubin defended with skill and scored, so we struggled in the first half. After the break we changed our game. We started to move more and began to tackle them in the middle of the pitch and that created more chances to attack down the wings. That, together with our skill and big desire, allowed us to win,” added the former Milan hitman.

“We made it tighter for them in the middle of the pitch and prevented Rubin from switching play from defence to attack. Both defenders and midfielders got closer to their men and that allowed us to counterattack.

“We improved a great deal after the break, Rubin played to keep their advantage and could not change how the game went when we gained the momentum. After we scored two goals in quick succession it was very difficult for them to change anything. We deserved our victory.”

Andriy Shevchenko is being offered a chance to revive his playing career by moving back to his old club Dynamo Kiev.

‘For a footballer like him, the doors of Dynamo are always open,’ said club president Igor Surkis.

‘If Andriy wants to continue playing top level football we’ll give him this opportunity.’

The 32 year-old has expressed a desire to remain at AC Milan but with only two goals this season in official games, and none in Serie A, it is unclear if the Italian club will want to keep its one-time hero.

Surkis fears that Shevchenko’s wife, American model Kristen Pazik, would veto a move to Ukraine, just as she was the moving force behind his switch to Chelsea three years ago, seen by many as a disaster for a striker who was seen as the best in Europe at the time he moved to Stamford Bridge but whose career has gone downhill ever since.

‘It’s very important too that his own desire coincides with that of his family. His wife may be not so keen on moving to Ukraine,’ said Surkis.

Shevchenko has voiced his frustration at not knowing his next destination. One rumour suggests Chelsea might waive a transfer fee for the Ukrainian.

Recently the player said testily: ‘If you want to know about my future you better ask Roman Abramovich about it.’

Terry began to establish himself in the Chelsea first team from the 2000-01 season, making 23 starts, and was voted the club’s player of the year.^[18] He continued his progress during 2001-02, becoming a regular in the defence alongside club captain and French international Marcel Desailly. On 5 December 2001 he captained Chelsea for the first time, in a League match against Charlton Athletic. Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, following wins against London rivals West Ham and Tottenham in the fourth and six rounds respectively, and Fulham in the semi-final - where Terry scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory. A virus denied Terry a place in the starting line-up for the final, although he came on as a second-half substitute as Chelsea lost 2-0 to Arsenal. In season 2003-04, his performances led to him being handed the captain's armband by manager Claudio Ranieri, when Desailly was out of the side. He played well in the absence of the French international, forming a strong defensive partnership with William Gallas.

John George Terry (born 7 December 1980 in Barking, Greater London) is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League. Terry is also captain of the England national football team.

Terry was voted best defender in the UEFA Champions League in both 2005^[2] and 2008, the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2005,^[3] and was included in the FIFPro World XI for four consecutive seasons, from 2005 to 2008.^[4][5][6][7] He was also named in the all-star squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only English player to make the team.^[8] He wears the number 26 shirt for Chelsea.

In 2007, he became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, and also the first player to score a full international goal there, scoring a header in England’s 1-1 draw with Brazil.^[9] However, the 2007-08 season saw Terry and Chelsea miss out on three trophies, losing the League Cup Final to Tottenham Hotspur and Premier League and UEFA Champions League to Manchester United with Terry missing a penalty in the Champions League final shootout, sending it to sudden death. Had he scored, the European Cup would have been secured for Chelsea.^[10] After the final in Moscow, teammate Frank Lampard described Terry as "a man's man".

Terry made his Chelsea debut on 28 October 1998 as a late substitute in a League Cup tie with Aston Villa; his first start came later that season in an FA Cup third round match, a 2-0 win over Oldham Athletic. He spent a brief period on loan with Nottingham Forest in 2000 to build up his first team experience. Terry was involved in an incident at a West London nightclub with Chelsea team mate Jody Morris and Wimbledon's Des Byrne. He was charged with assault and affray, but later cleared.^[13] During the affair, he was given a temporary ban from the England national side by the FA.^[14] Previously, along with Chelsea team-mates Frank Lampard, Jody Morris, Eiður Guðjohnsen and former team-mate Frank Sinclair, in September 2001 Terry was fined two weeks wages by Chelsea after drunkenly harassing grieving American tourists in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.^[15][16] During his early days at Chelsea Terry shared a flat with Andrew Crofts

Oct 11, 2009 11:20:10 AM

Barcelona reportedly want to sign Manchester City pair Robinho and Vincent Kompany, and are willing to offer two of their stars in a part-exchange deal.

According to The Daily Mirror, the Catalans are willing to offer midfielder Yaya Toure - brother of City defender Kolo - and veteran defender Carles Puyol to sweeten the deal.

While Citizens boss Mark Hughes has made it clear that both Robinho and Kompany are firmly in his first-team plans, he could be tempted with Barca's offer, having publicly declared his admiration for both Toure and Puyol.

The Barca captain continues to hold out on a new contract offer and looks set to leave in the next transfer window. City were close to signing Puyol in August, instead securing the services of Joleon Lescott from Everton.