About a Ball Player Profiles
PLAYER PROFILES
| NAME: Maris
Verpakovskis DOB: 15/10/79 Nationality: Latvian CLUB: Skonto Riga Previous Clubs: FHK Liepajas Metalurgs |
| The list of Latvian footballers to have plied their
trade in the English leagues is not a long one. There have been a few,
but rarely have they gone on to achieve stardom and capture the
imagination of the fans. Best known is Marians Pahars at Southampton -
who was dubbed 'the Latvian Michael Owen' - and started brightly but has
been sidelined by injury for much of the past twelve months. Others to
have passed through our shores include Imants Bleidelis (also
Southampton), Andrejs Štolcers (Fulham), Andrejs Rubins (Crystal
Palace), Igors Stepanovs (Arsenal) and Vitālijs Astafjevs (Bristol
Rovers) who with 98 caps, holds his country's record for international
appearances. All of the above have played a large part in the recent
successful Latvian qualifying campaign for Euro 2004, but the one man
who did more than any other to secure his country's ticket to Portugal
has always played his club football at home.
MārisVerpakovskis has scored in Latvia's last four competitive games, including the winner against Sweden to secure their place in the play-offs, the winner against Turkey in the first leg in Riga, and the final goal in their 2-2 draw in Istanbul which clinched qualification. This took his international tally to 10 goals in 28 appearances and etched his name into Latvian football folklore as the Baltic nation reached the first ever major tournament of their short football history. Verpakovskis' emergence came at the right time for Latvian football as the national team lost top scorer Marians Pahars to injury at the start of the recent campaign and were without a proven understudy. Verpakovskis was handed his chance and it was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man as he showed himself to be a more than able replacement for Pahars and really came of age when given the chance to lead the line. His goals, in a less than prolific team, were to be the difference between this and previous attempts at reaching major finals. Now, with Pahars returning to fitness, Latvians will hope that the two can form a fearsome strike partnership and enable their team to do more than just make up the numbers in Portugal. Twenty four year old Verpakovskis has taken his time in reaching the top - he gained his first cap in 1999 when playing for Liepajas Metalurgs, and even scored on his debut against Greece, but then spent a couple of years in the international wilderness before his club manager Aleksandrs Starkovs took over the reins of the national team. By now playing for Skonto Riga, Verpakovskis was firmly established in the best team in the country and with Starkovs selecting both teams, the striker soon became a regular in the national squad. His club form at Skonto is as impressive as his recent international performances. With 22 goals in 25 games, he was top scorer for a team who romped to their thirteenth successive championship win, and third top scorer in the league overall. Now, as the Latvian league goes into hibernation and the January transfer window looms, he could well wave goodbye to his homeland and seek the challenge and riches of one of the continents major leagues. His goal scoring has been attracting attention for some time now and he had a two week trial with newly-promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer, scoring in a friendly against Boavista, but didn't do enough to convince Wolves to sign him. Perhaps they didn't want to risk making too many signings which could prove a financial burden in the event of their immediate return to division one, but there have also been rumours that Italian giants Roma are interested buying him and a £2 million price tag has been mooted. Expect many more similar rumours as we approach the transfer window. Who knows, we could soon see Verpakovskis joining that list of Latvians to have played in England, and the player himself believes he can succeed in the Premiership. At 24, time is on his side and it is not often that such talented players come at such a cheap price, so he should have plenty of offers to consider. |
| NAME: Tomas
ROSICKY DOB: 04/10/80 Nationality: Czech CLUB: Borussia Dortmund Previous Clubs: CKD Kompresory, Sparta Praha |
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In his native Czech Republic they call him the “Mozart” of football and anyone who has ever seen him play live will have no problem figuring out why. Speed, great passing skill and amazing technique make 22-year-old playmaker Tomas Rosicky one of the most promising talents in Europe. The ten million pounds Borussia Dortmund paid for him in January 2001 was the highest transfer fee in Bundesliga history and the club have never regretted this investment. A week before his move to the reigning German champions was completed, Rosicky looked sure to sign a contract with Bayern Munich but then changed his mind and opted to move to Dortmund where a creative midfielder was desperately needed. Since then he has had a tremendous impact on his new club’s style of play and has often been described as the soul of a team that tends to struggle without him. Rosicky’s career started to kick off at the Czech Republic's Sparta Praha where he gained his first European experience, scoring twice in the Champions League, and won the national championship twice in successive years (1999 and 2000). His exhilarating performances consequently led to his debut in his country’s national side in February 2000, when he wore the Czech colours in a friendly with Ireland. A few months later, aged nineteen, Rosicky made his first appearance in a major tournament at Euro 2000, when he played in the Czech team that arguably would have done better than the group stage, had they not been drawn in a group with hosts Holland and world champions France, who went on to win the trophy. However, Rosicky’s skills were not unnoticed and soon half of Europe was on his tails. The Czech midfielder decided against offers from Arsenal, Liverpool, Lazio, Inter and Bayern and went to Dortmund instead, bringing an almost unknown level of technique to the German league. Since then the seemingly frail Rosicky has to endure hard times every now and then as opponents do not usually have the means to stop him in a fair manner. This trend culminated during the epic battle between Dortmund and Bayern Munich in 2001 that saw him brought down no less than 38 times with two Bayern players being sent-off. Rosicky knows how to defend himself though, winning an impressive 58 per cent of his tackles on average. Despite guiding Borussia Dortmund to what was their first national title since 1996 and leading the league in assists, Rosicky’s career suffered a major set-back in 2002 when his national team failed to qualify for the World Cup in Japan and Korea after losing their play-off with Belgium. However, the Czech recovered well from this disappointment and his fine performances were rewarded when he was elected the Czech Republic’s player of the year, finishing way ahead of Juventus superstar Pavel Nedved. There can be no doubt that Rosicky’s star will rise to even higher levels and that Dortmund will have a hard time persuading the little “Mozart” to stay with them when a lot of major European clubs are sure to be interested in signing him. Shortly after his move to Germany, Inter Milan offered £33 million to buy Borussia’s number 10, but Dortmund rejected... and now we know why. |
| NAME: JUNINHO
Pernambucano DOB: 30/01/75 Nationality: Brazilian CLUB: Olympique Lyonnais Previous Clubs: Sport Recife, Vasco da Gama |
| When he arrived in Europe at the start of the 2001/02
season, Juninho was virtually unknown outside his native South America
and was more often than not confused with his namesake - Juninho
Paulista - two years his senior. However, the new version is rapidly
carving out a reputation of his own in Europe and has the potential to
match and better the achievements of his compatriot.
Like his namesake, Juninho Pernambucano can play in several different roles across the midfield and contributes to both the attacking and defensive aspects of the game. At Lyon he has generally been used in an advanced role on the right side of midfield providing crosses and defence splitting through balls for the strikers to feed on, but you can guarantee that he'll track back and help regain possession as he has previously played as a ball-winner in the tough Brazilian championship. However, it's his creative talents that really stand out - he provides regular assists for his great friend Sonny Anderson and chips in with more than his fair share of goals. Indeed, after an explosive start to the season his name can be seen at second place in the top-scorers chart for Le Championnat, mainly thanks to his spectacular long-range shooting. He possesses one of the best right feet in the world and rivals Beckham, Recoba or Van Hooijdonk in a dead-ball situation, having already scored several free-kicks this season. It is no coincidence that in his first season at the club, Lyon won their first ever championship and have become France's premier club in European competition. Juninho settled in quickly to the Brazilian colony on the banks of the Rhône and has become a firm favourite at the Stade de Gerland, rewarding the club for their persistence in chasing his signature. It took almost six months to tie up all the loose ends of his transfer to Europe after he became involved in a contract dispute with his former club Vasco da Gama and went on strike. Such was his popularity at the club that fans sided with the player and urged directors to meet his demands but they reached an impasse which resulted in Juninho being sidelined until the end of the season. Lyon were patient where many Spanish clubs, including Atlético Madrid, were not, and eventually paid out over £5million to get their man. Juninho currently has a handful of caps for Brazil but is sure to win many more as some of the current world champions come to the end of their careers. He has twice been champion of Brazil and has won the Copa Libertadores and Copa Mercosur, as well as playing in the inaugral World Club Championship final for Vasco and the 2001 Copa America for his country. |
