Friday, August 26, 2011

Antonio Di Natale



Antonio Di Natale 2011 HD - A Forgotten Legend ?????



Antonio Di Natale (born 13 October 1977 in Naples) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Udinese.



A versatile striker with a lethal eye for goal, Di Natale can play anywhere in the front line, as a lone striker or out wide in an attacking trident. He is notable for his dribbling skills, pace and for his ability to score and create goals. Di Natale earned the prestigious award of being the Serie A 'Capocannoniere' for the 2009/10 season, as well as the 2010/11 season.

After having joined Udinese in the 2004–05 Serie A season, Di Natale partnered with Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Di Michele in attack, and the Friulian club finished 4th place at the end of the season and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the following year. Di Natale finished his debut season with a record of 33 games and seven goals.



In the 2007–08 season, Di Natale scored 17 goals. The two most notable goals were scored on matchday 4, when Udinese played against Reggina. He scored a brilliant lob in the 5th minute and a terrific volley in the 63rd with his favored left foot. Forming a formidable attacking duo with Fabio Quagliarella, Di Natale improved his goal tally, becoming the focal point of the attack. In 2007, he was named captain of Udinese and his contract was extended to 30 June 2012.

15 May 2010 saw the conclusion of Di Natale's best-ever season, scoring 29 goals in Serie A, and contributing 54% of Udinese's total goals. He also surpassed Oliver Bierhoff's club record for most league goals in a season, who had scored 28. A brace against Bari on 9 May 2010 saw Di Natale surpass the 100 goal mark in Serie A. For his performances, Di Natale was voted Italian Footballer of the Year and finished as the top scorer in Serie A. He also received the Serie A Fair Play award, for interrupting play in a match while Lazio's Libor Kozak was injured, with Udinese down 3-2 late in the game.

On 14 November 2010, he scored a hat-trick during a match with Udinese against Lecce and on 28 November 2010, he scored a second consecutive home hat-trick during a match against Napoli. During the 2010–11 season, Di Natale had the best strike rate of any player in Italy, scoring 28 goals in 36 games with a strike rate of 0.78 goals per game. This was also the third best strike rate in Europe, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

He made his debut with the Italy national team on 20 November 2002, in a friendly match against Turkey. He won few caps in later years, scoring his first goal on 18 February 2004 against the Czech Republic.



In 2006 he regained a spot with the Azzurri under new coach Roberto Donadoni, and was involved in the Euro 2008 qualification campaign. He was then called up to UEFA Euro 2008, where he missed a crucial penalty during the quarter-final penalty shoot out against Spain who went on to win 4-2.

He missed the 2009 Confederations Cup because of a knee injury, which occurred on 28 March 2009 in an international match against Montenegro.



He took part at the 2010 World Cup where he was given the number 10 shirt. On 24 June 2010 he scored a goal in the 3-2 defeat against Slovakia which resulted Italy finishing bottom of its group.

Though born in Naples, Antonio Di Natale moved up north and joined Empoli's youth system. He impressed while playing for the Tuscany side in Serie A and even received his first and now plays for juventus, he recently moved to Udinese on loan but



Alexis Sanchez



Alexis Sanchez - Udinese Star 2011- I am the best!!



Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: Spanish pronunciation:eksis; born 19 December 1988), is a Chilean footballer who plays as a forward for FC Barcelona and for the Chilean national team.



Sánchez began his career as a youth player for Cobreloa in 2003, aged 15, for then be promoted to the first adult team, two years later. His precocious talent caught the attention of Udinese, team of the Italian Serie A, and signed the 17-year-old for $3 million in May 2006, but was immediately loaned out to Colo-Colo, and then River Plate where he was able to mature in less physically demanding confines than the Italian first division.



He joined Udinese after becoming champion of the Argentina and Chilean leagues in June 2008. Sánchez made a steady progress in his first two seasons at Udinese, and in the 2010-11 season he established himself as one of the key player's that allowed Udinese to finish fourth in Serie A. On 27 February 2011, Sánchez scored four of seven goals as his team defeated Palermo 7-0, playing only the first 52 minutes of the game. This event meant he broke the record of goals scored by a Chilean player (in a single match) in the Italian Serie A, thus beating the records set by his historic countrymen Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano.

Alexis made his international debut for his national team against Sweden in 2006 and scored his first goal against Switzerland in a 2–1 loss, being also the first goal of the Marcelo Bielsa era. During the period of Bielsa, he was the top-scorer of Chile with 14 goals surpassing to Humberto Suazo with 11 goals.Born in Tocopilla, to a family of fishermen, Alexis quickly learned that his life would not be easy. His biological father abandoned Alexis and his family to go work in a mine, leaving Alexis to help his family out financially from an early age.

Acording to his relatives and his closest friends, Alexis was an extroverted boy at school. Alexis washed cars in a graveyard to earn some money, but clearly the dream of Alexis was to be a footballer. His fanaticism for football was shared with all his family, especially with José Delaigue, his uncle-in law and adoptive father. Being a former amateur footballer, Delaigue saw great potential in the young Alexis.



At the age of 15 while playing football with his friends in the neighborhood, he impressed the mayor of Tocopilla, who awarded him his first football boots. The mayor's decision was a worthwhile one, while playing for Tocopilla in a regional tournament, Sánchez dominated, in one particular match he scored 8 goals.

Alexis joined Cobreloa in 2004 and eventually made his first-team debut one year later at the age of 16 on 12 February 2005 in a 5–4 win against Deportes Temuco. In his second professional game, he set a Copa Libertadores record by becoming the youngest player to debut in the South American Club Championship. In the next season, Sánchez concentrated on his goal scoring for the Torneo Apertura 2006, netting six goals in 12 appearances. On 21 July, Cobreloa sold Sánchez to the Italian side Udinese for $3 million.



In July 2006, he was loaned to one of Chile's biggest teams, Colo-Colo on a season-long deal. His loan was due to a maturation project[citation needed] that Udinese implemented with youth players. After a notable season in the Cacique, and winning two league titles, it was assumed that Sánchez would return to Italy. He was loaned out again, however, this time to Argentina's River Plate.

After a successful season in Argentina, in July 2008, Sánchez left South America to officially join Udinese, where he would suit up with Chilean compatriot Mauricio Isla. Sánchez made his non-competitive debut in a 3–0 win over Bassano and was named the man of match. On 14 September, he played his first game in Serie A in a 1–0 loss with Juventus and four days later, he made his Europe debut against Borussia Dortmund. On 19 October 2008, Sánchez scored his first league goal against Lecce. After this first goal, Sánchez got into a minor slump, in which he took much criticism. The criticism ended after scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute against Bologna in a 1–0 win, being named the man of match.

In the following season, Sánchez played an important role for Udinese at Coppa Italia 2009–10, being a key player in the team that eliminated AC Milan, assisting Gökhan Inler for the winning goal. In the semi-final second leg, Sánchez was the man of match after playing a successful game against Roma, including scoring his first Coppa Italia goal in the 81st minute. It was not enough, however, as the aggregate score was 2–1 in favor of Roma.By the end of this year, Sánchez scored a total of five goals (four at the end of tournament) in 32 appearances.

After participating for Chile in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Sánchez began to live an intense process of adaptation that consecrated him in Udinese with very good performances for the club, because of this, Sánchez has also attracted the interest from clubs such as Manchester United, Zenit St. Petersburg, Inter Milan, Manchester City,Juventus, Barcelona,Real Madrid and Chelsea,



Pepe Reina



Pepe Reina's Best Saves (HD)



José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (Spanish pronunciation:born 31 August 1982), is a Spanish footballer who is currently playing as a goalkeeper for the English Premier League side Liverpool. Reina is well known for his distribution, and ability to save penalties. Pepe is the 2nd vice-captain for Liverpool in the absence of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard. In the 2010-11 season he made his 100th Premier League clean sheet for Liverpool, in a 3-0 win against Aston Villa

The son of famed FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Reina began his career with the FC Barcelona youth team and made his La Liga debut in the 2000–01 season. He signed for Villarreal in 2004. However, he soon moved on to Liverpool and making his debut in 2005. He instantly became first-choice goalkeeper and won his first major honour in 2006, the FA Cup. He saved three out of four West Ham United penalties in the final to help win the trophy. In 2007, Liverpool reached the Champions League Final, matching the feat achieved by his father in 1974, but they lost to A.C. Milan. Reina has set a number of goalkeeping records for Liverpool and he won the Premier League Golden Glove award for clean sheets in first three seasons at the club and is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the premier league and the world.

At international level, Reina played for Spain's youth team, winning the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in 1999. He made his senior debut in 2005, and has generally been selected as the second-choice keeper behind Iker Casillas. He was part of the Spain squad for the 2006 World Cup and made one appearance in their victorious Euro 2008 campaign, earning him his first international honour. In 2010 he won FIFA World Cup with Spain, despite not making an appearance in the competition.



Reina has been an ever-present fixture for Liverpool in the league since the start of the 2007-08 season. He is also the record holder for appearances by a Spanish player in the Premier League, with more than 200 appearances in just the first five seasons, 108 of the 219 appearances being cleen sheets.

Son of the former FC Barcelona goalkeeper, Miguel Reina, Pepe began his football career in the youth academy of Barcelona, La Masia. From 1997 he played as a first-choice goalkeeper for the Barcelona reserve side, which then competed in the third tier in the Spanish football pyramid. In 2000 Aged 18 he was called up for the Barcelona first-team, after the first and second choice goalkeepers, Richard Dutruel and Francesc Arnau, suffered injuries. According to the first-team coach Serra Ferrer, who had called up Reina, the keeper showed great promise, but after a couple of months Ferrer was himself fired and Reina demoted from first team action. Two years later, in 2002, he was loaned out Villareal, becoming their first-choice goalkeeper. Following some good performances, he caught the attention of Leeds utd .

Reina was signed by Liverpool from Villarreal in July 2005, with manager Rafael Benítez hailing him as "the best goalkeeper in Spain". Reina made his Liverpool debut against Total Network Solutions, now known as The New Saints, in the first qualifying round for the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League.



For the 2005–06 season, Reina took over as Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper, relegating 2005 Champions League hero Jerzy Dudek to the bench. At the start of the same season, on 17 August 2005, Reina made his international debut for Spain in a friendly match against Uruguay. Spain won 2–0.

he season turned out to be a successful one for Liverpool as they improved upon the previous year's league placing and won the FA Cup. It was also a huge success personally for Reina as he notched up various new Liverpool records. On 3 December 2005, Reina kept his sixth consecutive clean sheet, against Wigan Athletic in the Premier League, to break the Liverpool club record for successive clean sheets in the Premiership era. He surpassed David James' record of five games, from the 1996–97 season. Reina's incredible run ended at eight league games, when Everton's James Beattie headed past him into the Liverpool net in Liverpool's 3–1 win over their Merseyside rivals, on 28 December 2005. Reina also broke Liverpool FC's consecutive clean-sheet record, with 11 between October and December 2005. Mineiro, of São Paulo, finally scored past him on 18 December 2005, during the FIFA Club World Cup Final.

A big talking point in the season occurred on 5 February 2006, in a league game against Chelsea. Reina, having made a challenge on Eiður Guðjohnsen moments earlier, was controversially sent off for patting the face of Arjen Robben, who fell down theatrically.,described as "going down like he'd been sledgehammered" by pundit (and ex-Liverpool player) Alan Hansen. Liverpool ended up losing the game 2–0 and Reina was given a three match ban.