FC Barcelona - Atlético Madrid 0-0 Man of the Match

FC Barcelona - Atlético Madrid 0-0 Man of the Match Víctor Valdés

Víctor Valdés i Arribas Biography

Víctor Valdés i Arribas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiktor βalˈdes aˈriβas]; born 14 January 1982) is a Spanish football goalkeeper who currently plays for FC Barcelona in La Liga.

He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Barcelona's history, having won a total of 19 trophies including five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, and two Copa del Rey titles. He also has won the Zamora Trophy a record five times. He currently holds the club records as goalkeeper with most appearances in the league and in official competition, breaking Andoni Zubizarreta's records during the 2011–12 season. Before joining the full team in 2002–03 season, Valdés played for the youth teams and FC Barcelona B.

Kevin Peter Pietersen Biography

Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE (born 27 June 1980) is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England, Surrey and the Delhi Daredevils.
Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England, after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa.[2] His English mother made him eligible to play for England and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level, he was called up almost immediately into the national side. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004 and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year.
The England team's subsequent reliance on Pietersen resulted in only a single first-class appearance for Hampshire between 2005 and 2010. On 17 June 2010, Pietersen announced his wish to leave Hampshire and he subsequently joined Surrey on loan for the remainder of the season before joining the club permanently from the 2011 season onwards.
He was captain of the England Test and ODI teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009 but resigned after just three Tests and nine ODIs, following a dispute with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day.[8] His relationship with the ECB never fully recovered. This came to a head in 2012 when, after a disagreement over his schedule, Pietersen annouced his retirement from all forms of international limited-overs cricket on 31 May. Although he later retracted his retirement, his relationship with both the ECB and his team-mates soured during the series against South Africa and he was dropped for the final Test of that series.
Pietersen became the fastest batsman to roach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Sir Donald Bradman, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007. In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, The Times called him "the most complete batsman in cricket" and in 2012 The Guardian called him "England's greatest modern batsman".

Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma Biography

Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo roˈðɾiɣeθ leˈðezma]; born 28 July 1987), commonly known as Pedro or Pedrito, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, as a forward or winger.
He usually plays the ball with his left foot but is actually right-footed. He can play on either side of the pitch, and even fit in as a target man; he is excellent at finding the right position and has a strong long-range shot.
During the 2009–10 season at his main club, FC Barcelona, he became the first player in history to score in six different official club competitions in one season (a feat later matched by teammate Lionel Messi).
Pedro represented Spain at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, helping the national team win both tournaments.

Francisco Román Alarcón Suárez Biography

Francisco Román Alarcón Suárez (born 21 April 1992), commonly known as Isco (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈisko]), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Real Madrid mainly as an attacking midfielder.

Valencia

Isco was born in Benalmádena, Málaga, Andalusia. A product of Valencia CF's youth system, He made his debut with the first team on 11 November 2010, against UD Logroñés for the season's Copa del Rey, scoring two goals in a 4–1 home win (7–1 on aggregate). Previously, he spent one full season with the reserves in Segunda División B, netting once in 25 games and suffering relegation.
Isco played his first La Liga match on 14 November 2010, playing 20 minutes in a 2–0 home win against Getafe CF after coming on as a substitute for Aritz Aduriz.

Málaga

In mid-July 2011, after helping Valencia's B-team return to the third level by scoring 15 goals, Isco signed a five-year contract with Málaga CF, after the club activated his buy-out clause of €6 million. He scored his first goal for his new team on 21 November 2011, starting in a 3–1 away win against Racing de Santander;[5] he netted again the following week in a 2–1 win against Villarreal CF, and finished his first season with 32 games and five goals as the side qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history.
On 18 September 2012, in Málaga's first game in the Champions League group stage, Isco netted twice in a 3–0 home win over FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, also being chosen as Man of the Match. On 22 December he scored the first goal in an eventual 3–2 win against Real Madrid at La Rosaleda, leading the locals to their first victory over that opponent in 29 years; in December he won the Golden Boy award, beating Stephan El Shaarawy and Thibaut Courtois.
On 28 January 2013, Isco ended speculation regarding his future by signing a new contract with Málaga – his new buyout clause was set at €35 million. He scored his eleventh goal of the campaign on 13 March, netting the opener in a 2–0 home win against F.C. Porto, good enough for last-eight qualification after the 0–1 loss in Portugal.

Real Madrid

On 17 June 2013, Isco confirmed that he had received offers from Real Madrid and former Málaga manager Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City, but stated he would only make a final decision on his future after the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final. On the 26th, the former's president Florentino Pérez confirmed that a deal had been reached with the player and that he would be presented by the club next week, once he passed his medica, the following day he signed a five-year contract, with Real Madrid paying €30 million for his services, thus becoming the first signing of newly-appointed manager Carlo Ancelotti.
On 18 August 2013 Isco made his official debut for the Merengues, recording an assist and scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 home win over Real Betis, the latter coming through an 85th-minute header.

David Villa Sánchez Biography

David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið ˈβiʎa]; born 3 December 1981), nicknamed El Guaje (Asturian: The Kid),[3][4] is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a striker for Atlético Madrid[5] and the Spanish national football team. He can also operate as a winger.
Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga début, winning his first senior honours—the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey in the 2007–08 season. In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles.
Villa made his international début in 2005. He has since participated in three major tournaments, becoming an integral member of the Spain teams that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was the top scorer at Euro 2008 and earned the Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. He is the first Spanish player to ever reach 50 international goals and is Spain's all-time top goalscorer, having also scored more World Cup goals than any other player in Spain's history in the process.[6] The goals-to-games ratio he has achieved for the national team has not been matched by any player since Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Daniel Alves da Silva Biography

Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), commonly known as Dani Alves, is a Brazilian footballer. He plays as an offensive right defender for FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team.
Before joining Barcelona, Alves spent a successful six-year spell with Sevilla FC, winning two UEFA Cups and the Copa del Rey with the Andalusian side. He joined Barcelona for €32.5m, becoming the second most expensive defender to date, after Rio Ferdinand's transfer from Leeds United to Manchester United in 2002 for around £30 million. Alves won the Treble in his first season with the club and in the other season, he won Spanish super cup, European super cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. Also, he helped the club to clinch another Spanish super cup, two league titles, and a UEFA Champions League in the years that followed. Alves has held a Spanish passport since 2005. On 29 September 2011, Alves was appointed as a Special Olympics Ambassador for its Global Football program, charged with promoting respect and inclusion in football for people with intellectual disabilities, particularly in the run up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.