Luís Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, born November 4, 1972 in Lisbon, Portugal, is a Portuguese international footballer, who plays as a midfielder and winger, currently for Real Madrid.
Background
He won his first senior international cap in 1991; prior to that, he won the Under-20 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides. Figo moved to FC Barcelona from Sporting Clube de Portugal (a club which developed many other great Portuguese players) in 1995, but not before a dispute with Juventus and Parma, with whom he had signed a double contract, under risk of a lengthy ban. The situation was eventually resolved, and in four years be became a fan-favourite, captain and symbol of the Catalan side. In 2000 his transfer to Barcelona's arch-rival, Real Madrid, for a record-breaking £37,000,000 only intensified the great animosity between the two clubs. There was a short-lived website (antifigo.com [1]) devoted to insult "judas Figo"; he missed his highly anticipated first return to the Nou Camp due to injury; in 2002, Barcelona's ground was banned after objects were thrown at Figo, while massive chants calling him Pesetero (which can be roughly translated to money whore) echoed in the stadium, and finally, during the final match of Template:Ec2 between Greece and Portugal, a Barça fan known as Jimmy Jump ran across the field and threw a FC Barcelona flag at Figo in an apparent act of defiance. Already a great winger at the beginning of his career, Figo eventually became one of the best players of the world, and undoubtedly the best winger of his generation. His dazzling dribbling and the amazing amount of assists (Figo confesses that he enjoys assisting as much as scoring) assured him success and fame all over the world. Figo is recognized for his versatility throughout the pitch.
Luís Figo is nowadays one of the main Portuguese symbols and ambassadors. Many Portuguese travelling outside southern Europe get "Oh! Figo! Figo!" as a reply, when saying they are Portuguese.
He was 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year and is arguably one of the great all-time players.
On August 18, 2004, Figo announced that he would "take a break" from international football. In April 2005 he announced to be ready to return, as he was sidelined in Real Madrid, and the next month Luiz Felipe Scolari announced he would talk with him about the return. He agreed to return on 13 May, and the match between Portugal and Slovakia in June 4 will probably become his return. This received mixed feelings from Portuguese fans: some see his return as fixing something that should not have happened, others fear on the "concessions" Scolari made to bring him back.
Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo had a falling out with Figo after he relegated the Portugal international to the bench for the second half of the 2004-2005 Primera Liga season. It was widely believed that Figo would leave Los Merengues for first-team football elsewhere. During the offseason, he was linked with a move to the Premiership with Liverpool or to Serie A's Inter. Figo agreed to sign a two-year deal with Italian club Inter Milan on 2005 3 August.
He is married to Swedish model Helen Svedin. They have three daughters named Daniela, Martina and Stella.
Racist accusations
In November 2004, shortly after the racist incidents in Madrid during the Spain-England friendly, a newspaper published photos of Figo and other Real Madrid teammates with Real's Ultra group Ultras Sur (well known for its xenophobic and neo-nazi links) merchandise (a flag and a scarfe). However, it is well-known that some players pose for photos and grant interviews to organized fan groups in Southern European clubs. The very own Ultras Sur page has an interview from the 2000-2001 season with Figo, [2] and other players [3] [4] where no political comments are made, and the newspaper might have used them as a pretext to attack the Spanish side, putting the interviews out of context. As noted before, this practice is common, and can't be taken as an indicator of Figo's political stance.
Motor Racing
Along with fellow Portuguese football manager Carlos Queiróz, Figo has brought into the A1 Grand Prix Team Portugal race team, and will act as team boss.
Titles earned
- Champions League (2002, Real Madrid)
- Intercontinental Cup (2002, Real Madrid)
- Cup Winners' Cup (1997, FC Barcelona)
- FIFA World Youth Championship (1991, Portugal)
- Spanish League (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid)
- Spanish Cup (1997, 1998, FC Barcelona)
- Portuguese Cup (1995, Sporting Lisbon)
- Ballon d'or 2000 (France Football prize)
- 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year