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Michael Chopra

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Michael Chopra (born December 23, 1983 in Newcastle) is an English footballer playing professionally for the Championship side Cardiff City.

A striker, he has previously spent loan spells at Watford F.C., Nottingham Forest and Barnsley F.C., and has represented England at the Under-15, Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 levels.

A Geordie boy, the son of an English mother and an Indian father, Chopra made news for being the first player of Desi background to play in the FA Premier League, when he made his Newcastle debut in May 2003 against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.

Chopra is also the first player of part-Indian descent to score in the Premier League.

Playing career

Chopra started playing football at a very young age and had a prolific career as a schoolboy. He went to Alan Shearer's school Gosforth High School, and owing to his goal-scoring exploits there, and later with the Montagu Boys' Club, he was signed by Newcastle as an apprentice in July 1993.

In July 1999, playing for the England Under-16s against Argentina, Chopra scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory, and was named the Man of the Match.

In the 2000-01 season, he scored a total 28 goals for the Newcastle Academy side that reached the final of the FA Premier League Academy Under-17 playoffs. In December 2000 he signed his professional contract with Newcastle. The next season, playing for the Academy Under-19 team, he scored 14 goals in the first 9 games of the season, which prompted a promotion to the Senior Reserves team. He went on to score in the Northumberland Senior Cup final victory over Bedlington in September 2001. Then in October, Newcastle gave him a squad number. By the end of the season, he had made 17 appearances for the Reserves, scoring 7 goals.

The 2002/2003 season started well, with Chopra scoring 9 goals in his first 5 games for the Under-19s as well as the Reserves. In November he signed a new three-year deal with the club, and then on November 6, he made his debut for the senior team, against Everton in the League Cup, substituting Lomana LuaLua. The game ended 3-3, but Newcastle lost in the penalty shootout, and Chopra missed his spot-kick. Then on November 27, 2002, playing for England Under-20, he scored twice against Italy at the Stadium of Light, the game ending 3-5. He also made his UEFA Champions League debut, coming on as a substitute against Barcelona at the Nou Camp in December 2002, and also played against Bayer Leverkusen before he moved on a month-long loan to Watford at the end of March 2003. He scored a total of 5 goals for them in just 6 matches in the period, appearing in a FA Cup semifinal against Southampton, and scoring four goals in one match in the league, a 7-4 win for Watford against Burnley.

The season ended on another positive note as he finally made his Premiership debut for Newcastle in the 2-2 draw away against West Brom on May 11, 2003. He gain his chance to represent England at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

In 2003-2004, he played four games for Newcastle before being loaned out to Nottingham Forest for a month in February-March where he played 5 games. Returning from the loan spell he played another two games.

Next season, in August 2004 he went on another loan, this time to Barnsley. This spell turned out to be extremely productive for both Chopra and Barnsley, as he got invaluable first team experience, and they got their season top-scorer in him. Playing in a total 39 matches in the League One, he scored 17 goals, including a couple of hattricks, in the matches against Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town. He also represented them in the FA Cup and the League Cup, and was chosen as their Player of the Season.

Chopra began the 2005-2006 season back in Newcastle's first team squad and played in early UEFA Intertoto Cup ties, also scoring his first senior goal for Newcastle in the 1-3 win against Slovakian side Dubnica on July 17, 2005.

On 17 April, 2006 Chopra scored his first League goal in the 60th minute of the 17 April, 2006 Tyne-Wear Derby.

On the 14 June 2006 Chopra joined Cardiff City for £500,000 after turning down a new one-year contract at Newcastle. Chopra was approached to join the India national football team on the basis of his Indian ancestry. He turned down the opportunity at the advice of his agent, who thought that it would lead Chopra nowhere.

He made a superb start to the new chapter in his career, scoring five goals in as many games for Cardiff City in pre-season. A goal on his home debut against French side AJ Auxerre topped a great performance, making him an instant hero amongst the Cardiff faithful.

Through the fantastic start that both Chopra and Cardiff City have had at the beginning of the season with 33 points from 15 games leaving Cardiff City in 1st place of the Football League Championship and Chopra with 10 league goals, he was announced Championship player of the month for September.

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