Nikica Jelavić

Profile Football Stars | Nikica Jelavić | He started his career with Prva HNL side Hajduk Split in 2002, before moving to the Belgian Pro League club Zulte Waregem in 2007.  For the 2008-09 season played for the Austrian Jelavić champions Rapid Vienna. In the Austrian Bundesliga he played 24 games (as a first squad in 9 and as substitute in 15) and scored seven goals without any yellow or red cards. In the Europa League, he played six games and scored four goals with one assist. In the summer of 2010 Jelavić was linked with a transfer to Rangers. On 19 August, Rapid Announced That Jelavić would be signing for Rangers, after the player Announced he would not play in Rapid's Europa League qualifying match against Aston Villa.

On 20 August 2010 Jelavić completed a £ 4 million move to Rangers on a four-year-deal. Due to his former club Rapid Vienna eliminating Aston Villa from the Europa League, Jelavić was ineligible to Participate in the Rangers' Champions League campaign, after Becoming cup tied after Appearing for the Austrian side in the Earlier rounds . Johnstone on 27 February 2011, scored two goals Jelavić and assisted a third with a back heel pass. On 20 March 2011, scored the winning goal Jelavić in extra time in the Rangers' 2-1 win over Celtic in the 2011 Scottish League Cup Final. Jelavić received the SFA goal of the season award for his goal against Aberdeen.  Jelavić scored his first European goal for Rangers on 3 August 2011 in a 1-1 draw against Malmo in a UEFA Champions League qualifying game. On 5 November 2011 Jelavić scored his first brace of the season Helping Rangers a 3-1 victory to over Dundee United. Jelavić scored another two goals in a 2-0 win over Hibernian on 10 December 2011.

On 10 March 2012, scored his first goal Jelavić for Everton in his first start for the club, scoring the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park . Jelavić scored his first brace for Everton against Norwich City in a 2-2 draw at Carrow Road in the Premier League. On 14 April, Jelavić scored the opener in the FA Cup Semi-Final against local rivals Everton Liverpool at Wembley the which went on to lose 2-1. On 22 April, Jelavić scored his second brace for Everton, as he scored the opener and the third goal at Old Trafford against Manchester United, in a pulsating 4-4 draw.

Jelavić eventually made his full international debut in a friendly match against Oman on 8 October 2009 in Rijeka, coming on as a substitute for Ivan Klasnic in the 64th minute in the which he also netted his first international goal to secure his team a 3-2 win in the final moments of the match.

Personal information
Full name Nikica Jelavić
Date of birth 27 August 1985 (age 26)
Place of birth Capljina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Striker

Club information
Current club Everton
Number 7

Youth career
1999-2001 GOŠK Gabela
2001-2002 Neretva
Hajduk Split 2002-2005

Senior career
years Team
Hajduk Split 2002-2007 35 (8)
2007-2008 Zulte Waregem 23 (3)
2008-2010 Rapid Vienna 71 (27)
2010-2012 Rangers 45 (30)
2012-Everton 9 (6)

National team
2002 Croatia U17 2 (0)
2003 Croatia U18 2 (0)
2009-Croatia 18 (7)

Honours

Club
     Rangers
         Scottish Premier League: 2010-11
         Scottish League Cup: 2011

     Everton
         FA Cup Player of the Round: Sixth Round 2011-12

Marouane Fellaini

Profile Football Stars | Marouane Fellaini | At the age of 17, he signed his first contract with Standard Liege permanent. Born in Etterbeek, Brussels, Fellaini began playing football at the age of 8 for Anderlecht. In his first season at Anderlecht's Academy, he scored 26 goals in his second and he scored 37. Fellaini's first love was track, with the 10.000 meters being his preferred event. After rejected advances from Manchester United and Following reported interest from Aston Villa, Real Madrid, Tottenham and Bayern Munich, Fellaini signed for Everton in September 2008 on a five-year deal from Standard Liege for an initial transfer fee of £ 15 million (a record for a Belgian player and a club record for Everton). He made his Everton debut in a 3-2 away victory at Stoke City on 14 September 2008, and scored his first goal for the team against Newcastle United in a 2-2 home draw on 5 October 2008. Fellaini went on to score nine goals in his first season, the most he has scored in a single season at the club to date.

At the end of the 2008-09 season Everton's Fellaini was named Young Player of the Season. In his time in England he has Become well known for his large "afro" hair, Becoming a cult hero with the Everton fans sporting Afro wigs regularly as a homage to Fellaini. Later Fellaini Reverted to play in his favored defensive midfield area.  Fellaini suffered an ankle injury in an FA Cup replay victory against Chelsea in February 2011 and although he was Able to play in a 2-0 win against Sunderland a week later, the injury Caused him to miss the remainder of the 2010-11 season.

He did not play a competitive match until August 2011, when he Appeared as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park and played the full match in the very next fixture, as Everton beat Sheffield United 3 -1 in the League Cup. Eligible to play for either Belgium or Morocco, Fellaini he chose to Represent the country of his birth from youth level upwards.

Personal information
Full name Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui
Date of birth 22 November 1987 (age 24)
Place of birth Etterbeek, Belgium
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1/2 in)
Playing position Midfielder

Club information
Current club Everton
Number 25

Youth career
Everton 1994-1997
Mons 1997-2000
2000-2002 R. Francs Borains
2002-2004 Sporting Charleroi
2004-2006 Standard Liege

Senior career
years Team
2006-2008 Standard Liege 64 (9)
2008-Everton 104 (14)

National team
2007-Belgium 33 (5)

Honours

Club
Standard Liège
     Belgian First Division winner: 2007-08
     Belgian Ebony Shoe winner: 2008

Everton
     FA Cup runner-up: 2009
     Young Player of the Season winner: 2008/09

Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Profile Football Stars | Yakubu Aiyegbeni | His performances in the 2002-03 UEFA Champions League earned a loan move to English club Portsmouth as a permanent Became the which They were Promoted to the Premier League in 2003. During his spell at Maccabi Haifa, he won the Israeli Premier League on two consecutive Occasions: 2001-02 and 2002-03. He had an excellent scoring record with the club, both in the domestic and international competitions, breaking Several club records. Yakubu's highest scoring season at Haifa was 2001-02, when he scored 13 times in 22 games (League season was 33 matches). He scored seven goals in eight European Cup appearances in the 2002-03 season UEFA Champions League, (including a hat-trick against Olympiakos and a penalty in the 3-0 win over Manchester United). Yakubu moved to English club Portsmouth of the First Division (now the Championship) on loan on 6 January 2003. Signed by Harry Redknapp, Yakubu helped Portsmouth win the 2002-03 Division 1 title, scoring at a rate of one goal every two games (7 in 14 matches). The match ended 3-0 with Yakubu substituted for Pericard after 89 minutes. Seven days later, Yakubu scored a goal in each half of a 6-2 victory over Derby County for his first brace in English football.

Yakubu made his loan spell at Portsmouth permanent in May 2003 for a fee of £ 4 million. He played 37 of Portsmouth's 38 Premier League matches in 2003-04, starting all but two. Yakubu's 16 goals made him the club's leading goal-scorer, and joint-sixth highest scorer in the entire league. Yakubu ended the season with 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League matches, starting with one each in four straight games, the first being the only goal in the South Coast Derby versus Southampton on 21 March. Yakubu's 28 Premier League goals Between his two seasons the make him Portsmouth's highest ever scorer in the Premier League, with nine more than second-highest scorer Their Mwaruwari Benjani.

After the 2004-05 season, he transferred from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough for a fee of £ 7.5 million.  Yakubu scored the only goal of the game with a penalty in the first leg of the UEFA Cup last 16 round at home against Roma, giving Middlesbrough a 1-0 victory, who later went through on away goals. Yakubu scored his 100th goal in English football in a league game at West Bromwich Albion early in the 2008-09 Premier League season. He continued his great start to the season with a goal against Standard Liege in the UEFA Cup.

Yakubu's fourth and fifth goals of the league season cam  in an away 3-3 draw at Wigan Athletic on 19 November 2011. On 3 December 2011, Yakubu scored all four goals for Blackburn in a 4-2 home win over Swansea City . He scored two in each half, finishing with a penalty. It was his first hat-trick Blackburn and his first four-goal game since the last day of the 2003-04 season, for Portsmouth against Middlesbrough. He scored two goals, one being a penalty, in his side's shock 2-3 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford on the 31 December 2011 on the which left him 13 goals for the season in all competitions. On 10 April 2012 Yakubu scored twice, while missing one penalty and scoring a second, in Blackburn's 2-3 loss at home to Liverpool.

In September 2000, Yakubu featured in Nigeria's squad for football at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia. Then of Maccabi Haifa, the 17-year old Yakubu wore the number 9 shirt. He scored the injury-time equalizer in Nigeria's first match, a 3-3 draw with Honduras on 13 September in Adelaide. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Yakubu missed an open goal Notably from three meters against South Korea in the last Group game but later went on to score a penalty.

Personal information
Full name Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Date of birth 22 November 1982 (age 29)
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Striker

Club information
Current club Blackburn Rovers
Number 24

Youth career
1995-1998 Gateway
1998 Julius Berger

Senior career
years Team
1998 Gil Vicente (loan)
Maccabi Haifa 1999-2003 72 (30)
1999-2000 Hapoel Kfar Saba (loan) 23 (16)
2003 Portsmouth (loan) 14 (7)
Portsmouth 2003-2005 67 (29)
Middlesbrough 2005-2007 73 (25)
Everton 2007-2011 82 (25)
2011 Leicester City (loan) 20 (11)
2011-Blackburn Rovers 25 (18)

National team
2000-Nigeria 57 (21)

Honours

Maccabi Haifa
     Israeli Premier League:
         Winner: 2000-01, 2001-02

     Toto Cup:
         Winner: 2002

Portsmouth
     Football League Division One:
         Winner: 2002-03

Wayne Rooney

Profile Football Stars | Wayne Rooney | Rooney featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and is Widely regarded as his country's best player.  As of September 2011, he has won 73 international caps and scored 28 goals. Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off twice. Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003 Becoming the youngest player to Represent England (a record later broken by Theo Walcott). He is England's youngest ever goalscorer. He played at the UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly Becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer. Rooney has won the Premier League 'Goal of the Season' award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three Occasions.

Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and until May 2010 he held the record of 72 goals scored in one season. At age nine, Rooney played for Copplehouse boys' club in the local Walton and Kirkdale junior league and scored 99 goals in his final season before being spotted by Everton scout Bob Pendleton.

Rooney sustained a broken metatarsal in That game after a tackle made by Paulo Ferreira. Rooney's goalscoring further improved in the 2005-06 season, as he managed 16 goals in 36 Premier League games. On 11 February 2012, Rooney marked his 500th career game by senior scoring two goals as United beat rivals Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford. On 4 March Rooney scored the first goal in a 3-1 away win against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and went past Joe Spence in Manchester United's all-time top goalscorers table heading up to sixth place overall with 169 goals. He scored another brace in his next game, against Atletico Bilbao in the Europa League. On 11 March Rooney scored two goals That Brought the United the victory against West Bromwich Albion in a 2-0 home win.

Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott broke Rooney's appearance record by 36 days in May 2006. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after England drew with Algeria, the England players were Rooney scored three goals.

Personal information
Full name Wayne Mark Rooney
Date of birth 24 October 1985 (age 26)
Place of birth Croxteth, Liverpool, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Forward

Club information
Current club Manchester United
Number 10

Youth career
1996 - 2002 Everton

Senior career
years Team
2002 - 2004 67 Everton (15)
2004 - Manchester United 241 (122)

National team
2000-2001 England U15 4 (2)
2001-2002 England U17 12 (7)
2002-England U19 1 (0)
2003-England 73 (28)

Honours
Club

Manchester United
     Premier League (4): 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11
     Football League Cup (2): 2005-06, 2009-10
     FA Community Shield (3): 2007, 2010, 2011
     UEFA Champions League (1): 2007-08
     FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

Individual
     PFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2009-10
     PFA Young Player of the Year (2): 2004-05, 2005-06
     PFA Fans' Player of the Year (2): 2005-06, 2009-10
     PFA Premier League Team of the Year (2): 2005-06, 2009-10
     FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 2009-10
     Goal of the Season (3): 2004-05, 2006-07, 2010-11
     Goal of the Month (6): October 2003, January 2005, April 2005,
     January 2007, March 2007, February 2011
     Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year (2): 2005-06, 2009-10
     BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year (1): 2002
     Bravo Award (1): 2003
     UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament
     FIFPro World Young Player of the Year (1): 2004-05
     Premier League Player of the Month (5): February 2005, December 2005,
     March 2006, October 2007, January 2010
     Barclays Player of the Year (1): 2009-10
     FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball (1): 2008
     England Player of the Year (2): 2008, 2009
     Golden Boot Award Landmark 20 (1): 2009-10
     FIFA / FIFPro World XI (1): 2011