Keep playing like the Pros! Read about your “Pro Player” and “Pro Teammates”.* Have your parents help you find a video on YouTube of these Pro Players. Do you see the resemblance? Study the game, keep playing the game, and have a great summer!
~ From Coach Lorin and Jenn, U8 Team Manager *Player write ups taken from Wikipedia
ARTHUR plays like Eden Michael Hazard (#10) a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Belgium national team. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger. Hazard's creativity, speed, and technical ability are widely acknowledged. He has been described as "a superb passer" and has earned critical acclaim for his playing style, which has led to the media, coaches, and players drawing comparisons to FIFA Ballon d'Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Hazard is often ranked by coaches, colleagues, and commentators as one of the best players in the world.
BEN plays like MarcAndré ter Stegen (#1) a German professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona as a goalkeeper. After four seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach, making 108 league appearances, Ter Stegen joined Barcelona in 2014. He won the treble in his first season in Spain, playing in Barcelona's wins in the Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League. He has represented Germany at several youth levels and made his senior international debut in 2012.
BERNIE plays like Bastian Schweinsteiger (#31) a German footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bayern Munich and the Germany national team, serving as captain. A rightfooted player, he usually plays as central midfielder. Earlier in his career he primarily played as a wide midfielder. As of July 2014, he is the Bayern Munich vicecaptain to longtime teammate Philipp Lahm. On 2 September 2014, Schweinsteiger was named captain of the national team following Lahm's international retirement.
CADEN plays like Ramires Santos do Nascimento (#7), known simply as Ramires, a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the Brazil national team. A midfielder, he is comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally plays as a boxtobox midfielder role because of his energy in supporting defensive and offensive play. His attacking and defensive mentality have led to comparisons to former Chelsea teammate Michael Essien. Ramires began his career playing for Royal Sport Club. In 2005, he signed for Joinville, before joining Cruzeiro, whom he spent just over two seasons with, appearing in 61 league matches and scoring 10 times. In 2009, Ramires moved to Portugal and signed for Benfica from Cruzeiro. He spent one season with Benfica in which he helped them to the Primeira Liga title, five points clear of secondplaced Braga. He then joined English club Chelsea in the summer of 2010 on a fouryear contract, and has since won five different domestic and European competitions with them.
CONRAD plays like Toni Kroos (#8) is a German footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the German national team as a midfielder. A member of Bayern Munich's first team at the age of 17, Kroos became a regular after an 18month loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen, and won honours including three Bundesliga titles and the 2013 Champions League. After winning the World Cup in 2014, he joined Real Madrid on a sixyear contract. He has been praised by journalists and former professionals as a player with all the qualities for the role of an attacking midfielder. K roos made his full international debut in 2010 and was a member of the Germany squad which reached the semifinals of the 2010 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. He was also part of the team that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first (and only) footballer born in East Germany to win the competition.
DANNY plays like Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (#4) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the Spain national team. Fàbregas plays mainly as a central midfielder or attacking midfielder but has also played as a winger or a second striker on some occasions. Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with Barcelona but was signed by Premier League side Arsenal in September 2003 at the age of 16. Following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, he went on to establish himself as Arsenal's starting central midfielder, playmaker and captain. He broke several of the club's records in the process, earning a reputation as one of the best young players in his position. Despite competition from his international teammates Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, Fàbregas was a regular goalscorer in his three seasons at Barcelona, and won the first league title of his career in 2013. He signed for Chelsea in June 2014, winning the League Cup and the Premier League in his first season.
ELIANA plays like Crystal Alyssia Dunn (#19) is an American soccer player for the U.S. Women's National Team and for the Washington Spirit of the NWSL. She was a member of the team that won Japan 2012 FIFA U20 Women's World Cup, a member of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team, and was the recipient of 2012 Hermann Trophy. She represented the United States as member of United States U17, U18, and U20 national soccer teams. On February 13, 2013, she made her debut in the senior team playing a friendly match against Scotland national women's football team.
EMILY plays like Carli Anne Lloyd (#10) is an American professional soccer midfielder who currently plays for the Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women's national soccer team. She is a twotime Olympic gold medalist, and scored the gold medalwinning goals in the finals of both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She has represented the United States at three FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments: the2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, in which she helped the U.S. win bronze; the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, in which the U.S. won silver; and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, where Lloyd led the U.S. to its third title. During the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup final, Lloyd scored a hat trick to lead the U.S. to a 5–2 win over Japan and the World Cup title. She scored three goals in the first 16 minutes of the final, with the first two occurring in the first six minutes of the game and within three minutes of each other. Lloyd received the Golden Ball Trophy as best player of the tournament and earned the Silver Boot for her six goals and one assist during the tournament. L loyd has played in over 200 matches for the U.S. national team and scored over 65 goals. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue FC, and Atlanta Beat in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). In 2013, she was allocated to the Western New York Flash for the inaugural season of the NWSL and helped the team win the regular season championship.
ERIC plays like James Philip Milner (#7) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester City and the England national team. He will join Liverpool on 1 July [4] 2015 subject to passing a medical. He previously played for Leeds United, Swindon Town, Newcastle United and Aston Villa. Playing as a central midfielder with Aston Villa, Milner was named PFA Young Player of the Season and in the PFA Team of the Season for the 2009–10 Premier League season; however, after his move to Manchester City, Milner was more often utilised as a winger. M ilner's talent in football, cricket, and longdistance running was recognised at a very young age. He represented his school in these sports and played football for amateur teams from Rawdon and Horsforth. He supported Leeds United from a young age and was a season ticket holder at the club. In 1996, he joined the Leeds United youth academy. He made his debut for the first team in 2002, aged only 16, and gained prominence as the youngest player to score in the Premier League.
FOX plays like Manuel Peter Neuer (#1) is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bayern Munich and the German national team. He has been described as a "sweeperkeeper" because of his unique playing style and is known for his quick reflexes, excellent shotstopping abilities, command of his area and accurate distribution of the ball. N euer won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany as well as the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament and is considered by some to be the best goalkeeper in the world since Lev Yashin.
LUCY plays like Alexandra Morgan Carrasco, commonly known as Alex Morgan, (#13) an American soccer player and Olympic gold medalist. She is a forward for the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and for the United States women's national soccer team. Morgan was drafted number one overall in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash, where she made her professional debut and helped the team win the league championship. At age 22, she was the youngest player on the national team at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. In the 2012 London Olympics she scored the gamewinning goal in the 123rd minute of the semifinal game against Canada. She finished 2012 with 28 goals and 21 assists, joining Mia Hamm as the only American women to score 20 goals and collect 20 assists in the same calendar year, and making her the sixth and youngest U.S. player to score 20 goals in a single year. She was subsequently named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year and was a FIFA World Player of the Year finalist.
MALACHI plays like Willian Borges da Silva (#22), commonly known as Willian, a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for English club Chelsea. He started his career at Corinthians, before joining Shakhtar in August 2007. After six years at the Ukrainian club, he briefly signed for Anzhi Makhachkala before joining Chelsea. Willian made his debut for Brazil in 2011 and represented the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. NOAH plays like Franz Anton Beckenbauer (#5) is a German football manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style; his leadership; his first name "Franz" (reminiscent of the Austrian emperors), and his dominance on the football pitch. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest German footballers of all time and one of the most decorated footballers in the history of the game. B eckenbauer was a versatile player, who started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero. T wice selected European Footballer of the Year, Beckenbauer appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three FIFA World Cups. He is one of only two men, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo, to have won the FIFA World Cup as a player and as a manager: he lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990. He was the first captain to lift the World Cup, the European Championship at international level and the European Cup at club level. He was named in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002, and in 2004 was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players. NOLAN plays like Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, (#7), known as Cristiano Ronaldo a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team. He is a forward and serves as captain for Portugal. By the age of 22, Ronaldo had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2008, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He followed this up by winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014. He also won the 2013–14 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. In January 2014, Ronaldo scored his 400th senior career goal for club and country aged 28.Often ranked as the best player in the world and rated by some in the sport as the greatest of all time Ronaldo is the first Portuguese footballer to win three FIFA/Ballons d'Or, and the first player to win four European Golden Shoe awards. In January 2015, Ronaldo was named as the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation, during its 100th anniversary celebrations. With Manchester United and Real Madrid, he has won three Premier Leagues, one La Liga, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, two Copas del Rey, one FA Community Shield, one Supercopas de España, two UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups.
PATRICK plays like Diego Armando Maradona Franco (#10) is an Argentine former footballer. He has served as a manager and coach at other clubs as well as for the national team of Argentina. Many experts, football critics, former players, current players and football fans regard
Maradona as the greatest football player of all time. H e was joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys during his club career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli where he won numerous accolades. In his international career with Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. Maradona's exceptional vision, passing, ball control, dribbling skills, speed, reflexes and thinking time was combined with his small size (he was 5'5", or 1.65m) giving him a low center of gravity which allowed him to be more maneuverable than most other football players; he would often dribble past multiple opposing players on a run. His presence on the pitch would have a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro" ("The Golden Boy"), a name that stuck with him throughout his career.[12]
SPENCER plays like Ki Sungyueng (#4) a South Korean professional footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Swansea City, and the captain of South Korea national team. Ki is known for his vision, technique, longrange passing and shooting, along with his good setpieces. He has been a full international for South Korea since 2007, gaining over 70 caps. Ki was selected in their squads for two World Cups and the 2011 and 2015 AFC Asian Cups, finishing as runnerup in the latter tournament. He has also played at two Olympic Games with his country, winning bronze in 2012. In 20 May 2015, Ki was voted as Swansea City Player of the Year as he netted 8 goals in 36 appearances.