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Manchester City : Reason for the Premier league success

English Premier League is the greatest football league in the world. Winning the league is no less than conquering the world. They were out of the picture for a long time and their last win was in 1968 until this decade. This decade witnessed the rise of Blues and became the winner of Premier league for maximum number of times.

This started with coach Manchini in 2012. The Blues were becoming a strong team with a powerful core system. They had Silva, Toure, Nasri in their midfield. Along with them they had Aguero in front and defence was guarded by Kompany and Zabaleta. With these players they came up as an invincible force.

Ya Ya Toure was one of the finest central defensive midfielders. His ball control, passing ability, and strong tackle made the foundation of a strong team. Along with him City Silva’s brilliance and Aguero’s goal scoring ability strengthen the team. They ended the long wait of 44 years and won the much awaited EPL in 2012.

After Manchini left Pelligrini came and managed the same strong team. They were good in all sections and that was a team of potential stars.  The side won the league in 2013 again and they reached a new height of success by winning 2 league titles in 3 years.

Unfortunately Pelligrini could not win more titles in the next two years. Thus the end of the season brought an end to his reign and signed one of the most successful coaches of world Pep Guardiola. With his entrance to the club, a lot of youth faces appeared and legends to be born are there.

After an unspectacular first season, Guardiola brought in players suited to his total football philosophy and spurred others to greater heights. Guardiola may have taken City to greatness, but he has been well backed by a club that has been transformed beyond all recognition in the past decade. The money he needed has been available, with more than £200million spent on a squad revamp in 2017. 

They signed Mahrez and Debruyne and the rest is history. KDB is considered as one of the best youth to play in the EPL . The incoming of such talented youths and the presence of an experienced side made a good match which resulted in them winning two consecutive league titles.

They came up as one of the strongest sides of EPL but their victory was limited in the national level. They were unable to make a mark in the Champions League although they had a great side. Hope to see some magic in the coming years .

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Lyngdoh: College dropout to Indian National Team

In any sport, age is considered as an important factor as physical fitness starts decreasing when one grows older. But these are not appropriate when it comes to Lyngdoh. This Meghalayan boy proves that ‘age is just a number for him’ and shows us what one can achieve if he or she has the will to achieve it. 

Hailing from Meghalaya, Lyngdoh started his career of amateur football at Ar-Hima,a club where his father also played for in the local leagues. He got his footballing talents from his father and being from the North East he got to play a lot of football there. At the age of 17, he had to make an important  decision in his life whether to choose football or studies. Although he has talent for football, he prefers to study Engineering. To pursue his career in Engineering he was admitted in an engineering college in Electronics and telecommunication. In the third year of Engineering he quit his studies and tried his luck in football again. He put it beautifully, “But my mind was never in books. It was always out there on the field of play.” Shillong Lajong’s promotion to the Hero I-League is the main reason to switch his career in football. Pradhyum Reddy gave him a chance to play for Shillong Lajong FC( The Ar Hima club was renamed) and he gave his best to utilise this chance. He never had to look back from that. After spending 2 years with Shillong Lajong, Lyngdoh re-signed for Rangdajied United and made his debut in the I-League on 22 September 2013 against Prayag United at the Salt Lake Stadium, playing the full match as Rangdajied lost 0–2.He would make 19 I-League appearances for Rangdajied.

 He went to the most successful rising club of India, The Bengaluru FC. There he clubbed with the striker and captain of Indian team Sunil Chetri. He and Chetri became a great duo both for the club and also for the country. This partnership saw Lyngdoh win one Hero I-League, two Hero Federation Cups, and even saw the mighty Blues make it to the final of the 2016 AFC Cup. Playing AFC for the club is a great opportunity for anyone in the subcontinent and he put it as, “I had a dream of playing the AFC Cup for a long time. Even when I had joined Lajong, I had told Pradhyum Reddy that I wanted to play it,” said Lyngdoh. “We came so close to winning it at Bengaluru FC. That final was a really special moment for me.”

Eugeneson made his debut for India on 12 March 2015 against Nepal in the first leg of a two-legged 2018 FIFA World Cup pre-qualifier in a 2–0 win where he assisted the second goal. His rise in the Indian football is no less than a Fairy tale but he faced injuries for a couple of times in his career and that prevented him from playing. After Bengaluru he joined ATK for the last two seasons but could not make his mark on the field due to serious injuries.

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Luka Modrić: Refugee to world’s best midfielder

Everybody knows about the star midfielder of Croatia and Real Madrid. The Ballon d'or winner had to struggle in order to achieve today’s success. He is the key playmaker of Real Madrid and contributed Real to win three successive Champions Leagues. He also captioned the Croatian side in the 2018 FIFA world cup. 

The journey of Luka is full of struggle and had to face many challenges throughout his life. He was born into a refugee family who fled from Serbian aggression during the Bosnian war. Being a war child he experienced horrific events during his childhood. His grandfather was executed by the Serbs and they had to flee. His childhood was with the Croatian Independence war.

He lived with his family in the Hotel Kolovare for seven years; he later moved to the Hotel Iž, both in Zadar.  During the years at hotels he was known as a child who wore wooden shin pads and always had a ball at his feet . His father finally got to work in the military and  at that time cities were bombed. In this hostile situation football was the only way to cherish and was a distraction from the constant violence of war.

In 2002, he was signed by Dinamo Zagreb at age 16, after showing promise with his hometown club NK Zadar's youth team. He made his debut in Dinamo in 2005 and won three consecutive league titles. In 2008 he joined the EPL giant Tottenham Hotspur and played for almost four seasons. He led Spurs to their first UEFA Champions League appearance in almost 50 years, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2010–11 tournament.  

He is constantly judged for his little physique in football and many told him that he had no future in football due to this physique. But he was determined to play in the great team and ultimately in 2012 he signed with the mighty Real Madrid. He was marked as the worst signing of the season. But things are going to change .

After Zinedine Zidane took over Madrid, Modrić was critical to three consecutive Champions League titles from 2015–16 to 2017–18, each time being voted into the squad of the season. His workload was incomparable and with his accurate passing he was the midfield magician for Real Madrid. He was the crucial member for Zidane’s side and won the La Liga Award for "Best Midfielder" in 2016 for the second time, and the UEFA Club Football Award for "Best Midfielder" in 2017 and 2018.

For his great performance in the Champions League and World cup , he was awarded with the Ballon d or in 2018. He said that he dreamt to play in big clubs but winning the Ballon d'or is one step ahead of the dream. He is still at the Real now and doing his best to serve Real. The rags to riches story will definitely give goosebumps to all . He is an inspiration to all and his life story will motivate many . 

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Liverpool: The end of 30 years waiting

Liverpool is one of the greatest football clubs in the world. They won every possible tournament in the world but they could not get success in their very own Premier League. They won the last title in 1990 . Almost for three decades , they have not been the national champions . Something was missing in their trophy cabinet .  The long wait came to an end in 2020 when they were declared the EPL winner. The architect of this victory is none other than their manager Jurgen Klopp. The manager gave the team a new shape and in two years they won the Champions league and the English Premier League. 

Christmas came in June for the Kopites. The long wait ultimately came to an end. But the way to victory is not smooth . When Klopp came to Anfield in 2016 the situation of the club was not well as club legend Steven Gerrard had to leave the club in sorrows in previous year. The fans were not accepting that in a good way. The problems are huge and need to be solved as soon as possible. But Klopp had his magical wand in his hand and created magic at Anfield.

Today’s victory can be rooted back to when Liverpool appointed Klopp as manager. He is an expert in bringing new players and managing old players perfectly. He bought a few players who became stars after coming here line Sadio Mane and Salah. He made a few changes and shaped the team like never before. The team was full of energy and confidence that they will move mountains or die trying. These changes made the team strong and gave the foundation of today’s victory. He was the mastermind to sell Coutinho at high price and bring two promising players like Van Dijk and Ketia. Van Dijk was nominated for Ballon d or in 2019. Salah was African player of the year in 2017 and 2018 consecutively. The same prize was shared by his teammate Mane for the next two years. The team was literally built from scratch and paved its path to this success.

They won the Champions league in 2019 but with this great team they were unable to win in the country. Although they finished just a point behind the City they could not make it in that year. So they came on the field with new enthusiasm to win the league. After they started rolling they gained the top spot and remained there. They are way ahead of their rivals .

 But this is not a fairy tale and Covid-19 came to the world . With the arrival of pandemic the gaming world stopped for unknown time and it was decided that they will not be awarded with the trophy. But the Sun rises after every dark night and the EPL again resumes. They won the league with seven game in spare as City failed to win against Chelsea. The city turned red and even the pandemic fans gathered in the Anfield to celebrate their victory. Their wait for 30 years ultimately came to an end.

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LA  GALAXY: The football club of West

For Americans the football is something different and it is known as American football. The football is known as soccer there. The game is very popular throughout the world but it is considered as a new sport in America. Soccer has become popular in America in the last decade. For bringing life into MLS the major credit can be given to the LA galaxy. The Los Angeles club brought the English football legend David Beckham from Real Madrid and after his introduction in the MLS the club along with the league reached into top level.

Although the club and the league became popular after that the club was seeded in 1994.  LA Galaxy is one of the ten founding teams in Major League Soccer. The name "Galaxy" was derived from Los Angeles being home to the "stars" of Hollywood. A couple of times the club finished first in the Western conference but could not make it up to the MLS in the nineties. Their first MLS cup win came in 2002. In 2005, the Galaxy acquired Landon Donovan from San Jose and also bagged the cup in that year defeating the New England Revolution in extra time, 1–0.

The club is on the rise and the arrival of EPL legend David Beckham in 2007 made LA Galaxy as the most popular club in the USA.  His debut was made at Home Depot Center before a record crowd of nearly 35,000, including many celebrities. The match brought unprecedented TV coverage from ESPN, who used 19 cameras to cover it, including one trained only on Beckham, even when he was on the bench. Although they lost in the final of that year despite the presence of EPL legend . 

Not only players they also appointed Rudd Gullit as their head coach and started the league with a blast. Something is not going with them properly and could not bring the magic in the team. In the 2008 MLS season, LA went on a seven-game winless streak that saw them drop from first place in the Western Conference to outside playoff contention, prompting the resignation of manager Ruud Gullit and firing of general manager Alexi Lalas.  Again in 2009 the club captain David Beckham and vice captain Donovan went to Milan and Everton respectively.

In 2013,following the defeat to Seattle Sounders FC in the final game of the season with the Supporters' Shield on the line, the team entered the 2014 MLS playoffs defeating Real Salt Lake, advancing to face Seattle once again in the Western Conference Finals, advancing to the MLS Cup by away goals. They played the New England Revolution in the 2014 MLS Cup and won 2–1 in overtime, thereby becoming five-time champions, a league record.

The club has landed other high-profile international players, who played in top European clubs, including Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robbie Keane, Luis "El Matador" Hernández, Giovani dos Santos, Jonathan dos Santos, Jorge Campos, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, and American Landon Donovan who is the all-time leading scorer for the club. In 2019, Forbes estimated the club is the second most valuable in the league, worth about $480 million.

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Kerala Blasters :The rise of Yellow Army

‘Kerala Blasters ‘sounds like a place where football is blasting .The term is very correct when it comes to the support and enthusiasm from the audience . The club came up as the most supported  football club in the stadium in ISL. The supporters are popularly known as  ‘Yellow Army’ and often referred as ‘ The 12th man’. The club is able to bring a number of marquee players in the ISL like David James, Michael Chopra and Berbatov along with many Indian players like Mehtab Houssain, Sandep Nandy ,Sandesh Jhingan and many others. Let's take a brief history about how the club rose in the landscape of Indian Football.

RISE OF BLASTERS                                                                                                                                 India is bleeding to rise as a footballing nation and for this thing to happen a grade up is needed .That is why ISL came into existence and after this there is notable increase in player’s Income .Along with AIFF, IMG Reliance decided to take bids from selected 8 cities in India and it was be obvious that a team is coming from the land of I.M Vijayan and Anchery. So on 13 April, 2014 rights were given to former cricket captain and legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar along with entrepreneur Prasad V Potluri.On 27th May ,2014 the team name KERALA BLASTERS was officially unveiled after master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. In their first season they were able to bring the former England team goalkeeper David James and Michael Chopra, an Indian origin premier league player.

Performance                                                                                                                                             The Kerala Blaster is catching eyes of every football fanatics from the 1st season itself . Whatever might be the team’s performance they never lacked the audience strength and that has been a plus point throughout the season . In the first season they got their first victory in their 4th match against Pune city. Although starting the season on a back foot they made a comeback and paved their way to the finals . They lost the final against ATK in the injury time and the goal came from Md. Raffique. They also made it to the final of ISL in the 3rd season and again lost the final against ATK    thorough penalty shootout by a score of 4-3.  In the 2nd season of ISL they got Peter Taylor as their head coach who was former U20 coach of England but in spite of that they came last in that season . Last three seasons did not go well for the blasters.                                                                                                                                        In this roller coaster ride of 6 seasons one thing that remains constant with them is love from the audience. The Manjappada Kerala Blasters Fans (Yellow Army) rose up as the largest and one of the most active fan groups for the Kerala Blasters and also in the whole ISL . They reached the stadium before the game started and set up banners, tifos and posters throughout the stadium. Manjappada won the Indian Sports Honours's "Fan Club of the Year '' award twice in 2017 and 2020.They tirelessly support the team by coming to the stadium on each and every game regardless of the performance of the team in the tournament. They had a maximum average attendance of 55000 plus on each and every game. Kerala Blasters showcase the love for football in India and direct towards the growth of football. 

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Kai Havertz: The Youngest Bundesliga scorer

Bundesliga falls under the top five football leagues in the world. Kai is the youngest German teenager to make his debut in the Bundesliga. He is considered as one of the most potential strikers of Germany.

Football is in his blood and started playing football from a very early age. He went to his grandfather’s club Alemannia Mariadorf. He was signed by 2. Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen where he spent only a year in the club's academy before joining Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 11. After that he never had to look back and his career started to boom.

Havertz made his debut for Bayer Leverkusen on 15 October 2016 although lost the game.   Upon entering the field of play, he became the club's youngest-ever Bundesliga debutant, at the age of 17 years and 126 days. He scored his first goal for the club on 2 April, netting a later equaliser in a 3–3 draw with VfL Wolfsburg. He became the youngest scorer of the Bundesliga with this goal.

He also broke his current fellow teammate Timo’s record to complete the fastest 50 matches in Bundesliga. He spent four seasons in the Bundesliga and scored almost 46 goals. He also broke Werner’s record of 100 appearances in Bundesliga. 

In this season he signed with the EPL giant Chelsea with an amount of 71 million . With this he became the second most expensive signing after Kepa. Havertz scored his first career hat-trick and his first Chelsea goals in a 6–0 home win over Barnsley in the third round of the EFL Cup.

He represented Germany in U-16, U-17and U-19 levels and showed his mark in every level. Havertz scored four goals in a 5–1 win against Belarus in the first round of European Under-19 Championship qualifying. He was later named captain of the under-19 team. Later in2018 he was called for the senior side by head coach Joachim Löw. 

He is described as a highly technically gifted player with both feet working at the same level. He is compared with the German midfielder Mesut Ozil . He also has a very creative style of play like Ozil. The German youth is in great form and although after a slow start for Chelsea he is going to show his spark in the coming matches. 

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Juan Mata : One of the best Spanish medio

Spain has always remained a place for the football lovers. In the last two decades Real Madrid and Barcelona are two top most successful clubs in Europe. From 2008 to 2012 they won two Euro cups and a FIFA world cup. One of the Spanish medio of this Golden generation is Juan Mata.

 Graduated from Real Madrid Academy he played for Real Madrid Castilla in 2006–07, before joining Valencia in the summer of 2007. He made 174 appearances there and proved to be an integral member of the team. During that first season, he was voted the team's Best Young Player by fans and players alike. He won the Copa del Rey beating Barcelona and Getafe in semi-final and final respectively in the 2007-08 season. 

He joined Chelsea in 2011 and within a short span of time he became an invincible part of the team.  Along with the FA cup and Europa League they won the Champions league in 2011-12 season. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich on 19 May, Mata assisted Didier Drogba's headed equalizer from a corner kick in the 88th minute. That was an important moment for his life and Chelsea won the CL for the first time. But in 2013-14 he left Chelsea in the mid season and created huge buzz.

After a huge conflict he finally arrived at Manchester United. But the Reds are not the same and they are not at the peak of their game. In the coming seasons he hardly managed to achieve the League cup and Europa with them. He is still with the Reds and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær describes his game as "fantastic".

He is an excellent midfielder of this generation. His short height and little physique made him less active with aerial ability and powerful tackles. But his agility , speed and ball control made him invincible. He also became famous as a freekick expert.

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Jota : The Portugal’s football prodigy

Portugal is always known for producing football talents. They recently won the Euro cup and were able to acquire the Nations league last year. They are coming up in the world as a footballing power. Earlier they had one or two world class players and remaining names only came up during the world cup. But now the situation has changed after the arrival of talents like Joao Felix, Semedo, Bruno and Jota. They have a batch of young players playing for the big clubs at a young age. One of them is Joao Filipe or popularly known as Jota.

Hailing from Lisbon, Jota started his career in the youth ranks of S.L. Benfica in 2007. On 18 October 2018, he debuted for the first team in a 3–0 away win over Sertanense in the third round of the Taça de Portugal. 

On 1 February 2019, he was promoted to Benfica's first team, alongside three other Benfica B players. Following his Primeira Liga debut in a 4–0 home win over Chaves on 24 February, he made his European debut on 14 March, as a first choice, in a 3–0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the second leg of UEFA Europa League's round of 16. On 5 October 2020, he moved to La Liga side Real Valladolid on loan for the 2020–21 season.

 The 21-year old Portugal U21 international(before Pandemic) has constantly impressed for Portugal, his dazzling match tricks and dribbling ability leading Portugal to both the U17 and U19 European Championship titles in 2016 and 2018 respectively. In both competitions, Jota was instrumental, finishing as the top scorer in the U19 Euros in 2018, climbing in with 5 goals. His impact in the final against Italy was particularly worth watching, where he chipped in with 2 goals and 2 assists as Portugal triumphed over their opponents in a 4-3 thriller.

Forward Jota, who can play on either flank or as a second striker, is one of the most highly regarded youth players to come out of Benfica’s highly illustrious academy. With these qualities he is in the eye of a number of Top league Managers. Hoping to see the kid playing beside Ronaldo in the coming years.

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Joao Felix: The heir to Ronaldo

Portugal is considered as one of the greatest powerhouse of Football not only in Europe but all over the world. Throughout the ages they produced some of the greatest talent in football. Luis Figo and Ronaldo will be at the top of the mountain. Some young players also started climbing the mountain of success. The most promising and talented player of the lot is Joao Felix. He started his career at Porto and became famous for his game.

From a young age his struggle was prominent. He had to leave his parent house at an age of 12 to meet his extensive training schedule and started living near the training ground. He also decided to quit football for not getting much playing time. But his family stood beside him and told him to continue playing. 

After getting fame at Porto he moved to Lisbon rivals Benfica in 2014 at an age of 15. He never had to look back from that. He debuted at an age of 16 in LigaPro as a substitute in the 83rd minute. He became the youngest player to made debut at Benfica B. He played 13 games there. He made his debut for the first team in the 2018-19 season and contributed in a 2-0 win in  Primeira Liga.  A week later he scored a goal in the Lisbon Derby and became the youngest player to do that.

 He also scored a hattrick  in a 4–2 UEFA Europa League win over Eintracht Frankfurt. While achieving this, he became the youngest ever player (aged 19 years and 152 days) to score a hat-trick in the competition, breaking Marko Pjaca's record by 67 days. Across Europe's seven best leagues, he ranked second among teenagers for goals and assists, behind Kai Havertz and Jadon Sancho, respectively.

 In 2019, he signed a huge deal of an amount of 126 million for a period of seven years. He created the highest transfer ever in the history of Benfica and highest for Atletico Madrid in that year. After his arrival to the club he was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Antoine Griezmann. Till now he scored a total of 10 goals appearing in 30 matches. This is a good score for a youth like him. Apart from scoring he goals he showed his creativity in building the game and providing deadly assist 

He is a versatile player who can play as a striker, second striker, winger and an attacking midfielder. With these qualities he can be an asset to any manager. His playing style at Benfica was as a second striker where he linked the midfield with the forward. He got speed and great dribbling skills to beat any defence. He was often compared to Ronaldo for this reason. His eye for goal is also very clear and can pass through any defence.

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Jeje Lalpekhlua: Rags to Riches

Jeje has become a home name for all football fanatics out in India. North East states produced a number of footballing talents in the last few decades and Jeje will be at the top of the mountain. He  is one of the best forwards India has ever seen.

Hailing from a football crazy village family of Mizoram, he had the spark within from his childhood days. He had the talent in his blood as his father played for the local club and his uncle represented Mizoram in Santosh Trophy. His parents told him to study instead of focussing on football but he was determined to pursue football as a career.  On account of his strong performance Jeje made it to the Mizoram U-19 team and never looked back.

He was spotted by Pune scouts and got selected for the Red Lizards at the age of 16. He then went on to captain the India U19 team in the South Asian Games. He went to play for the new club Pailan Arrows and played his part there. He also made his debut for I-league here. After playing one season he returned to the home club. 

He is a brilliant player and played throughout the clubs of India. After completing the chapter at Pune he went to play for the Dempo. He did not get much match time to prove himself. Then he came to the Bengal Giant Mohunbagan and played for one season but he was under-utilised here also. 

In September 2014, Jeje was loaned out to Chennaiyin for the 2014 Indian Super League season by Mohun Bagan. He got to play enough match time and finished as the highest Indian scorer with 3 goals. Jeje signed a 2-year contract with Chennaiyin for the 2015 Indian Super League season.[26] In the second season with Chennaiyin, Jeje scored 6 goals. He was awarded as The emerging player of the year.Everybody knows the story afterwards and he won I-league for Mohunbagan in 2017 and also ISL with the Chennaiyan.

He also became an invincible member of the national team  and 23 goals with the Blues. He bagged three SAAF cups for India. His agility, speed , ball control and excellent 1st touch made him unique. In Spite of his short height he got a strong physique and with good spot jumping ability he can be a nightmare to all.

Every player faces highs and lows in his life. He had to face the low due to a knee injury in 2019. Due to this he had to go through a surgery and missed the whole season. He is making his comeback in the ISL with the latest club SC East Bengal FC. Hoping to see a more energetic and refreshed version of Jeje.  

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Javier Mascherano: El Jefecito

Argentinian midfielder Mascherano was one of the most prominent players for Argentina and Barcelona even a few years ago. He is known for his strong tackle, intense workload and also as a good playmaker. For his short height he is known as The Little Chiefs (in local language it is called El Jefecito). 

Javier started his career at a very early age from the famous Argentinian club Riverplate. He was at the Riverplate Youth Academy and got his training there. Surprisingly, he made his International debut before making his club debut. On 16th July 2003, He made his debut in a friendly against Uruguay. It was Diego Milito who scored both goals for Argentina but the bigger news wasn’t the double by Milito but that the 19 year old had started. 

Halfway through the 2003–04 Apertura championship, he was called up for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship where he was instrumental in Argentina's fourth-place finish. By then he started playing for his team Riverplate and also started getting big offers across the Atlantic. But he stayed there for the next season.

But the next season was very disappointing for them as they finished third in the Apertura Championship. Brazilian club Corinthians acquired his services for a reported £10.62 million. After joining Corinthians in the mid-season, he featured in only 9 matches followed by a long injury spell but still, the team went on to win the 2005 Série A championship.

Finally he moved to Europe to play at EPL. West was his first home in EPL but he stayed there for a small time. He made only 7 appearances there before moving to the EPL giant Liverpool. He played 4 seasons for the club at Merseyside where he didn’t win a cup or an individual recognition but was held in high esteem by the Liverpool fans, who gave him his own song. He made 139 appearances for the club finding the net twice.

In 2010 he moved to Barcelona and considered it to be the best decision of his life. He got to play with the best in the world and also with his fellow Argentinian Leo Messi. He won every major tournament that a European club can win and grabbed 19 trophies. He spent almost seven and a half seasons here . 

He also played his role for the Argentinian side. His slide tackle against Robben in the FIFA 2014 semifinal is considered to be one of the best defensive tackles ever made. Along with Messi he is also denied to touch the World cup in 2014 and that is probably the low point in his life.

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Inter Milan: The fall of Italian Giant

Even a decade ago if someone asked about the best clubs of Italy and Europe, Inter Milan would definitely make its place. But now the club hardly managed themselves to maintain a decent position in the league. The club has failed to do anything significant in the last decade.

It was in the last decade that Inter were celebrating their fifth consecutive Scudetto, with that brilliant treble-winning Jose Mourinho side. The year later, AC Milan got their revenge and won the title, with Inter being close seconds. After that they did not even finish 1st in the league.

The main reason can be the rise of Juventus and their dominance in the Seria in the last decade. The team has performed significantly well in the last decade. The Turin based club managed to win nine consecutive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2020. Inter Milan were not even in the Runner Up list till the last year.

It’s not only Milan that hasn’t been able to compete, it’s the whole of Italy. In football, money wins. It is definitely the case in this adverse situation. Juventus is the richest club in Italy and the tenth richest in the world. They also use the same business model as Bayern Munich, another powerhouse in world football.

As the Agenali family has gone they tried to pump cash into the club but they are fallen behind. The move of the club is wrong and with an inferior side they were not able to gain much . They also failed to qualify for the Champions League for a number of seasons.

Now the club remains trophyless for a very long period of 10 years. This is a major setback to attract big talents from different parts of the world. The club had to think immediately to resolve this problem and to find an accurate solution.

The wave for change has hit the club in the past couple of years. They are looking forward to bringing great talents. They appointed Antonio Conte, a proven manager in the league, as well as in world football. Their squad was strengthened since the arrivals of Romelu Lukaku, Cristian Eriksen and Lautaro Martinez who is finally starting to show his true potential.

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İlkay Gündoğan: Manchester City's midfield maestro

Germany midfield comprised of total football theory. They are known for strong presence in the field and heavy workload. One of the underrated midfielders of this generation is Ilkay Gündogan. This German boy has faced various incidents in his life and after a number of setbacks he is finally the midfield general of Manchester City.

Gündogan is used to dealing with setbacks. Perhaps the first big one came as an eight-year-old, when he ended a brief association with Schalke. For the son of Turkish parents, who was brought up in Gelsenkirchen, realizing that he would have to stop training with his hometown club hit him hard. “It was a huge dream of mine to be able to play for Schalke,” he told RevierSport in 2011. “For it to be over so quickly was not easy to take.”

When he was 13, Schalke offered Gündogan another chance to link up with the Royal Blues, but the fear of suffering yet more disappointment caused him to reject the offer. In 2005 he finally got a chance to join Bochum's academy. He finally took this offer and he was ready to witness how far his talent could take him.

 He joined Nuremberg in February 2009 after scoring 10 goals for Bochum under 19-side earlier that season as well as one in two matches for the reserve team. In the meantime he was a German U-19 International. Nuremberg boss Michael Oenning commented on him as “a true number 10”.

In the next season he appeared in 22 games and played in a wide role throughout the league. He was attracted by a number of clubs in the meantime. Nuremberg was not ready to let him go but players like him were made to play for big clubs. 

“He brings with him a super attitude,” Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp said of the 20-year-old. “He’s smart and willing to learn. Ilkay has a great passing game, is a complete footballer, and fits perfectly into our system.” Star playmaker Nuri Sahin left Dortmund for Real Madrid that summer, and it was in black and yellow that Gündogan began developing into the dynamic central midfielder he is today.

He was progressing slowly in his career and everything was going smoothly for him until the 2013-14 season.  After starting on the opening day of the 2013/14 campaign, he suffered a back injury that would ultimately keep him out of action for 14 months.

He missed the FIFA World cup 2014 and came as a major setback for him. Continuing this he also missed Euro 2016 . After that he moved to Manchester City but injuries came along with him. He had an ACL tear and thus he was left out for the rest of the season. 

Just like at the very start, however, Gündogan bounced back. In August 2017, he returned to action once more and - having fought so hard to do so – he thoroughly deserved his chance to represent Germany in a major tournament at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He is currently playing for the City and flourishing under Pep. 

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Hyderabad FC: The football in Deccan

Hyderabad was not in the top flight of Indian football since the start of the ISL. But the Pune City FC had some problems and faced some legal charges. This is the reason why they moved their home base from Pune to Hyderabad. Thus Hyderabad FC came into Indian footballing landscape.

 Hyderabad was one of the power house during the fifties but it gradually shatters. Now hardly any player from Hyderabad gets chance to play there. But the thing is going to change gradually and the club will play a vital role here.

On the 16 of June 2020, German club Borussia Dortmund struck a partnership deal with the club for grassroots development. Manuel Roca is the current Hyderabad head coach, taking over on 31 August 2020 replacing Albert Roca. Hyderabad play their home matches at the G.M.C Balayogi Athletic Stadium in the Hyderabad suburb of Gachibowli. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000 for matches.

When asked about Dortmund's activities in India, Letchmanan, the Asia Pacific director of Dortmund, said, "I think football would probably be, to a certain extent one of the biggest sports (in India in the future), I’m not sure if it will compete with cricket but it would certainly give it a run for its money, but I believe there is so much potential with these young kids as far as football is concerned.

Indian Super League side Hyderabad FC have announced a strategic tie-up with Spanish club Marbella FC, with the clubs signing up to a three-year association. With this the Hyderabad FC became the first Indian club to make a deal with two European sides.

This season they are ready to make history and prepare a strong side for them. They want to forget their performance in the previous season and want to make a good start.

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From Rags to Riches: The story of Vardy

Leicester City is known for its fairy tale journey in EPL .The team came from the bottom of the league table and finished its journey at the top. The rise of an underdog team is always incredible to hear. But the story of their architect of success is also very much encouraging. The hero is none other than Jamie Vardy. The story of Jamie gives hope to the defeated, to the rookies and to all who start late in their career. 

With dream in eyes, Jamie was playing for Sheffield Wednesday in his teenage days. But unfortunate things happen in life suddenly and anything can happen at that time, He was released from the Youth Academy of Sheffield Wednesday. As determined to make his life in football, he started playing in Stocksbridge Park Steels, a team in the seventh-tier of English football. Although he is playing in this team he could not make his day to day earning by playing football and started to work in a carbon factory. Life is not a bed of roses for Vardy, there were thorns to resist and a criminal assault conviction came as a thorn in his life.

Despite all of these obstacles he is focussed towards his ultimate goal of playing football in A-leagues. His determination and hard work ultimately paid off and he signed a million euro contract for Leicester city FC in 2012 at the age of 25 and his dream came true. He was looked upon by a number of clubs but leister made the decision and that turn out to be a fruitful decision in coming future. In his first season he could not perform well and fear to get released by the club.

But he showed his strength and help Leister to get into main league with 16 goals in his name. He was in his magical form and god was writing this story. He defeated the giants of EPL and created  history . He tied a record with Man Utd. Legend Ruud van Nistelrooy for scoring goal in ten consecutive matches. He won the league in that year created history. He became  the 2nd highest scorer of EPL of the year. 

He was nobody at the start of the decade but now he is one of the most inspirational story of the century. He is the 6th highest scorer in EPL in last decade. With that historic win fellow players signed big deals and moved to big clubs but he stayed there to serve Leicester .  

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FC  Goa : The Unlucky one

India is growing as a footballing nation in the world. For this growth we have to accept the rise of ISL. Before ISL they had I-league but the problem with the previous league is the lack of money. ISL added money into the picture and players started getting their recognition. They came up as a new brand and this is only possible due the ISl. Now Goa has always been in the Indian footballing landscape and a team is evitable to come up from Goa. Thus the FC Goa rise and they are participating in the ISL from the 1st edition itself.

In the 1st season they landed Zico as their head coach. He was the Brazilian legend and also won the FIFA world cup. They also made a great team in that year with marquee player Robert Pires and with the incoming of two Goan youth they became one of the promising side. Romeo and Mandar were the youth Indians to look forward. But they lost to ATK in the semis and ended their journey for the season.

In the next season Zico headed the team and made a quite a brilliant start . They bought Jofre from the previous year winning side and also retained the youthstars Romeo and Mandar. They made it to the final but lost to the mighty Chennaiyan in the final. IN the next season they performed very poorly and finished at the bottom. Zico left the club after that.

In the 2017–18 season, FC Goa won their first match of the 2017–18 Indian Super League 2–3 away against Chennaiyin, this was also their first competitive match under new coach Sergio Lobera, they later went on to lose against Chennayin FC in the semi-finals.IN the second season they reached to the finals but lost to the Bengaluru FC again. But they won the Super cup in that season. 

In the next season they won the ISL League Winners Shield, they also became the first Indian club to qualify for AFC Champions League group stage. However their 5–6 defeat on aggregate to Chennaiyin FC in the playoffs ended their chance of winning the elusive ISL trophy.

In the six seasons they always remain in the top four but could not win the the prestigious ISL trophy. They reached very close to taste winning but ended with a failure at the end. In this way they came up as one of the most unlucky club of the country.