WALTER ANDRIAN SAMUEL PROFILE

WALTER ADRIAN SAMUEL

25
country: Argentina

born in: Firmat (Argentina)
on: March 22 1978
position: Defender
height: 183 cm
weight: 83 kg

Walter Samuel is widely regarded as one of the best central defenders around. A mainstay in the Argentine national team, Samuel made a name for himself in the Serie A with over 15,000 minutes of competitive football in 173 matches for Roma between 2000 and 2004. Samuel played a key role in his debut season at the Olimpico, helping Roma win the Scudetto with his solid performances at the back. Nicknamed 'The Wall' for obvious reasons, Samuel joined Inter after a season at Real Madrid.

MARCO MATERAZZI PROFILE

MARCO MATERAZZI

23
country: Italy

born in: Lecce
on: August 19 1973
position: Defender
height: 193 cm
weight: 92 kg
A central defender who is highly skilled in making tackles, Materazzi is virtually infallible when it comes to taking free kicks and penalties - evidence of his unquestionable technical abilities. Materazzi has followed his father into the game. Giuseppe Materazzi won domestic and international fame as a coach, having guided teams such as Pisa, Lazio, Bari, Padova, Brescia, Piacenza, Sporting Lisbon and Chinese side Tianjin Teda. Marco began his playing career at amateur level on the dusty pitches of the Sicilian Serie C. In the 2000/01 season, Materazzi equalled the scoring record for a defender in the Italian Serie A with 12 goals for Inter. The record was previously held by Argentine Daniel Passarella, who scored 11 goals for Fiorentina during the 1985/86 season. Marco made his international debut on 25 April 2001 in Italy's 1-0 win against South Africa in a friendly match and was in the Azzurri squad at Japan/Korea 2002 and at Euro2004. It was Materazzi's coach at Perugia, Ilario Castagner, who recommended former national team coach Trapattoni to put him in defence. "I had already suggested Marco's name to Trapattoni's collaborator Ghedin," said Castagner about the defender. "He's deserved a chance like that for a long time.". And Materazzi certainly took his chances for Italy at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, with a series of polished performances in defence and vital goals against Czech Republic in the group stage and France in the final as the Azzurri went on to win the tournament.

FABIO GROSSO PROFILE

FABIO GROSSO

11
country: Italy

born in: Roma
on: November 28 1977
position: Defender
height: 190 cm
weight: 82 kg

Grosso spent the early years of his playing career in the lower divisions. He played four seasons at amateur side Renato Curi, three at Chieti (Serie C2), one at Teramo (Serie C2) and three at Perugia (Serie A) before signing for Palermo in January 2004. After helping the Sicilians gain promotion from Serie B, Grosso played two top-flight seasons with the Rosaneri before signing a four-year deal with Inter ahead of the 2006 World Cup. He won his first international cap in 2003, becoming a regular fixture in the Azzurri squad two years later. Part of Italy's squad at Germany 2006, Fabio Grosso played a big part in the Azzurri's World Cup triumph. He netted a vital extra-time goal against the host nation in the semi-finals and scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out against France in the final to give Italy their fourth World Cup title. Fabio's World Cup exploits won him a place in FOX Sports' list of the top ten perfect performances. "Italian defender Fabio Grosso didn't just produce a perfect play or a perfect match in the 2006 World Cup. He had a perfect month. Consider: He was a rock-solid outside back on a defence that reached the final without allowing a goal to the opposition", wrote FOX. An attacking midfielder in the early stages of his career, Grosso switched to a left-sided defensive midfield position at Perugia. Due to his versatility Grosso can play at full-back in a flat back four or as a winger in a five-man midfield. Adept at free kicks from distance, he is also a specialist penalty taker.

SOARES ESPINDOLA JULIO CESAR PROFILE

SOARES ESPINDOLA JULIO CESAR

12
country: Brazil

born in: Rio De Janeiro (BRA)
on: September 3 1979
position: Goalkeeper
height: 186 cm
weight: 79 kg

After six and a half seasons at Flamengo, Julio Cesar spent six months at Serie A side ChievoVerona to get used to an Italian football environment before completing a summer move to Inter. Considered one of the hottest goalkeeping prospects around, he kept goal for Brazil in their 2004 Copa America triumph. Julio Cesar is not just good with his hands, he's also useful with his feet and takes penalties for both club and country and well as saving them

FRANCESCO TOLDO PROFILE

FRANCESCO TOLDO

1
country: Italy

born in: Padova
on: December 2 1971
position: Goalkeeper
height: 196 cm
weight: 90 kg

A goalkeeper of extraordinary skill, Francesco Toldo is highly reactive between the posts and displays supreme confidence when coming out to meet high balls. .. Toldo 'grew up', in the footballing sense, in AC Milan's youth sector Between the ages of 19 and 23, he went from playing in the Serie C2 (with Trento) to the Serie A (with Fiorentina) in just four seasons; During his career he has always worked under exceptional coaches - Alberto Cavasin, Francesco Guidolin, Claudio Ranieri, Alberto Malesani, Giovanni Trapattoni, Fatih Terim, Hector Cuper, Alberto Zaccheroni and Roberto Mancini. At international level, Toldo made his debut for the Azzurri in Croatia v Italy on 8 October 1995. He came on for Luca Bucci, who was red-carded ten minutes into the match after replacing the injured Angelo Peruzzi in the starting line-up. The match finished 1-1 and Toldo was among the best players on the field. Several years later in June 2000, with just one week until the start of Euro 2000 in Holland and Belgium, Gianluigi Buffon broke his hand. Francesco Toldo took over as number one keeper for the Azzurri and proved to be a world class player with his penalty-saving heroics against Holland to book Italy's place in the final against eventual winners France. Toldo announced his retirement from international football after Italy were eliminated from Euro 2004 at the group stage. He said: "Only Inter now." Toldo began playing football as right-back for a team in the province of Padua, until the fortuitous absence of the side's goalkeeper for a championship match led the coach to put Francesco between the posts. He was thirteen when that happened, and hasn't changed position since

50 GREATEST PLAYERS IN 2006

1)ZIDANE 2)CANNAVARO 3)RONALDINHO 4)PIRLO 5)LAMPARD 6)GERRARD 7)DROGBA 8)JUNINHO 9)BALLACK 10)KLOSE 11)HENRY 12)KAKA 13)RODRIGUEZ 14)TERRY 15)BUFFON 16)PODOLSKI 17)RONALDO 18)ROBBEN 19)SCHWEINSTEIGER 20)HARGREAVES 21)ESSIEN 22)VEIRA 23)FABREGAS 24)TONI 25)VILLA 26)LEHNMANN 27)GROSSO 28)CRISTIANO R 29)SAGNOL 30)RIBERY 31)ROSICKY 32)DECO 33)MANICHE 34)TOTTI 35)CROUCH 36)ASHLEY COLE 37)SAHA 38)GIGGS 39)ROONEY 40)TORRES 41)EDISON MENDEZ 42)TOURE 43)ROBERTO CARLOS 44)JOE COLE 45)SCHOLES 46)NAKAMURA 47)NISTELROOY 48)RIO FERDINAND 49)CECH 50)VAN DER VAART

CAMBIASSO WINS GOLDEN PIRATE AWARD(THE BEST INTER PLAYER OF THE YEAR)

MILAN - Argentine midfielder Esteban CAMBIASSO ESTEBAN MATIAS]" href="http://www.inter.it/aas/squadra/player1?codgioc=G0768&L=en&stagione=2006/07">Cambiasso is the twentieth winner of the Pirata d'Oro (Golden Pirate), an annual award given by Inter Club San Pietro Nerazzurra Seveso members to the best Inter player of the year.CAMBIASSO ESTEBAN MATIAS]" href="http://www.inter.it/aas/squadra/player1?codgioc=G0768&L=en&stagione=2006/07">Cambiasso thanked IC San Pietro Nerazzurra president Giancarlo Belotti and the fans in attendance at Thursday evening's ceremony, expressing his great satisfaction for the award and promising to give his all to deserve the faith and warmth of Inter fans.Also in attendance were Bedy Moratti, Gabriele Oriali, Inter and Italy Under-21 defender Marco ANDREOLLI MARCO]" href="http://www.inter.it/aas/squadra/player1?codgioc=G0782&L=en&stagione=2006/07">Andreolli, Evaristo Beccalossi and Fausto Sala of the Inter Club Coordination Centre. The evening was brought to a close with a lottery, all proceeds from which will go to charity. The Pirata d'Oro award, a 20cm-high gold sculpture of the club's logo on a marble base, is named after former Inter midfielder Giampiero 'The Pirate' Marini, who collected 375 appearances in ten years with the Nerazzurri. Golden Pirate award, past winners:1986 Giuseppe Baresi1987 Walter Zenga1988 Riccardo Ferri1989 Andreas Bremhe1990 Giuseppe Bergomi1991 Lothar Matthäus1992 Davide Fontolan1993 Ruben Sosa1994 Nicola Berti1995 Gianluca Pagliuca1996 Javier Zanetti1997 Youri Djorkaeff1998 Ronaldo1999 Benoit Cauet2000 Laurent Blanc2001 Giuseppe Prisco2002 Christian Vieri2003 Emre Belozoglu2004 Adriano2005 Esteban Cambiasso