Curated playlist
UEFA Euro 2008 players
- Luka ModrićLuka Modrić grew up in a hotel car park after his grandfather was killed. He later won the 2018 Ballon d'Or.
- Philipp LahmPhilipp Lahm scored in the sixth minute of the 2006 World Cup's opening match. He was 22.
- Thierry HenryThierry Henry was thirteen years old in 1990 when a Monaco scout named Arnold Catalano went to watch him play. Henry's team won 6-0, and Henry scored every one of the six goals. Catalano did not ask for a trial. He asked the boy to join…
- Cristiano RonaldoCristiano Ronaldo's mother wanted to abort him, but her doctor refused. He became football's top goalscorer.
- Miroslav KloseMiroslav Klose arrived in West Germany at eight knowing only two words of German.
- Xabi AlonsoXabi Alonso stood over a penalty in a Champions League final in Istanbul and watched Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida save it. The ball came back out to him. Alonso fired the rebound into the roof of the net. Afterwards he said, "This is…
- Lukas PodolskiLukas Podolski bought control of Gornik Zabrze, the club he had always supported. He retired the next day.
- Gianluigi BuffonGianluigi Buffon reached three Champions League finals and lost all three. The Italian goalkeeper never won the trophy.
- Iker CasillasAs a child, goalkeeper Iker Casillas forgot to post his father's winning pool entry.
- Zlatan IbrahimovićIn March 2018, the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović paid for a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times. It carried his signature and a single short message: 'Dear Los Angeles, you're welcome.' He had just signed for LA Galaxy,…
- Karim BenzemaKarim Benzema was born in Lyon on the 19th of December 1987, to parents of Algerian and Kabyle descent. Years later he stood in front of the first-team squad of his hometown club, still a teenager. The room included Michael Essien, Sylvain…