Noughties Nines: Nicolas Anelka – Sullen and spectacular
Nicolas Anelka found it hard to escape the accusations of his early career. An almost impossibly precocious talent, he burst onto the scene as…
Noughties Nines
26 articles
Legends
Noughties Nines: Fernando Torres – El Niño
From an early age, Fernando Torres carried a weight of expectation. Regarded as a beacon of hope at Atletico Madrid, he was thrust into…
Noughties Nines: Didier Drogba – Cup final King
A generation of great defenders have recognised Didier Drogba as their toughest opponent, a player who redefined the centre-forward role. Drogba was the one-man…
Noughties Nines: Adriano – The Emperor who lost his groove
A sense of what might have been will always be associated with the tale of Adriano, a footballer of extraordinary talent who failed to…
Noughties Nines: Carlos Tevez – El Apache
The career of Carlos Tevez was a rollercoaster in almost every sense. It captivated and thrilled, with highs, lows and the right amount of…
Noughties Nines: Peter Crouch – The genial giant
At risk of sounding like a broken record, Peter Crouch never really looked like a Premier League footballer. Both in appearance and demeanour, he…
Noughties Nines: The irrepressible, David ‘El Guaje’ Villa
Spain’s reign at the summit of international football was both revolution and redemption. For decades one of Europe’s finest footballing nations had flattered to…
Noughties Nines: A striker’s striker, Jermain Defoe
Just a handful of players have ever scored more Premier League goals than Jermain Defoe. In three decades of the rebranded division, Defoe’s knack…
Noughties Nines: Wayne Rooney – An inimitable emergence
Occasionally when a talent is so rich in potential, it becomes impossible to keep the lid on the secret. Wayne Rooney, and his astonishing…
Noughties Nines: Henrik Larsson – Celtic’s King of Kings
Henrik Larsson was immortalised as ‘The King of Kings’ during an unforgettable career at Celtic, one in which the goals flowed freely and trophy…
Noughties Nines: The greatest assassin, Ruud van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy lived for scoring goals. It is not uncommon for former footballers to struggle to replicate the thrill of the professional game…
Noughties Nines: Luca Toni – Italy’s great late bloomer
Luca Toni scored goals at each stop of a truly unique career, one which saw him become both a literal and figurative giant of…
Noughties Nines: Samuel Eto’o – The clinical Cameroonian who conquered Europe
Since the turn of the century, European football has been home to some truly great goalscorers. Few of those, however, can match the achievements…
Noughties Nines: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – The Hunter
The Netherlands has famously been a difficult barometer on which to judge goalscorers. For every Eredivisie export that has gone on to become elite…
Noughties Nines: Diego Forlan – From flop to feared
The 2010 World Cup was an unforgettable experience. Vuvuzelas served as the soundtrack to a tournament hosted on African soil for the first time,…
Noughties Nines: Hernan Crespo – Serie A sharpshooter
In the final decade of the 20th century, Italian clubs broke the world transfer record six times. The nineties had belonged to Serie A,…
Noughties Nines: Filippo Inzaghi and the glee of goals
Filippo Inzaghi just loved scoring goals. Perhaps for no other number nine has it been quite so apparent. No matter the style of goal…
Noughties Nines: The incomparable Zlatan Ibrahimovic
You need little more than a brief look at the destination clubs of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to be left in no doubt of his stature…