7/29/2019 Caps, Captains and a Goalkeeping Centurion
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Caps, captains and a goalkeeping centurion(FIFA.com) Wednesday
30 March 2011
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Rogerio Ceni, David Villa and Kevin Kilbane star as we reflect
on a week in whicha rare draw for Argentina and Frances plethora of
skippers also caught the eye.
goals was the landmark reached in spectacular and dramatic style
byRogerio Ceni on Sunday. Already the highest-scoring goalkeeper
infootball history, the 37-year-old completed his century in fairy
talefashion with a superb match-winning free-kick in Sao Paulos
2-1
Majestoso derby victory over Corinthians. While the Tricolor
Paulista legendstally is bolstered by a couple of goals in
non-competitive matches, this lateststunning strike merely
strengthens his position as the king of goalscoring goalies,
increasing his lead over Jose Luis Chilavert, who retired with
67. The goals maymake him stand out among his contemporaries, but
free-kicks and penalties are
by no means the only speciality of a keeper called upon to
represent his countryon 17 occasions, earning FIFA World Cup and
FIFA Confederations Cupwinners' medals in the process. However, it
is undeniably in the colours of hisbeloved Sao Paulo that Rogerios
career has been defined, with this one-clubman having won two Copa
Libertadores, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA
Club World Cup over a Tricolorcareer that spans 20 years and 928
appearances.
goals in 72 matches is David Villas updated international tally
after theBarcelona striker eclipsed Raul as Spains all-time leading
goalscorer. Amatch-winning brace against Czech Republic enabled
Villa to take anoutright hold of the record and add another honour
in a career that has
seen him finish leading marksman at UEFA EURO 2008, joint-top
scorer at lastyears FIFA World Cup and hit at least 15 goals in
each of his ten seasons in LaLiga. Fridays 2-1 win in Granada was
also a landmark occasion for Xavi, whocelebrated earning his 100th
cap in inimitable style, making 136 passes - 22more than the entire
Czech Republic team. As well as becoming only the secondoutfield
player, after Raul, to reach a century ofSpain appearances, Xavi -
wholast night scored on his 101st appearance - also helped his team
extend theirworld record streak of 19 successive victories in EURO
and FIFA World Cup
qualifiers. La Roja can also boast of having lost just one of
their 49 competitivematches over the past two decades.
games without a draw was the unusual run of results that came to
anend for Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday. This lengthy
sequence,which spanned two and a half years, 24 wins and eight
defeats, was
finally brought to a halt when USA held La Albiceleste to their
firststalemate since an identical 1-1 result against Peru in
September 2008. And
ironically, the player who earned them a share of the spoils on
Sunday, EstebanCambiasso, did so with his first international goal
since, you guessed it, that 1-1draw in Lima 30 months ago. Another
notable aspect of Sundays friendly in EastRutherford was the
attendance, with a whopping crowd of 78,936 turning out toset a new
record for a soccer match at the New Meadowlands Stadium.
years and five months have now passed since Republic of Ireland
kickedoff a competitive match without Kevin Kilbane in their
starting line-up.That run was extended Saturday when the
34-year-old played his 65th
consecutive international in a 2-1 win over FYR Macedonia.
Kilbane hasearned 109 caps, more than any outfield player in the
Republics history, andbolstering that haul on Saturday left him
just one short of the injured ShayGivens record tally. New
benchmarks were also being set elsewhere, meanwhile,with Wesley
Sneijder, at 26 years and 289 days of age, becoming the
youngestplayer to reach 75 Netherlands caps, while Stiliyan Petrov
became the firstoutfield player to complete a century of Bulgaria
appearances.
different players - Alou Diarra, Hugo Lloris, Florent Malouda,
PhilippeMexes and Samir Nasri - have already captained France
during LaurentBlancs brief, nine-match reign. Nasri became the
latest to lead out Les
Bleus on Friday and, whatever the reasoning behind this rotation
of thearmband, it seems to be contributing to the teams most
successful run in years.Frances latest success, a 2-0 victory over
Luxembourg, was their sixth insuccession, a sequence that - even
after being ended by last night's 0-0
draw against Croatia - bettered anything achieved during Raymond
Domenechssix-year stint and represented Les Bleus best run since a
14-match winningstreak between March 2003 and May 2004. Victory in
Luxembourg also enabled
the French to maintain a proud away record in EURO
preliminaries, with their last26 qualifiers on the road having
yielded just one defeat: a 1-0 loss to Scotland inOctober 2006.
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1 20/06/2011 21:18
