WCCF 10-11 Card - Jerome Boateng

Jérôme Agyenim Boateng (German pronunciation: [ʒeˈʁoːm bo.aˈtɛŋ]) (born 3 September 1988) is a German footballer who currently plays for Bayern Munich. A versatile defender, Boateng primarily is a centre back, although he is a capable full back on either side.

Boateng started his career at Hertha BSC where he developed from the youth ranks to the main team. After his first season at Hertha he soon signed for Hamburger SV and established himself as an integral part of the team, helping Hamburg reach the Europa League semi-finals twice consecutively.

Physically strong and composed, he garnered a reputation as a tough-tackling, versatile defender. He also played in the Germany U-21 side, which won the Euro 2009 U-21 Championship and was soon promoted to the national side, being selected in Germany's 2010 World Cup squad.

On 5 June 2010, Manchester City confirmed the transfer of Boateng to the English club for £10.4 million on a five-year deal, where he wore his favoured number 17 shirt.

Boateng made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Valencia for the first half, alternating between centre back and right back with Micah Richards. After an impressive run, down the right flank, he provided the assisting cross for Gareth Barry to score.

During the week prior to the start of the Premier League season Boateng suffered a freak injury setback on international duty with Germany during a friendly against Denmark. He tore a tendon in his left knee, which was then aggravated on the plane home after a collision with a drinks trolley.

He made his debut for Manchester City with a substitute appearance during a 1–0 victory against Chelsea on 25 September 2010. Boateng followed this with a first competitive start in a 1–1 Europa League draw with Juventus. During this match he played at right back.

In his one season with Manchester City, Boateng won the 2010–11 FA Cup. However, he was not a member of the matchday squad for final.

WCCF 10-11 Card - Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a retired French footballer who is the Manager of the Reserves squad at Premier League club Manchester City, known as the Elite Development Squad.

He rose to prominence during a hugely successful spell at Arsenal from 1996 to 2005, where he eventually became club captain, and won three Premier League titles – one unbeaten – and four FA Cups. He transferred from Arsenal in 2005 and spent one season at Juventus, helping the team to the Serie A championship. Following Juventus' relegation for their part in a match-fixing scandal, Vieira moved to Internazionale and won three Serie A titles. He has 107 caps for France, and was part of their 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning sides, as well as their runner-up finish in the 2006 World Cup.

In May 2010, Vieira was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He announced his retirement from professional football on 14 July 2011. Vieira is currently Football Development Executive at Manchester City with a role to oversee aspects such as youth development, commercial partners and the club's social responsibility programme, "City in the Community".

On 8 January 2010, it was confirmed that Vieira was having a medical at Manchester City and he would sign a six-month deal, where he would link up with former Arsenal colleagues Kolo Touré and Sylvinho and former Internazionale manager Roberto Mancini. The contract also included an option for a 12-month extension. Mancini described Vieira as an excellent midfielder with a winner's mentality and that he would fit into Manchester City's squad very well. He made his debut for Manchester City in the 2–1 defeat to Hull City. Three days later, he made his first start for City against Bolton Wanderers, where he assisted Emmanuel Adebayor through a long ball in the 2–0 victory. He scored his first goal for the club against Burnley in their 6–1 win on 3 April 2010. On 9 June 2010, Vieira agreed to a one-year extension to his contract, which kept him at Eastlands until the summer of 2011. On 11 September 2010, he started his first game in his second season for the club and went on to score the equalizing goal against Blackburn Rovers before being substituted in the 65th minute. On 18 January 2011, he scored his second goal of the season in Manchester City's 4–2 third round replay against Leicester City. This was his 50th appearance in the competition. He continued his good run in the FA Cup by scoring the first two goals, during their 5–0 win in the Fourth round replay against Notts County and was awarded Man of the Match honours. He was praised for how well he linked up with Aleksandar Kolarov. Vieira also scored in the Premier League on 3 April 2011 against Sunderland, having come on as a substitute for Adam Johnson in the 66th minute. He scored no less than a minute later, having touched the ball into the goal. He made a late substitute appearance in May 2011, as Manchester City won the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Stoke City at Wembley Stadium.

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All Time Legends - Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Nicolaas Bergkamp (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdɛnɪs ˈbɛrxkɑmp]; born 10 May 1969) is a former Dutch professional footballer, who is the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder, he was moved to main striker and then to second striker, where he remained throughout his playing career. Bergkamp has been described by Jan Mulder as having "the finest technique" of any Dutch international and a "dream for a striker" by teammate Thierry Henry.

The son of an electrician, Bergkamp was born in Amsterdam and played as an amateur in the lower leagues. He was spotted by Ajax at the age of 11 and made his professional debut in 1986. Good form led to an international call-up a year later, attracting the attention of several European clubs. Bergkamp signed for Italian club Inter Milan in 1993, where he had two disappointing seasons. He then joined Arsenal in 1995. It was at Arsenal where Bergkamp rejuvenated his career, helping the club to win three Premier League titles, four FA Cup trophies and reach the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, which marked his last appearance as a player. With the Netherlands national team, Bergkamp surpassed Faas Wilkes's record to become the country's top goalscorer of all time in 1998, a record later eclipsed by Patrick Kluivert and since 2013 by Robin van Persie.

Bergkamp was selected by Pelé as one of the FIFA 100 greatest living players and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in his generation. In 2007, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, the first and so far only Dutch player ever to receive such honour. Bergkamp has also finished third in the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice. Due to his fear of flying, Bergkamp has been affectionately nicknamed the "Non-Flying Dutchman" by Arsenal supporters.

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WCCF 05-06 Card - Tomas Rosicky

Tomáš Rosický (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈrosɪt͡skiː]; born 4 October 1980) is a Czech footballer who plays for Arsenal and captains the Czech national team. He moved to Arsenal in 2006 from Borussia Dortmund. He has a brother named Jiří who was also a footballer. He was nicknamed "the little Mozart" for his ability to orchestrate the midfield. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has described him as a player with remarkable vision, precision and first touch. He was born in Prague and started his career at his hometown club AC Sparta Praha.

On 9 January 2001, Rosický joined Borussia Dortmund, for a fee of €14.5 million, making him the most expensive player in Bundesliga history and the most expensive Czech player of all time. In his first full season at Borussia, Rosický helped the club to win the 2001–02 Bundesliga title.

Rosický's reputation grew during his time at Dortmund and, during the latter stages of his spell at the club, Dortmund were in substantial financial trouble and could not hold onto him despite recognising his influence on the team. Press reports linked him with big money transfers to Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, and Arsenal. Rosický expressed a desire for Dortmund to allow him to leave at the end of the 2005–06 season, and the arrival of South African Steven Pienaar was made in preparation for Rosický's departure. In Germany, Rosický gained the nickname "The Little Mozart" and "The Mozart of Football" for his ability to orchestrate play on the pitch.

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All Time Legends - Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry (French pronunciation: ​[tjɛʁi ɑ̃ʁi]; born 17 August 1977) is a French footballer who plays as a striker for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris) where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999.

It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year twice, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the FWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.

In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €24 million. His first honours with the Spanish club came in 2009 when they won the La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble. He went on to achieve an unprecedented sextuple by also winning the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. In total, Henry has been named in the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls of the Major League Soccer, and won the Eastern Conference title with them in 2010. He returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012. In 2013 Henry with the New York Red Bulls won the MLS Supporters' Shield.

Henry enjoyed similar success with the French national team, having won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record to become France's top goal-scorer of all time. Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Off the pitch, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football, partially due to his own experiences. He married English model Nicole Merry in 2003 and had a daughter with her, but they divorced in 2007. Henry was also one of the top commercially marketed footballers; he was ranked ninth in the world in 2006.

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All Time Legends - Jens Lehmann

Jens Gerhard Lehmann (born 10 November 1969) is a German former football goalkeeper. He was voted UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year for the 1996–97 and 2005–06 seasons, and he has been selected for three World Cup squads. He was a member of Arsenal's Invincibles, playing every match of their famous unbeaten title winning season. He also holds the UEFA Champions League record for the most consecutive clean sheets, having not conceded a goal in 10 matches whilst at Arsenal.In early 1999, Lehmann returned to Germany to play for Borussia Dortmund replacing long-time goalkeeper Stefan Klos. Lehmann had a difficult start with the team with several poor performances and a lack in his discipline and reliability. Rumors of an early parting of Lehmann arose, who was viewed critically by both supporters and critics.

However, Borussia Dortmund began the 2001–02 season strongly. Lehmann's overall performance improved and he became more reliable for the team. He contributed significantly to the team's return to success, winning the Bundesliga in 2001–02 and reaching the UEFA-Cup final that same year which the team lost in a match against Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam.

Lehmann was a key player in a solid performance by Borussia Dortmund, winning the German League in an impressive finish, eventually triumphing over Bayer 04 Leverkusen which led the league by five points with only three matches left in the season – beating 1. FC Köln, Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen back-to-back, Lehmann and Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga in 2002.

During the same season Lehmann became known for his poor disciplinary record. In a match against SC Freiburg, Lehmann kicked opposing attacker Soumaila Coulibaly after they collided in the penalty area. Lehmann was suspended afterwards and currently still holds the record for most red cards for any player of Borussia Dortmund as well as for any goalkeeper in the German Bundesliga.After a weak season in 2003, which saw Borussia Dortmund slip into mediocrity, increasingly unreliable performances by Lehmann led to his departure from the team. He was replaced by Roman Weidenfeller and Guillaume Warmuz, who had just left Arsenal.

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