Luis Figo

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo,  born November
4, 1972 in Lisbon, Portugal, is a Portugal
national football team|Portuguese international
football (soccer)|footballer, who plays as a
midfielder and winger, currently for Inter Milan.
Luís is a devout Catholic.

==Background==
He won his first senior international cap
(football)|cap in 1991; prior to that, he won the
Under-20 World Championships and Under-16 European
Championships with Portugal junior sides, a
significant part of the nation's so called 'Golden
Generation' in football, alongside compatriot, Rui
Costa. Figo moved to FC Barcelona from Sporting
Clube de Portugal (a club which developed many
other great Portuguese players) in 1995, but not
before a dispute with Juventus and Parma
A.C.|Parma, with whom he had signed a double
contract, under risk of a lengthy ban. The
situation was eventually resolved, and in four
years he became a fan-favourite, captain and
symbol of the Catalonia|Catalan side. In 2000 his
transfer to Barcelona's arch-rival, Real Madrid,
for a record-breaking £37,000,000 only
intensified the great animosity between the two
clubs. There was a short-lived website
(antifigo.com
http://web.archive.org/web/20001217065100/htt
p://www.antifigo.com/) devoted to insult
"judas Figo"; he missed his highly anticipated
first return to the Camp Nou|Nou Camp due to
injury; in 2002, Barcelona's ground was banned
after objects were thrown at Figo, while massive
chants calling him Pesetero (which can be roughly
translated to money whore) echoed in the stadium,
and finally, during the final match of Ec2|2004
between Greece national football team|Greece and
Portugal national football team|Portugal, a Barça
fan known as Jimmy Jump ran across the field and
threw a FC Barcelona flag at Figo in an apparent
act of defiance.
Already a great winger at the beginning of his
career, Figo eventually became one of the best
players of the world, and undoubtedly the best
winger of his generation. His dazzling dribbling
and the amazing amount of assists (Figo confesses
that he enjoys assisting as much as scoring)
assured him success and fame all over the world.
Figo is recognized for his versatility throughout
the pitch.

Luís Figo is nowadays one of the main
Portugal|Portuguese symbols and ambassadors. Many
Portuguese travelling outside southern Europe get
"Oh! Figo! Figo!" as a reply, when saying they are
Portuguese.

He was 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year and is
arguably one of the great all-time players.

On August 18, 2004, Figo announced that he would
"take a break" from international football. In
April 2005 he announced to be ready to return, as
he was sidelined in Real Madrid, and the next
month Luiz Felipe Scolari announced he would talk
with him about the return. He agreed to return on
13 May, and the match between Portugal and
Slovakia national football team|Slovakia in June 4
will probably become his return. This received
mixed feelings from Portuguese fans: some see his
return as fixing something that should not have
happened, others fear on the "concessions" Scolari
made to bring him back.

Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo had a
falling out with Figo after he relegated the
Portugal international to the bench for the second
half of the 2004-2005 Primera Liga season. It was
widely believed that Figo would leave Los
Merengues for first-team football elsewhere.
During the off-season, he was linked with a move
to the Premiership with Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool
or to Serie A's Inter. On 2005 August 5, Figo
moved to Internazionale|Inter Milan on a free
transfer and a two-year deal worth €7
million.

He is married to Sweden|Swedish model Helen
Svedin. They have three daughters named Daniela,
Martina and Stella.



==Motor Racing==
Along with fellow Portuguese football manager
Carlos Queiróz, Figo has bought into the A1 Grand
Prix A1 Team Portugal|Team Portugal race team, and
will act as team boss.

== Titles earned ==
* UEFA Champions League (2002, Real Madrid)
* Intercontinental Cup (2002, Real Madrid)
* Cup Winners' Cup (1997, FC Barcelona)
* Football World Youth Championship|FIFA World
Youth Championship (1991, Portugal)
* Spanish League (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, FC
Barcelona and Real Madrid)
* Copa del Rey|Spanish Cup (1997, 1998, FC
Barcelona)
* Portuguese Cup (1995, Sporting Lisbon)
* Italian Super Cup (2005, Inter Milan)
* Ballon d'or 2000 (France Football prize)
* 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year

start box
succession box|title=European Footballer of the
Year|before=Rivaldo |after=Michael Owen|years=2000
succession box|title=FIFA World Player of the
Year|before=Zinedine
Zidane|after=Ronaldo|years=2001
end box