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Roberto Robbie Di Matteo (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto di matˈtɛo]; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian former footballer and the interim manager of Chelsea for the remainder of the 2011–12 season. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chelsea of England.


He was capped 34 times for Italy, scoring two goals, and played in Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup.

He retired as a player in February 2002 at the age of 31 following injury problems. He has since managed Milton Keynes Dons, West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea. As manager of The Blues, he has won the 2012 FA Cup and the 2012 UEFA Champions League, becoming the first Chelsea manager to preside over the winning of the Champions League.

Club career Switzerland and Italy
Born in Switzerland to Italian parents from Paglieta, Chieti, Abruzzo, Di Matteo began his career with Swiss club Schaffhausen, before joining Aarau in 1991. He won the Swiss Nationalliga A with Aarau in 1993 and in the same season achieved Switzerland's Player of the Year award. He signed for Lazio in the summer of 1993 on a free transfer. Di Matteo became a regular in the Lazio side and made his debut for Italy during his three seasons with the Rome club. However, a falling out with coach Zdeněk Zeman over a defensive error which resulted in a loss to Internazionale, ended his career with the Lazio. As a result he was signed by Ruud Gullit for English side Chelsea for a then club record fee of £4.9 million.

Chelsea
Di Matteo scored the winner against Middlesbrough on his home debut for Chelsea. His passing ability and accurate long-distance shooting saw him become one of the driving forces of Chelsea's resurgence in the late 1990s. He contributed nine goals in his first season, including long-range efforts against both Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon. He helped the club finish 6th in the league, their highest placing since 1989–90, and reach the 1997 FA Cup Final at Wembley.

Within 42 seconds of the kick-off of the final against Middlesbrough, Di Matteo scored the opening goal from 30 yards and Chelsea won 2-0. Di Matteo's goal was the fastest in an FA Cup final until the record was broken by Louis Saha for Everton in 2009.

The following season Di Matteo again proved his worth to the team, chipping in with ten goals and numerous assists, as Chelsea went on to claim the Football League Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup, their first European honour since 1971.

In the League Cup final, again against Middlesbrough, Di Matteo scored the second goal in a 2–0 win. Di Matteo played in midfield next to Gustavo Poyet, Dennis Wise and Dan Petrescu in the 1998-99 season as Chelsea finished third.

During the 1999–2000 season Di Matteo was sidelined by injury but returned late in the season to score a handful of crucial goals, including his third Cup-winning goal at Wembley, once again in the FA Cup.

In a dour match, Di Matteo capitalised on an error by Aston Villa goalkeeper David James to score the winner in the 71st minute, handing Chelsea their fourth major trophy in three years. This lead Di Matteo to comment on the old Wembley Stadium saying "It's a shame they're tearing the old place down – it has been a very lucky ground for me."

Early into the 2000–01 season, Di Matteo sustained a triple leg fracture in a UEFA Cup tie against Swiss side St. Gallen and did not play for the next eighteen months. He gave up on hopes of returning from this injury in February 2002 and retired at the age of 31.

In "gratitude for the midfielder's contribution to the transformation of the club", then-manager Claudio Ranieri handed Di Matteo the honour of leading the Chelsea team out in the 2002 FA Cup Final, which Chelsea went on to lose 2–0 to London rivals Arsenal. Di Matteo was selected in a Chelsea greatest-ever XI. In his six years at Chelsea, he made 175 appearances and scored 26 goals. He never lost at Old Trafford.

From Wikipedia

Roberto Mancini (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto manˈtʃini]; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.

As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italias and the Cup Winners Cup, whilst being capped 36 times by Italy. As a player, he gained a penchant for becoming a future manager and would often give team talks at half-time and ultimately became an assistant to Sven-Göran Eriksson at Lazio in the twilight of his playing career.

After his retirement, Mancini embarked on a successful managerial career. A cup specialist, Mancini had never failed to reach a semi-final of a major national cup competition, from 2002 to 2011. He also guided the Italian clubs he managed to a record 5 consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008, with Lazio once in 2004 and with Inter in the following four seasons.

Mancini's first managerial role was at a cash stricken Fiorentina at only 35 years old and managed to win a Coppa Italia, but left with Fiorentina facing bankruptcy. Months later, he took over as manager at Lazio, where again he inherited financial constraints and was forced to lose a number of key players.

With limited resources during his two season tenure, he still managed to win another Coppa Italia, reach a UEFA Cup semi-final, and secure a lucrative Champions League place. In 2004, Mancini was given the chance to manage a major club, being offered the manager's job at Internazionale.

During his tenure at Inter, the club won three consecutive Serie A titles (an Inter club record) and a European record 17 consecutive league game victories stretching nearly half a season and became Inter's most successful manager in 30 years. Despite his domestic success, many pundits saw the repeated failure to win the coveted Champions League as the main reason for his sacking in 2008.

After being out of football for over a year, Mancini was appointed Manchester City manager in December 2009 and his team-building achievements at Lazio and Inter were a factor in his appointment. In the 2010–11 season, his first full season at Manchester City, Mancini guided the club to Champions League football and the FA Cup, and has moulded City into a sound defensive unit.

During the 2011–12 season, Mancini guided Manchester City to the Premier League title in an enthralling last day of the season. City won the league title on goal difference with the club winning its final game 3-2, with two injury time goals.

This was the clubs first league title for 44 years. He maintains a tradition of wearing a scarf of his club's colours, something which has been continued at Manchester City. He became the second Italian manager who won Premier League after Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea in 2010. From Wikipedia

Geoff Charles Ogilvy (born 11 June 1977) is an Australian professional golfer. He won the 2006 U.S. Open and has also won three World Golf Championships.

Ogilvy was born in Adelaide, South Australia to an English-born father Mike and Australian born mother Judy. He turned professional in May 1998 and he won a European Tour card at that year's Qualifying school.

He played on the European Tour in 1999 and 2000, finishing 65th in his first season and improving to 48th in his second. He joined the U.S. based PGA Tour in 2001, and finished in the top 100 in each of his first five seasons.

His first professional tournament win came in 2005 at the PGA Tour's Chrysler Classic of Tucson. In February 2006 he beat Davis Love III in the final of the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.


Ogilvy won his first major championship at the 2006 U.S. Open, becoming the first Australian to win a men's golf major since Steve Elkington at the 1995 PGA Championship.

Ogilvy finished his round with a champion's flourish, making improbable pars on each of the last two holes. He holed a 30-foot chip shot at the 17th, and then got up-and-down for par at the 18th, dropping a downhill six-footer for his final stroke as all his competitors collapsed around him.

Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie needed pars on the final hole to win, or bogeys to tie with Ogilvy, but they ruined their chances by producing double-bogey sixes to give Ogilvy a dramatic win. Jim Furyk needed par to force a playoff but bogeyed the final hole.

This success moved Ogilvy into the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time, at Number 8. He reached his highest placing to date on 9 July 2006 when he was ranked Number 7, and he returned to that rank in February 2007 after finishing as runner-up to Henrik Stenson while defending his title at the 2007 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He has spent over 120 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings.

Ogilvy won the 2008 WGC-CA Championship, his second World Golf Championship title, by one shot shooting 17-under par. It was his first PGA Tour win since the 2006 U.S. Open. In his next start at the 2008 Shell Houston Open he finished tied for 2nd moving him up to number 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

In late June 2008, he rose to 3rd in the rankings. In 2009 Ogilvy continued his success at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship defeating Paul Casey. Ogilvy moved into second alone in World Golf Championship wins. This win brought him up to 4th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

In January 2010, Ogilvy won the SBS Championship, the opening event of the 2010 PGA Tour.

Personal
Ogilvy claims to be a distant relative of the Royal Family member Angus Ogilvy, and even more distantly related to Robert The Bruce on his fathers side. Ogilvy's father was born in Cambridgeshire, England, and emigrated to Australia with his family as a young boy, however his family had originally migrated from Scotland to England.

Ogilvy is married to Juli and they have a daughter Pheobe Elizabeth and son Jasper Michael. The family formerly lived in Scottsdale, Arizona but now reside in San Diego, California, in the United States.

Ogilvy is a partner in Exotic Pebbles & Aggregates based in Scottsdale.

Ogilvy is a founding partner of MOJO Pies, "The Original Australian Pie", based in Scottsdale and is a proud supporter of the St Kilda Football Club.


From Wikipedia

Karim Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French international footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga.

He primarily plays as a striker whose influence can extend out to the wings and is known for his technical ability, powerful style of play, and vast goal-scoring ability. He is described as an "immensely-talented striker" who is "strong and powerful" and "a potent finisher from inside the box".




Benzema was born in the city of Lyon beginning his football career with local club Bron Terraillon. In 1996, he joined the biggest club in the city Olympique Lyonnais and, subsequently, came through the club's youth academy.


Benzema made his professional debut in the 2004–05 season and appeared sporadically in his first three seasons as Lyon won three titles in that span. In the 2007–08 season, Benzema became a starter and had a breakthrough year scoring over 30 goals as Lyon won its seventh straight league title.

For his performances, he was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 1 Player of the Year and named to the organization's Team of the Year. Benzema was also the league's top scorer and given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo.

After another season at Lyon, in July 2009, Benzema signed a six-year contract with Spanish outfit Real Madrid. After struggling to establish himself in his debut season with the club, in the 2010–11 season, Benzema reached prominence scoring over 25 goals en-route to helping Real Madrid win the Copa del Rey.

Benzema is a former French youth international and has represented his nation from under-17 level onwards. Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Benzema made his senior international debut in March 2007 in a friendly match against Austria.

On his debut, he scored his first international goal in a 1–0 win. Benzema has represented France at one major international tournament; UEFA Euro 2008. He made two appearances in the competition against Romania and Italy in the group stage.

Personal Life
Benzema was born in Lyon, to parents of Algerian descent. Benzema grew up with nine siblings and his father Hafid in the nearby town of Bron. His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tighzert, located in the northern town of Beni Djellil in Algeria before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled in the 1950s.

On 18 April 2010, it was first reported by French television service M6 that four members of the French national team were being investigated for their roles as clients in a prostitute ring that was being operated inside of a Paris nightclub with some of the women possibly being underage.

The report also stated that two of the players were already questioned as witnesses by judge André Dando and a group of magistrates. The report described the two players as being one who "is a major player in a big foreign club" and that the other "plays in the championship of France Ligue 1". Later that day, the players were discovered to be Franck Ribéry and Sidney Govou.

The other two players were later discovered to be Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa. Benzema was alleged to have had a sexual rendezvous with a prostitute when she was 16 years of age, an act Benzema has denied through his lawyer. On 29 April, the country's Secretary of State for Sports Rama Yade, after refusing to publicly comment on the case in its infancy, declared that any player placed under investigation should not represent the France national team.

The following day, a judicial source confirmed that Benzema would not be questioned, if at all, before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 20 July, Benzema was questioned by Paris police and, following questioning, was indicted by judge Dando on the charge of "solicitation of a minor prostitute."

From Wikipedia