Luis Figo

LUIS FIGO

PORTUGAL | BARCELONA | REAL MADRID

Luis Figo is best known as the footballer who transferring from Barcelona to Real Madrid. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2002 and won eight league titles with three different clubs.

DATE OF BIRTH
4 November 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH
Almada, Portugal
HEIGHT
1.80m
POSITION
Winger
FIRST CLUB
Sporting CP

CAREER STATS

1989 – 2009

645

CLUB APPS

112

CLUB GOALS

127

INT APPS

INT GOALS

MAJOR HONOURS

LEAGUE TITLES

2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2003 | 2001 | 1999 | 1998

EUROPEAN CUP

2002

BALLON D’OR

2000

WORLD CUP

FIGO VIDEO CLIPS

LIFE BEFORE FOOTBALL

Born in Almada, Portugal on November 4th 1972, Luis Figo was an only child of parents Atonio and Maria. Figo moved to Lisbon early in his life, and it’s the city where his football career took off. He started playing street soccer before being joining Sporting Lisbon’s academy when he was 12-years-old.

Futsal was a big part of Figo’s life growing up. Futsal is similar to 5-aside; it requires good control, dribbling and passing skills, three things that defined Figo’s career later in life.

FOOTBALL CAREER

EARLY DAYS

Figo’s debut for Sporting Lisbon, came on April 1st, in the 1989/90 season against Maritimo. Figo came on as a substitute and Sporting won the game 1-0. However, it would take him another 18 months to get his first goal. That came against Torreense on December 7th, 1991. It was an equaliser in a game that Sporting went on to win 2-1.

Figo enjoyed a successful international career whilst at Sporting, winning the Under-20 World Championships in 1991 and the u16s Euros. Figo also won the Portuguese Cup in 1994/95, his final season at Sporting Lisbon.

Many clubs were chasing the young talent following his departure from Sporting. Figo signed a contract with both Parma and Juventus. It caused a scandal in Italy, resulting in neither side allowing him to join them. As a result, Barcelona swooped in, signed Figo for just £2.25 million.

BARCA, REAL & INTER

Whilst at Barca, Figo won seven trophies. He won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1996/97 and back to back La Liga titles. Three of his trophies at Barcelona were domestic cups. Figo played a total of 172 times for the Catalonian club, scoring 30 times.

After five years, Figo moved to rivals Real Madrid, a transfer which didn’t go down well with Barca fans! He moved to Madrid, for a fee of €62 million, which was a world-record fee at the time. After just five months, he won the Ballon d’Or.

Figo returned to the Nou Camp with Real on October 21st 2000. The El Clasico is one of the most highly anticipated games in world football, and the drama of Figo returning made it more intense. Fans jeered him for the majority of the game.

Figo’s first season with Real was a success. He helped his side win La Liga, contributing 14 goals. His arrival attracted other big named players, and the following season Zinedine Zidane joined from Juventus. Real would go on to win the Champions League that season, beating Bayer Leverkusen in the final.

In the 2002/03 season, Figo would make his second return to the Nou Camp having missed out the season before due to injury. This game was no different from the last time Figo returned to his old club, and the abuse was constant once again. Barcelona fans threw missiles at the player and a pigs head. The crowd problems resulted in the game being stopped for 20 minutes.

Figo’s time at Madrid came to an end, and he left Real to join Inter Milan on a free transfer. He won the league title in each of his seasons with the Italian club. He announced his retirement from football on the same day he won his last Serie A title.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

Figo’s first senior cap for Portugal came on October 16th 1991. It was a 1-1 draw against Luxembourg. He didn’t have a long wait before scoring his first goal for Portugal; it came against Bulgaria. He guided Portugal to their first International tournament in 12 years by reaching the Euros in 1996. Figo scored in the group stages, with Portugal getting to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

In Euro 2000, Figo scored the in a 3-2 win over England and Portugal went on to the competition’s semi-finals.

In 2002, Figo scored six goals helping Portugal to qualify for their first World Cup since 1986. However, it was a disappointing campaign, as they failed to get out of the group stages. Nevertheless, Figo was handed the captain’s armband for the first time in his international career.

In 2004, Figo’s helped Portugal reach the final of the Euros. However, they couldn’t capitalise against weaker opposition in Greece, who produced one of the biggest football upsets to win the tournament. After the game, Figo announced his retirement from international football, a decision he would later reverse.

In 2006, Figo returned to captain Portugal at the World Cup in Germany. They reached the semi-finals of the competition. Their best showing at the tournament in over 40 years, they were knocked out by France.

Figo finished his football career with 645 games and 112 goals in club football and 127 games and 32 goals for Portugal. When he retired, he was the most capped player for the national side; a record Ronaldo has since broken.

LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL

Since retirement, Figo has worked as an ambassador for Inter Milan. He has also was worked with various charities including Stop TB Partnership, a tuberculosis charity. He is yet to go back into football directly in terms of management but is happy representing Inter around the world.

LUIS FIGO LINKS & RESOURCES

LUIS FIGO QUOTES: To play for Barcelona, means to have an opportunity for a brilliant career. But to reach the top of it, you have to play for Real Madrid. As a professional football player, I have known perfectly well from the day I started playing that every day I have to fight for my place. I‘m star-struck when I see Paul Scholes because you never see him. On the pitch you can’t catch him. Off the pitch he disappears.