Sports Club: August 2011

Kevin Youkilis

Kevin Edmund Youkilis (born March 15, 1979), also known as "Youk", is an American professional baseball player with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was drafted by the Red Sox in 2001 after playing college baseball at the University of Cincinnati. Known for his ability to get on base, Youkilis (while still a minor leaguer) was nicknamed "The Greek God of Walks" in the best-selling book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. A Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman, he once held baseball's record for most consecutive errorless games at first base (later broken by Casey Kotchman). He is also a two-time MLB All-Star, two-time World Series Champion, and winner of the 2008 Hank Aaron Award. An intense performer on the playing field, Youkilis is known for his scrappiness, grittiness, dirt-stained jerseys, and home-plate collisions. He has excelled despite a physique that led many observers to underestimate his athletic ability: he was called "roly-poly" by his high school coach, "pudgy" by his college coach, a "fat kid" by general manager Billy Beane, and a "thicker-bodied guy" by the Red Sox scout who recruited him. Or, as Jackie MacMullan wrote for the Boston Globe: "He does not look like an MVP candidate; more a refrigerator repairman, a butcher, the man selling hammers behind the counter at the True Value hardware store." Youkilis was named to the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 36 on the list in 2009, No. 38 in 2010, and No. 35 in 2011. The Youkilis family name has an unusual history. His Jewish great-great-great-grandfather, a native of 19th-century Romania, moved to Greece at the age of 16 to avoid conscription at the hands of the notoriously anti-Semitic Cossacks. He became homesick, however, and returned to Romania after a couple of years, although he changed his surname from "Weiner" to the Greek name, "Youkilis", to avoid army and jail. "People have come up to me and starting speaking Greek to me and I don't speak it," Youkilis said. "I feel bad. Ever since I was in Lowell (Class A), people have thought I was Greek. People shout at me, 'I'm Greek, you're Greek.' But I'm not." Youkilis is the son of a Romanian Jewish jewelry wholesaler, who Youkilis has described as a "well-known third baseman in the Jewish Community Center fast-pitch softball league." At the age of 14, Youkilis had an uncredited one-line speaking role in the romantic comedy film, Milk Money. He attended Sycamore High School in the north-eastern suburbs of Cincinnati, where he played third base, shortstop, first base, and the outfield for the school team which won the AAU National Championship in 1994, and he was the only player to homer off of current Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook in high school.

In 2001, Youkilis made his professional debut as a third baseman with the Lowell Spinners, a Short-Season A Class franchise in the New York-Penn League. He went on to lead the league with a .512 OBP, 52 runs, and 70 walks (against just 28 strikeouts), while hitting for a .317 batting average (third in the league) in 59 games.In 2002, Youkilis appeared in 15 games for Augusta, in 76 games for the Sarasota Sox (40 of them at first base), and in 44 games for the Trenton Thunder. He hit .310, with eight home runs and 80 RBIs for the year, and he was voted Trenton's "Player of the Year."In 2003, Youkilis started the season with the Portland Sea Dogs. In 94 games, he led the Eastern League with a .487 on base percentage (best all-time for the team through 2007), and was third in the league with a .327 batting average (second-best all-time for the team through 2007).On May 15, 2004, when Red Sox regular starting third baseman Bill Mueller was placed on the disabled list, Youkilis was called up for the first time.On September 24 of that year, which was Yom Kippur, Youkilis appeared in the dugout in uniform, but declined to participate in the game out of deference to the religious holiday. Youkilis was named the club's Rookie of the Year by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.While virtually nobody else knew it, Youkilis broke his toe during spring training in 2005, and was back playing again in a matter of days. It was "in Vero Beach", Youkilis said. "I was trying to make the team."In 2006, his first full season in the majors, Youkilis became a regular first baseman (with 127 games at first). Until that time, he was primarily a third baseman, though he did play nine games at first base with the Red Sox in 2005, and 56 games at first base in his minor league career.

Youkilis had a career-high 23-game hitting streak starting on May 5, 2007, and ending on June 2, 2007, in which he hit .426 (43–101) with 13 doubles, 6 HRs, 21 RBIs, and a .468 OBP. At one point during the hitting streak, he had 9 straight games with at least two hits (tying a Red Sox record set by Jim Rice in 1978), and became the first Red Sox hitter since Trot Nixon to hit an inside-the-park home run.On April 2, 2008, on an unassisted game-ending play against the Oakland A's, Youkilis broke the Major League record for most consecutive error-less games by a first baseman, previously held by Steve Garvey, at 194 games. In his 205th game without an error on April 27, Youkilis also established a new major league record for first basemen, when he fielded his 1,701st consecutive chance without an error, passing the old mark of 1,700 set by Stuffy McInnis from 1921 to 1922. His streak, which started on July 4, 2006, was snapped at 238 games (2,002 fielding attempts) on June 7, 2008 against the Seattle Mariners.Youkilis signed a four-year, $41.25 million contract with the Red Sox on January 15, 2009. The deal also included a team option (at $14 million, with a $1.25 million buyout) for 2013. Later that year, he was voted # 36 on the Sporting News list of the 50 greatest active baseball players, voted on by a panel that included members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.In 2010, Youkilis was again named to Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 38 on the list. A panel of 21 MLB executives was polled to arrive at the list. In 2011, Youkilis was again named to Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 35 on the list. A panel of 21 MLB executives was polled to arrive at the list. Youkilis was named to the 2011 AL All Star team, for the 82nd All Star Game. At the All Star break, he was 3rd in the league in doubles (26), 4th in on base percentage (.399), 6th in RBIs (63), 7th in OPS (.911), and 9th in walks (49).

Youkilis was featured in the 2008 Hank Greenberg 75th Anniversary edition of Jewish Major Leaguers Baseball Cards, published in affiliation with Fleer Trading Cards and the American Jewish Historical Society, commemorating the Jewish Major Leaguers from 1871 through 2008. He joined, among other Jewish major leaguers, Ryan Braun, Brad Ausmus, Ian Kinsler, Brian Horwitz, Gabe Kapler, Jason Marquis, Jason Hirsh, John Grabow, Craig Breslow, and Scott Schoeneweis. He was one of three Jewish players in the 2008 All-Star Game, joining Braun and Kinsler, and one of three Jewish players on the Team USA 2009 World Baseball Classic team, joining Braun and Grabow. Kinsler says that "Youkilis always says something to me on the bases. 'Happy Passover,' he'll throw something at me." Youkilis was named the Jewish MVP for 2008, beating out fellow All-Stars Braun and Kinsler. He was voted the top Jewish baseball player of the decade 2000–09 in online balloting, beating out Shawn Green and Braun. Through the 2010 season, his .294 batting average placed him 6th on the career all-time list (directly behind Phil Weintraub) for batting average by Jewish major leaguers, his 112 home runs placed him 8th (behind Braun), and his 470 RBIs placed him 9th (behind Ausmus). Kevin Youkilis Hits For Kids is a charitable organization established by Youkilis in 2007. Youkilis's foundation focuses on raising support and awareness for the health, advocacy, safety, and medical healing of children across Massachusetts, in his hometown of Cincinnati, and beyond. Rallying the support of volunteers, local business, and the heart of Red Sox Nation, Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids teams with existing, community-based children's charities and medical research efforts that lack sufficient funding and awareness. One organization that Hits for Kids works with is the Joslin Diabetes Center's Pediatric Health Services. He has a special sensitivity about youth suicide, since his college roommate, a close and supportive friend of his since high school, committed suicide on Thanksgiving during his sophomore year. To this day, he said, "I sit back at night and wonder what I could’ve done." "In my religion, the Jewish religion, that's one of the biggest things that's taught, is giving a mitzvah, forming a mitzvah", said Youkilis. "I was always taught as a kid giving to charity. You're supposed to give a good amount of charity each and every year.... It's just a great thing when you can make a kid smile that's going through some hard times in life ... I wish more people, not just athletes, would give people just a little bit of their time. It doesn't take much ... It can make a huge difference." After the first game of the ALDS, Youkilis re-shaved his head for good luck in a sign of solidarity with cancer patient Mitt Campbell. Following the team's 2007 World Series victory, Youkilis shaved his goatee for a $5,000 donation by Gillette to his foundation. All profits from his charity wine "SauvignYoouuk Blanc", released in 2008, support Hits for Kids.

Katinka Hosszu

Katinka Hosszú (born May 3, 1989 in Pécs, Baranya) is a female Hungarian swimmer, who twice competed for her native country at the Summer Olympics: 2004 and 2008.

Katinka Hosszu During The Match

Katinka Hosszu Get Medals

Katinka Hosszu On The Pool

Katinka Hosszu Cute Expression

Katinka Hosszu On The Podium When She Won The Match

Katinka Hosszu Butterfly Style

She won her first medal at 2004 European Short Course Championshops, a bronze in 400 m medley. At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships she won two bronze medals in 200 m medley and 200 m butterfly, before becoming World Champion in 400 m medley. She was elected Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year for her achievements. At the 2010 European Aquatics Championships held in her homecountry, she won a silver medal in 400 m medley and became European Champion in 200 m butterfly, 200 m medley and with the 4x200 m freestyle relay team.

Romain Mesnil

Romain Mesnil (born 13 July 1977 in Le Plessis-Bouchard) is a French pole vaulter. His personal best is 5.95 metres, achieved in August 2003 in Castres. His coach is Georges Martin.

Romain MESNIL - Pole Vault - 5,91m - ALBI - Champion de France

Romain Mesnil Attractive Performance

Romain Mesnil Masculine Pose

Romain Mesnil Best Performance

Romain Mesnil Perfect Body

Romain Mesnil Bring His Country Flags With His Friends

Romain Mesnil Cool Pose

Romain Mesnil Wallpaper

Romain Mesnil Happiness Expression

Miki Ando

Miki Ando (born December 18, 1987) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2007 and 2011 World Champion, 2011 Four Continents Champion, 2004 World Junior Champion, and a three-time (2004, 2005 & 2010) Japanese National Champion. Ando is the first and only female skater to complete a quadruple jump successfully in competition. She accomplished this at the 2002–2003 Junior Grand Prix Final in The Hague. Ando was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1987. Her father died when she was eight years old. In 2006, she joined Toyota and also entered Chukyo University as an adult learner, from which she graduated in March 2011. Ando learned English during her time training in the U.S. She began skating in 1996 at the age of eight. She soon turned to Yuko Monna whose students at that time included Mao Asada and Mai Asada. Beginning in the 2000–2001 season, she was coached by Nobuo Satō, and her program already featured a triple lutz-triple loop. In the 2001–2002 season she won the Japan Junior Championships, as well as the Junior Grand Prix Final. She also earned bronze medals at the Japanese Championships (senior) and at the Junior Worlds. Ando made history the next season at the 2002-2003 Junior Grand Prix Final, when she landed a quadruple salchow and became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump of any kind in a competition. She remains the only lady ever to perform this feat. That season, she defended her national Junior crown, and took silver at the World Junior Championships. Ando was prominent in 2003–2004, winning all her junior games including the Junior Grand Prix Final, her third consecutive national junior title, and the Junior Worlds. She also won the Japan Championships (senior) and placed 4th at her first senior World Championships.

Miki Ando Exotic Style Performance

Miki Ando Creative Style and Beautiful Costume

Miki Ando Serious Expression With Wonderful Costume

The 2004–2005 season was her first full season as a senior skater. She won two medals in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where she placed fourth. She won her second national senior title and placed sixth at 2005 Worlds. Ando relocated to the United States to train with Carol Heiss Jenkins in preparation for the 2005–2006 season which included the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. The season began well, when she won the silver medal at the 2005 Cup of Russia, but finished 4th at the 2005 NHK Trophy, and narrowly qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where she placed 4th. At Japanese Nationals, she placed 6th. Ando was named to the Japanese Olympic team in accordance with the criteria that were to include two seasons into consideration. At the Olympics, she placed 15th, after falling three times in her free skate, once on her quad attempt. She was not placed on the team to the World Championships the following month. Ando changed coaches again for the 2006–2007 season. Training with her new coach, Nikolai Morozov, Ando made a strong showing in the 2006–2007 season, winning the 2006 Skate America and taking silver at the 2006 Trophée Eric Bompard. She qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where she placed 5th. It was later revealed that Ando, along with the rest of the Japanese team, competed in Saint Petersburg while suffering stomach flu. At the Japanese Nationals, Ando dislocated her shoulder while performing a spin in her free skate, but skated on to place second overall behind Mao Asada. At the 2007 Worlds, Ando placed second in both the short program and the free skate, and scored a total of 195.09 points to win the World Championship by less than one point over Asada. Ando set new personal bests in both the short program and the free skate, and a new personal best total score. She was named one of Vogue Japan's "Women of the Year for 2007," and received six other awards including the "most valuable mention" from the Japanese Olympic Committee. Ando's 2007–2008 season began with a silver medal at the 2007 Skate America, but went down to 4th place finish at the 2007 NHK Trophy, where she fell three times in her free skate. She did not qualify for the Grand Prix Final. At the Japan Championships, she won the free skate to place 2nd overall, again behind Asada. In the following February, Ando competed for the first time at Four Continents, where she attempted a quadruple Salchow, but popped it to a double. She won the bronze medal. At Worlds, Ando was 8th after the short program, and was forced to withdraw during her free skate due to a leg muscle strain she had been suffering since that morning.

Miki Ando Playing Ice Skating With Sing a Song

Miki Ando and Her Friends

In the 2008–2009 Grand Prix season, Ando placed third after Kim Yu-Na and Yukari Nakano at Skate America and placed 2nd, behind Kim, again, at the Cup of China. At the Grand Prix Final, Ando stayed on her foot after an attempted quadruple salchow in her free skate program, the first time in competition since 2004, though the rotations were not considered enough and the jump was downgraded. Despite her last place finish, Ando stated that she was very happy with her performance, and that she would continue to work on her quad salchow. At the Japan Championships, she was in 3rd place after the short program. During the free skate warm-up, she collided with Fumie Suguri, and injured her knee. She placed 3rd place, and earned one of three spots to represent Japan at the 2009 World Championships. Before the event, the Japanese skating federation wanted her to leave Morozov. There, she won the bronze medal with a total of 190.38 after placing fourth in the short program and second in the free program. Ando represented Japan in a team competition, 2009 ISU World Team Trophy, in Tokyo, Japan, where she placed 3rd at the short program, 6th at the free skate and 5th overall. Team Japan was placed 3rd, winning the bronze medal. Japan Skating Federation set, as one of its criteria for choosing the skaters to send to the 2010 Winter Olympics, the highest Japanese medal finisher in the Grand Prix Final. With this in mind, Ando competed at Rostelecom Cup, where she placed 3rd in the short program and won the free skate to win the competition overall. At the NHK Trophy, she placed 2nd in both the short program and the free skate, which placed her 1st overall. The two wins qualified Ando for the 2009–2010 Grand Prix Final, which was held in Tokyo. At this GP Final, she scored 66.20 points in the short program and was placed in 1st at that segment of the competition, 0.56 points ahead of second place finisher Yu-Na Kim. In the free skate, she placed in 2nd scoring 119.74 points, and winning the silver medal overall behind Kim but ahead of the bronze medalist Akiko Suzuki, which made Ando earn a place to the 2010 Winter Olympics. At the Japanese Championships, Ando placed 4th overall. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, the short program took place on February 23, where Ando executed a triple lutz-triple loop combination, however the triple loop was downgraded. She earned levels 3 and 4 on spins. She scored 64.76, ending in fourth in this segment. In the free skate on 25th, Ando placed sixth with 124.10 points and settled for fifth overall with 188.86 points. Although she originally intended to miss the 2010-11 season, she changed her mind following the Olympics. Ando competed at the 2010 World Championships. She placed eleventh in the short program with 55.78 points due to a fall in her opening triple lutz, but came back third in the free skate with 122.04. She earned 177.82 points to finish fourth overall. Ando was assigned to Cup of China and the Rostelecom Cup for the 2010–2011 ISU Grand Prix season. In August, shortly before the beginning of the season, she changed her training base while abroad from Hackensack NJ, USA, to Daugavpils, Latvia. She was originally said to have intended to move to Russia, but this plan had to be changed due to the smog and heat wave in Moscow. At Cup of China, Ando attempted a triple Lutz-triple Loop combination in the short program, but the loop was deemed underrotated by the Technical Panel and she placed in 3rd in this segment. She won the free skate segment with a clean performance and won the event overall, ahead of silver medalist Akiko Suzuki and bronze medalist Alena Leonova. Ando competed with a back injury at Rostelecom Cup after a collision with Abzal Rakimgaliev, from Kazakhstan, earlier in the week in practice. Despite the injury, she skated two clean programs, and though the underrotated triple Flip in the short program left her in 5th place going in to the free skate, she was able to win that segment with 120.47 points, winning the gold medal ahead of silver medalist Akiko Suzuki and bronze medalist Ashley Wagner. With two gold medals in the Grand Prix circuit, Ando qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, where she performed her renewed short program that was completed only a week prior. Mistakes on two jumps left her to 5th place following the short program, but she performed a near flawless free skate which earned her 122.70 points for 1st place in that segment of the competition. However, this was not enough to make up the gap from the short program, and she stayed 5th with 173.15 points. Ando won the gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia, beating silver medalist Yu-Na Kim by 1.29 points and bronze medalist Carolina Kostner by 11.11 points.

Amare Stoudemire

Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982) is an American professional basketball center and power forward for the New York Knicks. Taken in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, he spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns. He is listed by NBA.com as 6 feet 10 inches (208 cm) and 240 pounds (110 kg). Stoudemire won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, made six appearances in the NBA All-Star Game, made first-team All-NBA in 2007, and won a Bronze Medal with the United States men's national basketball team at the 2004 Olympic Games. Stoudemire's first name had previously been listed in the Phoenix Suns media guide as Amaré or Amare, but it was changed to Amar'e in October 2008. Stoudemire told NBA.com that his name had always been spelled Amar'e, but the media had been spelling it incorrectly since he joined the NBA. In his rookie season, Stoudemire averaged 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, with a season high of 38 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 30, 2002, the highest score by a prep-to-pro player until broken a year later by LeBron James. Stoudemire won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, beating out Yao Ming and Caron Butler and becoming the first player drafted out of high school to win the award. The following season, Stoudemire improved statistically, but his team stumbled to a 29–53 record, and point guard Stephon Marbury was traded to the New York Knicks. During the summer of 2004, Stoudemire was selected to play for the eventual Bronze Medal-winning United States national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. However, head coach Larry Brown declined to give him significant playing time. During the 2004–05 NBA season, Stoudemire teamed up with point guard Steve Nash to lead the Suns to a 62–20 record. Averaging 26 points per game that year and achieving a new career high of 50 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 2, 2005, he was selected to his first National Basketball Association All-Star Game as a reserve forward. In the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Stoudemire performed magnificently, averaging 37 points per game, but the Suns lost in 5 games.

The Power and the Fury of Amare Stoudemire

In the 2009–10 season, Stoudemire would eventually lead the Suns to a 54–28 record, clinching the third seed in the Western Conference. The Suns would defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 during the first round and beat the San Antonio Spurs 4–0 in the Conference Semifinals, to meet the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals. After dropping the first two games, Stoudemire would score 42 points in game 3 and 21 in game 4, to help the Suns tie the series 2–2. After Ron Artest's buzzer beater in game 5 and Kobe Bryant's 37 points in game 6, the Suns lost the series 4–2.On June 30, 2010, Stoudemire opted out of his contract with the Phoenix Suns, which made him an unrestricted free agent. On July 5, 2010, Stoudemire and the New York Knicks agreed in principle to a contract estimated to be worth around $99.7 million over five years. On the first day that free agents were allowed to officially sign, the Knicks formally introduced Stoudemire at Madison Square Garden. With the Knicks, Stoudemire was reunited with head coach Mike D'Antoni, who had coached him with the Suns. On December 15, 2010, in a loss against the Boston Celtics, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his ninth straight 30-point game. On December 17, 2010, Stoudemire set a franchise record with his ninth straight game shooting 50 percent or better from the field.[citation needed] On January 27th, 2011, Stoudemire was named a starter on the Eastern Conference All Star Team alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, and Dwight Howard. On February 22, 2011 the Knicks made a 3-team trade with the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves that sent Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks along with the Nuggets' starting point guard Chauncey Billups. In 2011, the Knicks made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Stoudemire was injured during the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks were swept by the Boston Celtics. In November 2008, Stoudemire received the NBA's Community Assist Award, for his work with his Each 1, Teach 1 Foundation, and its efforts to provide safe drinking water in Sierra Leone by funding the building of water wells in impoverished villages. Stoudemire visited the country in Summer 2008, making visits to water well sites and meeting with President Ernest Bai Koroma and the rest of the cabinet.

Amare Stoudemire Slum Dunk

Amare Stoudemire Shoot Performance

Amare Stoudemire Cool Attraction

Amare Stoudemire Serious Pose

Amare Stoudemire Best Playing

Amare Stoudemire Will Shooting The Ball

Samuel Eto’o

Samuel Eto'o Fils (born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Internazionale. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team. Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy. He also holds a Spanish passport, enabling him not to count among the "foreign players" working in the European Union. Eto'o scored over 100 goals in five seasons with FC Barcelona, and is also the record holder in number of appearances by an African player in La Liga. In 2010, he became the first player to win two European Continental Trebles following his back-to-back achievements with Barcelona and Internazionale. He is the second player to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals and the fourth player, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa, and Gerard Piqué, to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams. He is the most decorated African player of all time having won the African Player of the Year award a record four times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010. As a member of the Cameroon national team, he was a part of the squad that won the 2000 Olympic tournament; he has participated in three World Cups and six African Nations Cups (being champion twice) and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the African Nations Cup, with 18 goals. Eto'o is widely regarded as one of the best African footballers in history. Samuel Eto'o joined Real Madrid in 1997, but he could only train with Real Madrid B, as he was still a minor. Real Madrid B were relegated to the third tier, Segunda División B, where non-European Union players are not allowed, and as a result, he was loaned to second-division CD Leganés for the 1997–98 season, when he was only in the tenth grade. After making 30 appearances for the club and only scoring four goals, he returned to Madrid following the end of the 1998–99 season. In January 1999, he was loaned out to RCD Espanyol, but failed to make any appearances for the club.

The next season ,in the winter transfer window, he transferred to La Liga team RCD Mallorca on loan, scoring six goals in 19 games. At the end of the season, Eto'o left Real Madrid, signing a permanent deal with Mallorca for a club record £4.4 million fee. In his second season, he scored 11 goals and began to garner attention throughout the league. Mallorca President Mateo Alemany said of his style of play, "I doubt if there is any other player in the world who would please the fans more at this moment." Eto'o himself commented on his rise to stardom, "I like it here in Mallorca; I have always been well looked after, the fans appreciate me and I also have a contract that runs until 2007." He returned the fans' appreciation when he donated €30,000 in meals to travelling Mallorca supporters who made the journey to the Copa del Rey final against Recreativo de Huelva in 2003. Mallorca won the match 3–0, with Eto'o scoring two late goals to seal the victory. His volatile attitude, however, resulted in several off-pitch incidents. Bartolome Terrassa, a television journalist, filed a formal complaint after a run-in with Eto'o in the club's parking lot, accusing the player of saying, "The next time, you are not going to escape; I'm going to kill you." This was not the first incident, however, as the previous year, Eto'o's former agent, Daniel Argibeaut, accused the player of assaulting him with four accomplices, saying, "They then took off my shoes, which in Cameroon means I am threatened with death." Eto'o departed Mallorca as the club's all-time leading domestic league scorer (54 goals) when he signed for FC Barcelona in the summer of 2004 for a transfer fee of €24 million, after lengthy, three-way negotiations with Mallorca and Madrid. Initially, Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez wanted to buy back the full transfer rights and loan him out again, but eventually the Barcelona deal proved lucrative enough to warrant a sale. Additionally, the team already had its full quota of three non-EU players. Eto'o refused to come on as a substitute in a league match against Racing de Santander on 11 February 2007. Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard said after the match, "He did not want to come on; I don't know why." Ronaldinho was critical of Eto'o's actions, saying that Eto'o was not putting the team first, but Eto'o rebutted the comment, claiming that he did not come on because he did not have enough time to warm up properly. Three months later, Eto'o said, "These kind of things are usually just speculation and don't come through to me. However, if it is true that I am a problem for my team then I will go. But like I said, I am happy here. The press can write what they want." Following the comments, Barcelona President Joan Laporta was quick to quash rumours of transfers involving Eto'o and Ronaldinho.

After Maxwell completed the transfer from Internazionale, Joan Laporta confirmed that there was an agreement in principle between Barcelona and Internazionale for Zlatan Ibrahimović to join the club in exchange for Eto'o and €46 million. After Ibrahimović agreed terms with Barcelona, the club announced Eto'o would travel to Milan for his medical to complete the transfer. On 27 July 2009, Eto'o passed his medical and signed for five years with Inter. On his first press-conference in Milan, he declared that he was where he wanted to be and refused to compare himself to Ibrahimović saying, "I'm Samuel Eto'o and I don't want to compare myself to anyone. I believe the victories I have earned up to now can contribute to giving the right value to my name." On 8 August, Eto'o scored his first competitive goal for Inter, in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana. Two weeks later, Eto'o scored from the penalty spot against Bari in his first Serie A match. In the following match, the Milan Derby, Eto'o won Inter a penalty, after being brought down by Gennaro Gattuso in the box. Gattuso was yellow carded and eventually sent off. Eto'o scored again on 13 September against Parma, his first goal from open play in a Serie A match. At the end of September 2009, Eto'o demanded almost £2.75 million from Barcelona after his transfer to Inter. The amount represented 15% of the US$29 million (£17.7 million) fee which Inter paid Barcelona in July 2009. The demand was based on a Spanish rule that a player should get 15% of the amount of his transfer to another Spanish club. If the parties failed to reach a solution, the matter could go to court. Eto'o scored two goals during a thrilling win over Palermo which ended 5–3, with a brace also being scored by Mario Balotelli. Eto'o also scored in the Champions League Round of 16 against Chelsea, in the second leg, on 16 March 2010, which allowed Inter to progress to the quarter-finals. On 5 May, Eto'o and his teammates helped Inter to lift the Italian Cup after defeating Roma 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Inter's goal was scored by Argentina's Diego Milito. On 22 May 2010, Eto'o played in the third Champions League final of his career, and with Internazionale's triumph over Bayern Munich, he became the only player to win the treble in consecutive seasons. On 21 August 2010, Eto'o scored twice as Internazionale beat Roma 3–1 to win the Italian SuperCup. His first hat trick for Internazionale occurred in the UEFA Champions League against the German team Werder Bremen on 29 September 2010. Internazionale won the game 4–0, with Eto'o saying, "We will remain humble because we know that there are sides out there that are better than us, so we will just take it one match at a time and we will go as far as it takes us". Continuing his outstanding form in Serie A and in the Champions League for the 2010–11 campaign, he was pivotal to Internazionale's attack line. On 16 March 2011, Eto'o gave a legendary performance in Munich as he helped Internazionale eliminate Bayern Munich 3–2 (with an aggregate score of 3–3, winning on away goals) in the Champions League. Eto'o scored the first goal after four minutes into play, as well as provided two clinical assists to Wesley Sneijder and to Goran Pandev for the winner. After the game, Inter President Massimo Moratti said, "I'm not sure if the deal that brought Eto'o to the club was my best piece of transfer business ever, but I really think it was a great piece of business for us. Eto'o is fantastic. I do not want to take anything away from Ibrahimovic, but for everyone it was really a great deal to get Eto'o. Samuel is truly extraordinary." On 29 May, Eto'o scored two goals in the final of the Italian Cup against Palermo to help Internazionale win 3–1 and taking his total season goals to 37, a new record high for him.

Eto'o earned his first cap with Cameroon one day before his 16th birthday on 9 March 1997, in a 5–0 friendly loss to Costa Rica. In 1998, he was the youngest participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup when he appeared in a 3–0 group stage loss to Italy on 17 June 1998, at the age of 17 years and three months. Eto'o scored his sole goal of the 2002 World Cup when he netted the game-winner against Saudi Arabia during the group stage on 6 June 2002, which was Cameroon's only win of the competition.
Eto'o was a part of the squads that won the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, and was a gold medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which Cameroon finished as runners-up, he scored his only goal in a 1–0 group-stage upset of Brazil on 19 June. Cameroon were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations after Eto'o missed the decisive penalty in a 12–11 penalty shootout loss to Côte d'Ivoire following a 1–1 draw, but he nonetheless finished as the top scorer of the tournament with five goals. He missed a team practice before the quarter-finals to attend the CAF African Footballer of the Year award ceremonies in Togo. In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Eto'o became joint leading goalscorer (along with Laurent Pokou) in the competition's history after scoring his 14th goal with a penalty against Zambia on 26 January 2008. In the following game against Sudan, on 30 January, Eto'o converted another penalty to become the tournament's all time leading scorer, followed by another goal in the same match that took his Cup of Nations tally to 16. He finished as the top scorer for the second consecutive tournament, matching his 2006 total of five goals. On 1 June 2008, Eto'o headbutted reporter Philippe Bony, following an incident at a press conference. Bony suffered an injury, but Eto'o later apologized for the altercation, offering to pay Bony's medical expenses. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Gabon, Eto'o scored a goal in the 68th minute. He followed it up with another goal in the home fixture. He lead the scoring chart with eight qualification goals. Eto'o scored in the World Cup qualification match against Morocco to win Cameroon a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament. On 1 December 2009, Eto'o finished fifth in voting for the Ballon d'Or, which was won by his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi. On 19 June 2010, Eto'o scored a goal in Cameroon's 2010 World Cup group stage match against Denmark, from a mistake by Christian Poulsen. Cameroon eventually lost the game 2–1 and was eliminated from the World Cup. Eto'o described it as the biggest disappointment of his career. In December 2010, Eto'o became the first man to be named African Player of the Year for a fourth time. Eto'o has experienced racial abuse in some away matches. Eto'o, along with former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry and Universitatea Craiova defender Marco Zoro, have reacted by being outspoken in their criticism and threatening to leave the pitch. In February 2005, during an away match with Real Zaragoza, Eto'o was the subject of racist taunts by Zaragoza supporters, who began making monkey-like chants onto the pitch whenever he had possession of the ball. The referee, however, Fernando Carmona Méndez, made no mention of the incidents in his match report, commenting only that the behavior of the crowd was "normal"; two of the abusers were caught and given five-month sporting-event bans after being identified to police by other spectators. Eto'o later declared that the punishment was insufficient and that La Romareda should have been closed for at least one year, but Frank Rijkaard told him to concentrate on football and to stop talking about the incident. Infuriated again by Zaragoza fans' racist chants the next season, however, Eto'o attempted to walk off the pitch in protest. His teammates intervened and convinced him to continue playing. Video of the incident captured him saying "No más" ("No more") as he walked to the sidelines. On 17 October 2010, in a Serie A game against Cagliari, after just three minutes of play, the referee halted the match to give a warning to the Cagliari fans for their racist chants, which were directed towards Eto'o. After the play was resumed, the rest of the stadium chanted loudly in an attempt to drown out the racist chants in order for the match to not to be stopped. Ironically, Inter would go on to win 1–0 thanks to an Eto'o goal in the 39th minute. Due to ongoing racism from La Liga crowds, Eto'o stopped bringing family members to matches. "It is something that has affected me personally. I think players, leaders, and the media have to join forces so that no one feels looked down upon because of the colour of their skin. At this moment in time I prefer my children don't go to football matches. In the stands they have to listen to things that are difficult to explain to a child. It is better they aren't exposed to it."

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE (born 7 January 1985) is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team, and was the 2008 Formula One World Champion.
Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder, he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Coming from a mixed-race background, with a black father and white mother, Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One". In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set numerous records, while finishing second in the 2007 Formula One Championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the World Championship the following season, ahead of Felipe Massa by the same margin of a single point. Clinching the crown thanks to passing the dry tyre-shod Timo Glock in the wet on the final lap, to take the necessary fifth position. Following that, prestigious motorsport weekly Autosport dubbed him as Last Lap Lewis. He has stated he wants to stay with the McLaren team for the rest of his F1 career. Following his 2008 title Hamilton struggled with less competitive McLarens, in spite of taking quite a few Grand Prix wins he was not able to challenge for the 2009 championship, and finished a close fourth in 2010, being in mathematical contention until the final round.

Hamilton began karting in 1993 at the age of eight, at the Rye House Kart Circuit and quickly began winning races and Cadet class championships. At the age of ten he approached McLaren F1 team boss Ron Dennis for an autograph, and told him, "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British Championship and one day I want to be racing your cars." Dennis wrote in his autograph book, "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then." Hamilton drove for Martin Hines' Zip Young Guns Karting Team. From the Cadet ranks, he progressed through to Junior Yamaha (1997) and Ron Dennis actually called him in 1998 after Hamilton won an additional Super One series and his second British championship. Dennis delivered on his promise and signed Hamilton to the McLaren driver development program. This contract included an option of a future F1 seat, which would eventually make Hamilton the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in an F1 drive. Hamilton continued his progress in the Intercontinental A (1999), Formula A (2000) and Formula Super A (2001) ranks, and became European Champion in 2000 with maximum points. In Formula A and Formula Super A, racing for TeamMBM.com, his team mate was Nico Rosberg who would later drive for the Williams and Mercedes GP teams in Formula One. Following his karting successes the British Racing Drivers' Club made him a "Rising Star" Member in 2000. In 2001, Michael Schumacher made a one-off return to karts and competed against Hamilton along with other future F1 drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton ended the final in seventh, four places behind Schumacher. Although the two saw little of each other on the track Schumacher praised the young Briton (see quote box). Hamilton began his car racing career in the 2001 British Formula Renault Winter Series. Despite crashing on his third lap in the car in testing, he finished fifth overall in the winter series. This led to a full 2002 Formula Renault UK campaign with Manor Motorsport. Hamilton finished third overall with three wins and three pole positions. He remained with Manor for another year and won the championship with ten wins and 419 points to the two wins and 377 points of his nearest rival, Alex Lloyd. Having clinched the championship, Hamilton missed the last two races of the season to make his debut in the season finale of the British Formula Three Championship. Here he was less successful: in the first race he was forced out with a puncture, and in the second he crashed out and was taken to hospital after a collision with his team-mate Tor Graves. He did show his speed at both the Macau Grand Prix and Korea Super Prix, in the latter he qualified on pole position in his first visit to the track and in only his fourth F3 race. Asked in 2002 about the prospect of becoming one of the youngest ever Formula One drivers, Hamilton replied that his goal was "not to be the youngest in F1 ...but to be experienced and then show what I can do in F1". Later in 2004 Williams would announce that they had come close to signing him but were refused the opportunity due to BMW, their engine supplier at the time, refusing to fund Hamilton's career. Hamilton eventually re-signed with McLaren, and made his debut with Manor in the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series. They won one race and Hamilton ended the year fifth in the championship. He also won the Bahrain F3 Superprix and raced one of the Macau F3 Grand Prix. Hamilton first tested for McLaren in late 2004 at Silverstone. Hamilton moved to the reigning Euro Series champions ASM for the 2005 season and dominated the championship, winning 15 of the 20 rounds. This would have been 16 but for being disqualified from one win at Spa-Francorchamps on a technical infringement that caught out several other drivers. He also won the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort. After the season British magazine Autosport featured him in their "Top 50 Drivers of 2005" issue, ranking Hamilton 24th.

Due to his success in Formula Three, he moved to ASM's sister GP2 team ART Grand Prix for 2006. Just like their sister team in F3, ART were the leaders of the field and reigning champions having taken the 2005 GP2 crown with Nico Rosberg. Hamilton won the GP2 championship at his first attempt, beating Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Timo Glock. His performances included a dominant win at the Nürburgring, despite serving a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. At his home race at Silverstone, supporting the British Grand Prix, Hamilton overtook two rivals at Becketts, a series of high-speed (up to 150 mph in a GP2 car) bends where overtaking is rare. In Istanbul he recovered from a spin that left him in eighteenth place to take second position in the final corners. He won the title in unusual circumstances, inheriting the final point he needed after Giorgio Pantano was stripped of fastest lap in the Monza feature race. In the sprint race, though he finished second with Piquet sixth, he finished twelve points clear of his rival. His 2006 GP2 championship coincided with a vacancy at McLaren following the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR and Kimi Räikkönen to Ferrari. After months of speculation on whether Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa or Gary Paffett would be paired with defending champion Fernando Alonso for 2007, Hamilton was confirmed as the team's second driver. He was told of McLaren's decision on 30 September, but the news was not made public until 24 November, for fear that it would be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's retirement announcement. Hamilton is known for his aggressive and interesting driving style. He commonly uses oversteer to control the car's direction change. Confidence in car control allows Hamilton to excel in wet conditions as demonstrated in his performance at the 2008 British Grand Prix. Confidence is also demonstrated when overtaking, as reflected in his 32 overtakes in 4 races during 2010. His aggressive style often attracts the attention of critics. For example, critics argued that Hamilton's defensive weaving during the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix in attempt to break the tow of Vitaly Petrov's chasing Renault was potentially dangerous. Hamilton was quick to defend himself to these accusations, but race director Charlie Whiting clarified after the race that such weaving would favour a penalty in the future. Due to the fact that Hamilton has said in the past that Ayrton Senna was his hero, some people assumed that his helmet is yellow in honour of him. In actuality it was made yellow so that his father could tell which kart his son was driving back in his karting days. Hamilton chose the colours blue, green and red and they were originally in a ribbon design; however, Hamilton later felt that the design was "a bit old hat" so it was changed. In later years a white ring was added and the ribbons moved forward to make room for adverts and logos. During the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton had an altered helmet design with the addition of a roulette wheel image on the top. Hamilton had said, "...I'll also be wearing a specially-painted helmet for the occasion. When you see it, you'll know why I'll be hoping for it to swing the odds in my favour."