Today the world was gifted a few famous people who closely linked their lives with football:
Ruslan RotanRuslan Rotan (1981) — former midfielder of "Dynamo", "Dnipro", Prague's "Slavia" and the national team of Ukraine. Born in Poltava, in a family of a football player. Ruslan’s father played for the local "Vorskla" for a long time, and naturally, Rotan's parents knew from childhood what their son would be doing. At the professional level, Ruslan started playing for "Dnipro". His career as a midfielder had an unfortunate stint at Kyiv's "Dynamo", where Ruslan played from 2005 to 2008. He played 100 matches for the national team of Ukraine, scoring 8 goals. Until recently, he was the head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine. Now he is the coach of "Alexandria".
Edwin van der Sar (1970) — legendary Dutch goalkeeper. Edwin played for clubs such as "Ajax", "Juventus", "Fulham" and "Manchester United". During his career, the goalkeeper won 27 club trophies, was repeatedly awarded various prizes, and also became a bronze medalist of the European Championships twice in a row (in 2000 and 2004). He played 130 matches for the Netherlands national team, conceding goals in 89 matches.
Philippe Cocu (1970) — legendary Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. Cocu spent his best years at his native PSV, which he currently leads, and at Catalonia's "Barcelona". It is worth noting that Cocu played against Kyiv's "Dynamo" in the most memorable matches of the Champions League for the Spanish club. Over the course of his career, he played nearly 600 matches (598) in various national championships, scoring 121 goals, which is quite impressive for a central midfielder. Like van der Sar, he became a bronze medalist of the European Championships consecutively twice. It is worth noting that at Euro 2004 Cocu was the captain of his national team.
Robert Pires (1973) — former French footballer. Born in the French city of Reims, where he took his first football steps, playing in the youth team of the local club. However, Pires's first professional team was the domestic "Metz", for which Robert played for six years. After "Metz", the midfielder briefly played for "Olympique" from Marseille, after which Pires moved to perhaps the main club of his playing career — London "Arsenal". After that, Robert played in the Spanish "Villarreal" and also for the English "Aston Villa". The Frenchman finished his career at the Indian club "Goa". It is worth noting that Pires achieved immense success with the French national team, winning the World Cup and the European Championship once each, as well as winning the Confederations Cup twice.
