Soccer Stars

Soccer Stars book cover — Head-to-Head is not just a book that shows you loads of facts and stats about fantastic stuff it’s also a fun game book How to Play 1 Grab a copy of Head-to-Head oh you have OK now get your friends to grab a copy too Lionel Messi Argentinian striker Lionel Messi is one of today’s top players He has been awarded FIFA’s World Player of the Year four times Date of birth 06 24 87 Club goals 243 International caps 91 International goals 42 Length of career 10 years Height 5 ft 6 1 2 in 1 15 11 6 16 18 Youngest Scorer As a child Messi played for the youth team at his local top-division club in Argentina He was so good that top teams in South America and Europe were interested in watching him play He moved to Spain when he was 13 years old to play on FC Barcelona’s youth team and at the age of 17 became the youngest player and goal scorer in Spain’s football league The following year Barcelona won the Champions League and in 2009 the team won three European club titles in one season Messi became Barcelona’s best-ever goal scorer in 2012 when he was just 24 years old Olympic Gold Messi is a citizen of both Argentina and Spain but has played for Argentina since 2005 He was part of the team that went to the 2006 World Cup and was on the team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics 12 Bobby Moore Bobby Moore was a super talented defensive player who captained the England team when it won the country’s only World Cup in 1966 Cup Winners Moore first played professionally in 1958 for West Ham United In 1964 West Ham won the FA Cup with Moore as captain The following year Moore led the team to win the European Cup-Winners Cup After 15 years with West Ham Moore transferred to Fulham FC in 1973 where he stayed for four years followed by a final year playing professional football in Denmark World Cup Winners Moore first played for the England national side in 1962 He played more than 100 games for his country 90 of them as captain But the highlight of his international career was the 1966 World Cup Moore captained England to a nail-biting victory over West Germany passing the ball expertly to Geoff Hurst to score in the last few seconds of the match After his retirement from soccer Moore worked as a manager a sports editor and a commentator He died in 1993 at the age of 51 Date of birth 04 12 41 Club goals 26 International caps 108 International goals 2 Length of career 20 years Height 6 ft 14 19 19 8 3 4 13 3 Now challenge your friends to see who has the highest-ranking stat the lower the number the better your chances of winning 1 good 20 goofy Player 1 Date of birth 06 24 87 Player 2 Date of birth 05 22 46 1 13 2 Each player closes their eyes and flips to a game page Now open your eyes and choose one of the soccer players Decide who goes first then that person reads out the name of the soccer player they’ve chosen plus the name of the stat For example this player has chosen Lionel Messi and the Date of Birth stat with a Head-to-Head ranking of 1 Date of birth 06 24 87 Club goals 226 International caps 64 International goals 48 Length of career 10 years Height 1 69 m 1 15 16 1 1 6 18 4 Whoever has the lowest number is the winner nice one If you have the same number you’ve tied Time to flip choose challenge again If you and your opponent land on the same game page flip again Mash it up If you don’t have the same Head-to-Head book as your friends you can STILL play The rules are the same as for the regular game above just flip choose a page pick a stat then read them out loud Now read out the Head-to-Head rankings to see whose choice is best Can a Ferrari beat a tank Can Genghis Khan defeat a king cobra snake

Soccer Stars — page 1 — Franz Beckenbauer Franz Beckenbauer is perhaps Germany’s greatest ever soccer player He captained his country’s World Cup winning team in 1974 and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1972 and 1976 European Champion Beckenbauer first played professionally for Bayern Münich in 1963 and became the team’s captain in 1971 Under his leadership Bayern won four national titles as well as three European Cups in 1974 1975 and 1976 Date of birth 09 11 45 Club goals 81 International caps 103 International goals 14 Length of career 19 years Height 5 ft 11 in 1 81 m International Star First played for West Germany in 1965 and became captain in 1971 Has 103 caps and led West Germany to victory at Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup Became manager of West Germany in 1984 One of only two people to captain and manage a World Cup-winning team when West Germany won the 1990 World Cup Became vice president of the German Football Federation in 1998 4 13 18 17 9 5 5

Soccer Stars — page 2 — David Beckham English midfielder David Beckham became famous in the 1990s for shots that would bend around opposing players Date of birth 05 02 75 Club goals 97 International caps 115 International goals 17 Length of career 20 years Height 6 ft 1 83 m 4 16 16 7 2 4 Star Player When he was 11 years old Beckham won a soccer contest and was taken on by Manchester United’s youth squad He started playing with the first team in 1995 and helped United win the league title and the FA Cup in his first season Beckham was voted Young Player of the Year in 1997 and in the 1998 99 season Manchester United won the league title the FA Cup and the European Cup In 1999 Beckham was named UEFA’s Best Midfielder and Footballer of the Year He left Manchester United in 2003 for Real Madrid and later moved to the US to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy World Cups Beckham played for England in three World Cups 1998 2002 and 2006 In 2007 he played his 100th international match In 2010 he injured his Achilles tendon which meant he couldn’t play in that year’s World Cup Beckham has become famous for his soccer skills as well as his personal life with his wife Victoria Beckham his fashion sense and his haircuts 5

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