Steve McManaman: Biography, Statistics, Career

Steven "Steve" Charles McManaman - one of the most successful English football players at the turn of the nineties and two thousand years, who played for the clubs "Liverpool", "Real" and "Manchester City". According to the official website of the English Football Premier League, he is still the only English player who was able to win the UEFA Champions League twice, representing a foreign club.

Carier start

Steve was born on February 11, 1972 in Liverpool. At an early age, he studied at Everton football school and was his big fan. But when the boy turned 14 years old, he was noticed by scouts of "Liverpool" and lured to his youth system. After going through the entire system of youth football at Liverpool, he was spotted by Kenny Dalglish, the team's head coach at the time. He evaluated the prospective player and his efforts, calling in the first team. In the 90s of the last century, Steve McManaman was one of the most promising English football players, who also included the notorious Paul Ince, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp, Stan Collymore and David James.

"Liverpool"

According to experts, at the "Anfield" Steve was no equal both among rivals, and among partners. Steve McManaman won the FA Cup in 1992 under Graeme Souness, and in 1995, under the guidance of Roy Evans, the English League Cup. Already in his first professional season in 1991-1992 he managed to create an effective line of midfield with Dean Saunders and Ian Rush, with whom he became one of the main creators of the victory of Liverpool in the FA Cup in 1992. In the final game of the English League Cup in 1995, he scored two goals and became the hero of the match. McManaman was considered, along with Ryan Giggs, one of the best young flank players in English football in the 90s.

In all competitions Steve McManaman (photo of the last match of the Englishman for the club can be seen above) played 274 official matches and scored 46 goals for Liverpool, becoming the favorite of Anfield and one of the most popular players of his time.

"RealMadrid"

In 1999, Steve moved to Madrid "Real". McManaman became just the second English player after Lori Cunningham, who played in the 80s, who defended the creamy colors of the "royal" club. At the time of the transition, he was the most famous Englishman in the Spanish example along with Gary Lineker, who played for the Catalan "Barcelona". Steve quickly found his game in the "Real", and at the "Santiago Bernabeu" fans of the club from Madrid gave the player the nickname "El Mack". McManaman played in the 2002 Champions League final under the direction of Vicente del Bosque. In this match at the Stade de France, Steve McManaman, whose biography does not remember such important matches, was able to impress everyone with exceptional performance, among other things, scoring a goal with a beautiful direct shot. In this final, Steve was voted the best player of the match. After that, McManaman staked a place in the basis of "cream" and won with them La Liga in the season of 2000-2001.

Nevertheless, McManaman's time in the "Real" did not last long. In the club came such world-famous stars as Luis Figo in 2000, Zinedine Zidane in 2001 and Ronaldo in 2002. At that time, Florentino Perez, president of the "royal" club, decided to bring together all the best players in the team, for which his team was nicknamed "galaktikos", which did not prevent Steve from winning in the fight for a place in the team. But after winning the 2002 Champions League, McManaman began to pursue injuries. Steve always showed persistence and perseverance, for which he received the support and recognition of the public. The club management, including Florentino Perez, noted that Steve McManaman is a football player who always has a place in the team. However, after a long recovery from a string of protracted injuries, the Englishman left the location of the "Real".

Midfielder for all time in the composition of Madrid held 94 matches, scoring 8 goals. English experts still call him the best Englishman who played for a foreign team.

"Manchester city"

The transfer of David Beckham in the "Real" finally put an end to the career of Steve in this team. In 2003, he, like his partners in the Makelele Club, Hierro, and later Morientes, moved to the English Premier League, where McManaman joined Manchester City, which at that time was under the direction of Kevin Keegan, who, as he stated Himself, was a fan of Steve. In Manchester, he again met numerous former teammates, for example, Robbie Fowler, Nicolas Anelka, David Seaman, and later David James. However, the time spent at Manchester City was a big disappointment for the midfielder. He barely played two seasons, after which, due to permanent injuries, he completed his professional career as a football player.

Over the past two years in professional football, McManaman has been a part of the "townspeople" in 38 games, without scoring a single ball. On May 20, 2005, he finished his playing career.

England squad

After playing two years for the England team in the age group under the age of 21, McManaman was called up in 1994 to the main team. During the game at Euro-1996, held in England, he held a very good tournament, but his team could not win. He was even named Pele the best player of the championship. Steve McManaman was included in the symbolic team of the tournament together with David Seaman and Alan Shearer and became the winner of the prize of the best player of the tournament.

Under the guidance of coach Glenn Hoddle, he played at the 1998 World Cup in France, as well as in Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium, when Kevin Keegan used it only once. The last international match Steve played in 2001 under the leadership of Sven-Göran Eriksson, who eventually did not take him to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

TV Expert

Steve McManaman, whose personal life immediately went uphill after his career, did not lose time and professionally, and began to work as a commentator and expert in various English media. For the British ITV channel, he analyzed the Champions League final in 2005. Currently, Steve McManaman works in the British and American divisions of the ESPN channels as a commentator and specialist on the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the American MLS.