Gary
Lineker
(England)
Gary Lineker is one of
football's gentlemen. In all his professional career,
he didn't receive a yellow card. A silent man off the
field, on it he was deadly. He started his career in
Leicester scoring nearly 100 goals in less than 200
appearances. In 1985, a year before the Mexico World
Cup, he moved to Everton and personally he had a
fantastic season. Player Of The Year and topscorer
that season with 40 goals in total. Everton, despite
Lineker's goals, ended up runners-up in both the
league and the FA cup after their rivals Liverpool.
In the 1986 World Cup England started slowly and
needed a win in the last group match against Poland to
progress to the knockout stage. A Lineker hat-trick
got them through, and Paraguay, the next opponents
couldn't cope with Lineker either and England won 3-0
(Lineker 2 goals). In the quarter final, Argentina and
Maradona proved too strong. "The hand of
God" and an individual brilliance by the little
man sent Argentina through, but Lineker scored England
consolation goal and that saw him topscorer in that
tournament. Lineker later had spells with Barcelona
and Tottenham, where he among the trophies won the Cup
Winner's Cup and the FA Cup.
In 1990 England reached the semifinal, Lineker scored
four goals on their way there, making him only the 8th
player in World Cup history to score 10 goals or more.
He bowed out in the 1992 European Championship in
Sweden where he and England had a disappointing
tournament. All in all for England he scored 48 goals
(one goal behind Bobby Charlton's record) in 80
matches.
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