THE BIRTHDAY SHOW
In two years with Ajax, he scored 21 goals in 41 games, also winning three trophies, including the 1997/1998 Dutch Eredivisie title.
He remains the only South African player to win the UEFA Champions League, doing so with FC Porto in 2003–04.
At Blackburn Rovers, he scored 52 goals in 140 games.
He is the South Africa national team's all-time top scorer with 31 goals in 80 caps.
He was recently relieved of his duties as head coach of Premier Soccer League side Cape Town City FC. This came after "The Citizens"(a nickname for Cape Town City FC) won two in 18 games. It could be recalled that the former Bafana Bafana striker was appointed head coach of the club in June 2017.
Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy is 42 today.
At the Hulme Grammar School, Oldham, he achieved eight grade 'A's' and two 'B's' at GCSE. He then completed his studies at Xaverian College Manchester where he achieved three 'A' grades at A-level in Maths, Business Studies and IT.
An outstanding junior sprinter; aged 14 he finished in second place in the final of the 2001 English School's Athletics Association Junior 100 metres contest, clocking 11.09 seconds and beating current Great Britain sprinter Craig Pickering. He is also currently the co-national record holder for boys under 15 standing triple jump, in the Sports Hall events held annually throughout the United Kingdom. The record is held with international long jumper Jonathan Moore.
He started his football career with Manchester City in 2004, going to score 5 goals in 116 appearances between 2004 to 2012.
In six-and-a-half year stay with Queens Park Rangers, he scored 8 goals in 224 games, also winning the English Championship Play-off in 2013/2014 season. He became the club's captain at the start of the 2015/2016 English Championship season, a position he held until his departure from the club in June 2018
Born in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria, he moved to England at a tender age. He scored 2 goals in 20 caps for the England U-21s and was a member of the Young Lions squad who finished runners-up at the 2009 UEFA European U-21 Championship.
In March 2007, he rejected a call up to the Super Eagles squad, stating his intention to represent England at full international level. However, he has since admitted that he would play at the FIFA World Cup for Nigeria if he were to be called up.
He currently plays for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake
Chinedum Onuoha is 33 today.
At AS Monaco he scored 22 goals in 127 games and was a member of "Les Monégasques" side who won the 2016/2017 French Ligue 1 title.
He represented France at the U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 youth levels. He was a member of Les Bleus side who won the FIFA World Cup in 2018 with him playing just one game in the tournament(vs Denmark)
The Midfielder currently plays for Atletico Madrid where he was a member of the squad that beat Real Madrid 4-2 to win the UEFA Super Cup in August 2018.
Thomas Benoît Lemar is 24 today.
In two spells with AC Milan(2003-2007, 2009-2019), he scored 3 goals in 306 games, winning three trophies, including the 2010/2011 Serie A title.
He scored once in 22 caps for Italy between 2011 to 2015 and was a member of the Azzurri squad who finished runners-up at the 2012 UEFA European Championship.
He currently without a club after he was released by AC Milan in June 2019.
Ignazio Abate is 33 today.
Happy Birthday to former Kadji SA, Rennes, Nimes, Monaco, Nancy, Reims, Lorient and Jiangsu Suning forward Benjamin Moukandjo Bilé who turns 31 today. The high point of his career was when he scored 26 goals in 59 games for Lorient between 2015 to 2017. Moukandjo scored 8 goals in 57 caps for Cameroon and was captain of their squad who won the 2017 Africa Cup Nations. In September 2018 he retired from international football after Clarence Seedorf, the then head coach of the Cameroonian national team, claimed that those playing in the Chinese League will not be considered for call-ups. As at the time of this announcement, Moukandjo was playing for Beijing Renhe on loan from Jiangsu Suning. He currently plays for RC Lens.
Happy Birthday to former Everton, Dundee FC, Cardiff City, Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Chester City Defender Kevin Ratcliffe who turns 59 today. He spent most of his career playing for Everton where made 492 appearances between 1980 to 1992(the club's fifth most appearances), also captaining the club at some point. He also won 4 trophies during his 12 year stay at Goodison Park(all as captain of the club). Ratcliffe earned 59 caps for Wales between 1981 to 1993. He has also managed the likes of Chester City and Shrewsbury Town.
Aged 16 years, 42 days, he became the youngest player to play for Hamilton Academical in the 21st century when he made his professional debut for the club in a game against Queen of the South on 30 September 2006. On 6 January 2007, at 16 years and 55 days old, he became the youngest player ever to score in Hamilton Academical's history when he scored in a Scottish Cup defeat against Livingston.
At Wigan Athletic he scored 8 goals in 133 games between 2009 to 2013 and was a member of the Lactics' side who won the 2012/2013 FA Cup title.
He spent six years with Everton, where he scored 6 goals in 133 games.
At international level, he has earned 41 caps for the Ireland national team, also representing his country at the 2016 European Championship.
He currently plays for Crystal Palace.
James Patrick McCarthy is 29 today.
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