Early years
Fàbregas was born in Arenys de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia[2][3] to Francesc Fàbregas, Sr., who runs a property company, and Núria Soler, the owner of a pastry company. Fàbregas has supported FC Barcelona since childhood and went to his first match when he was nine months old with his grandfather.[4] He began his club football career with CE Mataró, before being signed for Barcelona's La Masia youth academy aged 10 in 1997.[5] His first coach, Señor Blai, reportedly did not select Fabregas for matches against Barcelona in an attempt to hide him from their scouts.[6] This tactic, however, was unable to withstand Barcelona for long, and Mataró gave in and allowed Fàbregas to train with Barcelona one day per week. Eventually Fàbregas joined Barcelona's academy full time. His initial training was as a defensive midfielderplaying alongside notable names such as Gerard Piqué and Lionel Messi. Although he was a prolific scorer, sometimes scoring even more than 30 goals in a season for the club's youth teams, he did not manage to play a first team game at the Camp Nou.[7] During his time at Barcelona's youth academy, Fàbregas idolised Barcelona's then-captain and number four Josep Guardiola, who would later give Fàbregas his shirt as consolation when Fàbregas' parents divorced.[8]
Club career
Arsenal
Adapting to England
Sensing that he would have limited opportunities at Barcelona,[9] Fàbregas joined Arsenal in theirAcademy,[10] signing for the London club on 11 September 2003.[3] Initially, he found life difficult in England's capital but soon struck a friendship with Spanish-speaking team-mate Philippe Senderos, who helped him settle down.[11] As a 16-year-old, Fàbregas did not contemplate breaking into the first team immediately but looked up to senior players like Patrick Vieira andGilberto Silva, while concentrating on training and learning the English language.[11] He nevertheless made his debut for Arsenal not long after, on 23 October 2003, in a League Cup tie at home to Rotherham United. In doing so he became Arsenal's youngest ever first team player, aged 16 years and 177 days.[12] He then became the youngest goalscorer in Arsenal's history in a later round of the League Cup, scoring in a 5–1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[13] Although Arsenal went on to win the league unbeaten in the 2003–04 season,[14] Fàbregas was not awarded a winner's medal because he did not play a single league game.[15]
It was not until the start of the 2004–05 season that the Spaniard started making first team appearances in matches outside the League Cup. His first match of the season was against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield. Following an injury to Vieira, Fàbregas stepped in and made four consecutive Premier League starts. He was praised for his performances in those games, even claiming a goal againstBlackburn Rovers in a 3–0 victory, and becoming Arsenal's youngest ever goalscorer in a league game.[16][17] With further injuries to Edu and Gilberto Silva, he received more playing time in all competitions.[2][9] He signed his first professional contract with Arsenal in September 2004,[10] which committed his long-term future to the club.[18] In the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, he became the second-youngest goalscorer in the competition's history after scoring the third goal against Rosenborg in a 5–1 win.[19] He concluded his season by winning his first honours with Arsenal when he was in the starting eleven that defeated Manchester United on penalties in the 2005 FA Cup Final.[20]
Making the starting eleven
After the departure of Vieira to Juventus, Fàbregas was given the Frenchman's number 4 shirt and featured regularly in the Arsenal central midfield alongside Gilberto Silva. He made 49 appearances in all competitions during the 2005–06 season.[15] Despite his young age, his performances came under greater scrutiny due to his increased involvement in the first team. Further, as Fàbregas possessed a smaller frame and played with less aggression than Vieira, there were initially doubts over his ability to fill in the void left by the Frenchman.[21]Nevertheless, Fàbregas asserted his own style of play and impressed pundits in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Juventus.[22][23][24] In the latter, he scored Arsenal's first goal and set up Thierry Henry for the second,[22] at the same time proving that he could compete against tough, hard-tackling midfielders like Vieira.[24] He then played in the Final against his former club Barcelona, but Arsenal were defeated 2–1,[25] completing a trophyless 2005–06 campaign for Arsenal.
Fàbregas' increase in exposure drew transfer speculation during the summer; Real Madrid expressed a desire to sign the Spaniard despite his long-term contract with Arsenal,[26] but Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger stated that Arsenal would not listen to any offers.[27] In September 2006, with six years left on his deal, Arsenal offered a new five-year deal (with an option to extend by a further three years) to the midfielder, which he signed on 19 October 2006.[28] While the contract was unusually long, Fàbregas cited Arsenal's playing style and Wenger as reasons for his long-term commitment to the club.[29][30]
The 2006–07 season was a learning experience for the young Arsenal squad and Fàbregas. The club again failed to secure any major honours and were defeated by city rivals Chelsea in the League Cup Final.[31] However, Fàbregas emerged as one of the key creative players for the team, playing in every single league game.[15][32] He kickstarted Arsenal's 2006–07 UEFA Champions League campaign when he scored a brace in a 3–0 win overDinamo Zagreb in a qualifier match.[33] In the Premier League, he notched up 13 assists, which was the second-highest total in the league.[15][32] He ended the season with several individual honours, including the Golden Boy award, presented by the Italian paper TuttoSport, based on a poll of leading writers across Europe.[34] He was also named in the 2006 UEFA Team of the Year,[35] and named FA Premier League Player of the Month for January 2007.[36] Additionally, he was nominated for both PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year, although both awards went to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.[37] In June 2007, he was named Arsenal's Player of the Season, taking in 60% of the votes.[38]
The 2007–08 season began with much uncertainty for Arsenal. First, David Dein, the club's vice-chairman, left amidst allegations of internal strife, followed by the departure of the club's all-time top goalscorer and captain, Thierry Henry, who signed for Barcelona. There was also speculation over Wenger's future with the club.[39] Fàbregas knew that he would become the most important player for Arsenal, but stated he was ready for the challenge.[40] He started the season well, chalking up goals and assists,[15] and websitesoccernet attributed the early success of Arsenal to the young Spaniard.[41] His start to the season also earned him the O2 Player of the Month award from Arsenal fans for August, September and October,[42] as well as the Premier League Player of the Month for September.[43]With Arsenal leading the league table until March, Fàbregas was equally instrumental in the club's 2007–08 Champions League campaign; in the return leg against Milan, the midfielder scored late in the game to send Arsenal into the quarter-finals.[44] Though Arsenal ended the season trophyless,[45] Fàbregas amassed several personal awards. On 11 April 2008, Fàbregas was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards for the second year running;[46] he was later crowned the winner of the latter, and named in the PFA Team of the Year. He was also named the 2007–08 Arsenal.com Player of the Season.[47]
Captaincy
On 24 November 2008, 14 league games into the 2008–09 season, Fàbregas was named as the successor to William Gallas as club captain.[48][49] However, just as Arsenal were getting back into the title race after a poor start to the season, the Spaniard was ruled out for four months after sustaining a knee injury against Liverpool.[50] The Gunners eventually finished the season without any silverware, coming in fourth in the league and being knocked out at the semi-finals of the 2008–09 Champions League campaign.[51][52] In tandem with Arsenal's policy to groom its young players, the team that Fàbregas led into the new season consisted mostly of the same young nucleus as before, with the likes of Nicklas Bendtner, Gaël Clichy,Abou Diaby, Denílson, Samir Nasri, Alexandre Song, and Theo Walcott in tow.
In the opening league game of 2009–10 season, Fàbregas scored a brace and managed two assists in Arsenal's 6–1 away win against Everton.[53] Arsenal went on to secure qualification for the 2009–10 Champions League campaign by beating Celticover two legs, but their early momentum to the season was disrupted by consecutive league game losses to Manchester United and Manchester City. The team bounced back strongly after this setback, and with Fàbregas being prolific in scoring and setting up his teammates, it went unbeaten in the next 13 games. Despite suffering four league losses even before mid-season approached, Arsenal managed to lead the league standings after 22 games. On 31 March 2010, in the Champions League first leg of the quarter-final against Barcelona, Fàbregas suffered a leg fracture before scoring the equalising goal in the game which ended 2–2.[54] Arsenal, who were four points behind league leaders Manchester United, were deprived of their captain for the remaining six league games of the season;[54] they were subsequently eliminated by Barcelona in the Champions League, and fell out of the league title race. Fàbregas was later named to the PFA Team of the Year.[55]
Before the start of the 2010–11 season, there was once again intense media speculation about the Spaniard's future, and in June 2010, a €35 million bid from Barcelona was rejected.[56][57][58] The 2010–11 season turned out to be an extremely competitive one in the Premier League; even though Arsenal had lost five games before mid-season, they were jostling for pole position with Manchester United and Manchester City.[59] Going into late February, Arsenal were still in contention for the quadruple, but within a span of two weeks they lost in the League Cup final, were eliminated by Barcelona in the Round of 16 of theChampions League, and defeated in the FA Cup quarter-final.[60] Although Fàbregas did not play in the League Cup Final, it was his misplaced backheel pass during the second leg of the Champions League game against Barcelona that allowed them to level the aggregate score. Arsenal remained in contention for the league title until a series of draws in the final third of the season caused them to fall too far behind league leaders Manchester United; they ended the season fourth. The following season was once again marked by uncertainty. Barcelona made several bids for Fàbregas, while Nasri, Arsenal's star performer the previous campaign, was courted by Manchester City.
Barcelona
On 15 August 2011, Barcelona signed Fàbregas for an initial fee of £29 million (€34 million) with a further £4 million (€5 million) in variables,[61] ending one of the most protracted transfer sagas in recent times.[62] Fàbregas joined a team that had won three La Liga titles in a row and two Champions League titles in three years, and one that featured the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, and David Villa. He made his debut in the second leg of the Supercopa de España, coming on as a substitute against Real Madrid. Barcelona won the tie 3–2 and 5–4 on aggregate.[63] He scored his first goal in a 2–0 win against FC Porto as Barcelona won the 2011 UEFA Super Cup,[64] and his first league goal on his league debut against Villarreal CF.
International career
Youth team
Although he features regularly for the Spain national football team, Fàbregas' international career began at youth level. At the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Finland, he finished as top scorer of the tournament despite playing in midfield, and was voted Player of the Tournament.[7] Spain finished runners-up in the tournament to Brazil.[65] Fàbregas was next involved in the 2004 UEFA U-17 European Championship, where Spain also finished runners-up.[66] He was named the Golden Player of the tournament.[66]
Senior team
After emerging as one of Arsenal's key players in only his second season at the club, it did not take long for Fàbregas to be called up to the senior squad. Noting his impressive performances in Arsenal's 2006 Champions League campaign, Spain coach Luis Aragonés named the teenager in the team for a friendly against Ivory Coast.[67] In that game, Fàbregas became the youngest player capped for Spain in 70 years, beating Sergio Ramos' record.[2] He received favourable reviews for his début, and was involved in the build-up to Spain's first goal in the 3–2 victory over the Ivorians.[2][68]
2006 World Cup
On 15 May 2006, Fàbregas was selected for the Spanish 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. During the tournament, he came on as a second-half substitute in Spain's first two group matches, contributing an assist to striker Fernando Torres in their 3–1 victory against Tunisia.[69] He then started alongside Spain's reserve players (including then-Arsenal teammate José Antonio Reyes) in Spain's third group match against Saudi Arabia.[70] He earned a starting role in Spain's first knockout-stage match against France, in place of Marcos Senna, but Spain lost 3–1.[71]Fàbregas also became the youngest player in Spanish football history to participate in a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Luis García after 77 minutes in the 4–0 victory against Ukraine on 13 June 2006; he was then 19 years and 41 days old.[72] He was later nominated for the Gillette Young Player of the World Cup, but Germany's Lukas Podolski won the award.[73]
UEFA Euro 2008
In UEFA Euro 2008, Fàbregas was issued with squad number 10, rather than 18 which he had previously held.[74] Despite featuring mostly as a substitute, the midfielder made a considerable impact in Spain's campaign. He scored his first international goal in that competition in Spain's 4–1 win over Russia and also had an assist in that game.[75] Spain won all three of their group games and met Italy in the quarter-finals. In that match, Fàbregas scored the winning penalty in the penalty shoot-out after the teams remained deadlocked 0–0 after extra time.[76] In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Russia 3–0 with Fàbregas providing two assists.[75] The midfielder made the starting eleven in the Final against Germany where Spain prevailed 1–0; this was Spain's first major title since 1964.[77] For his efforts, Fàbregas was named in the Team of the Tournament, a 23-man squad selected by the UEFA Technical Team.[75]
Confederations Cup 2009
After missing out for several months due to his injury, Fàbregas regained his place as a regular in Vicente del Bosque's squad. In June, he was named in the team for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. He scored his second international goal in a 5–0 win against New Zealand in the competition's group stage.[78] In the semi-finals against the United States (which Fàbregas started), Spain suffered a shock 2–0 loss, and its 15-game winning streak came to an end.[79]
2010 World Cup
Fàbregas was selected as a part of del Bosque's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[80] With del Bosque preferring a starting midfield of Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, Fàbregas did not start in any of Spain's games in the competition. He featured as a substitute in four of their seven matches, in which Spain lost their opening game before winning the next six en route to the final. In the Final itself, Fàbregas set up the extra-time winner for Iniesta to win Spain the World Cup for the first time in their history.[81]
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