Roy Keane is 42 today. He is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic. Keane will be remembered as a dominating central-midfielder, noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style.
He once made headlines in the 2001 Manchester derby, a game in which Alf-Inge Håland played. Five minutes from the final whistle, he was sent off for a blatant knee-high foul on the Norwegian in what was seen by many as an act of revenge. He initially received a three game suspension and a £5,000 fine from the FA, but further punishment was to follow after the release of Keane's autobiography in August 2002, in which he stated that he intended "to hurt" Håland. Keane's account of the incident was as follows:
'I'd waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you cunt. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.'
An admission that the tackle was in fact a premeditated assault, it left the FA with no choice but to charge Keane with bringing the game into disrepute. He was banned for a further five matches and fined £150,000 in the ensuing investigation. Despite widespread condemnation, he later maintained in his autobiography that he had no regrets about the incident:
Javier Zanetti
Javier Zanetti is 40 today. He is an Argentine footballer who plays for Serie A club Internazionale. Zanetti can be regarded as a one club man as he has been with the Inter Milan side for the past 18 years. Zanetti has won five Serie A titles with Inter, having earned the nickname "Il Capitano" (The Captain) among the fans and media since taking captaincy at Inter. As of the 2011–12 season, he is the only non-Italian player to captain a Serie A team. He holds the record for the highest all-time appearances by a non-Italian born player for an Italian club and his 834 official matches for the club put him first in Inter's all-time appearances list. .
The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final on 22 May 2010 was Zanetti's 700th game with Inter, and the team's victory on the night ensured that Zanetti marked the occasion by completing a historic treble. He also scored on 20 October 2010 against Tottenham Hotspur to make him the oldest player to score in the UEFA Champions League at the age of 37 years and 71 days. This record has since been surpassed by Filippo Inzaghi and Ryan Giggs.
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