FABREGAS - MI AMOOORRRR hheee

NAME	Francesc Fabregas Soler
BIRTHDAY	04/05/1987
BIRTH CITY	Arenys of Mar, Spain
HEIGHT	180 cm
WEIGHT	69.00 Kg
CLUB	Arsenal FC
POSITION	Midfielder
SQUAD NUMBER	15
PREMIERSHIP DEBUT	15/08/2004 Everton
FIRST PREMIERSHIP GOAL	25/08/2004 Blackburn
SPAIN DEBUT	01/03/2006 Ivory Coast

Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (pronounced [ˈsɛsk ˈfaβɾəɣəs suˈɫe]) (born 4 May 1987 in Arenys de Mar, Barcelona, Spain)^[2][3] is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Arsenal in the English Premier League and for the Spanish national team. Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with FC Barcelona but was signed by Arsenal in September 2003. He did not feature much in his first season for The Gunners, but following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, his playing time increased. Before long, he had established himself as Arsenal's starting central midfielder and playmaker. He went on to break several of the club's records, earning a reputation as a technically-gifted player. In international football, the Spaniard's national career began when he represented the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. As a result of his club performances, he was called up to the senior squad in 2006. He has played in the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, where he was one of the key players that helped Spain lift the trophy.

Early years

Fàbregas was born in 1987 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] It was at FC Barcelona where Fàbregas began his club football career. Initially, he was played as a volante (defensive midfielder), yet he was also a prolific scorer, sometimes scoring more than 30 goals in a season for the club's youth teams. However, he did not manage to play a first-team game at the Camp Nou.^[5] Sensing that he would have limited opportunities at Barcelona,^[6] he joined Arsenal, 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.^[7] As a 16-year-old, Fàbregas did not contemplate breaking into the first team immediately but looked up to senior players like Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva, while concentrating on training and learning the English language.^[7] He nevertheless made his début 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.^[8] 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.^[9] Although Arsenal went on to win the league unbeaten in the 2003–04 season,^[10] Fàbregas was not awarded a winner's medal because he did not play a single league game.^[11]

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 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 against Blackburn Rovers in a 3–0 victory, and becoming Arsenal's youngest ever goalscorer in a league game.^[12][13] With further injuries to Edu and Gilberto Silva, he received more playing time in all competitions.^[2][6] In the UEFA Champions League, he became the second-youngest goalscorer in the competition's history after scoring the third goal against Rosenborg BK in a 5–1 win.^[14] 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.^[15]

Spanish national 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 Aragones named the teenager in the team for a friendly against the Ivory Coast.^[45] In that game, Fàbregas became the youngest player capped for Spain in 70 years.^[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][46]

On 15 May 2006, Fàbregas was selected for the Spanish 2006 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.^[47] He then started alongside Spain's reserve players (including then-Arsenal teammate José Antonio Reyes) in Spain's third group match against Saudi Arabia.^[48] He earned a starting role in Spain's first knockout-stage match against France, in place of Marcos Senna, but Spain lost 3–1.^[49] 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.^[50] He was later nominated for the Gillette Young Player of the World Cup, but Germany's Lukas Podolski won the award.^[51]

In UEFA Euro 2008, Fàbregas was issued with squad number 10, rather than 18 which he had previously held.^[52] 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.^[53] 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.^[54] In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Russia 3–0 with Fàbregas providing two assists.^[53] Fàbregas was in the starting eleven in the final against Germany which Spain prevailed 1–0; this was Spain's first major title since 1964.^[55] For his efforts, Fàbregas was named in the Team of the Tournament, a 23-man squad selected by the UEFA Technical Team.^[53]