Happy Birthday to you! - WORLD FOOTBALL
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In our regular Sunday feature, FIFA.com presents you with some of the biggest names in football who will be celebrating their birthdays over the coming week.
27. Roland Nilsson (53) competed at two FIFA World Cup™ tournaments with Sweden, at Italy 1990 and USA 1994, where he and his team-mates finished third. In addition, the consistent right-back took part in the UEFA European Championships of 1992 and 2000, and in the 1988 Olympic Football Tournament. He started out at Helsingborg, prior to joining IFK Goteborg, where he won three Swedish League titles and a UEFA Cup, and then Sheffield Wednesday, where he lifted an FA Cup and an English League Cup. The Scandinavian defender then enjoyed two further spells with Helsingborg (during which he claimed another Swedish League crown), which were followed each time by a stint at Coventry City. Nilsson, named Swedish Footballer of the Year in 1996, subsequently saw out the remainder of his career with Gothenburg-based GAIS and moved into coaching, taking the reins of GAIS, Malmo and FC Copenhagen.
28. Hiroshi Nanami (44) helped Japan to qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France, where he played in three matches. The midfield man later participated in the 1999 Copa America and the 1996 and 2000 AFC Asian Cups, lifting the trophy at the latter event. At club level, he starred for Jubilo Iwata, where he clinched three J. League titles and an AFC Champions League crown. Nanami also turned out for Venezia and Tokyo Verdy, before hanging up his boots and becoming the coach of Jubilo Iwata.
29. Redha Tukar (41) represented Saudi Arabia at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and at the 2004 and 2007 Asian Cups, where the Green Falcons reached the final. The central defender turned professional at Ohud, and later pulled on the jerseys of Al-Shabab and Al-Ittihad, with whom he landed two AFC Champions League titles in a row, among other honours, and finished fourth at the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup. Tukar announced his retirement in 2013.
30. Gary Lineker (56) appeared for England at Mexico 1986, where he scored six goals, and Italy 1990, where he found the net four times as the Three Lions reached the semi-finals. The clinical striker also played at EURO 1988 and EURO 1992. He rose to prominence with Leicester City, where he won an English second division title, and then with Everton, where he hoisted the FA Charity Shield and attracted the interest of Barcelona, who secured his signature in 1986. After holding aloft the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners’ Cup with the Catalan giants, Lineker signed for Tottenham Hotspur, where he brandished the FA Cup and topped the English scoring charts for the third time, having previously achieved the feat with Leicester and Everton. The English attacker’s final stop-off was in Japan, with Nagoya Grampus Eight.
1. Tedj Bensaoula (62) played a key role in qualifying Algeria for Spain 1982 and Mexico 1986. At the latter tournament, the forward played in just one match, but four years earlier he had made three appearances and scored in a famous 3-2 victory over Chile. He was also a member of the sides that bagged runners-up medals at the 1980 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, finished third at the 1984 edition of the continental contest, and competed at the 1980 Olympic Games. During his career, Bensaoula donned the colours of Algerian outfits US Hammam Bou Hadjar and MC Oran, as well as French clubs Le Havre – with whom he won a second division championship – and Dunkerque.
2. Ali Reza Mansourian (45) was involved in Iran’s return – after a 20-year absence – to the World Cup stage at France 1998, where he twice came on as a substitute but could not prevent his team from suffering an early exit. In 1996, the influential midfielder helped the Iranians to claim third place at the Asian Cup. He got his big break with Esteghlal, where he amassed two Iranian League titles and two Iranian Cups, but also played in Singapore (with Balestier Central and Geylang United), Greece (with Skoda Xanthi and Apollon Smyrnis) and Germany (with St Pauli). Mansourian then enjoyed a swansong with Esteghlal before trying his hand at coaching with Naft Tehran and Esteghlal.
3. Tosh McKinlay (52) made two appearances for Scotland at both EURO 1996 and France 1998. The left-sided fullback made his name at Dundee and then at Hearts, but only got his hands on silverware once at Celtic, where he earned Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup winners’ medals. The reliable defender later enjoyed brief spells with Stoke City, Grasshopper Zurich and Kilmarnock.