UEFA has today officially launched plans to commemorate all European players who have played 100 or more games for their national team. Among the centurions to be honored is current FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández (31) who has 101 caps for the Spanish national team and counting.
The UEFA Executive Committee accepted the proposal set forth at the June meeting in Nyon, Switzerland. The award is not an average trophy; a special personalized cap and medal will be given instead. Presentations of these awards are set to occur during the months of September and October before all home fixtures of European Championship 2012 qualifiers (or friendlies, in the case of hosts Poland and Ukraine). The caps and medals will be given out by the President of the particular country’s Football Associations (in Xavi’s case, RFEF President Ángel María Villar). More presentations will be planned as more players cross the 100 milestone.
UEFA President Michel Platini thinks “it is a fantastic idea.”Platini spoke today of the latest accolade and confirmed that “any player who has played 100 or more times for his or her country definitely deserves recognition by the football fraternity. Presenting the player with a cap and medal at forthcoming national team matches will highlight their achievement, while helping to refocus public attention on the importance of national team football.”
Some of Xavi’s former Barcelona team mates are also centurions for their national teams. Now retired Giovanni Van Bronkhorst, Frank De Boer, and Phillip Cocu from the Netherlands with 106, 112, and 101 caps respectively will receive this award. Capped 123 times with France, New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry (34) is also among the honorees.
Some other Barcelona legends will also receive this honor, including current Director of Sport and former goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, who is the all-time cap leader for Spain with 126 appearances. The controversial Luis Figo played for Barcelona for five years before transferring to rival Real Madrid and will also be honored for his 127 caps for Portugal. Michael Laudrup, as well, made this controversial move and was capped 104 times with Denmark. Gheorghe Popescu played for Barcelona in the ‘90’s and was capped 115 times for Romania.
All in all, 109 men within the 53 member states will receive UEFA’s new award. The full list by country is as follows:
Armenia: Sargis Hovsepyan
Austria: Andreas Herzog
Bulgaria: Borislav Mihaylov, Stiliyan Petrov
Croatia: Dario Šimić
Cyprus: Yiannis Okkas
Czech Republic: Karel Poborský
Denmark: Peter Schmeichel, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Dennis Rommedahl, Thomas Helveg, Michael Laudrup, Morten Olsen, Martin Jørgensen
England: Peter Shilton, David Beckham, Bobby Moore, Sir Bobby Charlton, Billy Wright
Estonia: Martin Reim, Marko Kristal, Mart Poom, Andres Oper, Kristen Viikmäe, Raio Piiroja, Indrek Zelinski
Finland: Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä, Jonatan Johansson, Ari Hjelm
France: Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Marcel Desailly, Zinédine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps
FYROM: Goce Sedloski
Germany: Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose, Jürgen Klinsmann, Jürgen Kohler, Franz Beckenbauer, Joachim Streich, Thomas Hässler, Ulf Kirsten, Hans-Jürgen Dörner
Greece: Theodoros Zagorakis, Giorgos Karagounis, Angelos Basinas
Hungary: József Bozsik
Iceland: Rúnar Kristinsson
Italy: Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini, Dino Zoff, Gianluigi Buffon
Latvia: Vitālijs Astafjevs, Andrejs Rubins, Juris Laizāns, Imants Bleidelis, Mihails Zemlinskis, Igors Stepanovs
Liechtenstein: Mario Frick
Malta: Gilbert Agius, David Carabott, Carmel Busuttil, Joe Brincat
Netherlands: Edwin van der Sar, Frank de Boer, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Phillip Cocu
Northern Ireland: Pat Jennings
Norway: Thorbjørn Svenssen, Henning Berg
Poland: Michał Żewłakow, Grzegorz Lato
Portugal: Luís Figo, Fernando Couto
Republic of Ireland: Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane, Robbie Keane, Steve Staunton
Romania: Dorinel Munteanu, Gheorghe Hagi, Gheorghe Popescu, László Bölöni
Russia: Viktor Onopko
Scotland: Kenny Dalglish
Serbia: Savo Milošević
Slovakia: Miroslav Karhan
Spain: Andoni Zubizarreta, Iker Casillas, Raúl González, Xavi Hernández
Sweden: Thomas Ravelli, Roland Nilsson, Björn Nordqvist, Anders Svensson, Niclas Alexandersson, Henrik Larsson, Olof Mellberg
Switzerland: Heinz Hermann, Alain Geiger, Stéphane Chapuisat
Turkey: Rüştü Reçber, Hakan Şükür, Bülent Korkmaz
Ukraine: Oleh Blokhin, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Andriy Shevchenko