FIFA.com Happy birthday to you!

In a brilliant first season in 1997/98, his exploits in front of goal spurred Barcelona to a La Liga and Copa del Rey double, achievements that were rewarded the following year when he was crowned FIFA World Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year. After a career that has taken him around the world, from to Spain, then on to Greece and Uzbekistan, this most gifted of attacking midfielders has come full circle, returning to end his career in the land of his birth. (35) boasts a career that contains two FIFA World Cup campaigns: Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010.