"Playing in a World Cup for England is the pinnacle of a player's career, " said the former West Ham striker.
Ivory Coast international Drogba is the only African player with more career Champions League goals than ordinarily lethal Cameroonian Eto'o.
Setting aside the deal for Pujols, teams have gotten smarter about the arc of a typical player's career and when it's best to invest.
Probably ad nauseum for Red Sox fans to read this list of accomplishments, but it drives home the point that here is a guy that made himself a great player over his career by being really good at a lot of different things.
Rooney has been a streaky player throughout his career and although he may not have hit the heights that many expected when he debuted for Everton in 2002 he still possesses the ability to decide a game on his own when he hits form.
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Maynard Webb was a Florida football player heading for a career in criminal justice.
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New York Yankees infielder Alex Rodriguez was trying to become the youngest player to reach 500 career homeruns.
Sometimes the team executive puts too much faith in a player's college career or in a small sample of a young pro.
His experiences during the qualifiers, where Denmark battled as much against themselves as the opposition, were similar to his own career as player and coach.
But the former Bridgend Athletic, Tondu and Scarlets player says his Test career had stalled until Gatland brought him in from the cold this time last year.
He also insisted he isn't concerned about taking hits, and still has some of the mobility that made him such a dynamic player earlier in his career.
Strachan enjoyed a glittering playing career with Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds and Coventry and embarked on a managerial career as player-manager with the Sky Blues in 1996.
Over his 12 NBA seasons, including four with the Knicks, Gola was a consistently excellent player, though his career never reached the same heights it did at La Salle.
Levein said getting his Scotland tenure off to a winning start was important and stressed that his choice of squad did not signal the end of any player's international career.
And signs of the disciplinary problems that threatened to hamper the Manchester United player's early career reared themselves again in the 3-0 victory over South African club side Platinum Stars.
Gatland says that if Henson never returns to professional rugby it would be a loss for the game but the New Zealander says he suspects that the Bridgend-born player may relaunch his career outside of Wales.
Saturday's victory ensured Sharapova became just the 10th female player to complete a career grand slam to emulate the the likes of greats such as Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Serena Williams.
Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus had previously completed a career Grand Slam and at 24 Woods was the youngest player to do so.
He became the youngest player ever to complete the career Grand Slam with his 2010 US Open win.
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Illawarra was Millward's team as a player before injury cut his career short.
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Always a maverick, he capped his career as a player by moving to California to start a sports consulting business.
Ballesteros had a glittering Ryder Cup career as a player and captain.
Southampton-born Roberts had an impressive career as a player, representing clubs such as Tottenham and Rangers, as well as earning full England honours.
His spell in Brazil has been an important stage in the career of a player who looks set to have a splendid World Cup.
Once considered a player who could shatter the career home run record, Rodriguez has transformed from All-Star to annoyance for some in the Yankees organization.
"There is the Rangers connection, " said Gill, referring to Ferguson's career as a player with Rangers and Alex and Walter Smith go back a long way.
Alomar was a complete player for most of his career with his best years coming with the Toronto Blue Jays where he led them to two World Series championships in 1992-93.
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Matters seemed to be improving as Bernard won his maiden ATP title in January but this latest incident appears to be yet another setback in a stop-start career for a player with a fine record at junior level.
Cardiff City manager Jones was in charge of Southampton when Davies made the move to the south coast and believes this week's selection is a belated reward for the dedication and commitment the player has shown throughout his career.
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