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.
11. Mohammad Nosrati (33) took part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and in three AFC Asian Cups with Iran, finishing third at the 2004 edition of the continental contest. In addition, the versatile defender was part of the Iranian sides that emerged victorious from the 2002 Asian Games and the 2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship. Aside from a season with Dubai-based Al-Nasr, Nosrati has spent the majority of his career in his homeland, winning the national league with Pas Tehran and Persepolis, and the Hazfi Cup with Tractor Sazi.
12. Oribe Peralta (31) played a key role in Mexico’s Men’s Olympic Football Tournament triumph at London 2012, notching four goals in the competition, including two against Brazil in the final. The lively forward also helped his country to advance to the 2014 World Cup, scoring ten goals in 11 qualifying matches. At the tournament proper, he played in all four of El Tri’s encounters, but could not prevent their Round-of-16 defeat by the Netherlands. The Torreon native also competed at the Copa America in 2011. Peralta has spent his entire club career in Mexico, starting out at Morelia and then Leon, where he won a Primera Division title. A two-season stint at Monterrey was followed by a move to Santos Laguna, where he added two league winners’ medals and the 2013 CONCACAF Player of the Year award to his footballing CV. In 2014, the Mexican striker signed for Club America, claiming another league crown later that year.
13. Dan Eggen (45) starred for Norway at the France 1998, the Scandinavian nation’s last appearance to date on football’s greatest stage. The towering centre-back headed the Norwegians’ equaliser in their group-stage draw with Morocco, a result which proved crucial to qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament. He had previously been selected for Norway’s squad at the 1994 World Cup, but did not play in any of their three matches in the USA. He also appeared at UEFA EURO 2000, his final major competition. Eggen began his professional career in Denmark with BK Frem, before putting pen to paper with Brondby, where he bagged three Danish Championships and two Danish Cups. He then tried his luck in Spain, pulling on the jerseys of Celta Vigo and Alaves, with whom he reached the final of the 2001 UEFA Cup versus Liverpool. The imposing Norwegian subsequently saw out the remainder of his playing days with French outfit Le Mans.
14. Lars Hogh (56) participated in the 1986 World Cup and the 1995 King Fahd Cup (precursor to the FIFA Confederations Cup) with Denmark, lifting the latter trophy. At club level, the consistent goalkeeper defended the colours of just one team – Odense – for 23 years, securing three Danish League titles, three Danish Cups and five Danish Goalkeeper of the Year awards during that lengthy period. After hanging up his gloves, Hogh became a goalkeeper coach at Brondby, Nordsjaelland and the Danish national side.
15. Marius Tresor (66) is regarded as a living legend of French football, having appeared for Les Bleus at Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982, where he scored against West Germany in a memorable semi-final defeat. After starting off at Ajaccio, where he was named French Player of the Year, the composed defender joinedMarseille, with whom he held aloft the Coupe de France. Tresor then committed himself to Bordeaux, where he landed the only French League title of his career.
16. Stephan Lichtsteiner (31) appeared for Switzerland at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, as well as at EURO 2008. The energetic right-back turned professional at Grasshopper, where he gained a Swiss League winners’ medal. He was then transferred to Lille, where his performances piqued the interest of Lazio, with whom he won the Italian Cup and Super Cup. In 2011, he moved to current club Juventus, where he has since scooped three successive Serie A titles and two Italian Cups.
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