Ashley Cole
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Ashley Cole (born December 20, 1980 in Stepney, London) is an association football player. He is a defender, who nearly always plays at left-back. He currently plays for Arsenal and the English national team.
Cole is known for his substantial pace, which is often used to great effect in supporting and overlapping the left-winger in front of him. Critics have said his attacking talents conceal defensive weaknesses, though Cole's rapid ascension into the Arsenal and England teams at a young age demonstrates that the teams' respective managers have confidence in his abilities.
He was fined by the Premier League £100,000 on June 2, 2005 for a meeting in a hotel room in January 2005 between himself, the Chelsea manager José Mourinho, Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and his agent Jonathan Barnett. He is due to appeal. Chelsea were also fined £300,000 and Mourinho was fined £200,000.
In 2005 he got engaged to Cheryl Tweedy, the popular singer from British chart-topping act Girls Aloud.
Club career
Cole has been at Arsenal since he was a teenager, and signed as a professional on February 25, 2000. He made his debut for the first team on November 30, 1999 against Middlesbrough at the age of 18, although this was his only appearance of that season. Before fully breaking into the Arsenal side, he spent three months on loan at Crystal Palace in 2000. After an injury to Silvinho, Arsenal's established Brazilian left-back, in autumn 2000, Cole came in as his replacement, and remained first-choice even after Silvinho's recovery.
With Arsenal, he has won the Premiership twice (in 2002 and 2004), and the FA Cup three times (in 2002, 2003 and 2005).
He has publicly stated he wishes to leave Arsenal and play elsewhere.
International career
Cole made his England debut against Albania, on March 28, 2001. In May 2005, he won his 40th cap, though he has never scored for the national side. He was also named as one of four England players in the Euro 2004 all-star squad and, qualification, fitness and form permitting, will continue to be England's first choice left back at the 2006 World Cup.
External links
- Arsenal FC website profile (http://www.arsenal.com/player.asp?PLID=3785&CLID=3&title=Player+profile+-+Ashley+Cole&nav=Player+Files)
- FA website profile (http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/Players/Postings/2004/03/Ashley+Cole+Arsenal.htm)