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Ashley Cole (born December 20, 1980 in Whitechapel, London) is an English football player of half Barbadian descent. 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, though at times it has been suggested that his attacking talents conceal defensive weaknesses.
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 part of the 1999-2000 season on loan at Crystal Palace, where he played 14 league matches, and scored one goal, that ultimately saved Palace from relegation. 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 played Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League Final defeat to Barcelona FC in 2006.
In 2005 Cole was accused of making inappropriate contact with another club over a possible move without alerting Arsenal to the fact in a “tapping up” case. Found guilty, he was fined by the Premier League Pound100,000 on June 2, 2005 for a meeting in a hotel room in January 2005 between himself, the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and his agent Jonathan Barnett. An appeal in August 2005 did not reject the guilty verdict, but his fine was reduced to Pound75,000. Chelsea were also fined Pound300,000 and Mourinho was fined Pound200,000, reduced on appeal in August 2005 to Pound75,000.
Despite indicating his desire to leave Arsenal and play elsewhere, Cole signed a one year extension to his contract on 18 July 2005. His current salary is thought to be Pound70,000 per week. He has recently attracted attention from Real Madrid, who are reportedly looking to buy him as a future replacement for aging Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos. Chelsea are also rumoured to have rekindled their interest in the player.
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 played for England at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He was also named as one of four England players in the all-star squad for the latter tournament. Fitness and form permitting, together with a lack of genuine rivals for the left-back position, he will continue to be England’s first choice at the 2006 World Cup. Cole currently has 44 caps.
He made four appearances for England under-21s, scoring once.
He was capped for the England U-20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship alongsideStuart Taylor, Peter Crouch, Andy Johnson and Matthew Etherington. However, the team finished bottom of their group, suffering three defeats without scoring any goals.
Personal Life
In 2005 he became engaged to Cheryl Tweedy, the popular singer from British chart-topping act Girls Aloud. They will marry on 15 July 2006.
On 2 March 2006, Cole announced that he was suing the tabloid newspapers The Sun and the News of the World for harrassment, libel, and breach of privacy, over stories of a ‘gay orgy’ involving Premiership footballers. Although Cole’s name was not mentioned in the stories, the two newspapers heavily hinted at his identity in successive articles.
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