Lluis Vidal Camprecios (Barcelona, Spain) - Fall 2005. Probably the best football player I have ever played with. Plays as on the left side of a 3 men midfield, but wore the #10 for my team. Left footed, great shot with the interior of the foot, great control, composure, skill and intelligence. He is the player I always wanted to become as a kid. Lluis was formed at the Barcelona Academy. Claim to fame: met Xavi during the formative years during summer camp.
Dan Sayag (Paris, France) - Fall 2004. He played as a central midfielder for my team - a position I happily gave up for him. I moved in central defense. Dan is relatively small in size, but very effective at keeping the ball and passing it. Quiet and confident, he was never scared of much bigger guys rushing to leave their stud marks on him. Claim to fame: had a drink with Joel and Eric Cantona in a nightclub in the Riviera one summer!
Arnaud Billaudet (Paris, France) - Fall 2004. He was my striker. Attaquant en pointe. With Dan delivering the balls, or me striking a long ball all the way from defense, you could be sure he would create problems for the opposing goalkeeper. He has speed, skill and is a terrific header of the ball. He explained to me that all the strength to head the ball comes from the abdomen.
#25 Serdar Erkilic (Istanbul, Turkey), Didier Zanga (Douala, Cameroun) and #30 Godfred Amartey (Accra, Ghana).Serdar played with me for 2 seasons: Fall 2004 and Fall 2005. I had the pleasure to also play for one season in Spring 2006 for Newton FC O30. He is essentially a central midfielder who played with me in Central defense to accommodate others while assuming the responsibility of defending. Serdar has very flexible ankles - he can twist and turn his feet in very odd directions. His ball control is impeccable, and he has to be the most calm player I have seen on the field. this gave jitters to some when he would take so much time on the ball as a sweeper. I learned some positional sense just playing along him as a centre half, and definitely improved my tackle thanks to him. I wouldn't spend as much time on the ball while playing in defense though!!! Serdar spent some time in the Galatassaray Academy.
Didier was my co-coach as while I ran the Brandeis Business School team. He is a retired Right Back with tremendous athletic abilities.
Godfred is probably the best tackler I have played with so far. We played together during the Fall 2003 and Fall 2004 seasons. He is extremely strong, and does not take *&%@ from anyone. He scored a few goals as well. I think many were actually scared of him!!
Jonathan Elbilia (Paris, France) - Fall 2003 and Fall 2004. He originally started out as aright midfielder. But in our second season, I asked him to play right back. That was my masterstroke and my biggest success story as a manager- Jonathan turned out to be a brilliant right back. I also think he was one of the reason we won that tournament in Fall 2005. Jon realized that is where he would like to play for the rest of his life too! Jon is small and robust. He never tires and chases, hustles, heckles and tackles guys twice his height. He is very strong and delivers a good cross.
Kasper (Copenhagen, Denmark) - Fall 2002. Last but not least, Kasper is a tall striker who played for the team when I first took charge in Fall 2002. He is very fast, very skillful and elegant with the ball. He scored many of our goals, and was a delight to play with. He was also very knowledgeable about the game, and used to coach a team back home in Copenhagen.