Name	Michael Carrick
Height	6 ft 2 in
Naionality	English
Date of Birth	28-July-1981
Place of Birth	Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England
Famous for	Football Player

Michael Carrick is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United. He has made more than 500 Premier League appearances and played in 50 UEFA Champions League games as of January 2013. Carrick primarily plays as a centre midfielder and at the time of his move to Manchester United distinctive features of his play included his inventive distribution of the ball along with his passing and crossing abilities.

Carrick began his career at West Ham United, joining the youth team in 1997 and winning the FA Youth Cup two years later. He was sent on loan twice during his debut season, to Swindon Town and Birmingham City, before securing a place in the first team by the 2000–01 seasons. He experienced relegation in the 2002–03 season and was voted into the PFA First Division Team of the Year in the following campaign. He made more than 150 appearances for the Hammers, however, in 2004, he moved to rival London club Tottenham Hotspur for a fee believed to be £3.5 million. He was ever-present during his Spurs career, scoring twice in 75 appearances, before moving to Manchester United in 2006 for £18 million. Carrick received his first call-up to the senior team in Sven-Goran Eriksson's first game in charge of England in February 2001. Despite being named in the 31-man squad to face Spain, he was an unused substitute in England's 3–0 victory on 28 February. Three months later he made his England debut, replacing David Beckham as a second-half substitute in a 4–0 friendly win over Mexico. His full debut came during their 2–1 victory over the United States on 28 May 2005. Three days later Carrick started again in a 3–2 victory over Colombia in the final game of their tour of the United States.

On 8 May 2006, Eriksson named Carrick in a 23-man provisional squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, eventually being named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament in Germany. He was an unused substitute for all three of England's Group B games as they advanced to the knockout stage. Carrick played just one game in the tournament, a 1–0 victory in the second round match against Ecuador on 25 June. The next game he was dropped to the bench for the quarter-final tie against Portugal, with Owen Hargreaves replacing him. The game ended goalless after extra-time, Portugal won 3–1 in the subsequent penalty shootout and knocked England out of the World Cup. In May 2012, England manager Roy Hodgson said he left Carrick out of the 23-man squad and the standby list for the 2012 UEFA European Championships because he had previously told the Football Association that he did not want to be a bit-part player, although he could help the team "in extremis". On 10 August, Carrick was recalled to the England squad by Hodgson for a friendly match against Italy on 15 August. He played the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 victory over the Italians in Switzerland and also took over the captain's armband from Frank Lampard for the final 20 minutes.