Paul Aaron Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English footballer who plays for Manchester United as a midfielder. He is a one-club man, having spent his entire professional career with Manchester United.
Born in Salford, but later moving to Langley, Scholes excelled in both cricket and football in school. He first trained with Manchester United at the age of 14 after being spotted by a scout at his school. He made his debut for United in the 1994–95 season and made 17 league appearances. He went on to play a key part in Manchester United's Treble-winning season. Scholes has since gone on to win nine Premier League medals and a second UEFA Champions League.
Scholes represented the England national team from 1997 to 2004, participating in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup, as well as UEFA Euro 2000 and UEFA Euro 2004. Scholes has amassed over 120 bookings in all competitions during his career and has been sent off ten times.
Scholes has made over 650 appearances for United, the 4th highest number of appearances by any player for the club. In June 2010 Scholes announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2010–11 season.However, a month later, Scholes announced he may continue beyond the season if he has a good campaign and is "doing the job the manager wants".
On 15 September 2009, Scholes scored his first Champions League goal since netting the winner against Barcelona in the semi-final a year and a half ago. He netted the solitary goal in the 77th minute away to Beşiktaş, giving Manchester United a winning start to their 2009–10 European campaign. On 3 November 2009, Scholes hit his second goal of the campaign, again coming in the Champions League. This time he scored the second United goal in the 3–3 draw with CSKA Moscow, which was another headed goal.On 5 December 2009, Scholes scored his first league goal of the season and his 99th Premier League goal overall, hitting the first in a 4–0 away win at West Ham.On 27 January 2010, Scholes hit his first goal of the new year and his first in the League Cup for seven years in a 3–1 win in the Manchester derby. He hit the opener in United's semi-final second leg against Manchester City, eventually winning the game 4–3 on aggregate.On 16 February 2010, Scholes hit his third Champions League goal of the season against Milan in a 3–2 win; it was also United's first ever away goal against Milan. This gave United their first ever away win over Milan and also made Scholes the first ever player to score against both Internazionale and Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League. On March 6, 2010, Scholes became the 19th player in Premier League history to score 100 goals and also the third United player after Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney to do so in the 2009-10 season, netting the only goal in a 1–0 win over Wolves at Molineux.On 16 April 2010, Scholes signed a new one-year contract with United, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2010–11 season. On 17 April 2010, Scholes scored a last minute winner against rivals Man City, giving United a 1–0 win and the perfect way to celebrate signing a new contract just the day before. This also gave him his second derby goal in the last two games against their city rivals.Scholes began the 2010–11 season strongly, displaying Man of the Match performances against Chelsea in the 2010 Community Shield on 8 August and eight days later in the opening fixture of the new league campaign against Newcastle United as he assisted two goals in a 3–0 home victory.Scholes netted his first of the season when he opened the scoring in a 2–2 away draw against Fulham on 22 August, which took him to his 150th goal for Manchester United. Scholes' bright start to the season was rewarded as he was awarded the Premier League Player of the Month for August. In April 2011, Scholes was sent off for a high challenge on Pablo Zabaleta in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City; Manchester United went on to lose the fixture 1-0.
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