Christmas is drawing closer every day, with our FIFA advent calendar continuing to reveal some of our favourite players from past titles.
It's time to open up door number 14 and head back to another millennium!
RealSport101 Advent Calendar - Day 14
It's time for me to show my age (despite not being that much older than other writers on-site) with a past favourite.
Probably known to everyone thanks to his punditry, few may remember seeing him play (at least in his heyday) or being able to use him as a player in FIFA that wasn't an Icon!
Alan Shearer - FIFA 99
FIFA 99 was the first title I played and the only one that wasn't on some incarnation of a PlayStation.
Instead, I had this one on PC, using a joystick instead of a keyboard!
That may seem strange now, but really it was just like having a big analogue stick with buttons attached, which gave a much smoother feel to playing as opposed to using a keyboard.
At the time, Alan Shearer was my favourite player, a proper physical forward who took no prisoners!
Using his strength to bully defenders, he was deadly from inside and outside the box and could use his head like few others.
Then, there was his iconic celebration!
Sure, it may look lame now, but running away from the goal with one arm pointing in the air was my go-to move when scoring too.
This was the first game where I really got to live out the fantasy of playing as one of my heroes, and for that, I will never forget it.
Underrated GREAT
Now known to a whole new generation thanks to his punditry and a regular spot on Match of the Day, many may have heard of Shearer's achievements yet still don't hold him in the same regard as other great players.
He was a proper English centre-forward, so may not have had the class a European player had, or the flair of a South American, but he got the job done better than anyone else around!
He still holds the record for most goals in Premier League history, a staggering 260 for Blackburn and Newcastle over 14 years.
Some of these may be beaten, but Alan Shearer made the following records:
- Most goals in Premier League history: 260 goals
- Most Premier League goals in a 42-game season: 34
- Most Premier League penalties scored: 56
- Most Premier League goals scored from inside the box: 227
- Most Premier League goals in a single match: 5
- Fewest matches to score 100 Premier League goals: 124 matches
- Top goalscorer in Newcastle United history: 206
- Most European goals scored for Newcastle United: 30