James Lee Duncan "Jamie" Carragher (born 28 January 1978) is an English footballer of Irish descent, who plays as a defender for Premier League side Liverpool. He is the current vice-captain and is one of the club's longest-serving players; he made his 666th appearance for Liverpool in all competitions on 9 May 2011, thus placing him second on the club's all time appearance list.
Carragher started his career with the Liverpool youth team. He made his professional debut in the 1996–97 season and became a first team regular the following season. He gained his first senior honours in 2001, winning a cup treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. Having initially played as a full back, the arrival of manager Rafael Benítez in 2004 saw Carragher move to the centre back position and that season he won his greatest honour to date—the UEFA Champions League. In the next season, he won the FA Cup and was selected in the PFA Team of the Year. Carragher set a record for the most appearances in European competition for Liverpool in 2007.
Steven George Gerrard MBE ( /ˈdʒɛrɑrd/; born 30 May 1980) is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 91 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfield role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger.
Gerrard, who has spent his entire career at Anfield, made his début in 1998 and cemented his place in the first team in 2000, succeeding Sami Hyypiä as team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, and two Super Cups. In 2005, Gerrard came third in voting for the Ballon d'Or.
Gerrard made his international debut in 2000 and has represented England at the Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals. Gerrard first captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand, who missed the tournament through injury. He was named again as England captain for the Euro 2012.
Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English former footballer. He is England's most capped right-back and was Manchester United's club captain for five years.
Neville spent his entire playing career at Old Trafford, making him a rare one-club man. At the time of his retirement in 2011, he was United's second longest serving player in the squad, behind his long-time team-mate Ryan Giggs. He made his international debut in 1995 and was first-choice right-back for club and country for more than ten years.
He is the older brother of Premier League footballer and Everton captain Phil Neville, who was also a Manchester United player (from 1993 until 2005). His sister Tracey Neville plays netball for England, his mother Jill is a receptionist for Bury.
Since retiring from football at the end of the 2010-11 season, Neville has gone into punditry and is a commentator for Sky Sports. On 14 May 2012, Neville was appointed as a coach at England by new manager Roy Hodgson.
The older of the Neville brothers joined Manchester United as an apprentice upon leaving school in 1991, and captained the youth side to FA Youth Cup glory in his first season. He made his senior debut for United in September 1992 against Torpedo Moscow in the UEFA Cup. Neville emerged as part of Alex Ferguson's youth-oriented side of the 1990s (nicknamed Fergie's Fledglings, an updated take on the 1950s equivalent Busby Babes) that included his brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. In the 1994–95 season, he became first-choice right-back when Paul Parker was ruled out by injury, and remained so until his retirment, although in his first season as a regular player he often found himself on the sidelines as Denis Irwin was switched to right back with Lee Sharpe (normally a winger) filling the left-back role.
Mamadou Sakho (born 13 February 1990) is a French international footballer who currently plays for French club Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. He primarily plays as a centre back for his club, but can also deputized as a left back if necessary. Sakho is known for his leadership credentials, his tireless engine, hard-working attitude, and his tackling ability. He has also been praised for his "physical and tactical qualities". Sakho is also known for his eccentric hairstyles he often displays while playing and has earned the nickname Kirikou by club supporters as a result.
Of Senegalese descent, Sakho started his career at Paris FC in 1996 before moving to professional club Paris Saint-Germain in 2002. After excelling in the youth system, Sakho earned a call up the senior team by manager Paul Le Guen. In October 2007, on his league debut, he became the youngest player ever to captain a Ligue 1 club after wearing the armband in the club's 0–0 draw with Valenciennes. Since making his debut with the club, Sakho has become an integral part of the team earning starting berths in the first 11 under managers Paul Le Guen and Antoine Kombouaré. Sakho's playing style and ability have led to the media and former players drawing comparisons to former French international Lilian Thuram.
Mesut Özil (German pronunciation: [ˈmeːzut ˈøːzil], Turkish pronunciation: [me̞ˈsut ˈø̞zil]) (born 15 October 1988) is a German footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Germany national football team. Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, and a member of the German national team since 2009. He gained international attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was nominated for the Golden Ball Award, which is awarded to the tournament's best player. Following his breakout performance at the World Cup, he was transferred from Werder Bremen to Real Madrid in August 2010.
Özil is acclaimed for his finesse and improvisation as an attacking midfielder. His style and knack for providing assists for his team-mates has been compared to that of Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane. In 2011, he ranked second in assists in La Liga with 17, and first in major European competitions with 25.
Özil began his youth career playing for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen and then played five years for Rot-Weiss Essen.