Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who play in the Premier League. Since its formation in 1879, the club has won six First Division titles—in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936—and the FA Cup twice, in 1937 and 1973.

Sunderland AFC won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3–1 victory over Preston North End, and remained in the top league for 68 successive seasons (spanning 80 years because of the war years' interruption) until they were relegated for the first time in 1958. Sunderland's most notable trophy after the Second World War was their second FA Cup in 1973, when the club secured a 1–0 victory over Leeds United. The team has won the second tier title five times in that period and the third tier title once.

Sunderland play their home games at the 49,000 capacity all-seater Stadium of Light having moved from Roker Park in 1997. The original ground capacity was 42,000 which was increased to 49,000 following redevelopment in 2000. Sunderland have a long-standing rivalry with their neighbouring club Newcastle United, with whom they have contested the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898.

Football Club Internazionale Milano S.p.A., commonly referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club is commonly known as Inter Milan outside of Italy. They have spent their entire history in the top flight First Division (known as Serie A since 1929). Internazionale have won 30 domestic trophies, including the league eighteen times, the Coppa Italia seven and the Supercoppa Italiana five. From 2006 to 2010 the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times; two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010. The last completed an unprecedented Italian treble with the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto. The club has also won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.

Inter's home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with A.C. Milan, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 80,018. Milan are considered one of their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called Derby della Madonnina, which is one of the most followed derbies in football. As of 2010, Inter is the second most supported team in Italy, and the eighth most supported team in Europe. The current president and owner of Inter is Massimo Moratti. The club is one of the wealthiest and most valuable in Italian and world football. It was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club Association.

Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore (born November 6, 1989) is an American soccer player currently playing for Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, and for the United States national team.

Altidore made his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 16 with the New York Red Bulls. In the middle of his third season with New York, in 2008, he made a transfer to Villarreal. During his time with Villarreal, he left on three loan stints – with Spanish Segunda División club Xerez in February–May 2009, English Premier League club Hull City for the entire 2009–10 season, and Turkish club Bursaspor where he went on a six month loan. In the summer of 2011, he made the switch to AZ Alkmaar.

Altidore has represented the United States on various levels of international competition, featuring for the United States U-17 team at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, U-20 team at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the U-23 team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the senior national team at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and current manager of newly promoted League One side Swindon Town. Di Canio made over 500 league appearances and scored over 100 league goals as a player.

As a player, Di Canio played in Serie A for Lazio, Juventus, Napoli and Milan, before playing in the Scottish Premier League for Celtic and the English Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic. His playing career contained several controversial incidents including his push on referee Paul Alcock in 1998, for which he received an eleven match ban, and his self-proclaimed allegiance to Fascismo. He was also SPFA Players' Player of the Year in 1997, West Ham United player of the season and a winner of the BBC's Goal of the Season in 2000 and of a FIFA Fair Play Award in 2001. After his seasons in the Premier League he returned to Italy where he played for Lazio, Ternana and Cisco Roma before retiring in 2008. He played for the Italy U-21 team but not for Italy despite his goal scoring record. In 2011 Di Canio entered football management in England with Swindon Town, guiding them in his first season as manager to promotion to Football League One.