Rio Ferdinand

Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978 in Peckham, London) is an English footballer of mixed St Lucian, Dominican and Anglo-Irish descent. He plays at centre-back for Manchester United in the Premier League and at the international level for the England national football team.

He is quick, very comfortable on the ball, and has a good reading of the game with ability to take the ball out of defence into attack. Like other contemporary English defenders, he also has good aerial strength. He has achieved 64 caps for the English national team, and has been selected for three FIFA World Cup squads.

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Michael Owen

Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979, in Chester, Cheshire)[3] is an English football player currently with Newcastle United. He previously played for Liverpool (1996–2004) and Real Madrid (2004–05). He plays as a striker and has enjoyed a hugely successful and high-profile career at both club and international level and was the Ballon d'Or winner in 2001. Owen is currently England's fourth highest scorer of all time, with 40 goals in 88 games for his country, and is England's leading competitive goalscorer with 26 goals.

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David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English professional football (soccer) midfielder who plays for and captains Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy. He is also currently a member of the England national team.

He has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year, and as recently as 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer. He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004. Such global recognition has made him an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon. Beckham was captain of England from 15 November 2000 to 2 July 2006. He made 58 appearances as captain, and ended his tenure in that role after the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. He continued to make contributions for the England national team in 2007 competitions.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premiership title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons. In his final season, Real clinched the La Liga title (Beckham's only major trophy with the club) in the final game of the season. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.[8] He played his final match with Real on 17 June, after which the team was awarded the 2006–07 La Liga championship.

Beckham's new contract with the Galaxy, effective 1 July 2007, gave him the highest salary of any MLS player in history. He debuted for the team on 21 July in a friendly versus Chelsea FC at the Home Depot Center[9], and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal and first assist in the 2007 SuperLiga semi-final. His first league start then came on 18 August, where he recorded two more assists against the New York Red Bulls in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.

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Steven Gerrard

Steven George Gerrard MBE (pronounced /ˈstiːvɨn ˈdʒɛrɑrd/) (born 30 May 1980, Whiston, Merseyside) is an English football player. He is the captain of Liverpool, where he wears the number 8 shirt. He is the England vice captain, for which he wears the number 4 shirt. He has been called an influential and versatile midfielder, and is known for his long-range shots and defence-splitting passes, he is usually employed in the "box-to-box" midfield role, although he has often been deployed as a right-sided midfielder, and occasionally as a second striker. Throughout his career he has won the PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, European Midfielder of the year, Premier League Most Valuable Player (twice), and UEFA Most Valuable Player. He has also been awarded the MBE for his outstanding contributions in both the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final and the 2006 FA Cup Final in which he greatly inspired his team's comeback. He has been nominated three times for the FIFA Player of the Year, in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

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Frank Lampard

Frank James Lampard, Jr. (born 20 June 1978) is an English football player currently at Chelsea and previously with West Ham United and Swansea City.

Lampard was born in Romford, East London, England. He is the son of Frank Lampard Sr., the former England full back and two-time FA Cup winner with West Ham United. His family is related to another famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Lampard was educated at Brentwood School, a boys' independent school in Brentwood, Essex.

A current England national team regular, he has won the English Premiership twice (with Chelsea, 2004–05 and 2005–06), the FA Cup (with Chelsea, 2007) twice the League Cup (with Chelsea, 2005 and 2007), the FA Community Shield (with Chelsea, 2005), and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (with West Ham, 1999).

In November 2005 he was named runner-up to Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho in the European Footballer of the Year awards. A month later he finished in second place, once again behind Ronaldinho, in the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was also named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2005.

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Joe Cole

Joseph "Joe" John Cole (born 8 November 1981 in Romford, East London) is a professional footballer who plays for Chelsea of the English Premier League and the England national team.

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Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981 in Greenwich, London) is an English football player of Jamaican and Grenadian descent. He is the adopted son of the famous player Ian Wright, the half-brother of fellow player Bradley Wright-Phillips and brother to the upcoming youth player Brett Wright. He grew up in Brockley, South London, and attended the state school Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross Gate. He currently plays for Chelsea F.C.

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