- Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born January 28, 1978) is an Italian FIFA World Cup-winning goalkeeper. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper for Juventus F.C. and the Italian national team. He was transferred to Juventus from childhood club Parma F.C. in 2001, for what was the largest transfer figure ever for a goalkeeper at £32 million. He is widely considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
- David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (pronounced) (born 2 May 1975) is an English professional football (soccer) midfielder who plays for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy. He is also currently a member of the England national team. He was twice chosen 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.
- Jens Lehmann
Jens Lehmann (born November 10 1969 in Essen) is a German football goalkeeper who currently plays for Arsenal and for the German national team. He was voted Best European Goalkeeper twice in his career, and he has been been selected for three World Cup squads.
- Alessandro Del del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born November 9, 1974 in Conegliano) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He is the captain of Juventus and a member of the Italian national team. He is regarded as one of the best Italian footballers of his generation. Usually, Del Piero plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers (in the hole), known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position.
- Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italian football player. He plays for A.S. Roma in Serie A and for the Italian national team, with whom he won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Francesco Totti's position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as the trequartista (or second striker), a compromise between the two positions where the player acts as a link between midfield and attack.
- Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German football player. He is the current captain of the German national team, and plays club football for Chelsea F.C. in the English FA Premier League.
- Shay Given
Séamus John James "Shay" Given is an Irish football goalkeeper who currently plays for Newcastle United and the Republic of Ireland, and is regarded as one of the finest and most reliable custodians in the Premier League. He is also vice-captain of both his country and club. For Ireland, Given has been capped 80 times and was his country's starter at the 2002 World Cup.
- Marco Materazzi
Marco Materazzi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born August 19, 1973 in Lecce) is an Italian football defender, who currently plays for Serie A club Internazionale, sometimes known as Inter Milan. He was a part of the Italian team that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he was headbutted by Zinedine Zidane, after having provoked him. Materazzi is tall and uses his physique to play as a tough and hard working defender.
- Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane, popularly nicknamed Zizou, is a French former football midfielder who played for four European clubs, including Juventus FC and Real Madrid. As a member and later captain of the French national team he participated in two World Cup finals - including winning the tournament in 1998 - and in three European Championships, winning that tournament in 2000. Having gained fame in Europe as a playmaker for Juventus, …
- Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro was born in Naples on the 13th of September 1973. Heâs the second of three children (the firstborn Renata and Paolo are his sister and brother). Fabio Cannavaro grew up playing for Napoli, then moved onto Parma
- Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish football player. He plays as a striker. He currently plays for Inter Milan, in Italy, and for the Sweden national football team.
- Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977 in (Les Ulis, Essonne) Paris, France) is a French football player. Renowned for his pace, he plays as a striker for the France national team and FC Barcelona. Henry grew up in the tough neighbourhood of Les Ulis, Essonne, where as a youngster he played for an array of local sides and showed great promise as a goal scorer. AS Monaco spotted him in 1990, and signed him up instantly.
- Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, as well as the German national football team. He was the top scorer and thus the Golden Boot winner of the 2006 World Cup hosted by his country Germany, with 5 goals. Klose also scored 5 goals in his debut World Cup, the 2002 World Cup hosted jointly by the Korea Republic and Japan, giving him a total of 10 goals in World Cup finals.
- Oliver Kahn
Oliver Kahn is a German football goalkeeper. He played for the German national team (from 1995 to 2006) and still plays for Bayern München (since 1994).
- Brian McBride
Brian McBride is a football striker who has appeared in three World Cups for the United States national team and is currently playing for the club Fulham of the English Premier League. Before joining Fulham, McBride had previously played in England for Everton in 2002 and Preston North End in 2000. Before that, McBride played for VfL Wolfsburg of the German 2 Bundesliga and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, for whom he was a fan favorite.
- Michael Owen
Michael James Owen (born December 14, 1979, in Chester, Cheshire) is an English football player currently with Newcastle United. He has also 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 European Footballer of the Year in 2001. Owen is currently England's 4th highest scorer of all time, with 37 goals in 82 games for his country, …
- Rogério Ceni
Rogério Ceni (born January 22, 1973 in Pato Branco, Paraná, Brazil) is a Brazilian goalkeeper. He has been a member of the Brazilian Série A club São Paulo since September 7, 1990, playing more than 700 matches and winning 2 Copa Libertadores trophies and 2 World Club Championship with them. He is officially recognised by FIFA and the IFFHS as the goalkeeper to have scored the most goals in the history of football: 72 (As of 03/06/07).
- Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born November 7, 1978 in Peckham, London) is an English footballer of mixed St Lucian and Anglo-Irish descent. He plays at centre-back for Manchester United in the FA Premier League and at the international level for the England national football team. He has achieved more than 50 caps for the English national team, and has been selected for three FIFA World Cup squads.
- Fabien Barthez
Fabien Alain Barthez (born 28 June 1971 in Lavelanet) is a French football player who plays the position of goalkeeper.One of the best goalkeepers to play the sport, he played with the French national team, he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 World Cup. He shares the record for most World Cup final clean sheets with Peter Shilton, with 10. Professionally, …
- Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Ivan "Rino" Gattuso, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born January 9 1978 in Corigliano Calabro) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. His position is a defensive midfielder; however, he sometimes plays on the right side of midfield. He currently plays for A.C. Milan, with whom he won the UEFA Champions League in both the 2002/03 and 2006/07 seasons and "Serie A" in 2003/2004.
- Oliver Neuville
Oliver Patric Neuville is a Swiss-German football player. He was born of a German father and an Italian mother in Locarno, Switzerland. His name (properly pronounced in French – not German – fashion) stems from his Belgian grandfather. He has one son Lars-Oliver (*1997). Neuville started his career in his native Switzerland with Servette (1992-96). He also played in Spain for Tenerife (1996-97), …
- Patrick Vieira
Patrick Donalé Vieira is a French football midfielder who currently plays for Internazionale Milano. He came to prominence during his time at Arsenal between 1996 and 2005, where he won three FA Premier League titles and four FA Cups, and eventually became club captain. He spent a single season at Juventus before joining Inter in 2006, after Juventus were relegated due to their part in a match-fixing scandal.
- Roy Maurice Keane
Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August, 1971, Cork, Ireland) is a former Irish professional footballer and the current manager of English Premier League club Sunderland, the winners of the 2006-07 Coca-Cola Championship. A dominating central-midfielder, Keane has been hailed as one of the greatest players to grace the game in the modern era. In a highly successful sixteen-year career, he played for Cobh Ramblers, Nottingham Forest and, most notably, Manchester United, …
- Andreas Isaksson
Andreas Isaksson was born on October 3, 1981 in Trelleborg and is a Swedish football player (goalkeeper) and national team player for Sweden. He currently plays for Manchester City in England and for the Swedish national team, for whom he currently has 42 caps. His name is pronounced
- Landon Donovan
Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982 in Ontario, California), is an American professional soccer player, who is the co-all-time leading scorer for the U.S. National Team (along with Eric Wynalda). He also serves as captain of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
- Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE (born September 20, 1971 in Helsingborg, Skåne) is a Swedish footballer. Larsson is best known for seven successful years with Scottish club Celtic. He subsequently had a two-year spell at Barcelona of Spain, where he won the Champions League. Having left Barcelona in the summer of 2006, he returned to his home town club of Helsingborgs IF. He later joined Manchester United on a short term loan in January 2007, …
- Claudio Reyna
Claudio Reyna (born July 20, 1973 in Livingston, New Jersey) is an American soccer player. He was the captain of the U.S. national team before retiring from international soccer immediately following the USA's exit from the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Reyna currently plays for Red Bull New York of Major League Soccer, where he is team captain.
- Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, is an Italian footballer who plays as a striker for Turkey Super Lig teams Beşiktaş JK. His positional sense near the goal has helped him score many of his career goals as he is considered one of the greatest goal poachers to ever play the game.
- Tony Meola
Tony Meola (born Antonio Michael Meola on February 21, 1969) is a former American soccer goalkeeper who played for the United States national team at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and from 1996 to 2006 played in Major League Soccer, the U.S. top soccer division, where he obtained multiple honors.
- Gianluca Zambrotta
Gianluca Zambrotta, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born February 19, 1977 in Como) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He is extremely fast, and plays either as a full-back defender, or a side midfielder for both club and country. Considered by many the best outside back in the world, he currently plays for FC Barcelona with a contract until 2010. He is married to his wife, Valentina.
- David Trézéguet
David Sergio Trézéguet (born 15 October, 1977 in Rouen, France) is a French-Argentine football striker who plays for Juventus and France.
- Wes Brown
Wesley "Wes" Michael Brown (born October 13, 1979 in Longsight, Manchester) is an English football player who plays for Manchester United. As a child Wes played for Fletcher Moss Rangers FC, based in Manchester.
- Jiang Jin
Jiang Jin (born 17 October, 1968 in Tianjin) is an assistant coach of Shanghai Stars and a former Chinese football goalkeeper. He played for Bayi Football Team, Tianjin Teda and Shanghai Zhongyuan. He played for China national football team and was a participant at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. His brother Jiang Hong is also a former football goalkeeper and has appeared in the China national football team.
- Eddie Pope
George Edward ("Eddie") Pope (December 24, 1973) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and spent 11 years as a defender for the United States national team. Born in Greensboro, he attended Southwest Guilford High School. Pope had a very successful career playing for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1994, he was a first team All-American, and also earned All-ACC and All-South Region honors.
- Choi Jin-Cheul
Choi Jin-Cheul (born March 26, 1971) is a South Korean football player, who currently plays for the K-League team Jeonbuk FC. As the oldest player of the Korean Nation Team for World Cup 2006, Choi has been an influential and strongly reliable defender throughout his World Cup career (2002, 2006). Before the World Cup, he had already announced his retirement from the national team after the tournament.
- Paolo Maldini
History: Paolo Maldini (born June 26, 1968, Milan) is a legendary Italian football player. He is the son of Cesare Maldini . Paolo Maldini plays as a defender and, despite being naturally right-footed, predominantly plays the position of left back, although he sometimes plays at centre back. Throughout his long career, he has remained a one club man with A.C. Milan.
- David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman MBE (born 19 September 1963 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire) is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal and most recently with Manchester City. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury. He was awarded the MBE in 1997 for services to the sport.
- Li Tie
Li Tie (simplified Chinese: 李铁) (born September 18, 1977 in Liaoning, China) is a Chinese professional footballer currently playing for Sheffield United.
- Qu Bo
Qu Bo (曲波)(born July 15, 1981 in Tianjin) is a Chinese football player. He plays for China national football team and was a participant at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Afterwards, he had a month-long stint with Tottenham Hotspurs before leaving due to lack of work permit.
- Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine international football player currently playing in the Italian Serie A for Internazionale, having signed from English Premier League champions Chelsea on a 2 year loan deal on 7 August 2006. He is famed for his powerful aerial ability, which allows him to score goals from considerable distances. He is also renowned for being one of the most effective goal poachers in the game, due to his anticipatory off-the-ball movement.