James Milner, Aston Villa
Milner is still a young player but seems to have been around forever. He made his debut for Leeds United at the tender age of 16 and has been consistently playing in the top-flight ever since. Milner moved to Newcastle where he quickly established himself in the starting eleven before moving to Aston Villa at the beginning of the current campaign. It has been over the course of this year that Milner’stalent has truly been seen, though he is often overshadowed by the performances of Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor. Milner has been in great form all season and scored a wonder goal against Everton from a free-kick last weekend.
Milner is still a young player but seems to have been around forever. He made his debut for Leeds United at the tender age of 16 and has been consistently playing in the top-flight ever since. Milner moved to Newcastle where he quickly established himself in the starting eleven before moving to Aston Villa at the beginning of the current campaign. It has been over the course of this year that Milner’stalent has truly been seen, though he is often overshadowed by the performances of Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor. Milner has been in great form all season and scored a wonder goal against Everton from a free-kick last weekend.
Abdoulaye Faye, Stoke City
At the start of the season Stoke were football favourites to go down with the majority of football pundits and punters alike. They are on the verge of achieving the unthinkable in Premier League survival and this is largely due to their towering defender Abdoulaye Faye. The Senegalese international began his Premier League career with Bolton, where he made over 50 appearances for the Lancashire side. When Sam Allardyce swapped the Reebok Stadium for St James’ Park Faye was the only player he took with him to his new club. After just one season at Newcastle he was sold to Stoke for a fee of around £2million. At Stoke Faye has become a hero and is probably going to be named their player of the season this year, he has almost single-handedly turned their defence into a formidable unit and has chipped in with three vital goals for the Potters.
At the start of the season Stoke were football favourites to go down with the majority of football pundits and punters alike. They are on the verge of achieving the unthinkable in Premier League survival and this is largely due to their towering defender Abdoulaye Faye. The Senegalese international began his Premier League career with Bolton, where he made over 50 appearances for the Lancashire side. When Sam Allardyce swapped the Reebok Stadium for St James’ Park Faye was the only player he took with him to his new club. After just one season at Newcastle he was sold to Stoke for a fee of around £2million. At Stoke Faye has become a hero and is probably going to be named their player of the season this year, he has almost single-handedly turned their defence into a formidable unit and has chipped in with three vital goals for the Potters.
Danny Murphy, Fulham
Danny Murphy began his career at Crewe, where Dean Ashton, Rob Hulse and David Platt also started out. He sealed a move to Liverpool in 1997 and quickly established himself alongside Steven Gerrard in midfield. After making over 150 appearances for the club he moved on after being deemed surplus to requirements but his career continued to flourish elsewhere. He played a major part in Fulham’s Premier League survival last season and has perhaps been their star this season, where Fulham have got to the brink of European qualification. He may not be the most flash player in the league but Murphy is consistent and always puts in a decent display for Fulham.
Danny Murphy began his career at Crewe, where Dean Ashton, Rob Hulse and David Platt also started out. He sealed a move to Liverpool in 1997 and quickly established himself alongside Steven Gerrard in midfield. After making over 150 appearances for the club he moved on after being deemed surplus to requirements but his career continued to flourish elsewhere. He played a major part in Fulham’s Premier League survival last season and has perhaps been their star this season, where Fulham have got to the brink of European qualification. He may not be the most flash player in the league but Murphy is consistent and always puts in a decent display for Fulham.
Gary Cahill, Bolton Wanderers
23-year-old Cahill is the heart of Bolton’s defence and is a major factor in the Wanderers staying out of the relegation dog-fight this season. He is great in the air, has brilliant awareness and is very good on the ball for a centre-half. He was overlooked by Fabio Capello in the most recent England squads but should break into the national side in the near future. One thing is for sure though, Bolton would really struggle without Cahill shoring up the back.
23-year-old Cahill is the heart of Bolton’s defence and is a major factor in the Wanderers staying out of the relegation dog-fight this season. He is great in the air, has brilliant awareness and is very good on the ball for a centre-half. He was overlooked by Fabio Capello in the most recent England squads but should break into the national side in the near future. One thing is for sure though, Bolton would really struggle without Cahill shoring up the back.
Antonio Valencia, Wigan AthleticWigan have been pushing for European qualification all season and a big reason for this is the talented Ecuadorian Antonio Valencia. The talented 23-year-old has notched up six goals for the Latics this season and is always a handful for the opposition defence. It looks as if Valencia could be set to leave the JJB Stadium in the summer, with Real Madrid among his reported suitors, but Valencia turned down a move in January because he wanted to see the season out with Wigan. In a world where football is dominated by money this kind of loyalty has to be applauded and I’m sure Valencia will be a world famous name in the near future.
Futbol Club Barcelona, known familiarly as Barça , is a Catalan sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. It was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English, and Catalan men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto Més que un club (More than a club). They were founding members of La Liga in 1928, and, together with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, they have never been relegated from the Primera División. The club were also the first La Liga champions and they are the current champions of both Spain and Europe. The club's main stadium is the Camp Nou and the fans of FC Barcelona are known as culers or culés. In September 2006, the number of socis (club members/owners) reached 151,127, while in June 2006 the number of penyes (officially-registered supporter clubs) reached 1782 worldwide.
Petrolul Ploiesti is a Romanian professional football club from Ploiesti, Prahova county, founded in 1952.They currently play in Liga II, Seria I in the 2008-2009 season after finishing 3rd in Liga II, Seria I in the 2007-2008 season.Petrolul Ploiesti was founded in 1952 when the team Flacara Bucuresti (Juventus Bucuresti) moved to Ploiesti.They won the Romanian championship (Liga I) in 1957-1958, 1958-1959 and 1965-1966. They also won the Romanian Cup in 1962-1963 and 1994-1995. Their best European performance was reaching the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the predecessor of the UEFA Cup) in the 1962-63 edition after eliminating Spartak Brno (Czechoslovakia) and Leipzig XI (German Democratic Republic) and being defeated by the Hungarian side Ferencvárosi TC.Petrolul Ploiesti is the most successful team from Ploiesti, as they won 3 championships and 2 cups.
Olympique de Marseille (also known as l'OM or Marseille) is a football team that plays in Ligue 1, the top level of the French Football League, based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, Marseille is the largest and most successful club in France. They are so far the only French team to have won the UEFA Champions League (in 1993), which rounded off their dominant run of four consecutive Ligue 1 titles. However, having suffered from scandalous financial irregularities in 1994 and the resulting relegation, the club has not won a major trophy in over a decade.
Hamburger SV can trace its roots as far back as the September 29, 1887 merger of Der Hohenfelder Sportclub and Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub to form Sports Club Germania. The current club was formed as Hamburg Sport-Verein in 1919 through the union of three city teams severely weakened by World War I: Sports Club Germania; Hamburg FC (1888); and FC Falke (1906). The club colors were the Hanseatic red and white in honor of the City of Hamburg, with the blue and black of the oldest of the founding clubs, Germania, being used on the team crest. It is through Germania that HSV can lay a claim to being the oldest team in the country. However, other clubs may dispute that honor, as Germania was formed originally as an athletics club and did not begin to play football until 1891 when a half dozen Englishmen joined the club, bringing with them their enthusiasm for the game.
Manchester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Manchester. They are currently members of the English Premier League.Originally formed in 1880 as St. Marks (West Gorton), they then became Ardwick A.F.C. in 1887 before changing their name to Manchester City F.C. in 1894. The club has won the League Championship twice, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup once. The club's most successful period was during the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they won several major trophies under the management team of Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison, and with great players such as Colin Bell and Francis Lee.However, the club has not won a major honour since 1976. The club's decline led to relegation twice in three years in the 1990s, meaning they spent one year in the third tier of English football. However, the club has since regained Premier League status, putting City back in the top flight, the division in which they have spent the majority of their history.
Liverpool Football Club are an English football club based in Liverpool. They play at Anfield but hope to start work on the new stadium approximately 200 metres away in neighbouring Stanley Park, following the take over of the club by American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett They play in the FA Premier League and in terms of trophies won are the most successful club in the history of English football. Liverpool have won eighteen First Division titles, seven FA Cups, seven League Cups, five European Cups and three UEFA Cups. Liverpool are also a member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.Liverpool F.C. were founded by John Houlding in 1892 to play in his Anfield stadium. For the previous seven years the stadium had been used by Everton
Clube Atlético Mineiro, usually known as Atlético, is a football club based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Founded in March 25, 1908, Atlético is one of the most traditional clubs in Brazilian football. The first official match was played on March 21, 1909, against Sport Club Futebol. The team plays in black and white vertical striped shirts, black shorts and white socks.
Club Atlético River Plate, known also as River Plate or simply River, is an Argentine sports club best known for its football team, established in 1901. Its home base is the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez, and it plays at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti. It's the 9th soccer club in the All-Time Club World Ranking and the 1st in America, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) The club was also regarded 6 times as the best soccer club in the world in the monthly Club World Ranking of IFFHS"River Plate" is sometimes used as the English name for the Río de la Plata, the river on which Buenos Aires sits. It is believed that, in the club's early days, one of the founders (Martínez) observed sailors playing impromptu football games in the port of Buenos Aires next to crates marked "The River Plate", hence the club name.
PFC CSKA Moscow (Russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб ЦСКА Москва or Professional Football Club - Central Sports Club of Army (Moscow)) is the football section of the CSKA sports club of Moscow, Russia.It won the Soviet championship seven times (1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991), the Soviet Cup five times (1945, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1991), the Russian Cup in 2002, 2005, and 2006, won the Russian Premier League champions title in 2003, 2005 and 2006, finishing second in 1998, 2002 and 2004, and the Russian Super Cup in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
