Howard Webb is an English football referee and police sergeant. He first made his way into the Professional English football league as an assistant referree in 1996. In 1998 he progressed to assistant referee in the Premier League, the highest ranked league in England. From 2000 he was back in the Championship, League 1 & League 2 but as a referee. Since 2003 he has been a Premier League referee and in 2005 he also became one of FIFA’s international referees. His biggest honours so far have been to referee the 2010 FIFA World Championship final in South Africa, the 2010 UEFA Champions League final and the 2009 FA Cup final. Webb was born in South Yorkshire in 1971 and started refereeing in 1989. His father Billy Webb was also a referee.

Aleksandar Kolarov is a Serbian left-back who plays for Manchester City. He arrived before the 2010/11 season from Italian side Lazio for €20.5 million. The 24 year old had his debut in the first Premier League match of the season, in a 0-0 draw at Tottenham. Kolarov picked up an ankle ligament injury and has been out since then but is due to return in October. The Manchester City fans will look forward to his return as Kolarov also is happy to play in midfield and charge on the left wing. Roberto Mancini would be looking towards Kolarov to provide similar cover on the left flank as Gareth Bale successfully does at Tottenham.

Joe Cole was Roy Hodgson’s first signing after taking charge at Liverpool F.C. He arrived on a free transfer from Chelsea and is one of the players Liverpool is counting on to improve a disappointing start to the 2010/11 season. On October 4th he has also been recalled to the England squad, for their Euro2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

Mesut Özil is an attacking midfielder who plays for Spanish side Real Madrid and the German national team. Özil signed for Real Madrid in August 2010, two months before his 22nd birthday. Despite his young age he had already made himself a name on the international stage, first playing for Schalke 04 then for Werder Bremen and Germany. Özil was instrumental for the German team winning the 2009 U-21 European Championship and one of Germany’s best players winning bronze medals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Yoann Gourcuff is an attacking midfielder who plays for Olympique Lyonnais and the French national team.
After having started his senior career with Rennes he moved to Italy ahead of the 2006/07 season to play for AC Milan. Gourcuff had two frustrating seasons with the club, due to injuries and not getting along with manager Carlo Ancelotti. He also had to compete with Brazilian star Kaka for a starting place in the team. Eventually Gourcuff went on loan to Bordeaux for the entire 2008/09 season and then being sold to the club the following season. Gourcuff even started the 2010/11 season as a Bordeaux player but in August 2010 signed a five year deal with Lyon for a fee of €22 million.
Gourcuff has often been compared as the new Zinedine Zidane and he is a player the French national team are counting on. His first goal for France was a spectacular strike against Romania in October 2008. His second goal for Les Bleus came in a 2-0 win, also against Romania, on 9 October 2010.