Micah Richards is a defender who plays for English side Manchester City and the English national team. Richards joined Manchester City as a thirteen year old in 2001. He worked his way up through the ranks and made his first team debut in October 2005. A very versatile defender, he can play both at right back or as centre half. Richards was the youngest defender ever to be called up to the England squad when he made his senior debut at less then 18 years and 5 months old.

Shay Given is a goalkeeper who plays for English side Aston Villa and the Irish national team. As a teenager Given was in Scottish club Celtic’s youth squad. At 18 he signed for English club Blackburn, who at the time had England international Tim Flowers as their first choice. Shay Given was sent on loan first to Swindon, then to Sunderland. Kenny Dalglish, newly appointed manager of Newcastle United noticed Given at play for Sunderland and made him one of his first signings. Given grabbed the chance and quickly established himself at Newcastle. His performances at Swindon and Sunderland had also already resulted in him being called up for the Irish national team. At Newcastle Given further established himself as one of the finest goalkeepers in English football. On 1 February 2009 he signed for Manchester City and City manager Roberto Mancini later described Given as “one of the five best goalkeepers in the world”.
In April 2010 Given dislocated his shoulder in a match which excluded him for the rest of the season. At the start of the 2010/11 season Joe Hart, back from a loan to Birmingham, was chosen ahead of Given as City’s first choice. Joe Hart has consistenty played well and is also England’s first choice goalkeeper. Roberto Mancini further announced that Shay Given may leave the club if he wished to do so.
On 18 July 2011 Given signed a five year contract with Aston Villa.

Éric Abidal is a left back who plays for Spanish side Barcelona and the French national team. Abidal was born and bred in Lyon but started his professional career first at AS Monaco, then at Lille. In 2004 he moved back to his home town and joined Olympique Lyonnais. With Lyon he won Ligue 1 three years in a row, before signing with Barcelona in June 2007 for €15 million. The contract also stated that Lyon would receive an extra €500,000 if Barcelona win the Champions League in any of the next four seasons, which they did in the 2008-09 season.
Abidal made his debut for the French national team in August 2004. He has been France’s first choice left back in the 2006 World Cup, in Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

Gabriel Milito is a defender who plays for Spanish side Barcelona. He has also been capped 34 times for the Argentinian national team. Milito arrived in Spain in 2003 from Argentinian Club Atlético Independiente. He played for seasons for Real Zaragoza, with whom he won the Spanish Cup and Spanish Super Cup in 2004. In July 2007 he was signed by Barcelona. Towards the end of his first season there Milito suffered a serious knee injury, which kept him out of action for almost two years. This meant he missed out on the entire 2008-09 campaign, in which Barcelona won the treble. In January 2010 Milito finally returned to competitive football again. His older brother Diego Milito is a striker who plays for Italian side Inter Milan.

Seydou Keita is a defensive midfielder who plays for Spanish side Barcelona and the Mali national team. Keita began his professional career at French club Marseille but first came to prominence playing for Lorient. After two seasons there he moved on to RC Lens. There he was scoring several goals, as a defensive player, and was given the captaincy. He stayed at Lens for five seasons before his move to Spain came. He signed a four year contract with Sevilla but had such a brilliant first season there, that several top clubs were chasing his services. When the season finished in May 2008 he transferred to Camp Nou and Barcelona.
Keita has been a regular in Mali’s national team since 2000. He also played in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. Mali came 3rd in the competition and Keita was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament’s most outstanding player.