Petr Čech is a goalkeeper who plays for English side Chelsea and the Czech Republic. Čech signed for Chelsea after having impressed at Euro 2004, where the Czech Republic reached the semi-finals. Two years earlier he had impressed when the Czech Republic won the U-21 European Championship, which led to his transfer from Sparta Praha to French club Stade Rennais. Čech played two seasons in France before arriving at Chelsea, initially to be the 2nd choice behind their Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. However, Čech’s excellent form and Cudicini suffering with an elbow injury quickly had Čech settling in as Chelsea’s first choice. In his first two seasons with Chelsea they won and defended the Premier League title.
In October 2006 Čech suffered a very serious head injury in an away match against Reading. CT scans revealed a skull fracture which could have cost his life. When Čech made his come-back the following January he was wearing a rugby scrum cap, made by leading manufacturers Canterbury. This initially became a problem for Chelsea’s official sponsors adidas. That was easily solved by having the Canterbury logo removed from the cap. Čech has continued to wear this protective head gear. In the 2009-10 season Chelsea went on to win the double.

Michael Essien is an all-round midfielder who plays for English side Chelsea and Ghana. He joined Chelsea in August 2005 from French side Lyon as the Ligue 1 Player of the Year. At the time he was Chelsea’s most expensive signing at £26 million. Since then he has been one of the instrumental players in Chelsea’s success in the Premier League. He has also been one of the star players in the Ghanaian national team, the Black Stars. Due to a knee injury he missed the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He is currently enjoying a strong 2010/11 season with Chelsea but has for the time being made himself unavailable for his national team. Essien feels he needs to focus on Chelsea after having suffered two bad injuries whilst playing for Ghana.

Didier Drogba is a striker who plays for English side Chelsea and the Côte d’Ivoire national team. Drogba was player of the year in the French Ligue 1 in the 2003-04 season, while he played for Olympique de Marseille. That season he was also the UEFA Cup top scorer. In July 2004 he signed for Chelsea for £24 million and has never looked back since. In his first season in England they won the Premier League and Drogba was the matchwinner when they won the League Cup final. Chelsea also reached the semi-finals in the UEFA Champions League. The following season they defended the Premier League title, while in 2006-07 they won both the League Cup and the FA Cup. Drogba was the matchwinner in both finals. In 2008-09 came another FA Cup triumph while they won the double in the 2009-10 season. In that season Drogba was both the Premier League top scorer and Player of the Year. He is also the all-time top scorer for Côte d’Ivoire. Drogba has twice been voted African Footballer of the Year.