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| Name: |
Jermain Colin Defoe |
| Date of Birth: |
7th October 1982 |
| Place of Birth: |
Beckton, London |
| England Debut: |
31st March 2004 |
| Against: |
Sweden |
| Position: |
Striker |
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| League Club: |
Tottenham Hotspur |
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Jermain Defoe, born and brought up in London, was educated at St Bonaventure’s Catholic Comprehensive. As a schoolboy he played for Senrab, before joining the FA National School of Excellence in 1997 under the guidance of Charlton Athletic. At 16 years old he signed a professional contract with West Ham United and went on to play in their U19 team before moving up to the senior squad.
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After a year on loan to Bournemouth which saw him score once in ten consecutive matches, Defoe returned to West Ham where he became their 2001-2002 top scorer even though he rarely started a game. Defoe remained with the club until an offer from Tottenham Hotspur of around £6 million was accepted in January 2004.
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His debut for Spurs came in February where he scored one of the goals which led them to a 4-3 win against Portsmouth. He continued to show great form, including a hat trick in their 5-1 win against Southampton that December.
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Defoe remained with the club until January of 2008 when he transferred to Portsmouth in a £6 million deal. His first season went well although his cup-tied status kept him out of the remaining FA Cup games for Portsmouth.
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Exactly a year after joining his new club, Defoe announced he wanted to leave in the 2009 January transfer window and on 6 January 2009 he rejoined Tottenham in a deal worth over £15 million. An impressive run followed, with a hat trick in the 5-1 win over Hull City just two matches into the 2009 – 2010 season, and an overhead kick 38 seconds into a Premier League match against champions Manchester United in September 2009.
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His international appearances began as part of the U21 squad. In March 2004 he was called up to represent England against Sweden and made his first start in September of that year when he scored one of the goals in the 2 – 1 win.
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Defoe won Player of the Month Award in September 2009
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| At the time of writing this (May 2012), Jermain Defoe has appeared 120 times for Tottenham, scoring 53 goals. He has been capped by England on 46 occassions, scoring 15 goals. |
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| Name: |
James Philip Milner |
| Date of Birth: |
4th January 1986 |
| Place of Birth: |
Wortley, Leeds |
| England Debut: |
12th August 2009 |
| Against: |
Holland |
| Position: |
Midfielder |
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| League Club: |
Manchester City |
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Milner was born in Wortley, Leeds to Peter and Lesley Milner and attended Horsforth School. He began his early football career at 10 years old when he joined the Leeds United Academy and he impressed them enough that they took him on as a trainee when he left school.
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Milner debuted for Leeds United on 10 November 2002 when he came on as a last minute substitute in a game against West Ham United. At 16 years and 309 days old, that six minute appearance made him the second youngest person to ever play in the Premier League and on the 26th December 2002 he also broke another record by being the youngest player to ever score in the Premier League. Everton’s James Vaughan has since claimed that title.
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Milner spent a month on loan to Swindon Town where he gained status as a first team player and other clubs began to show interest in signing him. In July 2004 he signed for Newcastle in a deal worth £3.6 million.
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Milner continued to show flair and he started the 2005-2006 season with a goal in the Intertoto Cup, but he was chosen to go on loan to Aston Villa as part of their purchase deal for Solano and spent the remainder of the season at Villa Park.
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Milner became a regular starter and helped Villa win 8-3 against Wycombe Wanderers in a League Cup game not long after starting. Aston Villa were impressed enough with the midfielder’s form that they began talks with Newcastle in a bid to keep him in Birmingham.
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However, Newcastle were keen to have him back, and Milner returned to his own club for the start of the 2006 season where he started every game. Milner remained with Newcastle until the end of 2008 when, despite rumours he would be moving to Liverpool, he personally requested a return to Aston Villa. He signed for them on 29 August 2008 in a £12 million deal.
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On 19th May 2010, it was reported that Aston Villa had rejected an offer of £20 million for Milner from Manchester City. Martin O’Neill, who was Aston Villa’s manager at the time said that as Milner had expressed a desire to go to Manchester City he could be released, but only at Villa’s valuation. On 17th August 2010 it was reported that an agreement had been reached in a deal worth around £24 million, which included a player exchange for Stephen Ireland. Milner made his debut for Manchester City on 23rd August in a 3-0 win over Liverpool.
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Milner’s International career began at youth level but he came on for his first England game with the senior team in 2009 for the final 23 minutes of a friendly against Holland. His most recent match was against Egypt on 3 March 2010.
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| At the time of writing this (May 2012), James Milner has appeared 78 times for Manchester City, scoring 4 goals. He has been capped by England on 25 occassions. No goals. |
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| Name: |
Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson |
| Date of Birth: |
23rd August 1985 |
| Place of Birth: |
Greenwich, London |
| England Debut: |
16th November 2003 |
| Against: |
Denmark |
| Position: |
Defender |
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| League Club: |
Liverpool |
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London-born Johnson began his early career as a 15 year old schoolboy for West Ham United, eventually signing his first professional contract with them to wear the Number 23 shirt although he remained in the Reserves for the beginning of the season.
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His first championship game came during a loan deal with Millwall when he played against Norwich City on 19 October 2002.
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His Premier League debut for West Ham finally came on 22 January 2003 in a defeat to Charlton Athletic when he came on as a substitute. By the time that season ended, Johnson had made 15 appearances in the league for West Ham and was beginning to make an impression.
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On 15 July 2003 Johnson signed with Chelsea for £6 million and debuted for them less than a month later in a win in the Champions League against Zilina. His first goal for Chelsea came when they played the second leg at home a fortnight later.
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Johnson made 41 appearances for Chelsea between 2003 – 2007, including an impressive save in the fifth round of the FA Cup when he stopped a free kick taken by Newcastle after their goalkeeper, Cudicini, was sent off and there were no substitutions remaining.
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On 31 August 2007 Johnson signed for Portsmouth, where he stayed until 2009. He started in the first match, which ended as a 3-1 loss to Arsenal, but became a regular starter after that.
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An impressive goal, after taking the ball from the halfway line against Wigan Athletic, followed by an FA Cup win in 2008, attracted attention and at the close of season 2009 several bids were placed for him. Portsmouth accepted two bids, from Liverpool and Chelsea, leaving Johnson to make his choice.
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On 26 June 2009, Johnson signed a four year contract with Liverpool.
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Johnson debuted for England in 2003 in a friendly against Denmark, but didn’t appear again until a 2008 victory against Andorra.
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At the time of writing this (May 2012), Glen Johnson has appeared for Liverpool a total of 99 times, scoring 6 goals, all of which were scored in the Premier League. He has been capped 35 times for England and has scored 1 goal.
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Frank Lampard has suffered a thigh strain during training on Wednesday morning and will be sent for a scan on Thursday to see if the damage is significant. He only joined the England squad on Tuesday after playing in Chelsea’s victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final on 19th May. It appears though that there are doubts over Frank taking part in Euro 2012. Jordan Henderson is on standby.
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| Name: |
Frank James Lampard |
| Date of Birth: |
20th June 1978 |
| Place of Birth: |
Romford, Essex |
| England Debut: |
10th October 1999 |
| Against: |
Belgium |
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| League Club: |
Chelsea |
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Frank James Lampard was born on 20th June 1978 in Romford. He is from a big footballing family as several members of his family including his father, uncle and several cousins have all been involved in the game. Frank followed in their footsteps from an early age and could always be seen with a football at his feet. He has always been a determined person and his never say die attitude landed him a place in Heath Park’s youth team. This breakthrough led him to get trials for Tottenham, Arsenal and finally West Ham who he signed a youth contract with in 1994.
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After a year at West Ham he was sent out on loan to Swansea. His determined nature shone through again as Frank saw this as a need to improve as a footballer and so this is what he set out to do. Even though the training facilities at Swansea weren’t as high a standard as those at West Ham frank used them to their fullest and built up his strength. On his return to Upton Park he was ready to fight for a first team place. However, it wasn’t until the 1998/99 season that he finally established himself as a regular first team player, playing every game that season. Both his uncle and father quit their jobs in the 2000/01 season as manager and assistant manager respectively and so Frank Lampard took the decision to make a move also, signing for Chelsea for a reported fee of £11 million.
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The Chelsea manager at the time, Ranieri, was a huge Frank Lampard fan and so Frank found himself in the thick of first team action as soon as he arrived at Stamford Bridge, making his debut against Newcastle United on 19th August, and going on to appear in every game that season, scoring 8 goals. His game continued to improve and in the 2002/03 season Frank Lampard hit double figures for the first time, scoring 10 goals. Frank was already an England player by this time but it wasn’t until the match against Croatia on 20th August 2003 that he scored his first goal for his country.
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Frank Lampard started to show what he was really made of though when in the Summer of 2003 one of the richest men in the World bought Chelsea Football Club and Frank suddenly found himself surrounded by World class footballing talent. In the 2004/05 season he netted 19 goals across all competitions and hit 20 the season after that. Picking up trophies along the way, Frank Lampard scored his 100th goal for Chelsea during the 2007/08 season which for a central midfield player is an astounding achievement.
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Frank Lampard has come along way from playing in his back garden with his uncle and his father, and although now in his thirties, he still plays at the highest level of football and is recognised as one of the best midfielders in the world.
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At the time of writing this (May 2012), Frank Lampard has appeared for Chelsea a total of 558 times, scoring 186 goals, 126 of which were scored in the Premier League. He has been capped 90 times for England, scoring 21 goals.
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