Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard, MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He has played much of his career as a central midfielder, but he has also been used as a second striker, holding midfielder, attacking midfielder, right back and right winger. Gerrard has spent his entire career at Anfield, making his debut in 1998, cementing his place in the first team in 2000, and succeeding Sami Hyypiä as team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, and two UEFA Super Cups. He has signed a contract to join MLS club LA Galaxy in July 2015, following the conclusion of the 2014–15 season with Liverpool. Gerrard made his international debut for the England national football team in 2000, and represented his country at the 2000, 2004 and 2012 UEFA European Football Championships, as well as the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups – captaining the team at the latter two tournaments. He was named as the permanent England captain shortly before UEFA Euro 2012, where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. Gerrard became the sixth player to win 100 caps for England in 2012, and is currently third in the country's all time appearance list. He ended his international career in July 2014, having won 114 caps. Regarded to be one of the best English footballers of his generation, Gerrard came second to Kenny Dalglish in the "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", a 2008 Liverpool fan poll, and first in 2013. Zinedine Zidane said in 2009 that he considered Gerrard to be the best footballer in the world. In 2005, Gerrard was honoured as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or Bronze Award. He has also been named in the PFA Team of the Year a record eight times, the UEFA Team of the Year and FIFA World XI three times, and was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006 and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009. He is, to date, the only footballer ever to have scored a goal in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final and a Champions League Final.