Position: Midfielder
Born: 20.06.78
Club: Chelsea

The second best player in the world according to last year's FIFA awards, Frank Lampard has quite a reputation to live up to at Germany 2006.

Lampard initially looked overpriced when Chelsea paid West Ham £11million for his services in June 2001, at a time when he had just two England caps to his name.

But the Romford-born midfielder, who will celebrate his 28th birthday during the tournament, has now become a hugely influential figure for club and country, and one of the first names on Sven-Goran Eriksson's teamsheet.

He finally became a regular for England shortly before Euro 2004 but confirmed his pedigree in Portugal with three goals and a place in UEFA's tournament All-Star squad.

Five goals followed from midfield as England won their World Cup qualifying group, most notably a crucial penalty and then an 80th-minute winner in the final games against Austria and Poland.

Those strikes took him into double figures, with the FIFA gong following at the end of the year, confirming Lampard's meteoric rise in world football.