Name: Steven Gerrard

Date of Brith: 30/05/1980

Country: England

Club: Liverpool

Position: Midfield

Number: 4

Caps: 40

Goals: 6

The heartbeat of his hometown club Liverpool, Steven Gerrard will travel to Germany desperate to make up for the disappointment of missing out on the 2002 FIFA World Cup� because of injury.

Gerrard had highlighted his future importance to England with a stirring performance in their famous 5-1 qualifying win in Germany in September 2001, where he struck a superb long-range goal, his first for his country. However, he then sat out the finals in the Far East, one of several setbacks he suffered earlier in his career when his growing body struggled to cope with the demands of top-level football.

In his own words, Gerrard �never had the strength or energy to get around the pitch� � something that seems impossible to believe for anyone who witnessed his heroic display in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan, where he breathed fresh life into Liverpool by heading the first goal of their incredible comeback and ended the match patrolling the right flank as a makeshift full-back.

Gerrard is quite simply Liverpool�s Mr Incredible, versatile enough to play across the midfield or even off the striker, and blessed with the tackling ability, passing skills and shooting power to dominate any match. He struck 13 goals in all competitions for the Reds in 2004/05 and in 2005/06 surpassed the 20-goal mark but reproducing that scoring form at international level is less straightforward given he is playing alongside two players in Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney who also excel at making runs from deep.

A product of the Anfield academy, Gerrard made his Liverpool debut in 1998 as an 18-year-old and within two years was playing for England against Germany at UEFA EURO 2000. By 2001 he was a regular in the national team and it proved a memorable year at club level too.

He helped Liverpool to a treble of League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup triumphs, scoring in the last of those finals against Alaves and earning personal recognition for his efforts in the shape of the Young Player of the Year award. In 2003 Gerrard collected further silverware as he scored in Liverpool�s League Cup final defeat of Manchester United and his growing maturity was reflected by his appointment as club captain early in the 2003/04 campaign.

That season ended with Gerrard appearing in all four of England�s matches at EURO 2004 but speculation over a possible move to Chelsea meant that he had, by his own admission, a �hot and cold� tournament, despite getting on the scoresheet against Switzerland. When the same speculation surfaced again last summer, in the wake of Liverpool�s Champions League victory, Gerrard looked certain to swap Anfield for Stamford Bridge but had a dramatic change of heart and signed a new four-year deal with the Merseysiders.

In between driving on his Liverpool team-mates, Gerrard � who will be 26 when the finals begin - featured in eight of England�s qualifying matches for Germany 2006, netting goals in the 2-2 draw in Austria and 2-0 home win over Azerbaijan. Still, six goals from 39 appearances up to the start of 2006 is a record �Stevie G�, as he is known at Anfield, will be keen to improve on. And where better to start than at his first FIFA World Cup?

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