Profile:
The Brazilian star is undoubtedly one of the best footballers of the past few years and burst onto the scene when he signed for AC Milan for around €8.5 million.

Even though he was born in Brasilia, he moved with his family to Sao Paulo as a kid and started his career there. He made his Sao Paulo debut at the age of 19 and in a short time he showed that he was different. Skillful, relentless and possessing an excellent shot, he scored 30 goals in his first two seasons.. Many big clubs in Europe set their sights on him, but it was AC Milan who snapped him up.

In Italy he became a great player and won many titles with the Rossoneri. He won the Serie A, UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Championship and earned a series of personal trophies as well. In 2004 he was the Player of the Year in Serie A, but the avalanche of achievements would come in 2007, when he obtained the Golden Ball, the FIFA World Player trophy and the man-of-the-match award in the FIFA Club World Cup.

In 2009 he was back in the spotlight when Real Madrid decided to put together yet another team of Galacticos, signing him for the whopping sum of €65 million, the second most expensive transfer in history after Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, spells on the sidelines through injury and poor form kept him out of the side and his future was left unclear in 2012.

Strengths: Highly skilful player, a great shot, superb vision for a pass.

Weaknesses: Despite his height, his aerial game is not his best feature.

Career high: Winning the 2007 UEFA Champions League, finishing top scorer with 10 goals.

Career low: A lot was expected from him in the 2006 World Cup, but after a disappointing showing, his team was eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Style: Cerebral, composed, balanced, a real team player.

Quotes: "I have no doubts. To me, Kaka is the best player in the world, because he is the most complete player. I see him a notch above Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo," said Pelé.

Trivia: When he was 15, he fractured a vertebra when jumping from a springboard into a pool, and his career was in doubt. But he recovered fully. He attributed his recovery to God's help, and from that moment became an "Athlete of Christ".

Profile:
Villa is one of the most feared strikers on the European stage and for both club and country has become a pivotal player.

After prolific spells with Sporting Gijon and Real Zaragoza, he joined Valencia in 2005 and elevated himself to the top of the game with consistently excellent displays and bags full of goals.

Both a great goalscorer and a scorer of great goals, Villa is a versatile player who can perform out wide, in behind the forwards or as a lone striker. A goal in a friendly against England in February 2009 saw him set a new record by becoming the first Spanish player to score in six successive games for the national side and it will not be too long before his name supplants Raul's as the country's all-time leading scorer.

Having never played for one of football's elite clubs, Villa made a €40 million move to Barcelona before the 2010 World Cup; just reward for years of hard work. He suffered a bad broken leg at the 2011 Club World Cup, but came back strong and continues to be one of the best around.

Strengths: Villa is a consummate finisher. His clever movement, excellent touch and deadly aim allow him to exploit any chances granted to this most resolute and determined of characters, but he also selflessly contributes with a number of assists.

Weaknesses: Like many of his international team-mates, Villa lacks height and real physical presence.

Career high: Winning the 2010 World Cup and finishing as the tournament's joint top-scorer with five goals.

Career low: Missing the Euro 2008 final due to a hamstring injury as Torres scored the goal that ended Spain's 44-year wait for an international trophy.

Style: Deadly, elusive, explosive, a born goalscorer.

Quotes: "David is an amazing player - he has mobility, he scores goals and is brave. I would love to have him in my team at Arsenal. He'd be amazing in the English league." Spain team-mate Cesc Fabregas, June 2008.

Trivia: Villa is a natural right-footer but a childhood accident which left his best leg in a cast allowed his father to encourage the young Villa to work on his left, meaning he is now virtually both-footed.

Profile:
Ramos became the youngest Spain international for 55 years when making his debut in March 2005. Full of energy, quick and always looking to get forward, he has become one of the most highly-rated defenders in world football.

Joining Real from Sevilla for the princely sum of £21 million in 2005, Ramos, then 19, was initially pencilled in as a long-term replacement for club legend Fernando Hierro at centre-back. However, by the 2006-07 season he was already carving out a more regular role at right-back and his youthful enthusiasm could be contained no longer as he ousted Michel Salgado for both club and country.

Ramos was a prominent figure as Real won back-to-back La Liga titles in 2007 and 2008 and, although he courted controversy at times for a perceived lack of professionalism and suffered a dip in form, he cemented his place at the top of the game by sealing the 2010 World Cup with Spain.

Strengths: Ramos boasts real versatility but his finest asset is his impressive stamina and determination to provide an attacking threat from right-back. He complements his robust defending by providing a real threat at set-pieces.

Weaknesses: His admirable endeavour can leave him exposed at times, particularly when his sense of positioning is awry following a foray forward. His temperament has also been questioned after a string of red cards in recent seasons.

Career high: Winning the 2010 World Cup with Spain.

Career low: Being dropped by then Real boss Bernd Schuster in October 2008 after criticising his tactics and expressing his discontent.

Style: Marauding, enterprising, boisterous, a dangerous full-back.

Quotes: "He is so good that I think he will become one of the three best players in the world. No doubt, and he will become a Real legend and keep on scoring decisive goals." Former Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos, 2008.

Trivia: Sergio Ramos has the unique status of being the only Spaniard to have joined Real Madrid during Florentino Perez's first spell as president.

Profile:
Bale made his professional debut for Southampton at the tender age of 16 years and 275 days in a Championship game against Millwall on April 17, 2006. He quickly became one of the hottest prospects in British football and was snapped up for an appearance-related fee of £10 million by Tottenham in May 2007.

The promising left-back enjoyed a superb start to his Spurs career with goals against Fulham, Arsenal and Middlesbrough, but he was unable to get a win while on the pitch and went 24 games for Spurs without a victory. An injured foot ruined his debut campaign and limited him to just 12 appearances in the 2007-08 season.

Injury struck again in 2009 when he required knee surgery but Bale returned to the side in September in an attacking role on the left wing to become a key figure as Tottenham qualified for the Champions League for the first time. He also broke his duck when he came on against Burnley, and picked up his first win as a starter against Fulham shortly afterwards.

The 2010-11 campaign saw Bale shoot to global prominence as he starred on the left-wing for Spurs at home and abroad. In the Champions League, he netted a hat-trick in the San Siro in a 4-3 defeat to Inter, before a man of the match display in a 3-1 win in the return leg. His performances did not go unnoticed and he was voted the PFA Footballer of the Year by his peers. Reported interest from Europe's biggest clubs inevitably followed but Spurs held onto their prized asset and after being named in the Premier League Team of the Season for the second successive year in 2012 he signed a new four-year contract with the club.

Bale is Wales' youngest ever international, playing for them against Trinidad and Tobago at just 16 years and 315 days to break Lewin Nyatanga's three-month old record. And he's also his country's youngest ever scorer, having scored against Slovakia on October 7, 2006 with a trademark free-kick.

Strengths: Excellent going forwards, with a goal-scoring touch. He can deliver a great cross on the run and he is also a free-kick specialist.

Weaknesses: Looks so unschooled in the arts of defending that he now plays predominantly as a left winger.

Career high: Winning the PFA Footballer of the Year award for his performances in the 2010-11 season.

Career low: Being labelled a jinx after 24 games for Spurs without a victory.

Style: Comfortable on the ball, he loves to raid the left flank to provide shots and crosses.

Quotes: "There can't be a better left-sided player anywhere. If he were English he'd be going to the World Cup now, that's for sure. He can play left-back or wide left in midfield, he's six foot and has great a physique. He can run all day, has an unbelievable left foot, has skill and his heading is top-class - he can do everything.'' Former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp.

Trivia: Bale played a record 24 Premier League games for Spurs without winning, eventually breaking that run against Burnley on September 26, 2009.

Profile:
A much-vaunted prodigy when snapped up by Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, Ronaldo is now perhaps, alongside Lionel Messi and David Beckham, the best-known player on the planet.

The FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008 and a winger who plundered an unbelievable 42 goals across all competitions in 2007-08, Ronaldo won all there was to win with the Red Devils and finally earned his dream move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 for a world record fee of £80 million as part of the new era of galacticos at the Bernabeu.

After blossoming under Sir Alex Ferguson at United, he had the chance to come of age at the 2006 World Cup, though one of the memorable images of the tournament was his wink at the bench after Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney was sent off in a game against England. He also came in for fierce criticism for diving, which resulted in him being booed at games and it cost him the Young Player of the Tournament award.

Still, love him or loathe him, it is hard to ignore his talent and his skills are almost beyond comparison in the world game. That said, Ronaldo has wrongs to right after he failed to dazzle at the 2010 World Cup, despite being tipped to be the shining star in South Africa.

He remains, though, prolific as ever for his club Real, the Portuguese earning the Pichichi as La Liga's top scorer in 2010-11, in the same season helping his club to Copa del Rey glory. Indeed, his prolific nature in front of goal did not spot there, as during the 2011-12 season he scored 46 La Liga goals to help fire Real to the Spanish title.

Strengths: Ronaldo will take on any defender with searing pace, and mesmerising footwork to boot. His ability to beat a player and whip in crosses makes him a feared opponent. Add to that the way his free-kicks swerve with pace and power and this winger would be an asset to any team, past and present.

Weaknesses: On occasion, he goes to ground far too easily which attracts the ire of supporters and sometimes tries a trick when a simple pass would do.

Career high: Winning the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, and subsequently being named FIFA's World Player of the Year.

Career low: Losing to Greece in the final of Euro 2004 on home turf. His tears were caught on camera for all to see.

Style: Fast, tricky, strong, a mesmeric dribbler.

Quotes: "I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. He is better than Kaka and better than Messi. He is streets ahead of them all. His contribution as a goal threat is unbelievable. His stats are incredible. Strikes at goal, attempts on goal, raids into the penalty box, headers. It is all there. Absolutely astounding." Sir Alex Ferguson, July 2009.

Trivia: Cristiano's name Ronaldo came from his father's favourite actor, Ronald Reagan.

Profile:
Captain of his country and a hero to millions of Madridistas, Casillas also has a strong claim to the title of the finest goalkeeper of his generation. The Real Madrid icon has won tournaments with his country at Under-15, U-17 and U-19 level, but his crowning glory was lifting the Euro 2008 and World Cup trophies in two stellar years.

Nicknamed San Iker ('Saint Iker') at Real Madrid, Casillas is a rare homegrown talent among a sea of galacticos having joined the club at the age of nine. He made his first-team debut under the current national coach, Vicente del Bosque, in the 1998-99 season and cemented his place the following year when becoming the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a Champions League final when beating Valencia just four days after his 19th birthday. A rare slump in form saw him dropped for the encounter with Bayer Leverkusen two years later but he appeared as a substitute in the second half in Glasgow and won the trophy for Real with a series of superb saves.

Casillas has been an established and respected member of the first XI ever since and has played a major role in Real's extensive success over the past decade - winning almost everything there is to win in the game.

He is Spain's most capped player, breaking the record held by the legendary Andoni Zubizarreta, and it will take some effort from his rivals for his position - the likes of Victor Valdes and Pepe Reina - to wrestle the national jersey off Casillas.

Strengths: As the last line of defence in a team that often pays scant regard to such an art, Casillas gets plenty of practice and frequently demonstrates his impressive reflexes, superb agility and innate ability to pull off a spectacular save. His forceful personality and will to win ensure he is a born leader.

Weaknesses: His aura of invincibility has been slightly dented due to a handful of mistakes and he can be slightly rash when rushing off his line.

Career high: Lifting the World Cup trophy at Soccer City in 2010.

Career low: A humbling experience at the Bernabeu last season when arch rivals Barcelona smashed six past Casillas in May in a game that effectively clinched the league title for the Catalans.

Style: Energetic, extravagant, commanding, a leader from the back.

Quotes: "Iker is the perfect captain. I'd give him ten out of ten for everything he does as a keeper, a captain and in the way he behaves. He sees everything so clearly. The whole squad deserve a ten but Casillas more than anyone. As the captain he's the one I speak to the most. He's a phenomenon." Luis Aragones, June 2008.

Trivia: Casillas is very superstitious and every time Real Madrid score a goal he has to touch his own crossbar.

Profile:
Regarded as one of the deadliest strikers in world football at his peak, Fernando Torres has faced criticism over a lack of form since 2010 but has still managed to add substantially to his silverware collection.

Appropriately for a player nicknamed El Nino ('The Kid'), Torres set tongues wagging from a very early age. After coming through the ranks at Atletico Madrid, he became the club's youngest ever player in May 2001 and was later installed as their youngest ever captain at the age of 19. However, despite his admirable loyalty over a period of six years, Torres was finally lured to Anfield in the summer of 2007 for a fee of around £21.5 million, just weeks after 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was seen inscribed on his captain's armband at Atleti.

Torres adapted seamlessly and scored 33 goals in his first season to surpass the tally set by Ruud van Nistelrooy to become the most prolific foreign debutant in English football. He maintained a hugely-impressive strike rate at Liverpool, but in 2010 suffered a dip in form as he struggled with injuries towards the end of the campaign. He won the World Cup with Spain that summer, but his own performance was hugely disappointing, and he sustained a further injury in the final.

Roy Hodgson replaced Rafa Benitez at Liverpool for the 2010-11 campaign, and Torres failed to perform amid suggestions his heart was no longer with the club, and just before the close of the 2011 January transfer window he requested a transfer.

On January 31, 2011, Torres became the fourth-most expensive player of all time when he moved to Stamford Bridge for £50 million, but he was unable to find any consistent form under Carlo Ancelotti and Andre Villas-Boas, and found himself playing second fiddle to Didier Drogba as the Blues clinched glory in the 2012 FA Cup and Champions League.

Nonetheless, he has shown glimpses of his old self, and he finished Golden Boot winner as Spain won Euro 2012.

Strengths: Torres has an eye for the spectacular and is capable of world-class skill, while he still has much of the pace that he boasted at his peak.

Weaknesses: Regular injuries and a loss of confidence have severely hindered Torres' career, and at times his goal-scoring instinct appears to have deserted him.

Career high: Scoring the winning goal in the Euro 2008 final against Germany as Spain ended their lengthy wait for a trophy on the international stage.

Career low: Torres said he was falling out of love with the game during the 2011-12 season, and his open-goal miss in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester United in September was perhaps the nadir. The effort was recreated by computer game fans on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT5xNOUzcJk

Style: A technically proficient, highly successful striker.

Quotes: "When you talk about the Premier League you talk about a lot of players with quality so it is not easy to pick just one, but he is among the best." Rafael Benitez, September 2009.

Trivia: Torres actually started off as a goalkeeper in his early days but quickly became a formidable striker, being named the best Under-14 player in Europe following his performances at the 1998 Nike Cup.