Qantas Socceroos

After serving his apprenticeship for over seven seasons with Millwall in the English lower divisions, he earned his dream contract of playing in the English Premier League when Blackburn came in for him in 2001. Since then he has never looked back, being an automatic selection for Blackburn and more recently for the Qantas Socceroos.

He is very strong in the tackle, good in the air and links well in attack. His best attribute is his versatility across the backline, which he proved in the matches against Uruguay that got Australia to the 2006 World Cup. At the World Cup he formed a terrific partnership with Craig Moore and led the backline superbly with assured displays.

Unfortunately these performances will be overshadowed by the disappointment in conceding the controversial penalty that led to Italy's last minute winner in the second round. He showed his terrific character in the aftermath to that incident, with calling for him to be annointed the next captain of the Qantas Socceroos.

Neill had a frustrating tournament at the 2007 Asian Cup finals, earning a red card against Iraq. Left Blackburn Rovers for a big money move to West Ham United, where he was captain. Was chosen by Pim Verbeek to lead the Qantas Socceroos during the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign and proved an inspirational choice in guiding the team around the park to successfully qualifying for the 2010 finals.

Moved to Everton during the 2009/10 EPL season before a quick switch to join Australian team-mate Harry Kewell at Galatasaray.