The tough-as-teak centre-back has made a name for himself as an astute defender for Premier League club Liverpool and as captain of the Slovakian national team.

Skrtel, who turns 31 today, previously played for Trencin and Zenit St. Petersburg, joined Liverpool for £6.5 million (Dh36m) in January 2008.

There he steadily established himself in the Reds set up and on April 10, 2012, Skrtel captained Liverpool for the first time in the league, leading his club to a 3–2 win over Blackburn.

He has won the Russian Premier League and the English League Cup, as well as being named Slovak Footballer of the Year four times.

Since making his international debut for Slovakia in 2004, Skrtel has earned over 75 caps and represented the country at the 2010 World Cup and will be part of the side for the forthcoming European Championships.

1951: Joe Jordan, Scottish former striker and manager who played for Manchester United (64).

1966: Carl Hooper, former West Indies captain who scored 20 international centuries (49).

1981: Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia and Kuban Krasnodar striker, formerly of Tottenham (34).

1983: Delon Armitage, Toulon’s ex-England full-back. A twotime European Cup winner (32).