CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SQUAD NAMED

The squad list for the group stage of this season's Champions League has been announced.
Clubs are allowed to submit an A List and a B List, both equally eligible for selection for games. Regulations mean the A List consists of the majority of the first team squad while young players who have been at Chelsea for a period of time make up List B.
The squad lists are:
A List
Petr Cech
Branislav Ivanovic
Ashley Cole
Michael Essien
Ricardo Carvalho
Frank Lampard
Joe Cole
Didier Drogba
John Mikel Obi
Michael Ballack
Florent Malouda
José Bosingwa
Yury Zhirkov
Deco
Salomon Kalou
Ross Turnbull
Daniel Sturridge
John Terry
Alex
Juliano Belletti
Nicolas Anelka
Henrique Hilario
Sam Hutchinson
B List
Rhys Taylor
Jeffrey Bruma
Gaël Kakuta
No club may have more than 25 players on List A during the season. Eight places on List A are reserved for 'locally trained players'.
A 'locally trained player' is either a 'club-trained player' or an 'association-trained player' and no club may have more than four 'association-trained players' listed among the eight.
A 'club-trained player' is a player who, between the age of 15 and 21, and irrespective of his nationality and age, has been registered with his current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months.
In the case of Chelsea, an 'association-trained player' is a player who, between the age of 15 and 21 and irrespective of his nationality and age, has been registered with another club affiliated to the FA for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months.
These regulations mean Chelsea's A List will contain 23 players for this season's group stage.
A player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 1988 and has been eligible to play for Chelsea for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday.
Following the submission of these lists, a club may register up to three new eligible players for the remaining matches, such registration completed by 1 February.

History of Soccer

Soccer is the most popular game in the world and millions of people watch the game and enjoy it but they are completely oblivious when it comes to knowing the history of the game. Nobody knows the exact date when the game was played but centuries ago around 1000BC, the Japanese are thought to have played a similar type of game. The Greeks and the Chinese are also thought to have played a similar game to soccer.

In the 1300s, during the reign of King Edward, anyone caught playing soccer was put behind bars as it was thought unsafe and a public bother. The ban was lifted in 1681 and soccer earned was allowed to play in England and in the 1800s, the game became so famous that they had soccer competitions once a year. After that major leagues started forming across the globe and soccer turned into a spectator sport. Soccer made its first appearance in Olympics in the Summer Olympic Games in 1900 where an English club team emerged winners.

Nowadays, the championships are played by national teams rather than clubs and this is one factor which has boosted the number of soccer fans as they cheered on their country. Today, soccer is mostly watched on television and millions of dollars have been spent on the game. The most popular leagues are the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy and Bundas Liga in Germany. Soccer players have become superstars and are among the highest paid sportsman in the world.