“HEARD YOU DIDN’T WANT ME IN A LIST OF ICONIC CENTRE-BACKS...”

Franz Beckenbauer and Bobby Moore are two of football’s most iconic centre-backs, but they aren’t alone in personifying the art of stopping teams. FFT salutes the greats, from catenaccio’s king to the modern pass master

DER KAISER FRANZ BECKENBAUER WEST GERMANY

THE LEGACY Beckenbauer was unique as an attacking sweeper. His elegance on the ball for Bayern Munich and West Germany earned him the nickname ‘Der Kaiser’, as he directed his sides’ play with imperial confidence and, like many monarchs, threw the odd tantrum. He even spat at jeering West German fans. As a player, Franz lifted one World Cup, two Ballons d’or and three European Cups, yet one New York Cosmos executive once groused, “Tell the Kraut to get his ass upfront – we don’t pay a guy a million dollars to hang around in defence.” DEFINING MOMENT An indelible image of 1970’s ‘Game of the Century’ – the World Cup semi-final that West Germany lost 4-3 to Italy – is Beckenbauer’s arm in a sling. His team had just made their last substitution when he broke a collarbone and dislocated his shoulder; he strapped his right arm to his chest and battled on for 55 minutes. His first Bayern coach, Cik Cajkovski, had said he was “not a fighter”. AND FINALLY... Diplomatic finesse from Beckenbauer inspired his country’s 1974 World Cup success. In the days before it kicked off, a bonuses row led coach Helmut Schon to tell FIFA he might select a second squad, but then his captain ordered disgruntled players to take the DFB’S improved offer of £10,000 per man.

THE ICON BOBBY MOORE ENGLAND

THE LEGACY “OK, if speed is only a matter of taking yourself physically from A to B, then I’m not fast. But isn’t it important to know earlier than the next man that it’s necessary to go from A to B? Isn’t speed of thought as vital as how fast you can move your legs?” Moore’s words to journalist Hugh Mcilvanney – another sporting giant sadly missed – intimated at the contrast behind one of the game’s greatest central defenders. He mastered the last-ditch tackle, yet rarely needed it because he sensed danger so well, legendary Scottish manager Jock Stein once suggested, “There should be a law against him – he knows what’s happening before everybody else...” DEFINING MOMENT The 25-year-old led through performance as England’s captain in the 1966 World Cup Final, and – contrary to simplistic views of ‘proper’ old-school defenders – he liked the ball at his feet. He made two of Geoff Hurst’s goals: first, he stepped into midfield, won a foul and planted a quick free-kick onto Hurst’s head, then his 120th-minute pass ensured some people were on the pitch, thinking it’s all over. AND FINALLY... The 1966 final exemplified just how easily Moore embraced the big occasion. His West Ham manager, Ron Greenwood, believed, “He should play at Wembley every week.” Now he stands there every day.

BIG BANNED BEN WILLIE WOODBURN SCOTLAND

THE LEGACY Known to team-mates as simply ‘Big Ben’, Rangers and Scotland centre-half Woodburn will – somewhat unfairly – always be remembered as the last British footballer to be banned for life, after headbutting an opponent back in 1954. Ferocious in the tackle, yet creative with the ball, Woodburn won four league titles with Rangers and 24 caps for Scotland. In the days before anger management courses, however, Woodburn’s choleric temper proved his undoing: all four of the defender’s red cards were for violent behaviour, and by strange coincidence the last two, which ended his playing career, both came in Rangers games against Stirling Albion. DEFINING MOMENT Playing with an injured knee during a 1954-55 Scottish League Cup tie against Stirling Albion, Woodburn was so incensed by a tackle from 19-year-old striker Alex Paterson that the Rangers defender gave him the old Glasgow kiss. Having warned him about his antics the previous season, the SFA suspended Woodburn for life, to show their determination to crack down on violent conduct. The ban was eventually lifted three years later in 1957, but by then Woodburn was 37 and too old to resume his Gers career. AND FINALLY... Woodburn was called ‘Big Ben’ by his Rangers team-mates after he kept toasting, “Viva Benfica!” shortly after his side had defeated the Portuguese club 3-0 in Lisbon in 1948.

THE WARRIOR DANIEL PASSARELLA ARGENTINA

THE LEGACY Passarella means ‘son of peace’ in Latin – something Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain has known precious little of. Primarily, he excelled at carrying the ball and moving upfield, which, combined with his rarely missing a penalty, allowed him to score plenty for Argentina (22 goals in 70 matches), River Plate and Fiorentina. In fact, Ronald Koeman (right) is the only defender to eclipse Passarella’s 134 top-flight goals. However, at 5ft 8in he did occasionally exhibit ‘Short man syndrome’, punching Johan Neeskens in the mouth during Argentina’s 1978 World Cup Final win. DEFINING MOMENT With permission from FIFA, Dutch winger Rene van der Kerkhof had worn the same cast on his wrist throughout the 1978 World Cup, only for Passarella to object to it in the moments before the final kicked off. As Italian referee Sergio Gonella vacillated, the Dutch team threatened to walk off. Eventually, Van der Kerkhof’s arm was given an additional layer of padding but the pre-game protest had unsettled the Oranje, just as Passarella had intended. AND FINALLY... Incensed after being replaced as captain by Diego Maradona, Passarella nearly quit Argentina’s 1986 World Cup squad (he was ultimately sidelined anyway by enterocolitis), and the resentment still lingers. In 2014, he made the heretical suggestion – at least for Argentines – that Pele was a more intelligent footballer than Maradona.

THE GOALSCORER RONALD KOEMAN NETHERLANDS

THE LEGACY No defender has scored more goals at the highest level than Koeman. His 193 strikes for club and country included a European Cup final winner for Barcelona in 1992 and one to send the Netherlands to USA 94 at England’s expense (when he probably shouldn’t have been on the pitch). But his goalscoring record can overshadow the fact that, in the early-90s, he was also the best long passer in the world. His annus mirabilis came in ’88, when he lifted the European Cup with PSV and then the European Championship with Holland, scoring a penalty in the semi-final of the latter... before wiping his arse with a West Germany player’s jersey in front of the hosts’ supporters. DEFINING MOMENT His inch-perfect free-kick won Barcelona their first ever European Cup in 1992. With only eight minutes of extra time left at Wembley, Barça were given a debatable free-kick 25 yards from goal. As Koeman made contact with the ball, three onrushing Sampdoria players were just a few yards away, but he smashed a powerful shot through them into the left-hand corner, past Gianluca Pagliuca’s desperate dive. AND FINALLY... As a young defender, Koeman bore a striking resemblance to Tintin, Hergé’s adventurous cartoon hero, and when he dressed as Tintin for a photo shoot, the nickname stuck. He was also known as ‘Snowflake’, after an albino gorilla lookalike in Barcelona zoo.

THE PISS-TAKING LEADER OBDULIO VARELA URUGUAY

THE LEGACY An accomplished central defender and holding midfielder – but more crucially an indomitable leader – blessed with a dry sense of humour and an instinct for fair play, Varela was the driving force behind Uruguay’s 1950 World Cup win. Their stunning triumph was confirmed with a 2-1 victory over Brazil in Rio’s Maracana – the (in)famous Maracanazo – in which he symbolised Uruguay’s resilience, ignoring a swollen ankle to defend shrewdly and inspire his team-mates. His pass started the move that led to Juan Schiaffino’s equaliser, changing the momentum of the game. DEFINING MOMENT On the morning of the de facto World Cup final, Varela bought all of the hotel’s copies of the newspaper O Mundo, which hubristically hailed Brazil as new world champions, then laid them on his bathroom floor and ordered his team-mates to urinate on them. Some Uruguayan officials felt a 4-0 defeat with no red cards would be a decent result for La Celeste, yet as the players ran onto the pitch, below some 200,000 bellowing Selecao supporters, Varela told his team-mates, “Don’t look up in the air. The match is played on the ground, where we are 11 against 11.” AND FINALLY... Defying orders to stay in the hotel and out of harm’s way after the astonishing victory, Varela slipped out with physiotherapist Matucho Figoli and spent the night drinking beers with downcast Brazil fans in the bars of Rio.

THE UNION MAN CHARLIE ROBERTS ENGLAND

THE LEGACY Who was the first ever regista? Darlington-born Charlie Roberts, who won two First Division titles and the FA Cup between 1908 and 1911 as a centre-half for Manchester United, has a better claim than most. It was not Roberts’ undoubted defensive prowess that impressed a young Italian by the name of Vittorio Pozzo, who was studying wool manufacture in northern England at the time, but his composure in possession and ability to spray passes to the flanks. The Red Devils star discussed tactics openly with Pozzo, and when the Torinese later led the Azzurri to 1934 World Cup glory on home soil, playing a W-W (2-3-2-3) formation, Luis Monti – a naturalised Argentine – played as a Roberts-style regista. DEFINING MOMENT In December 1907, Roberts helped to found the Players’ Union with Billy Meredith, his Man United team-mate. Before the beginning of the 1909-10 season, the FA banned all players who had joined the union but United’s players, led by the naturally rebellious Roberts, stood firm. Though the suspension was lifted, the Red Devils’ centre-half with three England caps never represented his country again. AND FINALLY... Following a brief managerial career with Oldham, Roberts became a tobacconist and launched the Ducrobel cigar, named in honour of United’s fabled back three: Dick Duckworth, Roberts and Alex Bell.

IL CAPITANO FRANCO BARESI ITALY

THE LEGACY A man of very few words, he nonetheless gave the best summary of his gifts: “I was pretty fast, but above all I was fast in my head.” Milan made Baresi their captain and built the team around him at just 22. Excelling first as a libero under coach Nils Liedholm, he adapted brilliantly to a more traditional defensive role under Arrigo Sacchi, and in 1987-88 the Rossoneri conceded just 14 goals as they won Serie A. Il Capitano was indispensable for club and country, winning three European Cups, six Serie A titles and 81 caps (he also featured in Italy’s 1982 World Cup-winning squad, but didn’t make his international debut until December that year). Astonishingly, calcio’s definitive central defender was turned down by Milan’s rivals Inter when he was 14 because he was too small... DEFINING MOMENT Baresi opted for knee surgery after tearing his meniscus in Italy’s second match at USA 94. Most 34-year-olds would have accepted their World Cup was over but, 24 days later, the captain was leading by example in the final, anticipating and neutralising Brazil’s attacks for 120 minutes. His one mistake was to change his mind in the shootout, his effort soaring over the bar. AND FINALLY... Baresi wore his shirt untucked in the 1994 World Cup Final in tribute to Ruud Krol. In a 2009 interview with FFT, he hailed the Dutch stopper as an “elegant, considered defender who liked to play football as well as defend.”

THE WOLF MAN TRIFON IVANOV BULGARIA

THE LEGACY For football supporters of a certain age, Ivanov is remembered primarily – even entirely – for looking absolutely terrifying at USA 94, with his haunted eyes, sunken cheeks, straggly mullet and fearsome beard more than justifying his nickname: ‘Wolf Man’. But he was also an excellent defender, and crucial in Bulgaria’s unlikely run to the semi-finals of that World Cup. It was his strike against Russia, too, that sent the Lions to France 98. When Ivanov died from a heart attack in 2016, aged 50, he was mourned as one of his country’s greatest, if less fashionable, footballers. DEFINING MOMENT In 1994, Bulgaria had already shut out the Argentina of Gabriel Batistuta, Abel Balbo and Ariel Ortega before knocking out the might of Germany in the quarter-finals. Ivanov’s performance was, and remains, curious to watch for its hypnotic simplicity. The favourites tried to play through the lines but Ivanov repeatedly repelled them by springing forward to launch himself at a German long ball or intercept a pass from deep – before promptly retreating onto Rudi Voller’s toes – or, if he’d won possession, driving forward quickly with menace. He also denied Andreas Moller a goal at Giants Stadium by stepping in front of the hardest-hit shot in football history and blocking it with his genitals. AND FINALLY... Head to Youtube and watch his 1994 volley at Cardiff Arms Park. We’d all celebrate the same way.

THE THROW-IN King DAVE CHALLINOR ENGLAND

THE LEGACY Putting aside the nutters who loaf about in goal, most footballers are best remembered for what they do with their lower limbs. Not so, Challinor. The centre-back’s long throws proved a key component of set-piece armoury, pinning the opposition back into their goalmouths like terror-struck medieval serfs inside a blazing sacked church. DEFINING MOMENT The Tranmere defender was renowned for his piercing long throws during the late-90s as the second-tier Merseysiders embarked on lengthy cup runs under John Aldridge – imagine Rory Delap to a Lightning Seeds soundtrack. It was a somewhat reductive stereotype: the Chester-born defender was no mean footballer and Rovers had other weaponry too, from the midfield guile of Kenny Irons and wing wizardry of Johnny Morrissey to the narky nous of Aldo himself up top. But sometimes we play up to labels, so his coronation as Lord Longthrow came in a ’98 Guinness Book Of Records test at Prenton Park, where he set a world record of 152 feet (more than 50 yards). AND FINALLY... After Challinor moved on to Stockport in 2002, a poorly-judged tackle on Martin Pringle left the on-loan Grimsby striker with a double leg break. Although the referee deemed the foul worthy of just a booking, Challinor was fined two weeks’ wages by his manager, the renowned aesthete Carlton Palmer, who called the challenge “horrendous”.

THE MAN-MARKER CLAUDIO GENTILE ITALY

THE LEGACY In Gentile’s 11-year career with Juventus, the Old Lady conceded only 21 goals per season and secured six Scudetti. Those two facts are linked. However, Gentile’s real legacy, much as it irks him, is one of violent destruction. DEFINING MOMENT Featuring Messrs Maradona, Platini, Socrates and Zico, Spain 82 was supposed to be the World Cup of beautiful football. Gentile didn’t agree. His tormenting of a 21-year-old Diego Maradona – kicks, trips, elbows and scratching – has entered football folklore. With today’s referees totting up transgressions and watching out for a player receiving the rough stuff from opponents taking it in turns, it seems literally impossible that Gentile could foul El Pibe 23 times in a single match. How did he even get to half-time, after making 11 fouls in the first 45 minutes? Amazingly, Gentile was never sent off in international football, nor in Serie A, although he did receive one red card in a European Cup game at Club Brugge – for a deliberate handball. In a way, it arguably does Gentile a disservice to reduce him to one match in which he should have been dismissed. But he wasn’t, and Italy beat Argentina, then won the World Cup: (hatchet) job done. AND FINALLY... Gentile was nicknamed ‘Gaddafi’ by his Italy team-mates, and not just because he was born in Libya. He hated the sobriquet, always insisting that he was hard but fair. If you say so...

THE GENTLE GIANT JOHN CHARLES WALES

THE LEGACY “As the ball hit the net, I was still heading his chest.” Blackpool and England full-back Jimmy Armfield partly explained why 6ft 2in, 14-stone Charles was so good at centre-forward and centre-back. He wasn’t just a force in the air, though; ‘Big John’ could pass and shoot with either foot and, in Jack Charlton’s view, read the game as well as Bobby Moore. Charles made his name at Leeds during the ’50s before joining Juventus for £65,000 – a British record – and top-scoring in his opening Serie A season, leading the Old Lady to the title. Yet Bobby Robson, who called Charles “one of the greatest footballers who ever lived”, also said, “His best position was centre-half – he was impassable.” DEFINING MOMENT One Turin derby cemented his legend as Il Gigante Buono (The Gentle Giant). Having won the ball near Torino’s goal, Charles looked back, realised he’d just injured his opponent, and deliberately kicked the ball out of play. Thankful Torino fans serenaded the Welshman outside his villa that night. AND FINALLY... Representing Wales at the 1958 World Cup – alongside Mel, his younger brother – should have been a career highlight for the Swansea-born Charles, but Juventus released him so late that he arrived half-fit and after the rest of the side. He was then kicked out of the tournament by Hungary, injury forcing him to miss Wales’ 1-0 defeat to a Pele-powered Brazil in the last eight.

BOBBY ROBSON CALLED JOHN CHARLES ONE OF THE GREATEST FOOTBALLERS EVER – AND SAID HIS BEST POSITION WAS CENTRE-HALF

THE BALLON D’OR WINNER FABIO CANNAVARO ITALY

THE LEGACY Here’s the complete list of defenders who’ve won the Ballon d’or in its 63-year history. Franz Beckenbauer. Matthias Sammer. Fabio Cannavaro. List ends. Critics claim Cannavaro shouldn’t have beaten Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho to the 2006 prize, but he’d earned a move to Real Madrid by winning Serie A with Juventus (their subsequent Calciopoli relegation didn’t consider the 2005-06 season) and the World Cup final on his 100th Italy cap. At 33, he was also the oldest Ballon d’or recipient since keeper Lev Yashin in ’63. DEFINING MOMENT Champions Italy conceded just twice in seven matches: an own goal during the group stage and Zidane’s penalty in the final. Cannavaro led with some all-action performances – a phrase rarely associated with good centre-back play, but necessary in 2006 when Italy deployed unusually attacking full-backs (compare Fabio Grosso and Gianluca Zambrotta’s games with those of the pairing in 1998, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta). Fabio’s speed and anticipation gave them cover. He was sublime in the semi-final against Germany, and even created Alessandro Del Piero’s breakaway goal at the end. AND FINALLY... At 5ft 9in, Cannavaro was no colossus. But he leapt like a flea on steroids, boinging up for headers he had no right to win, instigating that goal against the hosts. Watching him jump about like Super Mario is surreal today.

AT ONLY 5FT 9IN, CANNAVARO WOULD LEAP LIKE A FLEA ON STEROIDS, SPRINGING UP TO WIN HEADERS THAT HE HAD NO RIGHT TO WIN

THE WIND-UP MERCHANT MARCO MATERAZZI ITALY THE LEGACY A fantastic, trophy-laden career included a treble in 2009-10, but thanks to his World Cup final sledging, three sendings-off in an Everton season and a decade of shin-kicking for Inter, the Italian centre-back is best known for red cards – though not always his own... DEFINING MOMENT Oh, it’s difficult to say. Despite scoring in a World Cup final (an accomplishment only five defenders have matched) and scoring his penalty as the Azzurri won the shootout against France, Materazzi’s defining moment is probably being headbutted in that 2006 finale by Zinedine Zidane. Marco wasn’t blameless, having insulted Zizou’s sister, and a 2016 France Football poll named ‘Matrix’ the most hated footballer in the country. The next four were all French. AND FINALLY... Although that moment in Berlin crowned Marco as the official wind-up merchant’s wind-up merchant, his credentials were long established. In 2000, Materazzi’s Perugia beat Juventus on the final day to deny them the title, and he gatecrashed their dressing room to let them know. So, when Materazzi’s Inter lost on the final day in 2002 to gift Juventus the title, Juve’s Antonio Conte dedicated it to him. Materazzi quipped that Conte should use his championship bonus to buy himself a new wig; Conte hit back with, “Nobody wears wigs any more – you can have a hair transplant, but unfortunately you can’t have a brain transplant.” Get a room, the pair of you. THE HATCHET MAN ANDONI GOIKOETXEA SPAIN THE LEGACY While often derided as an ‘ambassador of anti-football’, Athletic Bilbao’s ruthless centre-back could play a bit – he won 39 caps for Spain – but, schooled in Bilbao by uncompromising coach Javier Clemente, preferred not to. Goikoetxea’s weapon of choice was the tackle from behind, one of which nearly brought Diego Maradona’s career to an abrupt and early end at the age of 22, but he could improvise if necessary. He once ruptured Bernd Schuster’s cruciate ligament with a kick to the knee. Goiko’s brand of brutality worked for a while, as Athletic won La Liga in 1982-83 and the league and cup double a year later, but it also earned him everlasting infamy. DEFINING MOMENT At Camp Nou on September 24, 1983, Goikoetxea broke Maradona’s ankle so badly that coach Cesar Luis Menotti heard the bone crack from his position on Barcelona’s bench. English journalist Edward Owen labelled the centre-half ‘The Butcher of Bilbao’; because Basques usually described their Spanish oppressors as ‘butchers’, this moniker was the ultimate insult. At first, the 27-year-old received only a yellow card and a severe talking-to from the referee, but he was eventually banned for six games by the Spanish federation. AND FINALLY... Goikoetxea featured in the last Athletic side to lift some proper silverware. Since that double in ’83-84, their sole triumph has been the 2015 Spanish Super Cup, beating Barcelona. THE LEG-BITER NORMAN HUNTER ENGLAND THE LEGACY Chelsea’s Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris and Liverpool’s Tommy ‘Not born but quarried’ Smith each have a claim, but if one player had to represent all of those tough-tackling English defenders during the 1960s and ’70s, it’s Leeds’ legend/antihero Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter. He wasn’t just a strong tackler, of course: Hunter could read the game superbly and had a great understanding with defensive partner Jack Charlton. He was even the first ever PFA Players’ Player of the Year, in 1973-74; only four defenders have won that in the 44 years since. But Hunter did know how to send an opponent flying into the back of the stands with a tackle either fair or foul. One ‘challenge’ on Everton’s midfielder Howard Kendall was so late, Hunter has only recently finished his follow-through. “There were,” he once reflected, “two or three incidents where I’ve looked back and thought, ‘God almighty, I haven’t done that, have I?’” You have, Norman. DEFINING MOMENT That depends on where you stand. He’s defined either by his unerringly good defensive displays under Don Revie or by the Tyson-worthy right hook he landed on Derby’s Franny Lee in 1975. Fisticuffs followed, as did a fine and lengthy suspension for Lee – but nothing for Hunter, the initiator... AND FINALLY... The nickname came from a Leeds fan’s banner at the 1968 League Cup Final proclaiming, ‘Norman bites yer legs’. Sadly, it was never literal. THE RECORD BREAKER CHRISTIE PEARCE USA THE LEGACY The USA produced such iconic female footballers as Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Joy Fawcett, the latter making history by returning to the top of international football after becoming a mother (a mother of three, no less). So it’s no surprise that the most-capped defender of all time hails from America. Christie Pearce – AKA Christie Rampone for the majority of her career, before her divorce in 2017 – suffered an ACL injury, contracted Lyme disease and took time out to have two children, yet she still made 311 appearances for the USWNT, which in a film would be dismissed as an example of unrealistic hack writing. DEFINING MOMENT When she played in the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final, Pearce had recently celebrated her 40th birthday. It was the conclusion of her fifth World Cup to go with four Olympic Games; the USA triumphed in five of those nine tournaments and finished second or third in all of the rest. London 2012 was perhaps her finest moment: as captain, she played all 570 minutes of the competition, rallied the team to win their semi-final against Canada in extra time after trailing three times, and sprinted back to block a shot on the line as the USA beat Japan 2-1 in the final. AND FINALLY... She really must have a fondness for appallingly-named clubs. Why else would the centre-back have turned out for Buffallo Ffillies [sic], New Jersey Lady Stallions and magicjack?

THE BAD EGG BRIAN KILCLINE ENGLAND

THE LEGACY For a lot of football fans in the 1980s and ’90s, Kilcline was the big man at the back you’d definitely want on your side in a pub car park rumpus. DEFINING MOMENT Even though the ‘extra from Braveheart’ look came late on in the Nottingham-born defender’s career – he’d previously won two caps for England Under-21s – Kilcline had epitomised untamed manliness in the pre-premier League age of humbler men playing a much simpler game. Dubbed ‘Killer’ by his adoring and slightly fearful fans, the 6ft 4in centre-back wore long, shaggy hair and a blond moustache, giving the impression of a Blackadder lover cosplaying as Lord Flashheart, at least until Killer embellished his ’tache with some handlebars and a chin strip. In truth, he was more deterrent than deathly, although Gary Mabbutt might not agree following a challenge in the 1987 FA Cup Final which made referee Neil Midgley ask, “What the effing hell was that?” Coventry beat Spurs 3-2 in extra time and captain Kilcline, injured by his own tackle, managed to limp up Wembley’s steps to collect the cup. Off the pitch he was unorthodox – living on a narrowboat – but on it he was a leader of men. Kevin Keegan called him “the best signing I ever made for Newcastle”. AND FINALLY... Kilcline once received a yellow card because, according to the referee’s official report, he “went up to the linesman and called him an egg”.

THE PASS MASTER GERARD PIQUE SPAIN

THE LEGACY Pique is the very model of a modern major generalissimo: in other words, the ball-caressing centre-back. DEFINING MOMENT It’s strange now to think that Pique’s return to Barcelona in 2008 was seen as a retreat. He had spent four years at Manchester United, the freshly crowned kings of Europe, but couldn’t dislodge Alex Ferguson’s final great defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic and headed back to his hometown under experimental new coach Pep Guardiola. Pique had started out in the Catalans’ youth squadrons as a defensive midfielder and was never a mere stopper, setting the tempo with his assured distribution and contribution all over the pitch. An early but evocative example came in May 2009’s Clasico at the Bernabeu. Thundering forward from defence into the centre circle, Pique fed Lionel Messi and kept going, eventually converting a Samuel Eto’o cross at the back stick to make the final score 6-2 at the home of their rivals. Barça were on their way to a first treble (which they’d complete against his old Manchester United mates in Rome), and Pique was quickly en route to Catalan immortality. AND FINALLY... Shakira – precisely 10 years his elder, and now the mother of his two kids – detailed her desire for him in her song Me Enamoré (I Fell In Love), which goes: “I thought, ‘He’s still a boy, but what am I to do?... What a perfect mouth; I like that little beard.” Er, quite.

THE DOOR BOLT ARMANDO PICCHI ITALY

THE LEGACY As club captain and chief marshal of the defence on which their catenaccio (‘door bolt’) system was built, Picchi was fundamental to the fabled Inter team that won three Scudetti, two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups between 1963 and ’66. Just don’t mention the Lisbon Lions. Nerazzurri boss Helenio Herrera turned Picchi from a right-back into a libero, albeit a libero whose liberation was mainly restricted to patrolling the breadth of his backline (a grand total of one goal in more than 200 Serie A appearances acts as a clue). With the former Livorno man effortlessly mopping up loose balls and outmuscling attackers despite his 5ft 7in frame, the San Siro side won successive European Cups, conceding 10 goals in 16 games. DEFINING MOMENT Picchi’s direction almost rendered Herrera redundant – at least, Picchi thought so. In one match, the coach called over a player and told him to give Picchi instructions; when he asked his messenger what Picchi had said, he was informed, sheepishly, “Up yours and up yours to Herrera as well.” AND FINALLY... Seven major trophies in four years didn’t earn Picchi a place in Italy’s squad for the 1966 World Cup, as coach Edmondo Fabbri deemed him too defensive. Italy lost to North Korea and the Soviet Union – separate teams – and were pelted with rotten tomatoes at Genoa airport on their return home. Picchi would have intercepted the fruit.

THE ‘BORING’ PIONEER HERBIE ROBERTS ENGLAND

THE LEGACY A gunsmith’s apprentice and a part-time right-half for Oswestry Town, Roberts became the stopper in the W-M formation perfected by Herbert Chapman’s all-powerful Arsenal side in the ’30s. Hitherto, English centre-halves had been afforded the licence to defend and attack, but Roberts just defended – diligently and brilliantly. The Gunners’ trainer, Tom Whittaker, said, “Roberts’ genius was that he was intelligent and, more than that, did as he was told.” He played 335 times for Arsenal, winning four top-flight titles, and later became a defensive role model as teams began switching from 2-3-5 setups to 2-3-3-2. DEFINING MOMENT The legend behind ‘boring boring Arsenal’ originates with Roberts, a full 60 years before George Graham made 1-0 successes a routine as the north Londoners’ gaffer. Roberts’ success at breaking up the opposition’s attacks led to accusations of negative play. When Chapman’s Arsenal claimed their first league title in 1931, rival fans took to calling Roberts ‘the policeman’. AND FINALLY... He was among three Arsenal defenders – the others being Eddie Hapgood and Jack Crayston – to be knocked out by Gunners goalkeeper Frank Boulton in their 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on April 5, 1937. The gloveman punched the ball – and hit Roberts in the groin. The centre-half limped off the Highbury pitch and spent a night in hospital under observation.

THE PANTOMIME VILLAIN PEPE PORTUGAL

THE LEGACY He’s the 21st-century revival of the centre-back as nark and no-gooder. DEFINING MOMENT The Ordem do Merito (Order of Merit) is a Portuguese honorific title given to those whose actions reveal self-sacrifice in service of the community. You can see why one’s been given to Kepler Laveran de Lima Ferreira, or Pepe to his friends and enemies, although the latter group might suggest the title be changed to Casa do Merda. The richly-decorated centre-back has won five league titles, seven domestic cups, three Champions Leagues, three intercontinental titles and Euro 2016 via a sworn dedication to the ancient defensive art of s**thousery. There have been some major incidents – storming into a referee’s dressing room to call him a “rip-off motherf***er”, for instance, or a 10-match ban for 2009’s assault on Getafe’s Javier Casquero (two kicks, one to the lower back, plus a few stamps and a swing at Juan Angel Albin’s face for good measure) – but Pepe’s throwback genius is the constant needling of opponents and exaggerated reaction when they retaliate, all so his team can prosper. If football is a pantomime, then Pepe is the arch villain we love to boo. AND FINALLY... A Google search of ‘Pepe s**thouse’ generates over 17,000 results.