The hard player: Frédéric Kanouté
Born on 2 September 1977 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France, Frédéric Kanouté came through the ranks at Olympique Lyonnais (58 matches, 12 goals) before making the move to England. He went on to play for West Ham United (92 matches, 33 goals) and Tottenham Hotspur (73 matches, 21 goals) before joining Sevilla FC in 2005 – the club where he would truly write his legacy.
At Sevilla, he made 290 appearances and scored 136 goals across seven seasons, winning two UEFA Cups (2006 and 2007), a European Super Cup, and two Copa del Rey titles. In 2008, Spanish newspaper As named him the greatest foreign player in Sevilla’s history, ahead of Davor Šuker. On an individual level, he was awarded the 2007 African Ballon d’Or, becoming the first player born outside the African continent to receive the honour. Initially capped by the French Under-20s, he chose to represent Mali in 2004 and went on to score 23 goals in 39 international appearances, making him the all-time leading scorer for the Malian national team.
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PlayThe medium player: Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo was born on 5 July 1975 in Florida, Argentina. A ruthless centre-forward, he operated at the highest level between 1993 and 2012. His record of 152 goals in 337 Serie A matches and 20 goals in 49 Premier League appearances speaks for itself – pure, clinical finishing. His stints at Parma AC (151 matches, 80 goals) and Lazio Rome (73 matches, 48 goals) made him one of the most prolific strikers Italian football has ever seen.
He also turned out for River Plate (82 matches, 36 goals), Inter Milan (86 matches, 29 goals) and Chelsea FC (73 matches, 25 goals), and netted 4 World Cup goals for Argentina. In 2004, Pelé and FIFA included him in their list of the 125 best living players in the world. After hanging up his boots, Crespo moved into management and claimed his first trophy by winning the 2020 Copa Sudamericana with Defensa y Justicia.
The easy player: Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho, was born on 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. A left winger who could turn a game on its head with a single dribble, he made his mark in Europe with his extraordinary ball control, outrageous dribbling skills, and deadly free-kick technique – qualities that earned him a spot in the FIFA 100 and back-to-back FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2004 and 2005, topped off by the 2005 Ballon d’Or.
At FC Barcelona, he played 207 matches and scored 94 goals, capping the 2006 season with a treble: La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, and the Champions League. On the international stage, he was part of Brazil’s attacking trio alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo as they lifted the 2002 World Cup, finishing his international career with 33 goals in 97 caps. In 2013, he added a Copa Libertadores title with Atlético Mineiro to complete a truly unique honours list. He officially retired on 16 January 2018.