The hard player: Aldair
Born on 30 November 1965 in Ilhéus, Aldair Santos do Nascimento – known simply as Aldair – built his European reputation after starting out at CR Flamengo, where he made 185 appearances and scored 11 goals. Spells at Benfica (33 games, 6 goals) and Genoa (17 games, 1 goal) followed before he arrived at AS Roma, the club he would call home for the best part of a decade. Nicknamed “Pluto”, he became club captain and a member of the Roma Hall of Fame across 458 appearances and 22 goals, crowning it all with a Serie A title in 2001.
For Brazil, Aldair earned 80 caps and scored 3 goals. He was a World Cup winner in 1994 and a runner-up in 1998. After his time in Europe, he extended his career at SS Murata in San Marino, adding another 98 appearances and 12 goals. A central defender whose CV speaks for itself – it’s no surprise that 47% of players managed to name him today.
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PlayThe medium player: Marc Overmars
Born on 29 March 1973 in Emst, Marc Overmars was a left winger who tormented defences for nearly two decades. He came through Go Ahead Eagles before joining Ajax, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 1995, the Intercontinental Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and three Dutch league titles, contributing 44 goals in 182 appearances. A move to Arsenal followed, where he added an English First Division title in 1998, scoring 40 goals in 141 games.
Internationally, Overmars earned 86 caps and scored 17 goals for the Netherlands, featuring in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups – the Dutch finishing fourth on both occasions – and reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. Injury ended his time at Barcelona, though he did return briefly to Go Ahead Eagles for a farewell season. He later became Ajax’s sporting director from 2012 to 2022, but resigned in February 2022 after admitting to sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues. In November 2023 the Dutch federation handed him a two-year ban (one suspended), a sanction extended worldwide by FIFA in January 2024.
The easy player: Marco Reus
Born on 31 May 1989 in Dortmund, Marco Reus never needed to stray far from home to make his mark. After early stints at Rot-Weiss Ahlen and Borussia Mönchengladbach – where he truly announced himself to the Bundesliga – he was named Germany’s best player in 2012, setting the stage for a homecoming.
Back in Dortmund from 2012, Reus became the beating heart of BVB over 429 appearances and 170 goals. He lifted the DFB-Pokal twice and reached two Champions League finals, in 2013 and 2024, but the Bundesliga title stayed out of reach, blocked every time by Bayern Munich. His 48 caps and 15 goals for Germany tell only part of the story – injuries robbed him of the 2014 World Cup (which his country won), Euro 2016, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. He eventually swapped the Ruhr for Los Angeles, ending his career at the Galaxy with 54 appearances and 14 goals.