Rivaldo

Rivaldo grew up poor in Recife's favelas, and coaches at Paulistano, where he turned professional, thought him too frail to make it. He became a tall, bow-legged, predominantly left-footed attacker who could play on the left wing, as a second striker or as the central number 10 he preferred. For a man of his height he was remarkably agile, he had the balance and close control to beat defenders with feints, and his wiry frame let him bounce off challenges. In 1999 he was voted FIFA World Player of the Year and also took the Ballon d'Or. Bobby Robson talked Barcelona into signing him from Deportivo in 1997, picking him ahead of Steve McManaman on the promise of goals. Louis van Gaal mostly used him on the left, cutting inside to shoot or set up team-mates. He was never a pure striker, yet he scored 130 goals in five seasons and led La Liga in assists in 2000–01. He also fell out with Van Gaal, wanting the central playmaking role instead of the wing. His best-remembered night came in June 2001. Barcelona met Valencia in a decisive final game with a Champions League place at stake, and Rivaldo scored all three in a 3–2 win. The first was a curling free kick into the bottom corner. For the second he sent a defender the wrong way with a feint and struck from 25 yards with barely any back-lift. The winner, in the 89th minute, came after he killed a ball on his chest at the edge of the box and launched himself into a bicycle kick. For Brazil he was top scorer and player of the tournament at the 1999 Copa América, then formed the "three R's" with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho at the 2002 World Cup. He scored in each of their first five matches. In the final against Germany he had a hand in both of Ronaldo's goals, first with a shot Oliver Kahn saved, leaving Ronaldo to score the rebound, and then with a dummy that let the ball run through to his team-mate. Luiz Felipe Scolari called him the tournament's best player. There was an ugly moment too: against Turkey he fell clutching his face after a ball hit his thigh, and FIFA later fined him. The obvious gap was his right foot, the one thing even an admirer said he lacked; the left did everything, from subtle touches to thunderous strikes from distance. The Guardian's John Carlin praised his mix of "artistry and efficiency", while Ruud Gullit felt he was overlooked because he shared an era with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. His one season at Milan was a let-down despite a Champions League medal, earning him the Bidone d'Oro in 2003. He kept going anyway, scoring a deft free kick for Olympiacos at Liverpool, right in front of the Kop, and playing on until 2015.