As defenders, their job is to stop the opponents, but often, they enjoy scoring goals rather than just defending
In football, different roles are offered to different players. Some are good at scoring, while some are good at passing and making the gameplay better. Near the goal post, players are offered the role to defend the opponent from scoring. Their job is to steal the ball from the attacking opponent and clear the goal post area. To do that, they tackle or use skill moves and stop the attack. However, some defenders do not believe in sticking to the task. They believe in giving more to the game and their team. Hence, they score goals often.
In this feature, we have curated a list of defenders who have wooed the audience with several goals.
Ronald Koeman
Currently, the manager of FC Barcelona, Koeman was also a player at Barcelona, Ajax, PSV and a few more clubs. The defender holds the record of most goals scored by a defender in football. His record of 253 goals is likely to stay on top of the list for a long time.
Daniel Passarella
The South American player from Argentina was one of the most prolific defenders of that era. Sharing the world stage with the likes of Diego Maradona, Passarella retired with 175 goals under his belt.
Fernando Hierro
The defender acted as the captain of Real Madrid and Spain during his career. Hierro scored 163 goals throughout his career, but most of his goals came for set pieces. He was considered as one of the brilliant set-piece takers of his generation.
Laurent Blanc
The French national started his career as an attacking midfielder but later on turned into a defender. During his long career, Blanc managed to find the back of the net a record 153 times. For France, the Blanc scored 16 goals out of which one goal was scored against Paraguay in the World Cup 1998.
Graham Alexander
The Scottish player scored no goal for his national team Scotland. However, Alexander was an exceptional scorer defender for his clubs. The player was a part of several clubs such as Burnley, Preston North End, Luton and Scunthorpe. In his career, Graham scored 130 goals, which mostly came from penalties and spot-kicks.
Roberto Carlos
Carlos from Brazil is still considered a legend of the game as he displayed marvellous performances for Real Madrid and Brazil. The defender was a prolific free-kick taker and hence; he scored 113 goals from several free kicks and penalties. Apart from Carlos, Manchester United’s defender Steve Bruce and Bayern’s Paul Breitner had a tally of 113 goals.
