Leandro

Leandro A magnificent Brazilian right-back, Leandro may well be the strongest pure full-back in the database, regardless of overall rating and all the little numerical politics that come with it. He had everything the role demands in its strictest sense: defensive timing, recovery speed, technical class, positional intelligence, crossing quality and the calm authority to play under pressure without turning the flank into a circus. With Flamengo and Brazil, he looked like a defender trained by midfielders, elegant on the ball but never decorative for the sake of it. He could overlap, combine, defend one-on-one and read transitions with rare natural balance. Less globally mythologised than some attacking full-backs, perhaps, but in terms of complete interpretation of the position, Leandro was close to perfection