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Defenders are very underrated on the football field because the art of defending is not as flashy as the art of goalscoring; as a result, defenders often do not get the recognition which they deserve. It has often been said that a core back four is as important for a victory as a strong front three - after all, not conceding a goal in a match is guaranteed to give you at least a positive result.
Apart from saving their team from the blushes in front of their own goal, many defenders throughout history have also been major offensive threats. Be it from set-pieces, taking penalty kicks, or scoring a world-class goal from outside the box, a few defenders stand out at both the defensive and the offensive end of the field. In the modern game, names such as Sergio Ramos and John Terry come to mind.
Ramos recently scored his 110th goal in his career, which is mind-boggling for a centre back. However, the Spaniard still does not make the top 5 list of all time in terms of defenders with most goals.
Here, we take a look at the five highest-scoring defenders in the history of the game:
#5 Graham Alexander - 130 goals
Currently the manager of League Two side Salford City, Graham Alexander is a former Scottish international who played as a right-back for many clubs in his career. Some of the clubs he represented include Scunthorpe United, Luton Town, Preston North End and Burnley.
Having over 40 caps for his country too, Alexander never netted for his national team but scored an astonishing 130 times during his club career.
Alexander was on duty from the penalty spot for most of his career, and he was a deadly finisher from 12 yards who made sure that when he kicked the football, it ended up at the back of the net more often than not.
Most of his goals came from such situations, but he also had a good eye for goal from his right-back position, often popping up in the box at crucial situations and finishing with ease. It remains to be seen whether Ramos can overtake the record held by the former Burnley player.
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#4 Laurent Blanc - 153 goals
Laurent Blanc is still a famous name in the footballing world today. Nicknamed "Le President" by the fans during his stint at Marseille as a player, Blanc was one of the best defenders of his generation. Most recently, he was the manager for Paris Saint-Germain, and he has managed the French national team too.
A major offensive threat, Blanc scored 153 goals in his career - he holds the unique distinction of being the first player to score a golden goal in World Cup history. Blanc started his career as an attacking midfielder before dropping back to play as a sweeper.
With many of his goals coming from set-pieces, Blanc still holds the record for being the all-time top scorer at Montpellier, the club he made his debut with. In eight years, he scored 80 goals for the club.
He has also netted 16 goals for France and remains one of the greatest ever at scoring as a defender.
#3 Fernando Hierro - 163
Fernando Hierro spent over 14 years with Real Madrid, wherein he spent many years as the club's captain and won five league titles and three Champions League crowns. A very adept defender who was part of one of Europe's most organised defences at the time, Hierro was a goal-scoring threat from the back who would often play as a sweeper.
Captaining both the Spanish national team and Real Madrid, Hierro took penalties and free-kicks for both the teams, which added to his goal tally. Aside from that, he was a major aerial threat - some would even say that Sergio Ramos during set-pieces reminds one of the great Hierro before him. Of course, to catch up to this Madrid captain, Ramos would have to score 53 more goals.
Having also scored the solitary goal in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers, Hierro is an all-time great of the game.
#2 Daniel Passarella - 175 goals
The argument between the greatest defender to come from South America cannot be had without the mention of Daniel Passarella. Although the great continent has produced some of the best defenders of all time (Javier Zanetti, Cafu, Roberto Carlos), none of them came close to matching the astounding goalscoring ability of this man.
The former Argentine international stood at a mere 5'8", but that did not deter him from being one of the best ever. Aside from being a strong and physical presence at the back, Passarella often played as a sweeper who was a major goal threat from both set-pieces, and in open play.
Playing alongside the great Diego Maradona for his country, he scored 22 goals in 70 games for his national team. He was the captain of the Argentina team which won the World Cup in 1978 and was part of the squad which recaptured the title 8 years later.
Truly a phenomenon on both ends of the pitch, Passarella is a legend of the game.
#1 Ronald Koeman - 253 goals
Ronald Koeman's goal-scoring statistics truly boggle the mind - forget defenders, strikers and attacking midfielders would kill to have scored the number of goals that this former Dutch international did.
Netting an astonishing 253 goals in his days a sweeper centre back, Koeman was an anomaly in the way he consistently scored goals as a defender. The gap between him and Passarella is almost 80 goals, which is way more than the number of goals a defender in today's game can hope to score in their career.
Playing for the likes of Barcelona and Ajax, the current Netherlands manager was known for his vision and finishing. An accurate penalty kick taker, Koeman was also very good at taking free-kicks - his most important strike was his extra-time free-kick against Sampdoria that handed Barcelona their first-ever European Cup in 1992. Koeman once scored 26 goals in a single season for PSV, while scoring 19 goals twice in two different seasons for Barcelona.
As far as unbreakable records in the game go, Koeman's goal tally is one of those which no defender might ever match.
