In the

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either side to their left and right, but can be played in threes with or without full-backs. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-back, sweeper, full-back, and wing-back. The centre-back and full-back positions are essential in most modern formations. The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised for certain formations dependent on the manager's style of play and tactics. Centre-backs are usually tall and positioned for their ability to win duels in the air.

Centre-back

The centre-back (also known as a central defender or centre-half, as the modern role of the centre-back arose from the centre-half position) defends in the area directly in front of the goal and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring. Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots,

tackling Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

, intercepting passes, contesting headers and marking forwards to discourage the opposing team from passing to them. In the modern game, most teams employ two or three centre-backs in front of the goalkeeper. The 4–2–3–1, 4–3–3, and

4–4–2 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

formations all use two centre-backs. Association football 4-4-2 formation

In possession of the ball, centre-backs are generally expected to make long and pinpoint passes to their teammates, or to kick unaimed

long ball In association football, a long ball is an attempt to move the ball a long distance down the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfield. R ...

s down the field. For example, a clearance is a long unaimed kick intended to move the ball as far as possible from the defender's goal. Due to the many skills centre-backs are required to possess in the modern game, many successful contemporary central-defensive partnerships have involved pairing a more physical defender with a defender who is quicker, more comfortable in possession and capable of playing the ball out from the back; examples of such pairings have included

David Luiz David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Flamengo. Primarily a centre back, he can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder. After starting out at Vitoria, David Luiz moved to B ...

Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...

, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, Sergio Ramos,

Raphaël Varane Raphaël Xavier Varane (; born 25 April 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team. Considered as one of the best defenders of his generation, Varan ...

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

with Real Madrid, Diego Godín and José María Giménez with Atlético Madrid and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, Nemanja Vidić and Rio Ferdinand with Manchester United, or Giorgio Chiellini,

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

Andrea Barzagli Andrea Barzagli (; born 8 May 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A four-time member of the Serie A Team of the Year, Barzagli is regarded as one of the best and most consistent defenders in Italian fo ...

and

Medhi Benatia Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi BenatiaThough the traditional Arabic spelling is "Mehdi", he spells his name "Medhi". See, for examplehis Twitter accountJuventus. Under normal circumstances, centre-backs are unlikely to score goals. However, when their team takes a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...

or other set pieces, centre-backs may move forward to the opponents'

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. With ...

; if the ball is passed in the air towards a crowd of players near the goal, then the heading ability of a centre-back is useful when trying to score. In this case, other defenders or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

s will temporarily move into the centre-back positions. There are two main defensive strategies used by defensive lines: the zonal defence, where each centre-back covers a specific area of the pitch; and man-to-man marking, where each centre-back has the job of tracking a particular opposition player. In the now obsolete man–to–man marking systems such as ''catenaccio'', as well as the '' zona mista'' strategy that later arose from it, there were often at least two types of centre-backs who played alongside one another: at least one man–to–man marking centre-back, known as the ''stopper'', and a free defender, which was usually known as the ''sweeper'', or ''libero'', whose tasks included sweeping up balls for teammates and also initiating attacks.

Sweeper (''libero'')

Association football 5-3-2 sweeper formation

The sweeper (or ''libero'') is a more versatile centre-back who "sweeps up" the ball if an opponent manages to breach the defensive line. This position is rather more fluid than that of other defenders who man-mark their designated opponents. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as ''libero'', which is Italian for "free". Austrian manager Karl Rappan is thought to be a pioneer of this role, when he incorporated it into his '' catenaccio'' or ''verrou'' (also "doorbolt/chain" in French) system with Swiss club

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

during the 1930s, deciding to move one player from midfield to a position behind the defensive line, as a "last man" who would protect the back-line and start attacks again. As coach of Switzerland in the 1930s and 1940s, Rappan played a defensive sweeper called the ''verrouilleur'', positioned just ahead of the goalkeeper. During his time with Soviet club Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev in the 1940s, Alexander Kuzmich Abramov also used a player similar to a sweeper in his defensive tactic known as the ''Volzhskaya Zashchepka'', or the "Volga clip." Unlike the ''verrou'', his system was not as flexible, and was a development of the WM rather than the 2–3–5, but it also featured one of the half-backs dropping deep; this allowed the defensive centre-half to sweep in behind the full-backs. In Italy, the ''libero'' position was popularised by Nereo Rocco's and

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentine, naturalized French, football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success with the Inter Milan team known as ''Grande Inter'' in the 1960s. During h ...

's use of ''catenaccio''. The current Italian term for this position, ''libero'', which is thought to have been coined by Gianni Brera, originated from the original Italian description for this role ''libero da impegni di marcatura'' (''i.e.'', "free from man-marking tasks"); it was also known as the "battitore libero" ("free hitter," in Italian, i.e. a player who was given the freedom to intervene after their teammates, if a player had gotten past the defence, to clear the ball away). In Italian football, the ''libero'' was usually assigned the number six shirt. One of the first predecessors of the ''libero'' role in Italy was used in the so–called "''vianema''" system, a predecessor to ''catenaccio'', which was used by

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

during the 1940s. The system originated from an idea that one of the club's players – Antonio Valese – posed to his manager Giuseppe Viani. Viani altered the English WM system – known as the ''sistema'' in Italy – by having his centre-half-back retreat into the defensive line to act as an additional defender and mark an opposing centre-forward, instead leaving his full-back (which, at the time, was similar to the modern centre-back role) free to function as what was essentially a sweeper, creating a 1–3–3–3 formation; he occasionally also used a defender in the centre-forward role, and wearing the number nine shirt, to track back and mark the opposing forwards, thus freeing up the full-backs from their marking duties. Andrea Schianchi of ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' notes that this modification was designed to help smaller teams in Italy, as the man–to–man system often put players directly against one another, favouring the larger and wealthier teams with stronger individual players. Baresi vs romario final 1994

In Italy, the ''libero'' is also retroactively thought to have evolved from the centre-half-back role in the English WM system, or sistema, which was known as the ''centromediano metodista'' role in Italian football jargon, due to its association with the ''

metodo In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

'' system; in the ''metodo'' system, however, the "metodista" was given both defensive and creative duties, functioning as both a ball–winner and

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. Juventus manager Felice Borel used

Carlo Parola Carlo Parola (; 20 September 1921 – 22 March 2000), was an Italian footballer and coach who played as a defender. Throughout his career, he won domestic titles with Italian club Juventus, both as a player and as a manager. At international lev ...

in the centre-half role, as a player who would drop back into the defence to mark opposing forwards, but also start attacks after winning back possession, in a similar manner to the sweeper, which led to the development of this specialised position. Indeed, Herrera's ''catenaccio'' strategy with his ''Grande Inter'' side saw him withdraw a player from his team's midfield and instead deploy them further-back in defence as a sweeper. Prior to Viani, Ottavio Barbieri is also thought by some pundits to have introduced the sweeper role to Italian football during his time as

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

's manager. Like Viani, he was influenced by Rappan's ''verrou'', and made several alterations to the English WM system or "sistema", which led to his system being described as ''mezzosistema''. His system used a man-marking back-line, with three man-marking defenders and a full-back who was described as a ''terzino volante'' (or ''vagante'', as noted at the time by former footballer and ''

Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

'' journalist

Renzo De Vecchi Renzo De Vecchi (; 3 February 1894 – 14 May 1967) was an Italian football player and coach who played as a defender. He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics with Italy, and is officially the youngest player to have ever played a match for the ...

); the latter position was essentially a ''libero'', which was later also used by Viani in his ''vianema'' system, and Rocco in his ''catenaccio'' system. Though sweepers may be expected to build counter-attacking moves, and as such require better ball control and passing ability than typical centre-backs, their talents are often confined to the defensive realm. For example, the ''catenaccio'' system of play, used in Italian football in the 1960s, often employed a predominantly defensive sweeper who mainly "roamed" around the back line; according to Schianchi, Ivano Blason is considered to be the first true ''libero'' in Italy, who – under manager Alfredo Foni with

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

and subsequently Nereo Rocco with

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

– would serve as the last man in his team, positioned deep behind the defensive line, and clearing balls away from the penalty area.

Armando Picchi Armando Picchi (; 20 June 1935 – 27 May 1971) was an Italian football player and coach. Regularly positioned as a libero, he captained the Internazionale side known as "La Grande Inter". Club career Early career Born in Livorno, Picchi star ...

was subsequently also a leading exponent of the more traditional variant of this role in Helenio Herrera's '' Grande Inter'' side of the 1960s. The more modern ''libero'' possesses the defensive qualities of the typical ''libero'' while being able to expose the opposition during counterattacks by carrying or play the ball out from the back. Some sweepers move forward into midfield, and distribute the ball up-field, while others intercept passes and get the ball off the opposition without needing to hurl themselves into tackles. If the sweeper does move up the field to distribute the ball, they will need to make a speedy recovery and run back into their position. In modern football, its usage has been fairly restricted, with few clubs in the biggest leagues using the position. Van der Sar - Oct 2010 - kicking

The modern example of this position is most commonly believed to have been pioneered by Franz Beckenbauer, and subsequently Gaetano Scirea,

Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (born 14 August 1949) is a Danish football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championshi ...

and

Elías Figueroa Elías Ricardo Figueroa Brander (born 25 October 1946) is a Chilean former footballer who played for several clubs during his long career, notably his hometown club Santiago Wanderers, Brazilian club Internacional and Uruguayan club Peñarol. ...

, although they were not the first players to play this position. Aside from the aforementioned Blason and Picchi, earlier proponents also included Alexandru Apolzan,

Velibor Vasović Velibor Vasović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Васовић; 3 October 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan Belgrade and Ajax and one of greatest defenders of his gener ...

, and Ján Popluhár. Giorgio Mastropasqua was known for revolutionising the role of the ''libero'' in Italy during the 1970s; under his Ternana manager Corrado Viciani, he served as one of the first modern exponents of the position in the country, due to his unique technical characteristics, namely a player who was not only tasked with defending and protecting the back-line, but also advancing out of the defence into midfield and starting attacking plays with their passing after winning back the ball. Other defenders who have been described as sweepers include Bobby Moore, Franco Baresi,

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

, Fernando Hierro, Miodrag Belodedici,

Matthias Sammer Matthias Sammer (; born 5 September 1967) is a German football official and former player and coach. He played as a defensive midfielder and later in his career as a sweeper. With Borussia Dortmund as a player, Sammer won the Bundesliga and DF ...

, and

Aldair Aldair Nascimento dos Santos (; born 30 November 1965), known simply as Aldair, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a defender, and who was part of the Brazil national team that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Considered as one of ...

, due to their ball skills, vision, and long passing ability. Though it is rarely used in modern football, it remains a highly respected and demanding position. Recent and successful uses of the sweeper include by

Otto Rehhagel Otto Rehhagel (; born 9 August 1938) is a German former football coach and player. Rehhagel is one of only two people who, as player and manager combined, has participated in over 1,000 Bundesliga matches (the other being Jupp Heynckes). In t ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

's manager, during UEFA Euro 2004. Rehhagel utilized Traianos Dellas as Greece's sweeper to great success, as Greece became European champions. For

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

, Bayern Munich and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, Brazilian international

Lúcio Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, Lúcio was known for his long, s ...

adopted the sweeper role too, but was also not afraid to travel long distances with the ball, often ending up in the opposition's final third. Although this position has become largely obsolete in modern football formations, due to the use of zonal marking and the offside trap, certain players such as

Daniele De Rossi Daniele De Rossi (; born 24 July 1983) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and is currently manager of side SPAL. He is mostly known for his time playing with his hometown club Roma in Serie A, as ...

Javi Martínez Javier "Javi" Martínez Aginaga (; born 2 September 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or central defender for Qatar Stars League club Qatar SC. He arrived at Athletic Bilbao in 2006, before his 18t ...

and

have played a similar role as a ball-playing central defender in a 3–5–2 or 3–4–3 formation; in addition to their defensive skills, their technique and ball-playing ability allowed them to advance into midfield after winning back possession, and function as a secondary playmaker for their teams. Some goalkeepers, who are comfortable leaving their goalmouth to intercept and clear through balls, and who generally participate more in play, such as René Higuita,

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the ...

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

, Fabien Barthez, Marc-André ter Stegen,

Bernd Leno Bernd Leno (born 4 March 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fulham and the Germany national team. Club career VfB Stuttgart Having progressed through the youth set up at VfB Stuttgart, in May 2011, L ...

and Ederson, among others, have been referred to as sweeper-keepers.

Full-back

The full-backs (the left-back and the right-back) locate the holding wide positions and traditionally stay in defence at all times, until a set-piece. There is one full-back on each side of the field except in defences with fewer than four players, where there may be no full-backs and instead only centre-backs. In the early decades of football under the 2–3–5 formation, the two full-backs were essentially the same as modern centre-backs in that they were the last line of defence and usually covered opposing forwards in the middle of the field. The later 3–2–5 style involved a third dedicated defender, causing the left and right full-backs to occupy wider positions. Later, the adoption of 4–2–4 with another central defender led the wide defenders to play even further over to counteract the opposing wingers and provide support to their own down the flanks, and the position became increasingly specialised for dynamic players who could fulfil that role as opposed to the central defenders who remained fairly static and commonly relied on strength, height and positioning. Brazil-Japan, Confederations Cup 2013 (cropped)

Brazil-Japan, Confederations Cup 2013 (cropped)

In the modern game, full-backs have taken on a more attacking role than was the case traditionally, often overlapping with wingers down the flank. Wingerless formations, such as the diamond

formation, demand the full-back to cover considerable ground up and down the flank. Some of the responsibilities of modern full-backs include: * Provide a physical obstruction to opposition attacking players by shepherding them towards an area where they exert less influence. They may manoeuvre in a fashion that causes the opponent to cut in towards the centre-back or defensive midfielder with their weaker foot, where they are likely to be dispossessed. Otherwise, jockeying and smart positioning may simply pin back a winger in an area where they are less likely to exert influence. * Making off-the-ball runs into spaces down the channels and supplying crosses into the opposing penalty box. * Throw-ins are often assigned to full-backs. * Marking wingers and other attacking players. Full-backs generally do not commit to challenges in their opponents' half. However, they aim to quickly dispossess attacking players who have already breached the defensive line with a sliding tackle from the side. Markers must, however, avoid keeping too tight on opponents or risk disrupting the defensive organization. * Maintaining tactical discipline by ensuring other teammates do not overrun the defensive line and inadvertently play an opponent onside. * Providing a passing option down the flank; for instance, by creating opportunities for sequences like one-two passing moves. * In wingerless formations, full-backs need to cover the roles of both wingers and full-backs, although defensive work may be shared with one of the central midfielders. * Additionally, attacking full-backs help to pin both opposition full-backs and wingers deeper in their own half with aggressive attacking intent. Their presence in attack also forces the opposition to withdraw players from central midfield, which the team can seize to its advantage. Due to the physical and technical demands of their playing position, successful full-backs need a wide range of attributes, which make them suited for adaptation to other roles on the pitch. Many of the game's utility players, who can play in multiple positions on the pitch, are natural full-backs. A rather prominent example is the PSG full-back Sergio Ramos, who has played on the flanks as a full-back and in central defence throughout his career. In the modern game, full-backs often chip in a fair share of assists with their runs down the flank when the team is on a counter-attack. The more common attributes of full-backs, however, include: * Pace and stamina to handle the demands of covering large distances up and down the flank and outrunning opponents. * A healthy work rate and team responsibility. * Marking and tackling abilities and a sense of anticipation. * Good off-the-ball ability to create attacking opportunities for their team by running into empty channels. * Dribbling ability. Many of the game's eminent attacking full-backs are excellent dribblers in their own right and occasionally deputize as attacking wingers. * Player intelligence. As is common for defenders, full-backs need to decide during the flow of play whether to stick close to a winger or maintain a suitable distance. Full-backs that stay too close to attacking players are vulnerable to being pulled out of position and leaving a gap in the defence. A quick passing movement like a pair of one-two passes will leave the channel behind the defending full-back open. This vulnerability is a reason why wingers considered to be dangerous are double-marked by both the full-back and the winger. This allows the full-back to focus on holding their defensive line. Full-backs rarely score goals, as they often have to stay back to cover for the centre-backs during corner kicks and free kicks, when the centre backs usually go forward to attempt to score from headers. That said, full-backs can sometimes score during counterattacks by running in from the wings, often involving one-two passing moves with midfield players.

Wing-back

Caitlin Foord in action at 2017 Algarve Cup

The wing-back is a variation on the full-back, but with a heavier emphasis on attack. Wing-backs are typically some of the fastest players on a team, when employed. Wing-backs are typically used in a formation with three centre-backs and are sometimes classified as midfielders instead of defenders. They can, however, be used in formations with only two centre-backs, such as in

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing ...

's 4–3–3 system that he uses at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, in which the wing-backs play high up the field to compensate for a lack of width in attack. In the evolution of the modern game, wing-backs are the combination of wingers and full-backs. As such, this position is one of the most physically demanding in modern football. Successful use of wing-backs is one of the main prerequisites for the 3–4–3, 3–5–2 and 5–3–2 formations to function effectively. Wing-backs are often more adventurous than full-backs and are expected to provide width, especially in teams without wingers. A wing-back needs to be of exceptional stamina, be able to provide crosses upfield and defend effectively against opponents' attacks down the flanks. A defensive midfielder may be fielded to cover the advances of wing-backs. It can also be occupied by wingers and side midfielders in a three centre-back formation, as seen by ex-

and ex-

, and current Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte. Examples of players who could and did play as wing-backs were

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

teammates

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, he is regarded as one of the gr ...

and Serginho, Barcelona player

Dani Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

of Real Madrid's Galácticos era, former River Plate's defender

Juan Pablo Sorín Juan Pablo Sorín (born 5 May 1976) is an Argentine former footballer and current sports broadcaster, who played as a left-back or left midfielder. He had a successful club career in his native Argentina with River Plate, in Brazil with Cruzei ...

, World Cup winning German

Andreas Brehme Andreas "Andy" Brehme (; born 9 November 1960) is a German football coach and former football defender. At international level, he is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina from a ...

, Parma's legend Antonio Benarrivo, Angelo Di Livio of Juventus and Italy and former

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

, Arsenal and Barcelona star Sylvinho.

References

{{commons category Association football positions Association football terminology Association football player non-biographical articles

Centre-back

Sweeper (''libero'')

Full-back

Wing-back

See also

References