Born: 8/3/63
Position: Defender
Clubs: Noroeste Bauru (Brazil), FC Guarani (Brazil), Stade Brest (France), SC Montpellier (France), Juventus (Italy), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Botafogo (Brazil), Panathinaikos (Greece), Werder Bremen (Germany)
Serie A apps: 89
Serie A goals: 3

Brazilians aren’t renowned for their defending, but there was something about Julio Cesar that caught the eye of Juventus in the 1990s. A butch figured stopper, the Bauru-born player first hit the big time when appearing for the ‘Selecao’ at the 1986 World Cup finals. A good tournament saw him earn a European move to French side Brest before moving on to Montpellier.

It was around this time that Juventus were struggling. The glory days of the Bianconeri were becoming a distant memory and repairs were needed especially in defence. The club turned to Julio Cesar and he along with Jurgen Kohler were the side’s central defensive partnership for the best part of four seasons.

In that time Cesar memorably broke a leg at Napoli and scored a wonder free-kick away to Cremonese.
His Italian affair came to an end in 1994, when the club realised – with all due respect to Cesar – that they needed a better defender.

He left for Borussia Dortmund, where he would be joined by Jurgen Kohler again, and helped them to a League title and the European Cup – where the German’s beat Juve in the final. Towards the end of the 97-98 season, he returned to his homeland with Botafogo but within a year he had returned to Dortmund after failing to settle in.

However a verbal bust-up with Coach Michael Skibbe in 1998 saw him leave for Panathinaikos in a £400,000 deal. He lasted one season in Greece before setting off for Germany again as Werder Bremen signed him on a one-year contract in the summer of 1999.