Roque Junior ... Footballing Hero.

Jose Vitor Roque Jr, or just Roque Junior, as he is known affectionately to football fans all over the world has been the talk of football fans for years. A man who has won every major European and South American honour and even the World Cup has been the ridicule of football for many a year...but why?

The defender has notched up almost 200 competitive appearances for Palmeiras and 3 years with European giants AC Milan. Through his storied career he has won the Brazilians State and League titles, the Copa Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the Champions League) as well as Serie A and the Champions League (the European equivalent of the Copa Libertadores). On top of these honours, internationally, he was a member of the successful Brazilian World Cup 2002 side, having notched up almost 50 appearances for the selecao.

So why is it that a man who has won so much and played for some of the World's biggest sides is ridiculed so heavily. Quite frankly, he was terrible. During his loan spell at Leeds United, the club conceded 24 goals in 7 games during which he was sent off in his first game away to Birmingham City. This short lived period at Ellend Road was very much indicative of the quality of player he truly was. At AC, the greats of the defence game Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta and Alessandro Costacurta hid a player who truly was terrible.

But despite being so poor and ridiculed across the World, he does hold a special place in the hearts of fans all across the World. He provides us with a sense that we too could win all those accolades and awards. Regardless of how bad one might actually be, how poor one tackling or heading or distribution, there is always hope for the average Sunday league player that he too could make it.

And for that Jose Vitor Roque Jr will always be a footballing hero.