All-time combined Argentina-Brazil XI

#4 Right back: Cafu

This one will come down to a matter of taste more so than straight-up statistics, records and numbers. For many, this is a battle between Carlos Alberto and Cafu.

The conventional football fans among you might well prefer the stylings of Carlos Alberto – playing football long before Cafu was even born, he was a member of the prestigious 1970 World Cup-winning side and he put the finishing touch to arguably the greatest-ever goal scored.

However, injury prevented him from enjoying much further success in the eye-catching yellow shirt and capturing the Jules Rimet trophy as captain was as good as it got for him. Obviously, that doesn’t take away from his incredible talents, but it means that Cafu could achieve more – and so he did.

Indeed, it was the ex-AC Milan star’s impressive fitness levels and dynamic work ethic that made him such a huge success, so much so that Sir Alex Ferguson once quipped: “I remember Cafu who was up and down the touchline at 38 – it was like the guy had two hearts."

In fact, Cafu is the only player to ever appear in three showpiece World Cup finals, winning two of them only to lose the 1998 final against a Zinedine Zidane-led France. All in all, Cafu is a one of a kind and deserves his spot in this combined XI due to his amazing achievements, longevity and success. Astounding.