Clubs: SC Corinthians Paulista, Cruzeiro EC, Bayer 04 Leverkusen (loan), Olympique Lyonnais

• Cristiano Marques Gomes started out at Corinthians and won several trophies with the Sao Paulo club, including the 1998 Brazilian championship.

• Moved on to Cruzeiro, of Belo Horizonte, and established himself as one of Brazil's leading home-based defenders, representing his country at the Copa América tournaments of 2001 and 2004; was also a non-playing member of Brazil's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad.

• A loan move to Leverkusen in 2002/03 did not pay off but he returned to Cruzeiro and helped them win the Brazilian championship.

• Hit the ground running in his second European adventure, at Lyon, scoring on his UEFA Champions League debut against Manchester United FC in September 2004 and earning himself a place in the Ligue 1 team of the year in each of his first two campaigns.

• Handed the club captaincy in 2007/08 but missed most of the double-winning season because of torn knee ligaments.

• Back to his best in 2008/09, making 34 Ligue 1 starts and six in the UEFA Champions League; the following season he played in every UEFA Champions League match up to and including the semi-finals, where he received a red card in the second leg against FC Bayern München (0-3).