THE WORLD'S BEST SCORING DEFENDER OF FIRST DECADE

• Aug 29, 2022
• History Statistics

Picture : Marcus Tulio Tanaka is the leader !

The World’s Highest Scoring Defender of 1st Decade of XXI Century: Marcus Tulio Tanaka

We publish the ranking for highest scoring defenders in the world football in the first decade of XXI century. All goals scored in top level games since 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010 are taken in consideration.
The Japanese Marcus Tulio Tanaka was the number one in this category with 58 goals followed by Daniel Van Buyten (Belgium) with 57.
The similar ranking for highest scoring defenders in 2nd decade (2011-2020) was published earlier. The winner was Sergio Ramos (89 goals).

	HIGHEST SCORING	DEFENDERS
	IN 1st DECADE OF	XXI CENTURY		(2001-	2010)
	Player	Country	Role	Goals				Total
				NL	NC	ICC	NT
1	Marcus Tulio Tanaka	Japan	CB	45	4	1	8	58
2	Daniel Van Buyten	Belgium	CB	34	6	8	9	57
3	John Arne Riise	Norway	LB	29	7	7	12	55
4	Roberto Carlos	Brazil	LB	36	6	7	6	55
5	Héctor Altamirano	Mexico	RB	43	2	3	4	52
6	Daniel Majstorović	Sweden	CB	40	6	4	2	52
7	Darijo Srna	Croatia	RB	17	8	5	19	49
8	Dedi Ben Dayan	Israel	LB	38	4	4	1	47
9	John Terry	England	CB	19	10	9	6	44
10	Diego Lugano	Uruguay	CB	30	2	6	4	42
11	Mato Neretljak	Croatia	CB	34	5	2	1	42
12	Luisão	Brazil	CB	25	6	7	3	41
13	Naldo	Brazil	CB	27	4	10		41
14	Lúcio	Brazil	CB	24	5	7	4	40
15	Jersson González	Colombia	RB	37		2	1	40
16	Christoffer Andersson	Sweden	RB	34	3	3		40

Only the players which held essential majority of their games as defenders are admitted. 
The column “Role” means the main position of the player (CB = centre back, RB = right back, LB = left back). 

Full names of Brazilian players:
Lúcio = Lucimar Ferreira da Silva
Luisão = Ânderson Luís da Silva
Naldo = Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues

Abbreviatures:
NL – National League
NC – National Cups
ICC – International Club Competitions
NT – National Team