Across the world in any given period, there are thousands upon thousands of footballers plying their trades.
Only a select few achieve global cultural significance while many who briefly made an impact, are not heard about very often.
Each week, I'll be looking at a player that briefly made an impact but who remains forgotten about for the most part. You can throw suggestions in this direction on Twitter by tweeting @newstalksport or @raftastico.
This week, it's former Brazil midfielder Cesar Sampaio.
Claim to Fame (If Any!)
Unless you're Scottish, Chilean, Brazilian or just a World Cup history buff, Mr Cesar Sampaio shouldn't be on your radar.
He appeared on mine on June 10th 1998. Just five minutes into the 1998 World Cup Group A opener between Brazil and Scotland, the Sao Paulo native who was just 5 foot 9, managed to rise high enough to head in at a Brazilian corner to score the opening goal of the tournament.
A defensive midfielder, he appeared to be in the mould of the gritty players that had been relied upon to hold Brazilian international midfields after the era of 1982 when the South American nation's beautiful football found itself thwarted by Italy. Indeed, he had been part of the Brazil team from as far back as the dawn of the '90s.
That 1998 tournament was very memorable for Sampaio who not only joined his team-mates in a World Cup final.
Not noted for his goals given the role he played in the team, the now 49 year old then surprisingly managed to score Brazil's first two goals against Chile in the last-16 in a 4-1 win.
At club level, he mostly played in his homeland and Japan but only briefly lined out for a European club, making 10 appearances for La Liga's Deportivo de la Coruna in the 2000-01 season.
Current status
Retired for about a decade, Sampaio has been involved in club administration, most recently at Fortaleza who he appears to have left.
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