Outstanding defenders are like dancing postmen. We tend to notice them for their endeavours beyond their day jobs rather than for their diligent execution of the mundane. The most acclaimed defenders, then, are usually the ones who are best at attacking.

For a decade starting from the mid-90s Roberto Carlos was widely hailed as the world's best defender, primarily for his thrilling forward runs and ferocious, haphazard shooting, though it is true that his exceptional speed also often enabled him to recover from basic defensive negligence.

Buccaneering full-backs have been bounding out of Brazil for over 50 years and it is difficult to determine who has been the best, especially if you're too young to have seen Nílton Santos, Djalma Santos and Carlos Alberto in action. Cafu was explosive going forward and also immaculate in defence as well as extremely durable, giving him the edge over Roberto Carlos and Maicon.

Brazil, of course, do not have a monopoly on exciting full-backs. Throughout the 1960s Giacinto Facchetti dazzled fans of Italy and Internazionale, Paul Breitner was a potent part of the formidable West Germany side of the 1970s and 80s before being succeeded by the wonderful Andreas Brehme, and Denis Irwin excelled defensively and offensively for club and country both on the left and the right. The bustling Bixente Lizarazu, in addition to defending solidly, contributed greatly to French attacking even if he, like Ashley Cole, seldom went so far as to score.

If they are some of the most eye-catching full-backs ever, then one of the most formidable solely in defensive terms must be Argentina and Internazionale's Javier Zanetti, who could rarely be described as an attacking force even when stationed in midfield.

Italy are proud of their defensive heritage and Giuseppe Bergomi, like Zanetti, is another defender who aspired to being nothing more glamorous than an impeccable cog even when playing in midfield, as he did when, as an 18-year-old, he helped Italy to the 1982 World Cup. Except when Spurs come to town.

There he played in front of Claudio Gentile, who had previously negated Diego Maradona when deployed in midfield as a specialist man-marker. In the final Gentile served as a stopper in the mould of La Grande Inter's Aristide Guarneri. Later the Italy and Milan defence would be marshalled by Franco Baresi, perhaps the ultimate no-frills defender even though he was was never as fearsome as Gentile, his rarefied instinct meaning he intercepted rather than intimidated.

The elegant half of Italy's central defensive pairing in 1982 was Gaetano Scirea, who at times throughout the 70s and early 80s played the role of imperious libero as well as Franz Beckenbauer. Laurent Blanc came close to replicating that in the 90s.

One current player who shares those illustrious predecessors' ability to head off opposing attacks and lead ones by his own team is Lúcio, who, furthermore, seems more powerful and agile than any of the bygone trio. However, even he suffers in comparison with the captain and inspiration of Uruguay's 1950 World Cup winners, if accounts of Obdulio Varela's performances throughout the 40s and 50s are to be believed.

Blanc, of course, was a cornerstone of the great France defence of 1998, a quartet less celebrated but more successful than the country's fabled 'magic square' midfield of the 80s. The excellence of Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Blanc and Lizarazu is one reason that it is right and proper to ridicule any giddy Londoner who pops up here to rage against our lack of garlands for Messers Dixon, Adams, Bould and Winterburn.

As for Paolo Maldini, his enduring renown can to a large extent be attributed to an instinct far more hollow than the understandable tendency to appreciate a defender's attacking prowess more than his defensive fortitude. It was his handsomeness, more than his performances, that lead to him being held in higher esteem than more effective peers such as Jürgen Kohler. Maldini was a very good player, not a great player (indeed, at Euro 96 he was made to look a very goofy player by Karel Poborsky, no less). Essentially, Maldini was a dishy Gary Neville. The defensive David Beckham.

Paul Doyle's selection

Cafu (Brazil), Lúcio (Brazil), Beckenbauer (West Germany), Lizarazu (France).

On Friday: Goalkeepers