10 Attacking Players Who Have Fewer Career Goals Than Sergio Ramos
By Tom Gott
Sergio Ramos scores a ridiculous amount of goals. The Real Madrid man has racked up the kind of numbers most players can only dream of, and he's a centre-back.
Now La Liga's highest-scoring defender of all time, Ramos has shown a penchant for towering headers and gorgeous free kicks. When you add crunching tackles and an obscene amount of red cards to the mix, you see why Ramos is such an iconic figure in football.
Goals come concerningly easily to Ramos (he has 120 for club and country at senior level), and here are ten more traditionally attacking players who failed to match his numbers during their respective careers.
1. Claudio Marchisio
A famed box-to-box midfielder, Claudio Marchisio spent plenty of his younger days playing as a winger, before dropping deep and using his eye for goal to devastating effect in midfield.
Anyone who watched the Juventus legend in action will wax lyrical about his love for a long-range worldie, but Marchisio did only score 44 goals across his entire career. That's a day's work for Ramos.
2. Patrick Vieira
One of the most dominant box-to-box midfielders in the history of the sport, Patrick Vieira actually saved most of his best work for the defensive box.
At the other end of the field, he contributed 62 goals across every professional level - nearly half of Ramos' tally.
3. Damien Duff
For a player with such a lengthy top-flight career and one who was an integral part of Chelsea's Premier League title wins between 2004 and 2006, it's a surprise to see that Damien Duff was never a prolific scorer.
The Irish legend recorded 79 goals throughout his entire career, but still hung up his boots with two titles in his trophy cabinet.
4. Andrea Pirlo
In terms of goal contributions, Andrea Pirlo is well clear of Ramos. The Italian used to rack up assists for fun during his playing days, but goals were always a little hard to come by.
Pirlo ended his career on 86 goals in all competitions - a tally which Ramos surpassed years ago.
5. Freddie Ljungberg
Part of Arsenal's Invincibles, versatile forward Freddie Ljungberg is another player whose career stats are surprisingly unimpressive.
With 91 goals to his name, Ljungberg was always more concerned about creating goals for his teammates, and his general work rate always made him a popular figure among managers, but you'd still have expected him to find the back of the net more.
6. Shola Ameobi
Known as the 'Mackem Slayer' for his seven goals against rivals Sunderland - second only in Newcastle history to Jackie Milburn - Ameobi less prolific when playing against teams that weren't the Black Cats.
The veteran striker only scored double figures in league goals once in his career (in the Championship) and his career total over twenty years sits at 96 club and two international, giving a total of 98.
7. Rui Costa
One of the many things for which Rui Costa was known was his eye for goal from midfield, but Ramos' numbers far exceed those of the Portuguese icon.
Across his time in Italy and Portugal, Costa ended up with 99 goals in all competitions, which is nothing to be sneezed at. Instead, it speaks volumes of just how bonkers Ramos has been.
8. Paolo Di Canio
One of the most gifted forwards of his generation, Paolo Di Canio was a special breed of footballer who could do whatever he wanted on the pitch. However, his goal numbers don't show that.
Di Canio managed 109 goals at club level but never actually made it through to the Italy national team, so his tally sits at 109 for his entire career.
9. Mesut Ozil
Like with certain other people on this list, if assists were included, there would be no contest. However, this is about goals and Ozil just isn't very goalsy.
The German may yet overtake Ramos - he's only 31 after all - but he has just 89 strikes at club football since 2006, with a season-high of 12.
Adding in his (better) international total, Ozil has 112 career goals.
10. Júlio Baptista
Sticking with legendary Gooners, Júlio Baptista had a playing career which took him to England, Spain, Italy, Brazil, the United States and Romania, in which he managed 112 goals.
'The Beast' added another five in 48 outings for his national side, giving him a total of 117 goals in his entire senior career.