Serial Trophy Winners: 7 Underrated Players Who Have Won a Ton of Silverware
Not every player on a successful team can be a superstar, but every side that wins trophies must have a squad full of dependable players who always step up and perform.
These seven individuals have the trophies, but have not always had the praise to go with it.
Esteban Cambiasso
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Upon his retirement at the end of last season, Esteban Cambiasso had won major trophies in four countries - Argentina, Spain, Italy and Greece. Yet certainly where English football is concerned, his greatest achievement is seen as helping Leicester escape Premier League relegation in 2015.
Including La Liga, Serie A and the Champions League among many others, the midfielder's major trophy tally stands at a very impressive 15. He was never a superstar at international level either, playing 52 times for Argentina - relatively modest given his club success.
Jesus Navas
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Jesus Navas played 183 games for Manchester City in four seasons with the club, but was never viewed as a major star throughout that time. That spell yielded a Premier League title in his debut campaign, as well as further League Cup triumphs.
Navas had also earlier won two Copa del Rey trophies with Sevilla, as well as the UEFA Cup twice. But in the 21st century, the Spanish winger is a much more old fashioned kind of player whose skill and success has perhaps been underappreciated.
John Obi Mikel
Still only 30 years of age, John Obi Mikel spent 11 years winning major trophies at Chelsea and letting other more high profile players take the bulk of the plaudits.
Only once during his time at Stamford Bridge did Mikel play fewer than 30 games in a season in all competitions. He won two Premier League titles, started three out of four FA Cup victorious finals, as well as the 2012 Champions League final, and also collected a Europa League medal.
Claudio Pizarro
Veteran Peruvian Claudio Pizarro has scored in the Bundesliga in every year since 1999 and counting. He is also the league's fifth-highest goalscorer of all time and the most prolific foreigner after netting 191 times for Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Köln.
But Pizarro, now 39 years of age, has usually always played second fiddle to bigger stars, particularly during his time at Bayern. His major trophy haul, standing at 14 which includes six Bundesliga crowns and one Champions League title, is no less impressive because of it.
Maxwell
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Brazilian fullback Maxwell only recently called it day after representing four of Europe's biggest and most famous clubs during his illustrious career - Ajax, Inter, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, winning league titles and domestic cups throughout.
He also collected a Champions League medal in 2011, but with only 10 caps for Brazil despite his trophy haul, is never talked about in the same way as explosive fellow countrymen Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Maicon or Marcelo.
John O'Shea
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John O'Shea was a crucial part of Manchester United's success for close to 10 years, playing almost 400 games for the club and winning 10 major trophies, including the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2008.
The versatile Irish defender was never viewed in the same light as more illustrious teammates, but there could never be any passengers at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson and O'Shea played more than 50 games in all competitions in both the 2002/03 and 2008/09 campaigns.
Fernandinho
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While others like Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling take the plaudits at Manchester City, Fernandinho is the sturdy foundation on which the team is built and arguably the single most important player in Pep Guardiola's squad.
The Brazilian midfielder has won four major trophies since arriving in England in 2013 and will add a fifth to that when the 2017/18 Premier League title is mathematically sewn up. That is on top of 11 major trophies, domestic and European, he has previously won at Shakhtar Donetsk.
