Goalkeepers have proven to be unsung heroes and not more so than Julio Cesar. Celebrating his 37th birthday today, the Brazilian is still going strong at Benfica but made his name at Italian giants Inter Milan.

Having began his career at Flamengo, he moved to Italy in 2005 and made an instant impact, helping Inter clinch the Serie A title for five consecutive seasons, as well as three Coppa Italia’s and Italian four Italian Super Cups.

Earning the praise of legend Gianluca Pagiluca, Inter reigned supreme in the 2010 Champions League and FIFA World Club Cup, while also claiming his second Serie A best goalkeeper award.

On the international stage, he was part of the 2004 Copa America squad and is a two-time Confederations Cup winner (2009 and 2013), the latter in which he won the Golden Glove.

More sport stars born on this day:

1969: Robert Karlsson, Swedish golfer who has won 11 European Tour titles. (47).

1970: Gareth Southgate, England Under-21 manager and ex-Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender (46).

1977: Olof Mellberg, former footballer who played for Aston Villa and Sweden as a defender (39).

1988: Jerome Boateng, Germany’s World Cup winning centre-back who plays for Bayern Munich (28).