FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer, Soccer Manager: Ranking the most popular video game soccer players

3. Watch Zolo Moukoko (Championship Manager 01-02)

“We went to a small village in Malaysia.” Check out what Zola Mukoko told me. “I gave my passport to the officer. He was shocked. “Are you really Tonton Zola Mukoko? he asked. ‘You can’t be the one playing in the derby!’

Mukoko’s legend has traveled far and wide, held fan forums and whispered between championship managerial anoraks. And underneath it was the truth.

Derby beat AC Milan and Bologna to sign the 15-year-old from Sweden’s Djurgårdens, who lost both of his parents to live with his brother in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He was a budding star at County’s academy, whose on-game character saw him develop into a prolific number 10 in the mold of Lionel Messi and often end up at Europe’s biggest clubs.

In real life youth or in standby games, the fans ask for his signature. But Mokuko did not reach the top of the derby. The death of his older brother brought him back to Sweden and he spent his career in the lower Scandinavian league.

“A lot of things happened around me that changed me, changed my football life,” he said. “I don’t enjoy football anymore.

“After my brother died, it was very difficult for me to sleep for a long time, after that football was not the right thing for me.”

However, Mokuko is happy that his legend remains among those who signed up for the game: “I still have people calling me from Australia, France, everywhere.”