Fifa, Pro Evolution Soccer, Football Manager: Rank Most Iconic Video Game Soccer Players

3. Tonton Zola Moukoko (Championship Manager 01-02)

“We went to a small town in Malaysia,” Tonton Zola Moukoko told me. “I gave my passport to the officer. He was shocked. ‘Are you really Tonton Zola Moukoko?’ I asked. ‘You can’t be the one who played at Derby!’

Moukoko’s legend has traveled far and wide, carried on fans’ forums and whispered between Championship Manager anoraks. And there was truth in its roots.

Derby beat AC Milan and Bologna to sign the 15-year-old from Djurgardens in Sweden, where he moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo to live with his brother after losing both parents.

He was a young star in County’s academy, whose qualities on the pitch would see him grow into a capable number 10 in the mold of Lionel Messi, often ending up at Europe’s biggest clubs.

At actual youth or reserve games, fans would ask for his autograph. But Moukoko never made a senior appearance at Derby. The death of his older brother made him return to Sweden, and he spent his career in the lower Scandinavian leagues.

“Things happened around me that changed me a lot, changed my football career,” he said. “I didn’t really enjoy football anymore.

“I found it very difficult to sleep for a long time after my brother died. Football wasn’t the right thing for me after that.”

However, Moukoko is happy that his legend lives on among those who signed him to the game: “I still have people calling from Australia, France, everywhere.”