Manchester United's Anderson was the man who stuck his hand up to take the first penalty of sudden death in the 2008 Champions League final having been tipped as "better than Wayne Rooney ".
The Brazilian never lived up to that description and called time on his career at 31.
That's no age for a player who won the Golden Boy award in 2008, with his name sitting in a roll of honour alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
Unfortunately for him the now 34-year-old's stock didn't rise like many foresaw, but he still more than left his mark.
A career that, in the eyes of many, failed to hit the heights it should have still saw the midfielder end up with four Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Club World Cup as well as the Copa America in 2007.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s brother Martin was the man to scout a young Anderson in Brazil and came back with a bold claim, but he sure thought he was right.
“I sent Martin over to watch him in every game for four or five weeks,” Ferguson wrote in My Autobiography. “Martin said, ‘Alex, he’s better than Rooney!’
“‘For Christ’s sake, don’t say that,’ I told him. ‘He’ll need to be good to be better than Rooney.’ Martin was adamant.”
United spent £27m on the midfielder to lure him away from Porto in the summer of 2007.
That made Anderson the second most expensive acquisition in the club's history at the time, with only their investment in Rooney surpassing him. Inevitably expectations were high.
For long periods it looked as if Anderson would deliver on his promise. He made 38 appearances in each of his first two seasons, albeit without scoring. United knew for years that a contingency plan was needed for life after Paul Scholes and the Brazilian looked as if he may be able to fill the sizeable void.
He held his own, and often looked the better man, in duels against opposition central midfielders.
During that era he came up against the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas.
After a victory at Anfield in December 2007 Ferguson said: “Anderson was terrific, he wasn’t intimidated by Steven Gerrard. I thought he handled that particular part of the game really well. Steven was actually quite quiet today."
By the end of Anderson's first year he was coming on for Wes Brown in the Champions League final in Moscow. That night would end with a winners' medal around the Brazilian's neck.
His penalty in the shootout was powered down the middle with his left foot before Nicolas Anelka missed his decisive kick.
Ferguson's verbal admiration for Anderson was very much mutual. The Brazilian loved the fact he was back to produce in crunch games and hailed the Scot's man management. "He's the god of football," he said of his former boss in an interview with ESPN in 2018.
"I played through injuries for him, stayed on the pitch when my legs were cut. He looked after players so well. I felt that he cared for me. I can't thank that man enough for what he did for me. He trusted me in big games when I was 18."
Anderson's output began to drop off however, as he matured more was expected but rather than progress he went in the other direction.
In 105 Premier League appearances, he scored five times and contributed eight assists. Other players in his position dwarfed his numbers and, come the 2011 Champions League final, he was an unused sub, overlooked with a 37-year-old Ryan Giggs preferred.
Rafael da Silva, teammate at club and international level with Anderson, has eluded to a love of fast food as a possible issue for the now retired man. During journeys the midfielder's love for McDonald's came across with Rafael doubting how focused his compatriot was.
He said in The Sunshine Kids, his joint autobiography with brother Fabio, that: “We could be on the team coach and pass the services on the motorway and Anderson would jump up impulsively and yell ‘McDonald’s, McDonald’s.’
“The guy was crazy, but I love him. Give him a football and he would just play with freedom and sometimes, if he got a good run of games, he could play as well as any player in the league. Not only that, but when he was playing well, we were playing brilliant football. He picked up a lot of big injuries and then his problems with eating the way he did started to affect him."
He also added: “I’m saying this with all seriousness. I don’t know if he ever took anything seriously. He just loved life in such an easy and casual way. In some ways that was a quality. It was what made him so popular and one of the most popular players at the club.
“But he would just eat whatever was put in front of him.”
Like many players at United, his career would decline following the retirement of Ferguson.
David Moyes came in and Anderson was immediately a peripheral figure before being sent out on loan to Fiorentina. His last game in the red of United came in a 4-0 mauling at the hands of MK Dons.
It was only Louis van Gaal's third game and a team compromising United's fringe players and their next generation was humiliated with Dele Alli playing a starring role for the League One side.
Anderson returned to his homeland in 2015, aged 26. Moves back to South America are often reserved for players wanting to see out their careers, not for those who, in theory, should have their peak years ahead of them.
Anderson signed for Internacional, missing a penalty on his debut. His second outing saw him hooked after 36 minutes as he required an oxygen mask whilst playing in the Bolivian capital, La Paz, at a stadium which was over 3km above sea level.
The Brazilian made a brief return to Europe, signing for Turkish outfit Adana Demirspor. Adana's president Murat Sancak confirmed the player's retirement as he told Radyospor: "Anderson has decided to quit football, reduced his salary by 400,000 euros and will continue to work at the club. I think it is very useful in foreign affairs."
He was a player who might have burned brightly, but it was all too brief.
