Two days ago, Juan Roman Riquelme announced that he was bringing an 18-year career to an end.
Perhaps in another era, the ex-Argentina international would have been an all-time great such was his languid style.
But it was that uniqueness which made him stand out during a career which took in Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Villarreal and the Argentina national team.
As BBC South American footabll expert Tim Vickery reminded us on Off The Ball tonight, few could match his mastery of a match.
While Riquelme won multiple league titles in Argentina and three Copas Libertadores, his trophy count does not do his talents justice according to Tim.
"You can run through a list of the clubs he's played for and the titles that he won and it wouldn't begin to do justice to his career," he said.
"Riquelme's significance goes far beyond the list of clubs and titles. What he was, was a walking billboard for a certain style of football. It was very much my way or the high way with Riquelme. Either you build your possession around him or you might as well not have him. That was the case with Barcelona."
Then-Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal was not enthused by his signing and it was at Villarreal that the 36-year-old found favour under current Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini as the team was built around his unique attributes.
"He would pick holes in your defence," added Tim. "The comparison I would make is from an early opponent of Muhammad Ali because Ali wasn't regarded as a big puncher. He would pick away and pick away. One of his early opponents said 'everything went all fuzzy, gradually all at once' and it was a little bit like that facing Riquelme.
"He would gradually pick holes in your defence and suddenly the roof would fall in when he'd slide that precision pass between your two defenders and play in his centre-forward. Or score himself," said Tim of the "standard bearer of traditional Argentine football".
Las mejores imágenes de una carrera brillante con la azul y oro, los mejores recuerdos... pic.twitter.com/oaxSW1zj03
— Boca Jrs. Oficial (@BocaJrsOficial) January 27, 2015
