8. Jiri Nemec
It’s easy to lose track of non-goal scoring players on lists such as these, but here we have a guy who scored just six goals in nearly 300 appearances with Schalke. Yet another member of the dual DFB-Pokal Cup winning heroics in 2001 and 2002, as well as a vital piece of the 1997 UEFA Cup winning squad, Nemec is remembered as someone who was the centerpiece of a massively successful side, arguably the best to never win the league.
He got an additional feather in his cap when he was awarded the Czech footballer of the year for his efforts in 1997.
While he had the likes of Ebbe Sand and Gerald Asamoah ahead of him, it was Nemec that coordinated the trophy-winning efforts from the center of the pitch, either as a midfielder or as a defender, where he split his time (though primarily serving as a midfielder).
Speaking of midfielders, let’s get to another at No. 7.