The Brazilian captain Thiago Silva, regarded by some commentators as the best defender in the world, is another strong Christian. As a young, up-and-coming footballer he played for a short time in Moscow and there he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Coming near to death, he was also at one point told by doctors that he might lose one lung, and he was forced to miss an entire season of soccer.

He has no doubts about the nature of his subsequent miraculous recovery. “God saved me,” he has declared