Bastian Schweinsteiger

Why this one matters.

“Wherever Schweinsteiger goes, winning seems to follow — the line printed on this card's back is barely an exaggeration. A product of Bayern Munich's academy, "Schweini" spent 13 trophy-laden seasons with the Bavarians, collecting eight Bundesliga titles and the 2013 treble crowned by the Champions League final at Wembley. A year later he gave Germany its finest hour since 1990: at the Maracana, his face bloodied and wrapped in bandages, he ran the World Cup final from midfield and converted the decisive last penalty in the shoot-out as Die Mannschaft beat Argentina 1-0. He succeeded Philipp Lahm as national captain, earned 121 caps, and then crossed the Atlantic to join Chicago Fire in MLS — a club that had finished last in both 2015 and 2016 — and, as the card's back records, helped lift them to third in the standings. What sets this particular Gold edition apart is its patch: a huge black-and-silver match-worn slice of the DFB federal eagle, the crest of the German FA, its wing feathers filling the shield-shaped window. Paired with the sweeping on-card gold signature graded a perfect Auto 10 by PSA/DNA (Cert 87273505), this 2/5 is the national-team-crest counterpart to the tri-color jersey patch edition — the eagle of German football, worn in battle and signed by the midfield warrior who carried it to the summit in Rio.”