Centre-half

The centre-half is the central defender in Association football (soccer).
In modern association football the play is more fluid than it was in the past. However, the centre-half is still the player most charged to nullify the opposition's centre-forward or main goal scorer. Originally, his role was to tackle the opposition's centre-forward.
Now his role is often seen as the distributor of the ball after his side have got possession of the ball.
This requires intelligence, whereas the role of stopper requires more physical skills.