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Footballers are human beings adore the the leisure of us, and while we must not inquire them to never manufacture mistakes on or off the pitch… they attain.
However the next went above and past in their courting of effort. Here are the most controversial footballers of all time.
32. Toni Schumacher
Schumacher turned into liable for one in every of the most infamous fouls of all time. At the 1982 World Cup, the Germany goalkeeper came charging out of his box and crashed into France striker Patrick Battison mid-air.
Battison turned into knocked out and left with cracked ribs and broken tooth. Schumacher turned into unrepentant, insisting he turned into true going for the ball.
31. Dennis Clever
Clever made his title at Wimbledon as a member of the substandard ‘Crazy Gang’. The limited midfielder once broke a Leicester crew-mate’s nose in coaching, while at Chelsea he turned into stripped of the captaincy after assaulting a taxi driver.
The midfielder furthermore had bust-u.s.a.with Patrick Vieira, Nicky Butt and Muzzy Izzet throughout his taking half in days.
30. Norman Hunter
Someone nicknamed ‘Bites Yer Legs’ is sure to rub about a opponents up the sinister manner. Hunter turned into a pillar of Don Revie’s ‘dirty Leeds’ facet, where he turned into identified for his great blueprint to opposition strikers.
Hunter and Derby’s Franny Lee once had an on-field boxing match, while on one other event the centre-abet traded blows with Chelsea’s Ian Hutchinson.
29. Gerardo Bedoya
Bedoya is a checklist-holder: no player in world soccer has been shown more red cards. The Colombian, identified as ‘the Beast’ abet dwelling, turned into sent off 46 instances between 1995 and 2015.
His most substandard dismissal came in 2012 when he elbowed Jhonny Ramirez after which kicked him in the head for excellent measure. Bedoya turned into suspended for 15 video games.
28. Antonio Cassano
A tempestuous skill, Cassano did sportive issues the total manner at some point of his profession. The attacker on a conventional basis fell out with managers, locking horns with Fabio Capello, Luigi Delneri and Andrea Stramaccioni amongst others.
At Accurate Madrid Cassano turned into criticised for his unhappy weight reduction program, however the Italian blamed his weight develop on the club’s sponsorship address Nutella.
27. Duncan Ferguson
While taking half in for Rangers in 1994, Ferguson headbutted John McStay of Raith Rovers. The striker turned into charged with assault and, thanks to prior convictions, turned into sentenced to a couple months in penitentiary.
Finally of his time south of the border with Everton, Ferguson turned into sent off eight instances. No one in Premier League history has been shown more red cards.
26. Pepe
A wind-up merchant of the excellent yell, Pepe seemed incapable of minding his contain exchange on the soccer field.
He had a temper too. The Portuguese turned into brushed off on the 2014 World Cup for headbutting Thomas Muller. He once stamped on Lionel Messi’s hand and kicked Getafe’s Javier Casquero in the abet earlier than pushing his head to the ground. Brutal.
25. Billy Bremner
A considerable midfielder for Don Revie’s facet, Bremner turned into key to striking the ‘dirty’ in ‘dirty Leeds’. The Scot scrapped with Kevin Keegan in the 1974 Neighborhood Defend, ensuing in an 11-sport suspension.
In 1975 the Scottish Soccer Affiliation banned Bremner from the nationwide crew for existence after an alleged nightclub fight.
24. Lee Bowyer
In conjunction with Leeds crew-mate Jonathan Woodgate, Bowyer turned into arrested after a pupil turned into left with severe injuries at a nightclub. On one other event, the midfielder turned into convicted of affray after throwing chairs at and racially abusing a McDonald’s employee.
At Newcastle, Bowyer obtained into an unparalleled on-pitch fight with his crew-mate Kieron Dyer vs Aston Villa with both avid gamers asked to disappear the pitch.
23. Vinnie Jones
Extra of a pantomime villain at instances – evaluate his grabbing of Paul Gascoigne’s testicles – Jones can be downright substandard when he wished to be. The chief of Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’, he turned into sent off 12 instances throughout his profession.
In 1992, Jones turned into fined £20,000 for presenting a Soccer’s Laborious Males video which purportedly encouraged violent on-field acts.
22. Ben Thatcher
A Premier League player for Wimbledon, Tottenham, Leicester and Manchester City, Thatcher had a violent hotfoot. In 2000 he turned into banned for 2 video games for deliberately elbowing Sunderland’s Nicky Summerbee.
His most unfriendly act came six years later, when the left-abet knocked out Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes with a brutal, intentional elbow payment. He turned into banned for eight fits.
21. Kevin Muscat
Muscat played soccer with cramped regard for the regulations of the game or the limbs of his opponents. Finally of his time at Rangers, the Australian turned into never picked for an Ragged Firm sport as he turned into deemed too worthy of a anguish to opponents.
He ended his profession following a horrendous address on Adrian Zahra earned him an eight-match ban.
20. Ashley Cole
Regarded as one of the fundamental excellent English defenders ever, Cole courted controversy when he joined Chelsea from Arsenal in 2006. Each he and the Blues were fined for a tapping-up meeting, as turned into the club’s supervisor Jose Mourinho.
Reflecting upon a recommendation of £55,000 per week to preserve at Arsenal, Cole mentioned that the proposal left him “trembling with arouse”.
19. Craig Bellamy
A complicated character at some point of his profession, there would possibly be no longer passable condominium here to checklist the total folk Bellamy fell out with.
His most memorable bust-up came throughout his time at Liverpool, when he struck his drowsing crew-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club following a coaching-floor dispute earlier that day. Bellamy well-liked his next scheme with a golf swing.
18. Marco Materazzi
In a single sense Materazzi turned into the sufferer when he clashed with Zinedine Zidane on the 2006 World Cup. However few had sympathy for the headbutted Italian, who allegedly insulted the Frenchman’s sister.
His aggressive trend of defending brought Materazzi many rather hundreds of enemies, he once busted the lip of Siena’s Bruno Cirillo after punching him in the dressing room.
17. Romario
In 1994 Romario turned into hit with a five-sport ban after punching Diego Simeone – a in actual fact audacious however indirectly foolish act. The next year he walked out on Barcelona after one argument too many with Johan Cruyff.
After falling out with Edmundo, Romario stuck a cartoon of his ex-crew-mate above the boys’s toilets at a bar he owned.
16. Diego Costa
The Brazil-born Costa turned into hardly ever the toast of the city when he seemed at a World Cup in his dwelling nation… taking half in for Spain.
Within the Premier League, the frail Chelsea striker stamped on Emre Can, slapped Laurent Koscielny, and turned into accused of biting Gareth Barry. “My challenges are sturdy however noble,” he mentioned, significantly unconvincingly.
15. Sergio Ramos
Liverpool followers were irate when Mohamed Salah obtained injured in the 2018 Champions League final, accusing Sergio Ramos of deliberately injuring their famous person man.
That turned into one in every of many scrapes Ramos has been all for. He turned into sent off 28 instances at Accurate Madrid and PSG, and once obtained a two-sport ban for deliberately getting booked in the Champions League.
14. Andoni Goikoetxea
Because it’s probably you’ll perhaps well guess from his moniker, the ‘Butcher of Bilbao’ turned into no longer jumpy to earn stuck in. Goikoetxea’s most controversial moment came in 1983, when a brutal address on Barcelona’s Diego Maradona left the Argentine with a broken ankle.
The next year, Goikoetxea kicked Maradona in the chest throughout a mass brawl. One other time, he severely injured Bernd Schuster.
13. Carlos Tevez
Manchester United followers were up in arms when Tevez joined their rivals Manchester City in 2009 – and heaps more so when he later held up a ‘RIP Fergie’ signal.
In 2011, the City striker allegedly refused to advance abet on as a replace against Bayern Munich. Tevez turned into positioned on gardening disappear and spent his ruin day taking half in golf in Argentina.
12. El Hadji Diouf
At instances Diouf true would possibly perhaps well no longer preserve his mouth shut. He turned into embroiled in just a few spitting incidents in England, most notoriously when he expectorated in the face of Portsmouth defender Arjan de Zeeuw.
Diouf turned into later accused of taunting Jamie Mackie as he lay with a broken leg, ensuing in Neil Warnock branding him “lower than a sewer rat”.
11. Rene Higuita
The scorpion kick against England turned into in step with Higuita’s eccentric character. This turned into a goalkeeper who on a conventional basis dribbled the ball out of his box (Cameroon striker Roga Milla robbed him on the 1990 World Cup) and continuously into the opposition half.
In 1993 the Colombian turned into locked up for seven months for his characteristic in a Pablo Escobar-linked kidnapping.
10. Edmundo
A 39-time Brazil worldwide, Edmundo loved himself off the pitch as properly as on it. Within the center of 1998/ninety 9, he left table-topping Fiorentina to attend the Rio Carnaval. The club’s manufacture dipped and so that they neglected out on the title.
At one other Carnaval, a drunk Edmundo crashed his car and triggered the deaths of three folk. He turned into nicknamed ‘O Animal’.
9. John Terry
A Chelsea yarn, Terry loved a vastly winning profession – nevertheless it turned into no longer without its contentious episodes. Foremost amongst them turned into being found responsible by the Soccer Affiliation of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
In 2009 Terry allegedly had a fourth-month affair with Vanessa Perroncel, an ex-female friend of his frail crew-mate Wayne Bridge.
8. Roy Keane
Keane turned into one to preserve a grudge. Four years after a walk-in with Alf-Inge Haaland, the Manchester United captain crashed his studs into his opponent’s knee in a premeditated assault.
Keane famously left the Eire camp earlier than the 2002 World Cup, while different on-field misdemeanours contain stamping on Gareth Southgate and elbowing Jason McAteer. Shearer obtained off evenly.
7. Nicolas Anelka
Nicknamed ‘Le Sulk’ by the English media, Anelka did no longer contain the sunniest demeanour. The striker turned into sent dwelling from the 2010 World Cup after launching correct into a unsuitable-mouthed tirade against France supervisor Raymond Domenech.
In 2013 Anelka well-liked a scheme for West Brom by doing the quenelle, a gesture which has been labelled an inverted Nazi salute.
6. Mario Balotelli
Why continuously you, Mario? Successfully, you did wear an AC Milan shirt while taking half in for Inter; you did let off fireworks inside your contain condominium; and likewise you did throw darts at a Manchester City formative years-teamer on the club’s coaching floor.
A brilliant character and all-spherical cult figure, Balotelli turned into furthermore an immensely proficient prospect who never fulfilled his true capacity.
5. Joey Barton
Controversy dogged Barton’s profession from delivery to attain. He once stubbed a cigar out in a young player’s see, while a coaching-floor fight with Ousmane Dabo left the latter unconscious and landed Barton with a suspended penitentiary sentence.
In April 2017 he turned into banned for 18 months after being found responsible of breaching making a guess principles. It effectively ended his taking half in profession.
4. Paolo Di Canio
A self-professed fascist, Di Canio has Benito Mussolini-inspired tattoos and turned into pictured on higher than one event giving a straight-arm salute to Lazio followers. He attended the funeral of Paolo Signorelli, a some distance-true figure all for a deadly terrorist attack in 1980.
In 1998 the Sheffield Wednesday striker turned into banned for 11 video games for pushing over referee Paul Alcock.
3. Luis Suarez
When it involves footballing controversy, Suarez turned into on the total responsible of biting off higher than he would possibly perhaps well bite. The Uruguayan sunk his tooth into three opponents throughout his profession, earning a cumulative ban of 26 video games.
Extra severely, Suarez turned into suspended for eight fits after being found responsible of racially abusing Patrice Evra in 2011.
2. Eric Cantona
Cantona had disciplinary problems at some point of his profession. He once punched an Auxerre crew-mate in the face and brushed off worldwide colleague Didier Deschamps as a “water-carrier”.
In 1996 Cantona kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter who had abused him. The fleet Manchester United man turned into hit with an eight-month suspension and a 120-hour community service yell.
1. Diego Maradona
Regarded as one of the fundamental excellent avid gamers ever, Maradona had his demons. A clear cocaine take a look at brought a 15-month ban, while he furthermore had alleged hyperlinks to Neopolitan criminals.
At the 1986 World Cup, the Argentine punched the ball into the England earn. “[It was] a cramped with the head of Maradona, and a cramped with the hand of God,” he famously grinned.