Football is a sport that is loved around the world. Fans in every country have great memories of their team winning trophies and favourite players scoring outrageous goals. Stories are told – and retold – for years by groups of fans and friends who live for the beautiful game.
But sometimes it is not the actual football that lives long in the memory. Players like Lionel Messi may win World Cups and feature on the best online betting sites, but there have been some crazy incidents over the years that might be being talked about even longer than Messi’s goals. Here are five of the weirdest.
Zinedine Zidane Head Butt
Zinedine Zidane is considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time. But he ended his career in spectacular fashion. The scene was set perfectly. In his final game he walked out onto the pitch for a World Cup final. What more fitting way could the French playmaker hang up his boots?
Well, at least his last game was memorable. Zidane had actually given France an early lead over Italy, but the game had gone to extra time and there was not that long to go before the dreaded penalties. That’s when Zidane inexplicably head butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi. He was immediately sent off and Italy went on to win the World Cup.
Eric Cantona Kung-Fu Kick
This crazy incident didn’t officially happen on the football pitch. But it definitely warrants a place on the list. Cantona had signed for Manchester United from Leeds and had become a firm fans’ favourite for his incredible talent. But he was also known for having something of a temper.
During a game at Crystal Palace in 1995, Cantona kicked out at Richard Shaw and was sent off by the ref. As he walked down the side of the pitch towards the tunnel, Cantona suddenly leapt into the crowd and planted a flying kung-fu kick into a Palace fan that had been verbally abusing him. He is still loved by United fans to this day.
Luis Figo And The Pig’s Head
There have been lots of things thrown onto football pitches by fans over the years. But this is probably the weirdest. Luis Figo was the greatest player of his day and had become a club legend at Barcelona after moving from his native Portugal. But after five years he did the unthinkable.
After becoming unhappy at the Camp Nou, Figo signed for bitter rivals Real Madrid. He actually continued his incredibly successful career and became one of the famous Real galacticos of the early 2000s. But when he returned to Barcelona for a game in 2002, one angry fan threw a full pig’s head at him while he attempted to take a corner. The head is apparently now in the Barcelona museum.
Beach Ball Football
During a Premier League game in 2009, Sunderland scored one of the most bizarre goals of all time. Darren Bent claimed the strike but the last touch was not from any of the players on the pitch – but from an errant beach ball thrown from the crowd. Liverpool fans behind the goal had attempted to create a party atmosphere with the inflatables before the match.
Bent had signed from Spurs only months earlier and was hoping to make a big impression. But when he collected the ball on the edge of the area he could only manage a tame shot that looked like being easily dealt with by the Liverpool keeper. That’s when the ball ricocheted off the beach ball and went in the other direction into the net. It ended up being the only goal of the game.
Warring Teammates
Football managers regularly look to their players to show that they have the passion and desire to win games. This is usually shown in the fearless performances where the player battles for every ball and shows real fight for his team. But two Newcastle United players took that attitude too far in 2005.
In a Premier League game against Aston Villa, Newcastle were not doing very well and Kieron Dyer got increasingly upset that teammate Lee Bowyer was not passing to him. But instead of having a quiet word, he started fighting Bowyer and the two were involved in a full-on scrap. Both players were sent off and Newcastle ended up losing 3-0 to round off a miserable day.
