Ovaj text je vezan za vise liga ali sam ga ovde stavio zbog legende Vassella koji je sebi zabio borer u nogu. I Miki je nasao svoje mjesto u ovom tekstu.
Football's freak injuries
Injuries are part and parcel of the game of football and every
professional player is well aware that a career threatening problem
could be just around the corner. It would therefore seem reasonable to
assume that these perfectly tuned athletes would take great care of
themselves but, as Rangers midfielder Kirk Broadfoot highlighted this
week, that does not seem to be the case.
The 25-year-old Scotland international became another on the ever
growing list of unfortunates to suffer bizarre injuries when he managed
to explode an egg in his own face.
The peckish Gers star was poaching the offending oeuf in
the microwave but when he opened the oven's door scalding hot liquid
squirted onto his face and had to be taken to an Ayrshire hospital. But
as the Scot faces up to the barrage of banter that will surely follow
his misfortune, Broadfoot can console himself with the fact that he is
not the only player to suffer an embarrassing food-related injury.
Back
in 2001 veteran goalkeeper Dave Beasant, who famously became the first
player to save a penalty in an FA Cup final as Wimbledon stunned
Liverpool 1-0 in 1988, hungrily loaded up with provisions only for a
bottle of salad cream to slip from his grasp. With his hands full, the
Southampton stopper stuck out a foot to catch the bottle and severed
the tendon in his big toe; leaving him sidelined for two months.
German
international Norbert Nigbur suffered a worse fate when dining with his
fiancée. At the end of the meal, the goalkeeper tried to stand up only
to find his knee had locked and he'd suffered a torn meniscus. The
injury required immediate surgery on the eve of Euro 1980 and Harold
Schumacher took the Schalke 04 player's place between the posts as West
Germany won the championships.
But football's hapless players are
not limited to just food faux pas; animals also play an amusing part
and there is a whole range of sub categories, ranging from sheer
stupidity and extreme misfortune.
Paolo Diogo falls into the
latter category. His goal celebration with the Servette fans back in
December 2004 ended when the midfielder's moment of ecstasy turned to
agony. The Swiss player jumped into the crowd to celebrate his goal
against FC Schaffhausen only to tear off the top half of his finger as
his wedding ring caught on the perimeter fence.
Diogo, who had
the remainder of his finger amputated down the first joint on doctors'
advice, is not the only player who has found celebrating a little
tricky. In February 2004, Fenerbahce's Volkan Demirel was sidelined for
three weeks after he dislocated his shoulder when he fell over whilst
throwing his shirt to fans following a 2-1 win against arch-rivals
Galatasaray.
In May 2000, Thierry Henry caught one in the eye
when he went to the corner of the pitch to celebrate scoring Arsenal's
winning goal against Chelsea and required treatment after hitting
himself in the face with the corner flag - as did Italy's Marco
Tardelli at the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain
If those poor souls can be classed as unfortunate then the next category could certainly come under the banner of 'stupidity'.
Top
of the pile has to be former England striker Darius Vassell who back in
2003 injured himself whilst attempting to perform surgery on his own
foot with a power tool. The Aston Villa forward had a blood blister
under the toe-nail on his big toe and used a power drill to bore
through the nail and drain the wound. The DIY operation failed but
Vassell, now playing his football with Manchester City, succeeded in
picking up a toe infection that required medical attention and resulted
in having his nail removed.
In another medical calamity,
Brazilian striker Ramalho was once bed-ridden for three days after
swallowing a large pill doctors had given him to treat a dental
infection. The problem was the suppository should have been taken
anally.
And whilst we have lowered the tone a mention must also
go to Stuttgart Kickers' Sascha Bender, whose persistent flatulence
resulted in a facial injury after disgruntled team-mate Christian
Okpala punched him. "He permanently provoked me by farting all the
time," Okpala explained.
Eye injuries also seem to be a common
theme amongst the wounded footballers of the world. Antigua goalkeeper,
and landscape gardener, Janiel Simon was forced to miss his side's
World Cup qualifier against Cuba in 2008 after damaging his right eye
with a "weed-whacker", which left him needing surgery and 50/50 chance
of regaining his sight.
And Croatia forward Milan Rapaic, capped 49 times for his country,
once missed the start of Hajduk Split's season after sticking his
boarding-pass in his eye at the airport.
Quite why anybody
would do such a thing is baffling and it is diffcult to feel sympathy
for players who wound themselves, but the next two characters had the
extreme misfortune to encounter animals hell bent on destruction.
During
the 1970s, Norway defender Svein Grondalen, who is widely remembered
for the tough tackle that injured Swede Ralf Edström in 1977, went for
a jog as he prepared for an international match only to collide with a
moose. Although he had to pull out of the game he did recover and go on
to represent his country in four World Cup qualifying campaigns.
However,
Indonesian footballer Mistar wasn't so lucky. The 25-year-old was
tragically killed by a stampede of pigs which overran his team's
training pitch before a fixture in 1995.
With all that danger on
and off the pitch it might be tempting for footballers just to lay-low
at home but even their multi-million pound houses are fraught with
danger.
Simply sitting still can cause all manner of problems as
England international Rio Ferdinand can attest. In January 2001 the
Leeds United star managed to damage his knee while relaxing in front of
the telly with his feet up on a coffee table. The £18m signing, now
playing for Manchester United, strained a tendon because he kept his
knee in the same position for a number of hours.
And hunting for
the TV remote can be equally painful as sitting still. Italian
goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini and Ireland striker Robbie Keane have both
injured their knees hunting for the channel changer and former England
No.1 David Seaman, who once put his shoulder out reeling in a 26lb carp
whilst fishing, broke a bone reaching for his TV remote.
Over in
Spain Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares wrecked his dream of
playing at the 2002 World Cup finals after an incident with an
aftershave bottle that resulted in serious tendon damage. The Spaniard
accidentally smashed a bottle of cologne on the side of his sink and
cut into the tendon in his big toe.
It would seem that nowhere is
safe for the modern-day footballer and even if they do actually make it
onto the pitch unscathed there is no guarantee they will make it to the
start of the match. Numerous players have been injured warming up for
the main event, but none so comically as Richard Wright.
Whilst
at Everton the goalkeeper, who had previously been sidelined after
falling from his loft, ignored a sign warning players not to warm up in
the goalmouth. He promptly tripped over the sign and injured his ankle.
“Kam hit this tight end SO HARD, I swear I saw that TE’s soul leave Qwest Field right on that 35 yard line.”
