Football Has Oddballs!

Sport is not just about heroes. It is also about GREAT CHARACTERS; they add spice to the riveting theatre that sport is. Over the last quarter of a century, the English Premier League has seen many of them. Like these gentlemen, whom P. K. AJITH KUMAR lists below.

- P. K. Ajith Kumar

ERIC CANTONA

He is widely regarded as the greatest player ever for Manchester United. The French forward was known not just for his sublime skills to score and create goals. One of his most talked about kicks, in fact, was not directed at the ball, not a player even. During an away match against Crystal Palace in 1995, he kicked at a fan, in true kung-fu style. It earned him a prison sentence, which, was then reduced to community service.

About the affair, he said famously at a press conference: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you.”

He said nothing more. Reporters were left to ponder about the meaning of that statement, for years.

Meanwhile, Cantona showed he had shooting skills of a different sort too: he began to act in films and plays, one of which was directed by his wife Rachida Brakni.

LUIS SUAREZ

Maybe it was in the fitness of things that Luis Suarez arrived at the Premier League while still serving a suspension for biting a player. That was in 2010 and he was with Ajax. His dental adventures would, of course, attract bigger attention globally later. He may have been dubbed the Cannibal of Ajax by a Dutch newspaper, but he had scored 111 goals from 159 matches for his club before he reached Anfield as one of Liverpool’s most expensive signings. Over the next four years, he proved he was worth the £22.8 million the club spent on him; he scored frequently and was named the PFA Player of the Year in 2014, his last year at the Premier League.

But, he also exasperated the Liverpool management on quite a few occasions. He was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra of Manchester United and biting Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea. He had also handled the ball before scoring against Mansfield Town in 2013.