Over a pint in my local recently the conversation turned to the so called “hard man,” John Terry, and his tears after missing a penalty in the Champions League final. It got me thinking about the days when men were men and the role of the enforcer in a football team was as important as the goal scorer.
In times gone by these characters were commonplace, but now I fear the days of the hard man are over. With players in the top flight so valuable and highly paid maybe they are gone forever. It’s a damn shame.
How entertaining would it be to see Cristiano Ronaldo step-overing his way into a two-footed tackle by Stuart Pearce? Or Frank Lampard catching a Norman Hunter left hook?
In the 1956 FA Cup final Bert Trautmen played on with a broken neck. In 2003 Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand was out for three weeks after sitting still for too long.
Do you know of any players with a blood lust like the sadistic Androni Goikoetxia, who was so pleased at smashing Diego Maradona’s ankle that he kept the boot he used to do it in a glass box as a trophy.
Are there any destroyers that you know of kicking around in the lower leagues? Have you witnessed any acts of extreme bravery or barbarism in your local team?
Please restore my belief that there are still players out there care more about the shirt and being hard than they do about their pink boots and designer haircuts.