The 15 strangest injuries in football
From runaway cows, to puppy pee and poached eggs - injury can strike a footballer anywhere, as these unfortunate few will attest.
Herenveen defender Rami Kaib broke the internet, and his jaw this week after chomping into a carrot ruling him out for five-weeks.
Kaib is in illustrious company among these unfortunate footballers who succumbed to a freak injury.
Carlos Tevez, takes a knock in prison
Carlos Tevez traded team-mate for inmate when the former Manchester United star took part in a ‘friendly’ kick-around, while visiting his half-brother in a South American prison. What could possibly go wrong?
Boca was incensed when its star striker returned with a calf injury, which ruled him out for a month. In hindsight, perhaps things could have ended much worse for the then 34 year-old.
This story is no bull! Queen of the South of goalkeeper Sam Henderson was struck by a runaway cow while visiting is dad’s farm in 2018, ruling him out of contention for the Scottish side for a couple of weeks.
The 22 year-old left parted ways with the club soon after and more recently, has been a free agent since leaving Lincoln City in July. Henderson would be open to any offers from a club, provided it's based well away from any rogue livestock.
Dave Beasant, drops a salad jar
Beasant fought his way back into the Chelsea team after being told he would never play for the Blues again, but during pre-season in 1993, the football gods sealed his fate at Stamford Bridge.
Beasant dropped a 2kg jar of salad cream on his big toe, severing tendons and effectively ending his Chelsea career.
Darren Barnard slips on dog pee 1999
Darren Barnard enjoyed plenty of highs in a successful five-years at Barnsley, despite a five-month lay-off after slipping on some liquid gold left by his puppy on the kitchen floor.
Relive the bizarre incident in all its glory through this quirky animation from Norway’s Asle Roglinen.
Marco Asensio, shaving his legs
Marco Asensio missed the opening match of Real Madrid’s 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League campaign due to an infected pimple which emerged after the Spaniard shaved his legs.
Assumably, Asensio was priming himself to be more aerodynamic for the big game.
David Beckham, hit in the head by a stray boot
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is renowned for his ‘hairdryer’ treatment in the dressing room after losing. David Beckham should have known better than to sit in close proximity to the fiery Scotsman after the Red Devils lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup in 2003.
Sir Alex sprayed his players, then opted to put the boot in (quite literally), by kicking a stray cleat into the face of England heartthrob David Beckham.
Becks required stitches and left for Real Madrid soon after the heated exchange, which Fergie recounted in his autobiography:
"In his final season with us, we were aware that David's work rate was dropping and we had heard rumours of a flirtation between Real Madrid and David's camp," Fergie wrote.
"The main issue was that his application level had dropped from its traditionally stratospheric level.
"He was around 12 feet from me. Between us on the floor lay a row of boots. David swore. I moved towards him, and as I approached I kicked a boot. It hit him right above the eye. Of course he rose to have a go at me and the players stopped him. 'Sit down,' I said. 'You've let your team down. You can argue as much as you like.'"
Michael Stensgaard, moving an ironing board
During his time at Liverpool in 1994, Michael Stensgaard dislocated his shoulder while moving an ironing board.
“I actually dislocated my shoulder in training originally and we were trying to rebuild the muscles,” Stensgaard said.
“Then I was just moving my ironing board at home because it was in the way and my shoulder just popped out when I lifted it! So it was obviously too weak.
“It was going to happen anyway, whether I had moved a box or if I was back in training. It was just a matter of time before it popped out – if it could do that when I was just moving something then it was clearly not strong enough.”
Stensgaard only amassed 36 league appearances in an eight-year career, due in part, to his horrible luck with injuries.
Ever Banega, hit by his own car
During his time at Valencia, Banega managed to run himself over by forgetting to engage the handbrake while filling up at the petrol station. A harmless mistake, with devastating consequences.
The car rolled back, trapping his left leg and fracturing his tibia and fibula. The Argentina international needed surgery and the freak mishap had him sidelined for six-months.
David Batty versus his three year-old daughter
Leeds enforcer David Batty rarely came of second-best in a 50-50 challenge, but the midfielder crumbled in a collision with his three year-old daughter in 1999.
Perhaps the unwavering self-belief of an infant gave his daughter the edge, but as she took Batty on with her trike, he was left reeling with a damaged achilles tendon.
Rio Ferdinand, gaming
There can be too much of a good thing, as Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand knows first hand.
In his downtime between training, the tireless defender would do a little extra video analysis, using Pro Evolution Soccer on Playstation.
In an injury more befitting to a sedentary sloth, Rio strained his knee by putting his feet up on the coffee table for too long.
Santiago Canizares's shattered World Cup dream
Santiago Canizares came up through the ranks at Real Madrid, but struggled to cement himself as Spain’s first choice goalkeeper, until his big chance came while playing for Valencia in 2002.
In the lead up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup while travelling with the national team, Canizares dropped a bottle of aftershave on his foot, severing tendons in his foot.
His dream of representing Spain in Korea was shattered to pieces, along with his favourite bottle of Eau De Parfum.
Darius Vassell, DI'why'
The versatile electric drill be used to fix a lot of things, but as Darius Vassell will attest, it doesn’t do much good for a troublesome blister.
Vassell missed several games for Aston Villa in 2003, after trying a bit of ‘DIY’ on the blister buried beneath his big toe.
The attacker thought he could simply drill through the nail to drain the blister, and return to playing pain-free. Easy in theory, disastrous in practices as the England international was left with a blood infection, requiring real medical attention.
No wonder surgeons need to go through years of stringent training to be qualified.
Kevin Prince Boateng, bonks till he drops
AC Milan’s coveted medical team were left mystified by Kevin Prince Boateng’s run of injuries in 2012, until his wife Melissa Satta-Boateng gave her assessment.
The Italian TV Presenter cited the couples raging sex life as the root cause, revealing the injuries were linked to their frequent romping ‘seven to ten times a week.’
Kirk Broadfoot, left with egg on his face
Inverness defender Kirk Broadfoot had egg on his face (literally) after a freak injury while playing for Rangers in 2009.
The intricacies of a poached egg were lost on the Scotland international, who instead opted for the microwave to cook his eggs.
The move backfired spectacularly, with Broadfoot sent to hospital with scalding burns to his face. Broadfoot was recovering from an unrelated injury at the time, but this epic fail was too good to leave out.
