Most American football players would say that “soccer”, as they call it, is a delicate game. But is this really true? Most football fans would, of course, disagree. The reason is rather simple: there are many aggressive players who sometimes even commit very serious fouls.
Have you ever thought about some of the most aggressive and worst fouls in football? What about the consequences they had both for the players who have committed them as well as for the players that have sustained them? The list can be extensive, but I’ve found some of the goriest ones.
Martin Taylor’s Tackle on Eduardo
The Premier League match confronting Birmingham and Arsenal had something quite unexpected. As soon as the game began, in the 3rd minute, Martin Taylor had a barbaric tackle on Eduardo.
This was definitely one of the worst football fouls as Taylor put a huge amount of pressure on Eduardo’s calf. The referee showed a red card immediately. Eduardo took a long time to recover after this.
De Jong Foul on Alonso
While we’re all aware that many fouls have the aim to hurt other players, De Jong’s foul was allegedly an accident. This happened during the World Cup 2010 finals. In the first half, De Jong and Xabi Alonso were running towards the ball.
Then, De Jong Raised his leg pretty high and kicked Alonso in the chest. He only got the yellow card for one of the worst fouls in football. Luckily, Alonso continued to play. It was a real miracle for Alonso to have gotten away with nothing more but a few scratches.
Roy Keene Tackle on Alf Inge Haaland
The incident that happened in the early 20th century involved Alf Inge Haaland, the father of Erling Haaland. The clash between Man United and Man City witnessed one of the worst football fouls.
Roy Keene and Haaland had some minor clashes before, but it all culminated when, in 1997, Keene wanted to tackle Haaland and injured himself. Haaland accused Keene of faking the injury, which Keene took personally.
Later, in the Man Utd vs Man City duel, Keene made a disastrous tackle with the intent to hurt Halaand. He got a red card and had to pay a fine of hundreds of pounds.
The rumour has it that Erling Halaand refused to sign Manchester United later on because of this. Also, some fans claim that this tackle inspired Erling to play exceptionally well against United.
Harald Schumacher on Patrick Battiston
A long time ago, the World Cup 1982 semi-finals featured a match between Germany and France. It was a very tough and rough game throughout the entire 90-minute period. In one moment, the French player, Battiston, rushed towards the ball.
The German goalkeeper, Schumacher, went for the ball, too. They collided and the Schumarcher’s hip hit Battiston’s face. This was one of the worst fouls in football for sure, but Schumacher got no cards while Battiston lost several teeth.
