Right from inception, football has been a contact sport, and it has evolved over time from the hearty days of muddy pitches and agricultural tackles to more deadly tackles.
It’s very hard to fathom not having to see at least one rush of blood to the head from the players, which bring to fore that there is a probability a player gets booked before a game ends.
Sometimes in sport, particularly football its always mind disturbing how footballers contend with a lot of adrenaline, gigantic crowds, antagonizing opposition, and controversial referees.
Fine, you may say they’re professionals and they should be able to contend with all of that, however, we also need to note that they’re all human and not a robot, so in other words, when they misbehave on the pitch it’s quite understandable, but then there is always a need to be more professional.
“I’d waited long enough, I f**k him hard, the ball was there I think, take that you c***, and don’t ever stand over me sneering about fake injures”.
If these statements from former Manchester United captain and Irish legend Roy Keane to Alfe-Inge Haaland former Manchester City and Norway player were anything go by, then you will agree with me that some tackles are sometimes premeditated, while some are not.
As such, you want to ask yourself that with premeditated tackles and non-premeditated tackles, how do some players scaled through, what I term the hurdle of been booked, without receiving any card in the course of their footballing career without been sent off as a professional footballer.
Ironically, there are a lot of football stars who are clean, that is those who never got booked in the course of their footballing career and some that are still much active
Philip Lahm (Germany) & Raul Gonzalez (Spain)
In 2014, ‘Magic Dwarf’ as he was usually called by the fans, lay to bed his el grand legacy footballing career as a legend, before retiring there were questions from all corners that, would Lahm be able to avoid a red card before he retires?
Lo and behold the German international was fortunate enough to be classified among the players who never got sent off in his entire footballing career.
The former Bayern Munich captain played his entire career as a defender, and occasionally he was deployed into a deed lying midfield role when Pep Guardiola was in charge of the Bavarian team, and during his entire stint with Bayern Munich and Germany, he never received the dreaded early bath as the case may be.
In his entire career, Lahm played over 448 matches overall for club, while his international appearances also take a large chunk of over 113 caps for Germany, meanwhile how the ‘Magic Dwarf’ managed to escape being sent off or get red-carded still remain a mystery, which shows he was one of the cool-headed players to ever played the round leather game.
Raul Gonzalez Blanco is arguably one of the men your mind would bend towards, the Real Madrid legend won almost everything during his dignified club and national career.
Raul had 683 appearances and scored 275 goals overall in all of the four clubs he played for professional, and during his incredible career he won the La Liga title, European Championship, and Champion League to name few, and to crown his illustrious career the Spaniard was never given a marching order both at the club and national level.
Gary Lineker (England) & Damien Duff (Ireland)
Lineker was regarded as one of the greatest English strikers, also the former Three Lions forward is also the only player to have been the top scorer in England with three clubs, Everton, Leicester City, and Tottenham Hotspur.
The amazing thing about his career is that he never received a yellow or a red card during his 16-year career both at club level and national team, and as a result of that he was honored by FIFA with the FIFA Play Award in 1990.
Lineker’s career comes with over 647 competitive games and a total of 258 goals, after he laid his career to bed he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, which is a testament to how fantastic the career of the former Barcelona forward was.
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Damien Duff also falls among the clean and no blemish players as the case may be in this piece, the former Irish winger did enjoy an illustrious career in the Premier League with Blackburn between 1996-2003 with 185 appearances, Chelsea in 2003-06 with 81 appearances and 14 goals, Newcastle in 2006-09 with 69 match appearances and 5 goals to his name.
Fulham with 130 match appearances and 15 goals. He also had a stint with Melbourne City and Shamrock Rovers where he had a combined 24 match appearances and one goal.
He also had over 100 caps at the national level for the Irish national team, amazingly during his footballing career, he racked in an incredible 589 games, scoring 70 times across his 18 years, and was never been sent off.
Ryan Giggs (Wales) & Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Former Wales and Manchester United legend played over 672 games for the Red Devils in his illustrious 24 years career, during all of this period the former United winger was never ordered off the pitch.
Meanwhile, Giggs only had one blemish on his career at the national level with the Welsh national team with 64 caps, when he was shown a second yellow in the 86th minute of his country’s World Cup qualifier against Norway
However, that doesn’t tarnish his unblemished club record where he never received a marching order.
Giggs won the FA Cup, two Champions League, a FIFA Club World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and nine FA Community Shield, no wonder he’s regarded as one of the most decorated footballers of all time during his stint with United which comes with 13 Premier League titles.
With Andres Iniesta on this list, you shouldn’t be surprised, the former Barcelona captain had shown over time while still very active that he’s a cool-headed player, the Spaniard had an amazing career filled with trophies at club and international levels.
Iniesta made his first-team debut at the age of 18 in 2002, in 2004-05 season he began playing regularly for the Catalan giant and since then he has been an integral member of the Barcelona team until 2018 when he left for Vissel Kobe in the Japanese league.
He made over 665 appearances for his club and country without been sent off, he was also part of the historic side that won the treble in 2009 and 2015, Iniesta’s 35 trophies include nine La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League, and many other trophies which makes him one of the most decorated Spanish footballer of all time.
Karim Benzema (France) & Michel Platini (France)
The Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema falls into the categories of football stars both active and retired who have never been sent off in the course of their careers, the Frenchman joined Los Blancos in 2009 with a transfer fee worth over €35 million.
He reached prominence in his second season with Real Madrid scoring 32 goals, having struggled in his debut season.
Since his second season, it has been success upon success for the former Lyon forward. He won the La Liga twice in 2011-12 and 2016-17, the Copa Del Rey titles twice also in 2010-11, and 2013-14, Supercopa De Espana in 2012, 2017, the UEFA Champions League in 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18.
The UEFA Super Cup in 2014, 2016, 2017 was also among the titles he won with Real Madrid, likewise the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018. He also had a decent time with the French national team up until his saga with the French FA, Benzema has played over 338 matches for the Los Blancos and still counting.
Although some of the younger generations may not have seen Michel Platini play, I believed the oldies can relate, the former Ballon d’Or winner could be referred to as a demigod for the french national team.
The triple Ballon d’Or winner played over 512 games for club and country without any disciplinary blemish to his name, the Frenchman said in a statement in 2014 “Football was more violent then, nowadays referees protect players better than before with yellow and red cards which is great for the spectacle”.
Platini doesn’t only hold a legendary status with the French national team, he was also well respected at Juventus, as such he is regarded as one the greatest footballers of all time, and in recognition of his achievements he was named a Chevalier of the Legio d’honneur in 1985 and became an officer in 1998.
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Gaetano Scirea (Italy) & Aaron Hughes (North Ireland)
Scirea is one of only five players in European football history to have won all international trophies for football clubs recognized by UEFA and FIFA.
The Italian is also one of only nine players in the history of European football that won all three major UEFA football tournaments, a feat he managed while playing for the ‘Old Lady’ Juventus, where he spent the majority of his career, before a stint with Atlanta.
He was unanimously regarded as a ‘Gentleman’ of Italian football, which really sounds weird if we are to look at how brutal Italian defenders could be. He distinguished himself for his honesty and elegance on and off the pitch, in his 16 years professional career he became the first player to win all three major UEFA club trophies alongside Antonio Cabrini.
Scirea played at the international level for the Azzurri national team for more than a decade, during which he was an undisputed member of Italy’s defensive line up until he retired in 1986, he won the world cup with the Italian national team in 1982.
He also played in two world cup where they finished fourth place in 1978, and the UEFA Euro in 1980 which they also finished fourth, he played over 513 games overall in his career and scored 25 goals, and during those periods the ‘Gentleman’ was never sent off.
The former Fulham defender Aaron Hughes, amassed over 455 appearances in the Premier League and over 103 caps for North Ireland without ever warranting a red card, which shows how cool-headed and disciplined Hughes was.
According to him, he believes “when you’re sent off, you’re instantly the loser”. very thoughtful of Hughes, because been sent off often gives more advantage to the opponent to do the damage in a match when a particular player receives a marching order.
Hughes is well renowned for his disciplined defending, and he mainly played as a center back but was also used at right-back or left-back, as well as a midfielder during his career in the Premier League.
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Giorgos Sideris (Greece) & Jan Popluhar (Czech)
Sideris led the Olympiacos attack for 11 years from 1959 and he was well renowned for his scoring prowess in Greece, he scored over 222 goals in 283 games including 70 goals in the Greek Cup and six in the final.
In 1970 he became the first Greek footballer to move abroad when he signed for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian league.
He was also known for his power and battles with defenders, and he became the leading scorer three times in the Greek championship with 29 goals in 1965, 22 goals in 1967, before he moved to Belgium having finished second behind Bulgarian Petar Zhekov, and throughout his career, he was never dismissed.
Another player that also falls on this list, is Popluhar, the former Slovan Bratislava defender played over 306 matches during his career, he was also voted the best Slovakian player of the 20th century.
He won the fair play award in 1967 for his discipline and was never sent off in 306 league fixtures and 62 international appearances for Slovakia.
Cuneyt Tanman (Turkey) & Andrej Kvasnak (Czech)
Tanman was known for his leadership quality and a refined captain for Galatasaray, he won two Turkish Championships and Cups with the Istanbul giant in 1980.
During his 17 years career, Tanman never saw red or been dismissed while playing actively as a professional footballer for Galatasaray and the Turkish national team.
Andrej Kvasnak played for Sparta Praha during his career, and during his stint with Praha, he was voted Sparta Praha player of the century.
He was also part of the Czech national team World Cup squad that finished runner up in 1962, Kvasnak was so disciplined that he was never sent in 433 club fixtures during his career, and was also famous for offering referees help in calming down any flashpoints.
Featured Image Source: The Sun
