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Perhaps the most famous 'will he or won't he?' as regards to the availability of a player in a game of football took place ahead of the 1998 World Cup final in Paris, when Brazilian superstar Ronaldo had gone down with a fit. It remains a mystery but eventually, he played the game and put in a performance that showed that he not at 100%.
Players often miss out on games due to injuries or in some cases due to personal issues. However, over the years, there have been instances when professional footballers have been forced to miss a match due to absolutely bizarre reasons. So, here is a look at 5 of the most incredible reasons why some footballers missed a game.
#5 Rogue aftershave bottle crushes Canizares' World Cup dream
Former Spain and Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares was one of the top goalkeepers of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was the part of the legendary Valencia side that had reached the UEFA Champions League final twice in 2000 and 2001. Naturally, it was a given that he would be the man to go to Japan and Korea as Spain's number 1 goalkeeper for the 2002 World Cup.
He had been duly selected as the number 1 but then things a bizarre turn. One fine day, a few weeks ahead of the tournament, Canizares dropped his bottle of aftershave and in the process, the tendon in his toe came undone. There was no chance that he was going to come back from the injury to be ready for the World Cup and Iker Casillas took his place in the side. The rest, to use a cliché, is history.
#4 An eye injury rules out Philippe Mexes from Champions League tie
Back in November 2013, AC Milan's French defender Philippe Mexes was an important member of the side and he was all set to be part of the playing squad for the tie against Celtic in the UEFA Champions League. However, he complained that he was suffering from an eye injury and hence, had to be dropped from the side.
While the eye injury bit did not raise many eyebrows, the reason behind the problem was absolutely bonkers and the details emerged later on, long after Milan had won the game 3-0. In medical terms, Mexes suffered from what is known as central serous retinopathy but the media in Italy reported that Mexes had spent a bit too long under his sunbed in order to get a tan and that had precipitated the injury to his eye.
The vice-president of the club Adriano Galliani was dumbfounded and could only describe the issue as 'bizarre'.
#3 Rio Ferdinand's gaming problems
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is perhaps one of the greatest defenders to have ever played in the Premier League and his career has seen him miss games due to a range of injuries. However, the injury that he suffered during his stint at Leeds United, a club which he represented for 2 years between 2000 and 2002, will go down in the hall of fame of bizarre injuries.
Like most footballers, Rio is also a bit of a gaming freak and in a particularly 'gruelling' session of play, he had rested his legs on the coffee table for the duration of the time that he played Pro Evolution Soccer on his Play Station. However, it proved to be a problem as Ferdinand suffered a leg injury ended up missing games, while his manager must have torn his hair out wondering what to do without their best defender.
#2 David Batty is clattered by a tricycle
Former England international David Batty was known for being an unforgiving midfielder, who was known to snap at any opponent who had the ball in midfield. That being said, his Achilles tendon injury was something that gave the former Leeds United player a lot of grief throughout the course of his career and what he did not need was another freak incident that further aggravated it.
However, that is exactly what happened with Batty back in the day when he seemed to be at ease at his residence. Batty seemed to be in no particular danger but he had not yet accounted for his own toddler, who proved to be a menace. The toddler, who was having a good time at home, ran over Batty's leg with the tricycle and in the process, sent the England footballer into another spell on the sidelines.
#1 Marco Asensio's grooming routine goes awry
Real Madrid's 21-year-old forward Marco Asensio is possibly one of the biggest attacking talents in world football at the moment and he is as fit as anyone, yet his grooming routine seemed to go completely against him ahead of the club's first game in the Champions League this year.
Like any true blue millennial, Asensio shaves his legs ahead of games and that is probably the part of the grooming routine of most footballers of his age. However, on this particular occasion things did not go to plan since he supposedly had a pimple on one of his legs and after he ran his razor over it, he contracted an infection.
Has there ever been anything as incredibly ludicrous that forced a star player to miss a game? Perhaps not but the way Asensio's grooming routing went awry must have had plenty of people in splits all over the world.
