#3 Pepe
For years, Pepe has been regarded as a dirty player who batters people in the field. The Portuguese defender has kicked people in the head, elbowed people, stood on people and aggravated fans, whilst also play acting to the finest degree for someone who is meant to be a defensive “hard man”.
Despite his success on the pitch for Porto, Real Madrid and for Portugal, Pepe is generally hated for his antics and is recognised as one of the dirtiest players in the game, as opposed to an endearing one (yes, such a thing exists).
However, it was always against Barcelona where Pepe let the world see what he was capable of, nearly breaking Dani Alves’ leg in a Champions League semi-final, and being as destructive as possible every time Messi and his team came to town.
What made it worse was that Pepe knew exactly what he was doing, and it was all part of his plan. His displays of violence and play-acting is what made him the player he was and still is to this day. Some people love it, the majority hate it but, nevertheless, Pepe will go down in football history as someone who fans loved to hate, despite his success for club and country.
