Top 10 weird and funny injuries in football

Injuries are never too pleasant for anyone and many footballers have missed crucial matches and tournaments due to injuries.However, some injuries were caused due to some bizarre instances. These injuries though caused by weird circumstances have sometimes led to players missing crucial matches and even the world cup on some occasions!From stretching for the accelerator, or reaching out for the remote or even a wedding ring, these footballers have suffered injuries in truly unbelievable circumstances.We take a look at 10 of the weirdest injuries in football:

#10 David Beckham - Football boot (2003)

beckham eye stitches — Sir Alex Ferguson infamously injured David Beckham by kicking a boot just above his eye

Having lost in the FA Cup in February 2003, Ferguson was furious with his side’s performance, with Beckham being singled out in particular. However, it is fair to say Sir Alex Ferguson took his frustration a bit too far by kicking the boot towards Beckham which ultimately led to his exit from Manchester United.

Beckham joined Real Madrid a few months after this incident and Sir Alex later tried to explain what really happened:

“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,” Ferguson explained. “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.’”

Sir Alex Ferguson might be one of the greatest managers ever, but he definitely had a high temper.

#9 Robbie Keane - remote control (1998)

Robbie Keane has had a long and successful career and he has played for some top clubs like Leeds United, Tottenham and Liverpool. The forward who is currently playing for LA Galaxy suffered a bizarre injury when he was playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Irish forward suffered a serious injury while stretching for the remote! Yes you read it right. It was not even a minor injury as Robbie Keane ruptured cartilage in his knee.

The striker had to spend a considerable time out because of this ridiculous injury.

However, he was not the only one injured by the remote control. Carlo Cudicini, David James and David Seaman have all injured themselves while stretching for the remote as well! James pulled a muscle in his back as he jostled with the remote. Seaman pulled a muscle as he tried to record British soap Coronation Street.

All you aspiring footballers out there should definitely avoid the TV remote if you want to remain injury free.

#8 Alan Wright - Stretching for the accelerator (1998)

alan wright and gus poyet — Alan Wright was one of the shortest players ever to play in the Premier League

Alan Wright has played over 750 league and cup games for eight clubs, including an eight-year spell for Aston Villa. He has also played for Blackburn, Blackpool, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.

His position was left back, and he is known for being one of the shortest players in Premier League history standing at only 5 feet 4 inches tall hence having the popular nickname 'the mighty atom'.

It was not a very intelligent decision then to splash out on a Ferrari car with an accelerator pedal too far away for his puny legs. The awkward position of the accelerator caused a knee strain which caused him to trade his Ferrari and settle for a Rover 416.

Although the injury was not too serious, selling the Ferrari after more than 1000 miles under the board set Wright back by a few grand.

#7 Bryan Robson - Bed (1990)

Bryan Robson is an England and Manchester United legend. However, ‘captain marvel’ had some rotten luck at the World Cups.

Kevin Keegan’s sponge-head sent him home from Espana 82, and a dislocated shoulder forced him home from Mexico 86 early. But he could have no one to blame but himself for the injury which saw him sent home from Italia 90.

Robson for some reason had thought Paul Gascoigne had slept on his bed way too much. Lifting the bed up, Robson lost his grip on the bed and it landed on his toe injuring him pretty seriously.

This injury forced Robson to go home before the tournament started and David Platt and Gazza established themselves as the lynchpins of the England midfield.

Bryan Robson will be kicking himself for injuring himself in this ridiculous way before the World Cup.

#6 Emerson - Playing as a goalkeeper (2002)

Emerson was an experienced, quick, combative, hardworking, and dynamic player, who was capable of being deployed in several midfield positions. He played as a central midfielder, and as a box-to-box midfielder on occasion, although his main position was that of a defensive midfielder.

So what was Emerson doing playing in goal during a training session for Brazil in 2002? The midfielder missed the world cup due to a shoulder dislocation after volunteering to play in goal and strained himself trying to save a Rivaldo shot.

Had he not being playing the clown, Emerson - and not Cafu - would have lifted the World Cup in 2002. The Brazilian has played for some stellar clubs in his career such as Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus and Milan, however, this freak injury will always haunt him.

#5 Kevin Kyle - Boiling water (2006)

Kevin Kyle had just become a dad in 2006 and he was not the one to shirk away from household duties. The former Sunderland striker, however, suffered a freak injury while tending to his son.

The proud dad was warming up a bottle of milk for his new son when the toddler slipped and hit the jug in Kyle's direction, inflicting burns to his testicles and inner thigh. The then Premier League player had to miss Sunderland’s next game after scalding his testicles and inner thigh.

A Sunderland spokesperson even said that he was walking like John Wayne for a few days! We would definitely not like to have an injury in that area.

Kyle recovered soon enough and went on to have a long career representing clubs such as Rangers, Kilmarnock and Hearts. He also won 10 caps for his country Scotland.

#4 Milan Rapaic - Boarding pass (1993)

Milan Rapaic was a fine player in his day. Capped 49 times by Croatia, he enjoyed spells at Perugia, Ancona, Fenerbahce, Standard Liege & two stints at Hadjuk Split. In his first stint at Hadjuk Split, Rapaic suffered arguably the stupidest injury on this list.

Modern footballers are used to the jet-set lifestyle flying around almost twice every week to play their matches. However, Milan Rapaic was not quite used to air travel or so it seems.

Before Hadjuk Split’s season started, the Croatian on his way to a pre-season friendly injured himslef when he stuck the boarding pass into his eye. Rapaic had rammed the boarding pass into his eye so hard that he ended up missing the start of Split’s season.

Thankfully, Rapaic made a full recovery and we can now laught about the incident where he managed to get injured by a boarding pass.

#3 Santiago Canizares - Aftershave bottle (2002)

Santiago Canizares was the first choice goalkeeper for Spain before the 2002 World Cup. However, a freak injury caused due to an aftershave bottle made him miss the World Cup.

The former Valencia player, who was set to be Spain's first choice keeper, severed a tendon in his right foot in a bizarre accident involving a bottle of cologne in his hotel room at the team's training base in Jerez. When the unlucky goalkeeper was asked about his injury, he was surprisingly upbeat.

"I do not consider myself to be unlucky by any manner of means," Canizares had told reporters at the team's training base in Jerez.

“ I have got over other things and I can also get over this. I will have to fight hard, but that is part of my job... no one makes their way in the world of football without having to overcome obstacles."

He also hoped that he would take part in another World Cup but Iker Casillas who replaced him in 2002 went on to be Spain’s first choice goalkeeper for the next decade.

#2 Paulo Diogo - Wedding ring (2004)

Having celebrated his wedding just a few days before that fateful match, Paulo Diogo was on top of the world. However, his wedding ring and his excessive celebration led to his finger being amputated.

The Servette midfielder was forced to have his left ring finger amputated after catching it on a perimeter fence during his side's 4-1 win at Schafthausen. The 29-year-old Swiss-Portuguese player jumped up on the fence in celebration after setting up his team's third goal.

However, his wedding ring was caught in the metal barrier and severed the top two joints of the finger as he jumped back down. With Diogo writhing in agony, the match had to be temporarily stopped as stewards looked frantically for the remaining part of his finger.

What was even more shocking was that the referee promptly also showed him a yellow card for excessive celebration! He definitely would not have expected this when he got his wedding ring on the wedding day.

#1 Ivano Bonetti - Plate of chicken wings (1996)

In February 1996, Bonetti’s team Grimsby fell to a 3-2 away defeat to Luton town despite having beaten the same opposition 7-1 only a few weeks ago.Enraged due to this result, coach Brian Laws who was looking for a scapegoat to put the blame on turned on his foreign recruit Ivano Bonetti.

A blazing row erupted between the pair of them in the dressing room, resulting in the Grimsby manager throwing the nearest thing he could grasp – which happened to be a plate of chicken wings.

The plate of chicken wings struck the Italian flush on his face breaking his cheekbone in the process. All this ruckus was caused due to Laws thinking that Bonetti did not try hard enough.

Needless to say, Bonetti was enraged by this incident and left Grimsby to join Tranmere Rovers at the end of the season.