5 footballers who 'scored' off the pitch

Some people just can’t take life all that seriously. Deep within, they might just be as sad as most of the rest, prompting them to do things to forget about the miseries buried deep within, but their exterior gives one the impression that they are living life without any care for what others would think.

Footballers might be humans just like you and me, but they are a little different than us. They can’t eat whatever they like, sleep whenever they want to, go to shopping whenever they like to… they are actually a deprived bunch because of the superstar status.

However, some footballers just don’t care. For them, life is too short to be taken seriously. As a result, they break the protocols that footballers are ‘supposed’ to follow.

And it is for this reason that some of the most talented players of the game ended up being lesser than what they could have been. The partying nature—one filled with women and wine—became the reason for their downfall.

However, not all footballers let it affect their careers as some were successful at not letting the two mix up. Regardless of that, here are 5 footballers who were/are known for the playboy nature…

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Gabby Agbonlahor

He might not be much of known name outside of England, but on his day, he was a good scorer—not just on the pitch, but off it as well.

He might as well have become a good footballer had he taken his gift more seriously. After all, this is a man who was fined for partying on the night his team, Aston Villa, were relegated from the Premiership. His out-of-shape physique gives one a perfect idea about the kind of footballer that he is.

And, as you may have guessed it already, he was one of those playboys who loved the company of multiple women.

During 2009, a report emerged that he was dating 3 different women at the same time. It also claimed that he impregnated all of them. Some serious stuff, this.

Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho was not just your usual footballer. He was an artist, one of the very few in an era of athletes. Whenever the ball was at his feet, it felt like he was a poet writing the most beautiful piece of football poetry one could possibly imagine.

However, he ruined it all. There are many who claim that had he taken the game more seriously, he might as well gone down as the greatest player to have ever played the game.

His party-hard lifestyle became the reason for his downfall, making his peak a very short-lived one. He might not have been the best-looking man on the planet, but his smile was enough to capitulate the hearts of people.

A lap-dancer Ronaldinho came across (no pun intended, not initially at least) in 2002 labelled him as “not the best-looking man I’ve ever been with” but “like a pneumatic drill” and “human Viagra”.

Antonio Cassano

He was, for many, the Diego Maradona of Bari. And the way he introduced himself to the world, one could understand why he was likened to the legendary Argentine.

The scores were locked at 1-1. The Biancorossi were fighting against relegation. 3 points were an absolute must. Suddenly, a long ball was played to a 17-year-old youth academy product on the left-hand side. The teenager overruns it, but shows mesmerising ball control only moments later.

As the ball was landing behind him; he used his heel to chip the ball over his shoulder and in front of him. He then raged into the box with 2 Inter defenders closing him down. One of them was Laurent Blanc. The teenager, however, humiliated them by cutting inside and then blasting it into the goal, giving Bari very crucial 3 points.

It was the preamble of a star, but a star that soon faded away. And his careless lifestyle of party and over-indulging were the prime reasons for it.

Cassano wrote in his autobiography, “to make up for that (“only” four girlfriends in 11 years), I’ve also had other flings here and there. Let’s say 600-700 women, some twenty of which were from the entertainment world.”

Cristiano Ronaldo

The Portugal captain is unarguably the second best player of our era, and the only playboy on this list that didn’t squander his talent because of flings with women. He might have toned down his playboy antics to a point of null ever since joining Real Madrid (or becoming a father), but his past is one that certainly puts him in this list.

In his own words, he is rich, handsome and a great player. And there only a few girls in this world who wouldn’t fall for a guy with that combination.

With over 30 known girlfriends ever since he became a footballer, most of them being celebrities, he makes it to this list even though his recent restrained personality makes it unfair to put him here.

George Best

And the greatest playboy of them all is arguably the most gifted player the United Kingdom has ever produced.

He was such a delight to watch that United fans of that era still sing eulogies in his name and claim to have not seen a player like him in their lifetime. At a time when television coverage wasn’t at its peak, the lack of videos footages of him playing has deprived many of us as we are only confined to the limited walls of YouTube (where even Nani looks like a world class player).

However, the one thing of George Best that got full coverage was his playboy lifestyle. His love for booze and women actually cut short his career. Some say he could have been the greatest ever. Who knows? But he certainly could have offered so much more.

Two of his finest quotes that depict his nature were…

“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”

“In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.”