Of great actors (and divers) in Football

Football is a ‘body contact‘ sport, a sport which requires good physicality along with the necessary skills (speed and stamina), which is a must for every footballer. Though the ‘Beautiful game‘ has seen ‘gentlemen’ like Gary Lineker and Franz Beckenbaur, who have stuck to the spirit of the game, it also has players who can ‘act’ and display their flair for drama at the drop of a hat. From Rivaldo to the more recent Sergio Busquets, football has seen many a player (and diver!) capable of fooling the ref and make Hollywood producers sit up and notice their ‘hidden’ talents.

Starting off with a few gems, here’s the case of Brazilian Rivaldo, who though being ‘player exemplar‘ for the ‘Selecao‘, also proved he has a great sense of occasion, as he managed to fool the entire 2002 World Cup television audience (plus the ref too, though only for some time!) with some superlative acting skills. Brazil were playing Turkey in a group fixture and in the dying minutes of the game, with Brazil leading 2-1, Rivaldo got a serious case of ‘How the hell could Hakan Ulsal shoot at my leg?‘, as he lay on the ground ‘writhing in pain and agony‘ after Turkey’s Ulsal had kicked the ball at him in frustration.

The result: Ulsal got sent off for his second ‘offence‘ and Rivaldo, a few seconds later after the sending off, started his transformation into ‘normalcy‘, running and shooting with gay abandon.

Rivaldo and his antics against Turkey!

Another classic incident was during the fiery ‘Battle of Old Trafford‘, during Arsenal‘s unbeaten 2003 season, when Ruud van Nistelrooy suddenly decided to play piggyback with Patrick Viera outside the Arsenal penalty box. To top it off, the grounded Viera tries to ‘play Jackie Chan‘ by kicking out at Nistelrooy, who displays ‘great reflexes‘ in dodging the kick. Nistelrooy’s ‘look ref he tried to kill me‘ expression works wonders with referee Steve Bennet, as he dismissed Viera for a second yellow. Though the game ultimately finished 0-0, Nistelrooy was involved in more drama at the fag end of the game, as after missing a late penalty, he gets the ‘look dude, you can act, but you can’t score!‘ treatment from the jubilant Arsenal players.

Viera and Nistelrooy play ‘Chan and Tucker’ in 2003!

Moving on to recent times, players like Sergio Busquests and Ashley Young can definitely give theatre actors a good run for their money. Barcelona‘s Busquets probably suffers from the ‘Rivaldo syndrome‘ at the slightest of touches from opposing defenders, and probably can make a career in enacting roles that require his ‘Oh, the world is about to end!‘ expressions. On the other hand, Manchester United star Young goes a step ahead of Busquets, as he shows he can act as well as trial for the British diving squad, with his ‘sudden breakdowns‘ on physical contact, and also his impeccable ‘diving skills‘.

Oops, I did it again!

But the one that takes the cake would surely be Cristiano Ronaldo and his now famous ‘wink‘ in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final match against England. Rooney, after a tussle with defender Ricardo Carvalho, manages to kick him in the wrong spot without the referee knowing it. Next up, Ronaldo comes up to the referee and expresses the ‘poetic injustice‘ being done to the suffering Carvalho, and does convince him in sending Rooney off, a moment which impacted the game as Portugal won on penalties. Later, Ronaldo caps off his ‘convincing act‘ with a ‘wink‘ towards the watching Portuguese bench and also the game winning penalty.

Guys,it worked!

Apart from these, there are also players like Didier Drogba and Dani Alves, who on their day can surely be considered for an Academy award nomination, but the writer feels the above mentioned players certainly do have it in them to pursue a successful career in front of the arc lights, once done with their footballing theatrics!