👀 Mancini-Haaland, Inzaghi 😳 and... Suarez: the tricks of football 🔥 | OneFootball

The grope by Mancini on Haaland’s backside is just the latest creative—and decidedly desperate—attempt by a defender to try to neutralize an out-of-this-world striker.

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This time, however, the trick didn’t work: the Norwegian goal machine dominated the Azzurri defense with a brace, bringing Italy crashing back down to earth.

But in recent history, some “dirty plays” have actually paid off. Here are some recent examples of the most curious—and debated—stratagems used to neutralize a star.

😮 HAALAND UNSTOPPABLE, BUT WITH KEAN...

Mancini took center stage for the wrong reasons at San Siro, but the defender’s repertoire is nothing new. In the past, in fact, one of his interventions had a much more effective impact, and it was on his compatriot Moise Kean. In March 2023, during Roma-Juventus, the Azzurri striker—then at Juventus—was involved in a decidedly unpleasant incident.

The hair-pulling by the Roma defender made Kean explode with rage, and he responded with a kick far from the ball, earning a straight red card. His time on the pitch: 38 seconds, a negative record set precisely because of one of Mancini’s “tricks.”

😬 LUIS SUAREZ’S BAD HABIT

It’s not just defenders provoking strikers: sometimes, strikers themselves know how to make their opponents lose their cool. And no one embodies this dark side of the striker’s craft better than Luis Suárez. A generational forward, capable of world-class feats, but also plagued by a habit as inexplicable as it is iconic: biting.

The most famous episode was against Giorgio Chiellini during Italy-Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup. But that wasn’t an isolated case. A year earlier, in 2013, Suárez bit Branislav Ivanović during a Liverpool-Chelsea match at Anfield, while the first incident dates back to 2010, when the then-young Ajax talent bit Otman Bakkal of PSV Eindhoven.

🥋 SERGIO RAMOS’ FINAL MOVES

The greatness of Sergio Ramos as a defender is unquestionable: he has neutralized champion after champion throughout his career. But even a legend like him has sometimes had to resort to a few “tricks” to stop opposing stars.

Two finals that went down in history, two textbook moves by the Spanish defender to secure the Champions League. The most famous? The challenge that caused Salah’s injury against Liverpool, an incident still hotly debated today.

But let’s not forget the dive orchestrated in Cardiff against Juventus, which led to the sending off of Cuadrado. In short, legendary defender, yes, but Ramos has had his share of little vices too.

😱 INZAGHI AND THE UNPLEASANT TOUCH

The precursor to the Mancini-Haaland contact can be found in an episode that Filippo Inzaghi has recounted many times, involving Neqrouz, a Bari defender famous for what is considered the most notorious “touch” in Serie A. It was 1997.

The Moroccan defender set a real trap for Pippo: he came close and stuck his finger up his backside. “That day Inzaghi was getting away from me everywhere,” Neqrouz explained later, “there was no other way to stop him,” recalling with irony that moment which became legendary in its own way.

🥊 PEPE’S “CLASICOS”

If you think of a defender who symbolized the Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona during the days of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Pepe immediately comes to mind. The Blancos’ center-back embodied the rivalry between the two teams like few others, with his hard and often borderline plays.

It’s impossible not to remember the famous incident in the 2012 Copa del Rey quarterfinals, when Messi, on the ground after yet another foul, was about to get up and Pepe stopped him with a stamp on his hand. The gesture, intentional or not, even provoked the indignation of José Mourinho, then Real Madrid’s coach, who condemned it.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 ALBERTO PIZZOLI - AFP or licensors