Gianluigi Buffon Vs Michael Oliver, And Other Stars Who Turned Sports Into A Verbal Battlefield

Italian footballer Gianluigi Buffon (left) showed a little more passion for the sport than he probably intended to by calling referee Michael Oliver a ‘murderer’ during his last ever Champions League match. Here are other names that have turned the playing field into a verbal battlefield:

(Image: Reuters)

Now things are getting personal. English footballer Joey Barton (left) wanted to get under Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s skin and so decided to get pretty personal — and illustrated his insult with some hand gestures. Barton commented on the size of Zlatan’s nose, reminded him he had a big one a second later and even went a step further to draw an air nose just to show Zlatan how big it was. We think he got the picture, Barton.

(Image: AP & AFP)

To cut a long sentence short, Keane (left) called Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy ‘cr*p’ in a variety of different ways. He is reported to have said, “You were a *bleep* player, you are a *bleep* manager. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are a manager of my country and you’re not even Irish, you English ****. You can stick it up your bollocks.” Keane oh-so-surprisingly played no part in the 2002 World Cup.

(Image: AFP & Getty)

It’s not only the players who lose their cool.

Former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd (left) was equally eloquent when he said, “Alan Shearer is boring; we call him Mary Poppins.” Shepherd later apologised for being disrespectful... to Mary Poppins.

(Image: Twitter/@freddyshepherd1 & @alanshearer)

When he first came on the scene, the golden boy of football, David Beckham (in pic), may have had the face of innocence, but he clearly had a mouth of a sailor and was sent off for insulting a Spanish linesman, branding him a ‘Hijo de puta’ which roughly translates to son of a b****. In his defence, and a weak one at that, he pleaded innocence as he didn’t know what it meant in Spanish and used it after picking it up from his teammates.

(Image: AFP)

Brian Clough famously called Polish keeper Jan Tomaszewski a ‘clown.’ But that clown then denied England a place in the 1974 World Cup with an inspired display at Wembley. Tomaszewski went on to say that, “Anyone bold enough to survive the ordeal of Wembley — fans, atmosphere and expectation — can survive anything.” That’s right Brian, even silly name calling.

(Image: www.brianclough.com & www.fifa.com)