Football is a team sport, and usually, the players go out on the pitch and have each other’s back against the opponents.
But sometimes, teammates go out at each other instead, and as ridiculous as football fights between teammates is, it’s happened quite a lot throughout the history of ‘The Beautiful Game.’
Most recently, Tottenham Hotspur skipper Hugo Lloris got into a altercation with Son Heung-Min, in a Premier League game against Everton.
The incident happened at half-time as Lloris made his displeasure known to Son, who apparently didn’t press the opposition players as much as his skipper would have liked.
Thankfully, the two hug it out and were soon seen smiling at full-time. However, not all fights between teammates end up in such a rosy manner.
Here are ten incidents of football fights between teammates that will totally blow your mind!
10) Fredrik Ljungberg – Olof Mellberg (Sweden)
Starting off with an incident that happened back in 2002 as Sweden’s World Cup preparations burst into limelight after Fredrik Ljungberg and Olof Mellberg clashed with each other in training.
The duo apparently grabbed each other by the throat but later, both of them admitted there were no hard feelings.
9) Ricardo Fuller – Andy Griffin (Stoke City)
In December 2008, Ricardo Fuller was given his marching orders after he had bizarrely slapped his teammate and Stoke City skipper Andy Griffin in a Premier League game against West Ham United.
Fuller later claimed that Griffin had “disrespected and provoked him” but also conceded that it was something he probably shouldn’t have done.
8) John Hartson – Eyal Berkovic (West Ham United)
West Ham teammates John Hartson and Eyal Berkovic feature on this list of football fights between teammates because of an incident that happened in September 1998.
After a rash tackle by Hartson during a training session, Berkovic lashed out by throwing a punch at the former, who instead retaliated with a kung-fu style kick and the infamous incident got caught on cameras.
7) Fernando Ricksen – Vladislav Radimov (Zenit Saint Petersburg)
This is an epic one because it happened during a pre-season friendly! Fernando Ricken clashed with skipper Vladislav Radimov just one month after signing with Zenit, but that’s not why they feature on this list.
Shortly after their first altercation, Ricksen and Radimov exchanged blows again in a friendly match against Malaga in 2007. Later, the pair apologized and admitted that there was no bad blood between them.
6) Robinho – Thomas Gravesen (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid visited Austria for their pre-season preparations in the summer of 2006, but Thomas Gravesen took it upon himself to give the media a major talking point as he clashed with Robinho in one of the most high-profile football fights between teammates.
The former Everton man’s ill-timed tackle irked Robinho who shoved Gravesen, although the latter lost his calm altogether as evident in the video.
5) Hugo Lloris – Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur)
One of the most bizarre football fights between teammates, Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-Min’s coming together in the game against Everton really got the world talking.
Moreover, when Jose Mourinho was questioned about the behaviour of his player he found it “beautiful.” Never change Jose!
4) Graeme Le Saux – David Batty (Blackburn Rovers)
It took Graeme Le Saux and David Batty just four minutes into Blackburn Rovers’ Champions League game against Spartak Moscow in November 1995 to get embroiled into a fist-fight.
Both of them contested for a loose ball, but rather than stopping Moscow players from hitting them on a counter-attack, Le Saux hurled a punch at the tough-tackling Batty and perhaps remarkably, lived to tell the tale.
3) Eoin Doyle – Jermaine Beckford (Preston North End)
Another exceptional incident in football fights between teammates, Eoin Doyle and Jermaine Beckford came to blows in Preston North End’s Championship game versus Sheffield Wednesday in December 2006.
Beckford inexplicably decided to confront Doyle near the end of the game, after he passed the ball to Marnick Vermijl, and given the team were chasing an equaliser, tempers boiled between the two and they had to separated.
Subsequently, both Doyle and Beckford were fined and banned for three games.
2) Steve McManaman – Bruce Grobbelaar (Liverpool)
This happened way back in September 1993, during the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton. Goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar got furious with Steve McManaman’s poor clearance which allowed Everton to find the back of the net.
The pair confronted each other and after a verbal spat, Grobbelaar manhandled McManaman, who didn’t hold back either, but thankfully it didn’t go any further. However, Liverpool did lose the game.
1) Kieron Dyer – Lee Bowyer (Newcastle United)
Newcastle United teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer’s falling out had to top our list of football fights between teammates because frankly, it was ridiculous how it panned out eventually.
Dyer accused Bowyer of not passing him the ball intentionally, which angered the latter and soon they started hurling punches at each other in a game against Aston Villa in 2005.
They were both subsequently sent off and even had to be kept apart in the dressing room as well.
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