11 Crazy Handballs in World Football

It's natural to use your hands and that is why football requires so much skill because it is unnatural to use your feet. 

From time to time, some footballers momentarily turn the sport into handball.

The situation is made worse when the referee fails to spot the infringement. 

Here are 11 crazy handballs in world football. 

11. Sergio Busquets' Idol: Steven Taylor

To the ordinary folks, it's just a dive, to Sergio Busquets, it's the holy grail. 

An outrageous acting workshop from Steven Taylor and it would have been a perfect synchronised dive if he had gotten away with it. 

10. Lionel Messi’s Tribute to Diego Maradona

Not one of Lionel Messi’s most noble moments.

I thought it was pretty funny that Carlos Kameni sprinted towards the assistant referee, but decided to run towards the main official, because his teammates were already surrounding the assistant referee. 

9. Are You Sure It Was Me?

Carlos Marchena was so sly when he attempted to con referee Alfonso Pérez Burrull by pointing to the opposite side of the field.

Burrull, sensing something was terribly wrong with his decision, attempted to make it “official” by consulting the fourth official who probably said something along the lines of, I didn’t see anything.

How could the fourth official see?

Either way, the right decision was made.

This was only two years ago and of Unai Emery’s starting 11 that day, only Ángel Dealbert and Éver Banega are still Valencia players. 

8. What Was Bruna Thinking?

Here is a video of the bizarre handball. 

This was during a game between Australia and Equatorial Guinea at the 2011 Women's FIFA World Cup.

Talk about not knowing the rules, Bruna picked up the ball after it rebounded off the post.

It’s as bizarre as Mwepu Ilunga charging at Rivelino as he was about to take a free kick. 

What was even more puzzling, was how referee Gyöngyi Gaál missed the incident. 

7. Oliver Kahn Going Bonkers

Hansa Rostock were leading 3-2 in stoppage time, so Bayern Munich threw the kitchen sink and Oliver Kahn got close to the ball.

Unfortunately, his goalkeeping instincts kicked in. 

6. Nemanja Vidić and Referee Chris Foy

Perhaps referee Chris Foy wanted to atone for missing Nemanja Vidić’s handball by turning a blind eye to Gaël Clichy hacking down Michael Owen. 

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Vidić also inexplicably tipped the ball. 

5. Paul Scholes' Spike

Not that I condone cheating, but my goodness that was a great spike from Paul Scholes.

I love how John O'Shea takes a leaf out of Diego Maradona by instantly celebrating in order to trick the referee. 

4. The Night Tom Henning Øvrebø Broke Chelsea’s Heart

There was a replay of that game shown a year or so ago and it was too painful for me to watch.

I remember going to bed with tears because it was so unfair. If it was one bad decision, you could rationalise, but three? 

Éric Abidal pulling down Didier Drogba, the Gerard Piqué handball and Samuel Eto'o blocking Michael Ballack’s shot with his arm were all clear-cut penalties. 

The most blatant was Piqué’s handball because he froze in disbelief that he had just handled the ball.

If only Michael Essien successfully cleared the ball because Andrés Iniesta would never have scored. 

Though most people will remember Drogba’s outburst.

Everyone knows he said: “Hey it’s disgrace, it’s a disgrace, it’s a f___ing disgrace.”

But does anyone know what he said after it? I managed to catch the word UEFA before they censored him. 

3. Hand of Frog

Raymond Domenech’s side were shambolic during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and wouldn’t have made it through if Thierry Henry didn’t handle the ball twice before squaring it for William Gallas.

People often forget that both Henry and Gallas were also offside. 

2. Luis Suárez's Iconic FIFA World Cup Moment

Luis Suárez had already built up a section of haters due to his antics in the Eredivisie.

In one impulsive moment, he managed to save Uruguay from exiting the FIFA World Cup, but also alienated the large majority of Africans.

Here's a small part of the incident from ElAlonso14's butterfly effect video. 

1. Hand of God

The English had held the Argentines scoreless for 51 minutes until Diego Maradona palmed the ball over Peter Shilton.

Some of Maradona’s teammates didn’t initially celebrate the goal and only did after he said: “Come hug me, or the referee isn't going to allow it.”

Here are a few anecdotes about some of the English players and their relationship with Maradona.

Shilton: Refused to invite Maradona to his testimonial.

Kenny Sansom: Blamed teammate Steve Hodge for the Hand of God.

Terry Fenwick: Fortunate to escape a red card after elbowing Maradona. Was one of the first players to protest the Hand of God.

Terry Butcher: Had the ignominy of being dribbled twice by Maradona en route to the goal of the century. After the game, Butcher happened to be in the drugs-test room with a celebratory Maradona. Decades later, Butcher refused to shake the hand of the Argentine.

Glenn Hoddle: Suffered insomnia when he returned to England and his remedy was to watch the 1986 FIFA World Cup final with 300 Germans in Spain. Remember, Germany had reached the final—they'd end up losing to Argentina. 

Peter Reid: Was seen a few months ago on Abu Dhabi TV sucking up to Maradona and even went to the lengths of kissing the Argentine’s left hand.

Hodge: His sliced back pass precipitated the Hand of God.

According to Sansom:

"

As Maradona ran towards our defence, looking to play a one-two, we had been told to run forward to push Maradona into an offside position. All of us did as instructed, except Hodge. He intercepted and then flicked a looping pass back to our goalkeeper, Peter Shilton. Maradona leapt for the same ball and won it.

"

Gary Lineker: Blamed referee Ali Bin Nasser and linesman Bogdan Dotchev.

Chris Waddle: Felt the inclination to applaud Maradona’s second goal, but decided against it.

Please read 7 Ways to Help Premier League Referees.