10 Most Insane Footballers in History

We often use the word "insane" to describe a footballer's ridiculous skills or their unbelievable finishing.

However, sometimes we use it because they are literally insane.

It might be their antics on the field that distinguish them, or their behavior off the field that makes us confident of their insanity.

Here's the 10 most insane—literal, not figurative—players in footballing history.

Rene Higuita

Should be remembered for: The way he reinvented goalkeeping in the modern era with his great ability to read the game and ability on the ball.

Will be remembered for: His scorpion kick, which is without doubt the most insane moment of football in recent history. If you haven't seen it, watch it here.

Pepe

Should be remembered for: His determination and hustle at the back, as well as his toughness.

Will be remembered for: Kicking Francisco Caquero when Getafe met Real Madrid—arguably his biggest brain snap in an already colorful career.

Carlos Tevez

Should be remembered for: His attacking skills and hustle.

Will be remembered for: A number of things, but mainly his attitude towards playing football for which he gets paid millions of dollars every year.

Tevez refused to come on as a substitute in the Champions League against Bayern Munich in 2011 and stated that he never wanted to play for Manchester City again.

Now that they're winning the league, however, the story is a little different.

Eric Cantona

Should be remembered for: His midfield skills and his incredible goal against Sunderland.

Will be remembered for: His kung-fu kick after being sent off against Crystal Palace. Kicking a supporter, that is.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Should be remembered for: His attacking ability and brilliant skills for being a big man.

Will be remembered for: His ego and subsequent insanity. Say you'd just beaten a defender with a move—think how the ordinary person would describe it.

Now for Ibrahimovic, who described the situation like this: "First I went left—he did too. Then I went right, and he did too. Then I went left again, and he went to buy a hot dog..."

El Hadji Diouf

Should be remembered for: His attacking play, being named African Footballer of the Year twice and being named in FIFA's top 125 greatest living footballers.

Will be remembered for: A string of controversies, which just happened to follow him from club to club, and which usually start with allegations of him spitting on opposing fans and players.

I mean, seriously, spitting? How old are you?

Joey Barton

Should be remembered for: His physical play and dominance in midfield.

Will be remembered for: Being arguably the Premier League's biggest thug, which has seen him commit more fouls than any other player this season.

Perhaps the greatest one for me is him punching a player and then suggesting that he simply was patting him on the chest.

Diego Maradona

Should be remembered for: His incredible skills and ability that will surely see him go down as one of the greatest—if not the greatest—footballer of all time.

Will be remembered for: His handball goal, his incredible skill and the fact he was absolutely insane. In addition to his cocaine addiction and hilarious coaching antics, Maradona will no doubt be remembered for this incredible kick in a Barcelona-Athletic Bilbao fight.

Paolo Di Canio

Should be remembered for: His great attacking play and this incredible goal against Wimbledon.

Will be remembered for: Demanding that Harry Redknapp substitute him after having three separate penalty appeals turned down in the one match against Bradford City.

And then, in a separate match, there was his argument with Frank Lampard—like two kids in the schoolyard—as to who should take the spot kick.

Mario Balotelli

Should be remembered for: His attacking skills and goal scoring ability for Manchester City.

Will be remembered for: Anything other than that, and it's a matter of taking your pick as to which incident defined Mario Balotelli as insane.

There's him appearing on TV in an AC Milan shirt, even though he played for Inter Milan at the time.

There's him throwing away his Inter Milan shirt after they beat Barcelona.

There's the countless red cards in big matches, such as their Europa clash against Dynamo Kiev or against Arsenal.

There's him claiming he was allergic to grass and needed to be substituted.

There's him stomping on people's heads, getting subbed after a ridiculous back-heel attempt, as well as him throwing darts at the Manchester City youth team.

And who could forget his inability to put a training bib on?

Balotelli may well be the very definition of insanity in the modern football world.

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