20 Laziest Players in World Football

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Footballers can be a lazy bunch, training for a couple of hours a day and playing once, maybe twice a week. It must be tough for them to find things to do.

You would think with all the time they have, the least they could do is get motivated for a match!

Yet some players feel the wrath of the fans as they take to the field and amble around as if nothing really matters.

Who are the laziest players in football at the minute?

20. Kanu

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He will be remembered for scoring a lot of goals for Arsenal and Portsmouth and always playing with a smile on his face.

Maybe the reason he had such a big smile was that he never really did any running.

19. Kenwyne Jones

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Big Kenwyne Jones hails from Trinidad and Tobago, and he seems to have brought some of that laidback Caribbean attitude to the Premier League.

Now at Stoke City, Jones infuriated Sunderland fans with his laziness before the move away to Stoke, where he seemed to make improvements...but then people realised he was playing alongside John Carew.

18. Andrei Arshavin

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The Russian flattered to deceive in his early Arsenal days, putting in some good performances and scoring some great goals.

But now as those goals have dried up, the fans have turned and started to notice his somewhat "effortless" approach to the game.

One man's effortless is another man's lazy.

17. Lukas Podolski

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German attacker Lukas Podolski was making such an impact with his performances he earned himself a new nickname in the run up to the last World Cup:

Lazy Lukas.

16. Nicklas Bendtner

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He talks a good game, but he rarely seems to play it.

The big Danish forward seems to spend a limited amount of time in the box and even less time running.

If he worked as hard on the field as he does talking about how good he is, then maybe he would get somewhere.

15. Juan Roman Riquelme

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Juan Roman Riquelme is a rare midfielder on the list.

Rather than chasing the ball up and down the field, he waits for it and passes it on to someone else who is more than likely running around.

He's got enough talent to play for Argentina and still be "lazy"—imagine if he had worked hard!

14. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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Another player from the Berbatov mould.  Plenty of goals, not a lot of effort.

When you're as good as Ibrahimovic, though, who needs the effort?

Just imagine how good he would be if he was willing to put in a full shift every week!

13. Adel Taarabt

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Adel Taarabt has cruised his way through the Championship and helped Queens Park Rangers make it into the Premier League.

That's great for QPR, not so great for Taarabt.

He'll soon be found out in the Premier League, especially playing alongside workhorses such as Joey Barton.

This is a man with a lot of skill but soon to become known as one of the Premier League's laziest.

12. Mido

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Mido.

In fact, I can't even bring myself to say anything about him.

He wouldn't...be too much like hard work for him.

11. Marko Arnautović

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Marko Arnautovic is yet another striker who never seems willing to put in the effort that he should.

The Austrian has a lot of talent and earned himself a transfer to Italian giants Inter, but that didn't last long and he soon found himself back in Germany.

The special on himself, Jose Mourinho described Arnautovic as a "great guy" but also claimed he had "the attitude of a child."

10. Benjani

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Benjani is one of those players who seems to spend more time horizontal than he does vertical.

Maybe he's just useless, but with the number of clubs who have seen something in him, I'm suggesting it's just plain laziness for the Zimbabwean.

9. Dimitar Berbatov

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Dimitar Berbatov is one of the more high profile names appearing in the list.

Manchester United's big-money striker has managed to earn himself a reputation as being very lazy on the field.

After signing for United, his laziness came to the public domain. He took  so much abuse for it that he felt the need to defend himself, telling British newspapers, "You know when someone has great qualities they don't have to put much effort into things."

8. Robinho

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Robinho became the most expensive player ever signed by a British club when he moved to Manchester City.

He did everything he could to repay them.

Everything except run around a lot.

The Brazilian didn't last long in English football and soon found his way heading out of Manchester.

7. Ricardo Quaresma

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Portuguese winger Quaresma is another player who has a lot of skill but is often referred to as a lazy player.

He's been around the doors playing for a lot of teams and even refused to play for Barcelona at one point. That's the ultimate lazy action...sorry boss, I just won't play.

6. Jo

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Jo is another in a long line of lazy Brazilian forwards.

Like his more illustrious compatriot Robinho, he was swiftly shown the door by Manchester City when they realised just how little he does on the field.

He's one player who is not good enough to be lazy.

5. Emmanuel Adebayor

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Adebayor, Adebayoooooooooor....

Get up off your backside, and run around a bit more.

He is another player who seems to score a lot of goals without running a lot.  It's no wonder he made headlines when he sprinted to celebrate in front of Arsenal fans when he scored against them...nobody had ever seen him run that far!

4. Asamoah Gyan

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Asamoah Gyan shocked the footballing world when he left Sunderland to play in the United Arab Emirates in what is one of the strangest moves in recent times.

What is more surprising to many non-Sunderland fans is just how lazy the striker is.

When playing for Ghana on the big stage, he'll put in a shift, but a regular Premier League game...not a chance.

Gyan spends most of the match strolling around waiting for the perfect pass, and if it doesn't come, then he isn't interested.

3. John Carew

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John Carew has moved around a lot in the last couple of years but not so much on the pitch.

After a particularly lazy spell at Aston Villa, the forward moved on to Stoke and now West Ham.

Despite his apparent desire to be paid a lot of money to stand around a field, he is still regarded by many fans as being big and lazy.

Can't say I disagree.

2. Edson Buddle

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Former Galaxy striker Edson Buddle has never been know as hard-working.

Playing most of his career in the MLS, he has been described as "maddeningly lazy" in the press, only seeming to turn a corner when David Beckham arrived and placed the ball right at his feet.

That didn't last though, and Buddle is now playing in the German second division.

1. Carlos Tevez

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Tevez is an interesting inclusion in the list, especially considering he is regarded as a very hard-working player.

The problem with Tevez is that he is a hard-working player but only when he wants to be.

His latest tantrums have seen him put in below-par performances when introduced as a substitute, and then to confirm he is truly lazy, he refused to warm up and play in a game.

We all know he can perform and work hard, which makes his laziness all the more apparent.