15 Freaky Faces in World Football

Football has always been a rather theatrical game. There are joyous celebrations, painful dives, violent brawls, hilarious antics. But today's list is devoted to another genre: horror.

Specifically, the freaky, unsettling and sometimes flat-out terrifying facial expressions and masks that once seen, cannot be unseen. 

So with Halloween just around the corner, we thought we'd give you a slideshow of 15 freaky faces to give you chills and haunt your dreams (not for the faint of heart).

This isn't commenting on these players' looks all the time, just within the contexts under which these images were captured and these expressions made.

As always, feel free to share your personal favorites in the comments below. 

Stuart Pearce's Goal Celebration Freakout Face

At the 1996 Euro semi-finals, the man fans called "Psycho" Pearce had a moment on the pitch worthy of that name. Six years before, the defender had missed a penalty in a World Cup semi-final shootout against West Germany, contributing to the Three Lions' elimination from the tournament.

But this day, against Spain, he succeeded and England would advance to the finals. Overcome with joy and relief at finally getting his England redemption, his goal celebration included a pretty iconic freakout moment.

Diego Maradona's Goal Celebration Freakout Face

Argentine legend Diego Maradona is known for a number of colorful moments on the pitch, but none quite so terrifying as his goal celebration in a 1994 World Cup group stage match against Greece.

The red-eyed, manically-screaming attacker alarmed the camera operators and eventually led to Maradona missing the rest of the tournament after he tested positive for ephedrine. 

Luke Chadwick's Death Stare

All right, so this probably isn't actually a photo of Luke Chadwick giving a death stare, but that's what it looked like to us.

The Milton Keynes Dons midfielder and product of the Manchester United youth academy is a speedy, versatile and ultimately skilled character, but there's something about this expression of his that just gives us the heebie-jeebies.

Rio Ferdinand and the Deathly Hallows

The Manchester United centre-back isn't particularly terrifying on most days, but the expression in this shot of him is somewhere between a velociraptor and Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.'

After this picture was taken, the Internet practically blew up with photo juxtapositions between Ferdinand and Ralph Fiennes as everyone's favorite malevolent wizard.

Servet Çetin: Leather and Lucha Libre

The massive, imposing Galatasaray centre-back has the equally imposing (and totally amazing) nickname of "Ayibogan," which literally means "A man who could choke a bear." The powerful defender has been a fan favorite in the Turkish Süper Lig throughout his career.

And if he wasn't terrifying enough by pitch prowess and bone-chilling glare alone, after breaking his cheekbone, his scare factor was ramped up thanks to the many freaky protective masks he wore, particularly this one, which looks like a mashup between a Lucha Libre uniform and an item one might find an adult-wear shop.

The mask earned Çetin yet another intimidating nickname from fans: "Terminator Servet."

Oliver Kahn's Gaping Gob

The former Bayern Munich star was an intimidating force in the Bundesliga and on the German national team throughout his career, netting a sizable rack of trophies and being the only goalkeeper ever to be awarded the Golden Ball for a World Cup performance. 

The only thing more prominent than Kahn's winning record though? His mouth in this photo. He looks as though he could probably swallow us without remorse in one resounding gulp and continue to show no mercy to attackers while our innards pass through his digestive system. 

Thomas Gravesen Will Haunt Your Dreams

The hotheaded, hardcore defensive midfielder who stopped attackers in their tracks at Everton throughout the early '00s was scary-good as a skilled defender on the pitch, but sometimes his facial expressions during matches were just, well, scary. 

Joe 'Jaws' Jordan's Bond Villain Grin

Joe "Jaws" Jordan was one of the hardest men in football in his day, a brilliant, intimidating forward who struck fear into the hearts of defenders with his powerful presence and menacing grin.

The fact that he continued to play after losing his front teeth during a match earned him his nickname and his fearsome hard-man reputation, and although the nickname comes from the mere fact of his toothlessness itself, one can't help but think he vaguely resembles the James Bond villain of the same name in this photo.

Now a first-team coach at Tottenham Hotspur, Jordan continues to bring the pain from the sidelines. 

Gennaro Gattuso's One-Eyed Game Face

Speaking of Joe 'Jaws' Jordan, here's a shout-out to the man who gained notoriety for attempting to choke him and headbutt him in a match back in February.

Veteran AC Milan hard man Gennaro Gattuso is one of the toughest, most skilled midfielders in the game, and everything about his intense, imposing range of "game faces" lets us know we are probably safer not messing with him.

That One Very Passionate Ghana Fan from the 2010 World Cup

(Granted, there were a lot of very passionate Ghana fans, but if you watched the World Cup, there was one in particular to whom we are referring.)

The 2010 World Cup was a veritable gold mine of the best in football fan insanity, but the most memorable example came from one particularly colorful Ghana supporter whose intimidating makeup job was seen the world over. 

He even got turned into an Internet meme where this photo circulated with the caption, "Haters Ghana Hate."

The Black Stars would go on to make an impressive run in the tournament, defeating the US Men's National Team and advancing to the quarter-finals. Haters indeed Ghana hate.

Pierluigi Collina's Icy Blues

To be a good referee, one must be at least a little bit terrifying, and Italian official Pierluigi Collina is regarded as one of the best to have ever served the footballing world. 

The man who Juventus official Luciano Moggi called "too objective" was known for his firm but fair disposition, his powerful presence and his extremely sharp eye for detail.

And the eyes watching for those details—a brilliant, almost frightening shade of blue—are the kind that stare right into your soul and can crack even the most unruly of football stars. 

Stone Cold Martin Skrtel

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Maybe it's because the Liverpool centre-back just looks so much like Prison Break's Wentworth Miller that it's a little bit scary, but many of the buzzed, tattooed and generally imposing defender's expressions give us the chills a bit, from the intense stares that make your blood run cold to the celebratory screams.

He just gives off the vibe of the hardened convict you would not want to run into in a cellblock, but you might want him on your side in a bar fight. 

Christoph Metzelder Behind the Mask

The veteran Schalke 04 centre-back has had a successful career at a number of top-flight clubs and certainly does not have a freaky face on its own, from this writer's objective opinion.

However, when he broke his nose in 2011, he began training with a rather intricate face mask, which is the thing that gets him put on this list.

Metzelder's protective face mask looks like something which would have been worn in that dodgy basement scene in Pulp Fiction. You know the one. 

Dario Dubois Was Made for Lovin' You, Baby

The late footballer and heavy-metal fanatic Dario Dubois played in Argentina's third division and, while he was still allowed to do so, would paint his face for matches in a style evoking glam-metal greats like Alice Cooper and KISS to salute his favorite rock stars and intimidate opponents.

Even if it didn't work, it still looked pretty awesome.

Terry Bloody Butcher

We've seen this image so many times and it still scares the absolute bejesus out of us, and yet, we simultaneously find it enthralling.

In a now-legendary 1989 performance, England's hard-man defender Terry Butcher suffered a cut to his forehead during a key World Cup qualifier against Sweden, received some impromptu stitches and kept playing.

As a centre-back, Butcher had to keep on using his head throughout the match, as you do, and over the course, the stitches burst, soaking his bandages, face and England kit in blood.

The performance cemented him into English footballing history, and into our nightmares.