20 of the World's Most Antagonistic Footballers in Recent Years

Football isn't always the beautiful game. As played by certain individuals, it can also be the ugly game, the combative game, the antagonistic game.

You know the footballers we mean. They never shy from a confrontation, and in fact, they're usually the instigator. Their fans will say they're a necessary part of the game. The rest will bemoan their allegiance to the dark arts.

Here, we've compiled a list of 20 of the most antagonistic footballers in recent years. As with most such lists, this one is largely subjective. How can a player be more antagonistic than another? In general, we've looked for players who have (and had) a proven record of confrontation. To make this list, a player really needs (or needed) to relish a fight.

Did your favorite villain make the list? Keep reading to find out.

Diego Costa

If you're a Chelsea fan, you probably love him. If you're not a Chelsea fan, you almost certainly hate him.

The video that comes with this slide should explain all of that. Trouble follows the Brazil-born Spain international wherever he plays. No matter the opposition, no matter the context, the striker is always involved in some sort of handbags, argy-bargy or straight up fighting. And if he's not in a fight, he's probably in an argument with another player or the referee.

Again, if he plays for your team, you love how he can wind up opposing players. If you support the opposition, you probably despise him more than any other player.

Pepe

For Pepe, Real Madrid's combative, 32-year-old Portuguese defender, a football pitch isn't so much a football pitch as it is a war zone. 

Every game is a battle. Every attack into Real's half is greeted as intolerable aggression. Each tackle is a last-gasp attempt to stop the barbarians at the city gates. 

So who's winning? We'll let you know when he retires in a few years.

Lee Cattermole

Sunderland's Lee Cattermole is, in a word, feisty.

The midfielder has never met a foul he couldn't commit, and if he makes it through a match without picking up a yellow card, something seriously strange has happened.

Joey Barton

Whether he's picking fights on pitches or starting arguments on Twitter, Joey Barton can't seem to help himself. 

His career with Manchester City ended after he inflicted "actual bodily harm" on a teammate on the training ground. And his outrageous actions on the final day of the 2011-12 Premier League season (coincidentally against City) prompted a 12-match ban.

That's just a scratch on the surface, though, and if history is any guide, Barton has more antagonism left in the tank.

Luis Suarez

If Luis Suarez had only bitten an opponent on one occasion, we might write it off as an isolated moment of madness. But it wasn't just once, and it wasn't only twice. Three times the Uruguayan has bitten opponents on the pitch, which surely makes him one of the biggest antagonists in recent memory.

Factor in allegations of on-pitch racism, and Suarez is in a category of his own. Although he's also a wonderful, world-class footballer, Suarez might never be able to escape his reputation.

El Hadji Diouf

JON SUPER/Associated Press

Controversy and confrontation have followed El Hadji Diouf throughout his professional career (yes, he's still playing!).

During his time in England, the Senegalese forward was involved in several incidents of spitting or at least alleged spitting. In 2009, he allegedly told a ball boy, "f--k off, white boy." And in September 2015, he accused Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard of racism, a charge that prompted Gerrard to consider legal action.

It's always something with Diouf, and according to him, it's always someone else's fault.

Mark Van Bommel

Is dirty the same as antagonistic? They might not be synonymous, but those two words often accompany each other. Case in point: Mark van Bommel.

Before he retired in 2013, Van Bommel earned quite the reputation as a hard-tackling midfielder. In the process, he was never far from confrontation—or causing injuries.

Craig Bellamy

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Craig Bellamy, who retired in 2014, was somewhat like Diego Costa in that, if he played for your team, you loved him. Everyone else loathed him for his never-ending antics on the pitch.

Once, though, even his teammates couldn't defend him. In one famous story, Bellamy allegedly attacked John Arne Riise, a Liverpool teammate at the time, with a golf club.

Save it for the links, Craig.

Marco Materazzi

What did Marco Materazzi say to Zinedine Zidane?

We might never know the exact words, but if you manage to get an all-time great player sent off in a World Cup final, you deserve your own spot in our list of antagonists.

Lee Bowyer

Lee Bowyer never could seem to avoid a scuffle, even if one of his own teammates was involved.

Sadly, nothing from Bowyer's highlight reel would suggest that was a one-off moment of madness.

Robbie Savage

Pete Norton/Getty Images

The term "wind-up merchant" was surely created for Robbie Savage. If ever a player made a career of trying to rattle opponents with mind games, trash talking and incessant fouling, it was the long-haired Welsh midfielder.

So how exactly did Savage do it? Thankfully, he's starred in a video that shares some of his best tips for rattling the opposition. Enjoy.

Elizabeth Lambert

Who is Elizabeth Lambert? She was the American college player who made headlines for pulling an opponent down by her ponytail. 

Admittedly, this doesn't qualify as a track record of antagonism. But anyone with the guts to do something so blatantly belligerent deserves a place in this list.

Vinnie Jones

You think pulling an opponent down by the ponytail is bad?

How about squeezing your opponent's testicles?

All in day's work for Vinnie Jones, one of football's most notorious hard men.

Lady Andrade

Don't let the name fool you. On the pitch, Lady Andrade doesn't play like a member of the nobility.

As you can see in the video, the Colombian famously punched United States forward Abby Wambach during a 2012 Olympic match. And during the 2015 Women's World Cup, she antagonized the eventual champions with some tough talk during the knockout round.

The U.S. might have had the last laugh, but you can believe the feud isn't finished for Andrade.

Roy Keane

Roy Keane, who retired in 2006, was a singular talent. One of the world's best midfielders throughout his career, the Irishman also had perhaps the shortest fuse in football.

Just one look in his eyes told the whole story. Keane was ready for a fight.

If he was playing, the match was sure to feature some kind of controversial incident. The most famous incident of all was the time Keane broke an opponent's leg during a match, ending the player's career.

Patrick Vieira

If we're including Roy Keane, it would be unthinkable to leave out Patrick Vieira.

Keane and Vieira were two of the Premier League's best midfielders for a long spell around the turn of the century, and the two carried on a rather intense rivalry for years.

And it wasn't just on the field. The tunnel was fair game as well.

Frank Leboeuf

Ben Radford/Getty Images

Frank Leboeuf complained about "thuggery" in English football, but he was capable of some shenanigans of his own.

A classic wind-up merchant, the long-time Chelsea defender had a penchant for getting opponents into trouble and inviting controversy. In 1999 he drew a ban for stamping on Harry Kewell's ankle.

Gennaro Gattuso

Gennaro Gattuso, who retired in 2013, was the definition of aggressive. The Italian midfielder never shrank from a hard tackle, and his physical style often drew ire from his opponents. 

As the video accompanying this slide shows, Gattuso earned the nickname "Rhino."

Martin Keown

How does one antagonize an opponent who just missed a crucial penalty?

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown had the perfect answer for that at Old Trafford in 2003. 

Dennis Wise

Dennis Wise, an English midfielder who retired in 2006, loved himself an argument. According to former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Wise could "start an argument in an empty house."

Perhaps Fergie was just bitter. In 1999, Wise was involved in an altercation with United's Nicky Butt. After Wise clattered into Butt, he pinched the United man sneakily, prompting a reaction from his opponent.

Butt was sent off. Wise, who himself drew a red card that year for biting, had other arguments to worry about.