Football's Top 10 Pantomime Villains

Some footballers are good. Some footballers are bad. Some footballers, though, can be both good and bad.

After Diego Costa returned to torment Arsenal again on Sunday, who are football's greatest "pantomime villains" of all time?

Though it's a relatively subjective term when applied to footballers, in this context, we use it to identify big names who, despite their undoubted quality, have earned a reputation—rightly or wrongly—as something of a villain.

Read on to find out which players fit the bill—if you dare.

10. Luis Figo

Barcelona and Real Madrid are arguably football's fiercest rivals. As such, relations between the two are tense, and players rarely move between the clubs.

One man who did is Luis Figo. The Portuguese star shocked the world in 2000, when he agreed to leave Barca for their great foes in a then-world record £37.4 million deal.

Fast-forward two years, and outrage amongst Barcelona's fanbase was still rife. Figo was greeted by a venomous reception at the Camp Nou in November 2002, a hostile atmosphere that reached it's peak when a severed pig's head was thrown at the former Barca man as he prepared to take a corner.

Rarely before or since has a player inspired such hatred from his former fans.

[YouTube: Lord Peter]

9. Didier Drogba

Getty/Shaun Botterill

Didier Drogba became a legend at Chelsea, but he didn't start out that way.

The Ivorian struggled to settle in after joining the Blues from Marseille in July 2004, and he soon developed a reputation for diving. He was even booed by his own fans during a match against Manchester City in March 2006.

It didn't take him much longer to earn the love of the Stamford Bridge crowd, but the same can't be said for the fans and associates of rival clubs.

In May 2008, it was Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez's turn to bemoan Drogba's propensity for going to the ground ahead of a Champions League semi-final.

The Spaniard was soon made to eat his words, as Drogba scored twice in a 3-2 win that secured the Blues' progress to the final in Moscow. He celebrated the first by sprinting half the pitch and diving into a lengthy knee-slide in front of Benitez and the away dugout.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo

Ah, the winker.

Like Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo attracted criticism from rival fans in England for his habit of going to the ground easily, a fault most Manchester United fans were willing to turn a blind eye to.

That was until the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, when the Portuguese winger played a pivotal role in Wayne Rooney receiving a red card en route to England's penalty-shootout defeat.

The England striker was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho, but not before Rooney's then-Manchester United team-mate had steamed in to encourage the referee's (probably imminent) decision.

If that wasn't enough, cameras then showed Ronaldo winking toward the Portugal dugout as Rooney made his way from the pitch. The betrayal!

[YouTube: David Gogishvili]

7. Roy Keane

Gary M. Prior/Getty Images

Warning: This post contains NSFW language

Renowned hot-head Roy Keane was infamous for his, well, hot-headedness. The former Manchester United captain picked up seven red cards in the Premier League alone.

But if there's one incident that Keane is known for, it's his shocking clash with Manchester City midfielder Alf-Inge Haland.

Rewind to September 1997. Keane and Haland's unpleasant relationship started when Keane tore his cruciate ligament after catching his foot in the turf while attempting to kick out at Haland, then a Leeds United player, in a match at Old Trafford.

Keane immediately dropped to the floor in agony, a reaction interpreted by Haland as an attempt to avoid a booking. Little did he know that Keane had suffered an injury that would rule him out for the rest of the season.

In April 2001, Keane's United went up against local rivals Manchester City, which Haland had since joined. It was toward the end of an eventful 1-1 draw that Keane decided to take his revenge, launching into a knee-high tackle that would break the Norwegian's leg and ultimately, if indirectly, end his playing career.

Keane escaped with a three-game suspension and a £5,000 fine, but it was his reflection on the event in his 2002 autobiography that really caused outrage:

"I'd waited long enough. I f--king hit him hard," he wrote (via ESPN). "The ball was there (I think). Take that you c--t. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries."

It's safe to say Keane wasn't universally popular from then on.

6. Harold Schumacher

Because of an incident that would eventually become known as the Tragedy of Seville, West Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher claims a well-deserved place on our list for one of the worst fouls ever seen at a World Cup.

West Germany were playing France in the semi-finals of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, when France forward Patrick Battiston raced onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Michel Platini. He reached the ball first by some way, lifting the ball over the onrushing Schumacher, who proceeded to launch himself onward and upward into the Frenchman.

Battiston was left unconscious on the ground and was later taken to a hospital, where it was confirmed that he had cracked several vertebrae in his back, broken three ribs and lost two teeth.

Remarkably, Schumacher avoided a booking, with West Germany going on to win 3-1 against a 10-man France team unable to replace Battiston.

The ensuing outrage only started to calm when West German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, released a joint statement with French President François Mitterrand and the two teams appeared at a joint press conference to appease relations.

Almost causing a diplomatic incident is criteria enough to earn Schumacher the title of pantomime villain.

[YouTube: AhmedRashed76, h/t the Telegraph]

5. Eric Cantona

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Twenty-one years after Eric Cantona's most controversial moment in English football, it's as fitting a time as ever to reflect on the Frenchman's shocking karate kick on a Crystal Palace fan.

It was Jan. 25, 1995, and Cantona had just been sent off while playing for Manchester United against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

As he walked from the pitch, Cantona was verbally abused by an opposing fan later identified as Matthew Simmons. The forward responded by launching into the crowd foot-first, connecting squarely with the supporter's chest.

"

21 years ago today, the world was introduced to Eric Cantona’s karate skills: https://t.co/mj8TnQnaOC pic.twitter.com/GDNLc5CQZF

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) January 25, 2016"

Cantona had his fair share of controversy during his five years in English football, but few of his incidents stand out quite like this one.

 [Twitter: @br_uk]

4. Zinedine Zidane

It's a shame that one of the game's greatest players is remembered more for one moment of poor discipline than for a career full of brilliance and glory.

But that's what happens when you head-butt someone in the chest in a World Cup final.

The 2006 showpiece event between France and Italy was meant to be a fitting finale to Zinedine Zidane's career, with the French captain having announced that he would retire after the match.

It started well enough, as Zizou put his country ahead from the penalty spot inside the first 10 minutes. The lead didn't last long, though, as Marco Materazzi headed Italy level from a corner, and there remained nothing between the sides as the game crept into extra time and toward a penalty shootout.

But that's where it all went wrong for Zidane. Few realised what had prompted Materazzi to hit the deck so far away from the ball, until replays clearly showed Zidane planting his forehead forcibly into the defender's chest, sending him (rather dramatically) to the floor.

Zidane was shown a straight red card, France went on to lose the final on penalties and a brilliant career was forever tainted by one moment of shocking rage.

[YouTube: sheik124]

3. Diego Maradona

If ever one game perfectly summarised a player's career, it was Argentina vs. England in the 1986 World Cup for Diego Maradona.

The side's were level 51 minutes into a tight and short-tempered game when the diminutive Argentinian chased onto a miscued clearance and leapt to knock the ball past the onrushing (and significantly taller) England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

The England players reacted furiously, but the goal was allowed, with replays showing Maradona had clearly used his hand to punch the ball into the net. He later described how the goal was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God."

Just five minutes later, the world was treated to the other, brilliant side of Maradona, when he received the ball inside his own half, dribbled past the majority of the England team before rounding Shilton and sliding the ball home.

It's a performance few England fans will ever forget or forgive.

[YouTube: ClassicEngland, h/t BT.com]

2. Diego Costa

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Diego Costa had already made a reputation for himself as something of a trouble-maker in a debut Premier League season that contained almost as many clashes with defenders as it did goals (and there were quite a few).

But come Chelsea vs. Arsenal on Sept. 19, 2015, Costa's infamy went through the roof, as he played a significant and controversial role in the red card shown to Gunners' defender Gabriel Paulista.

The Blues went on to win the game 2-0, but despite not scoring, Costa's impact was identified by many as the deciding factor in the result.

He was later handed a three-game ban by the FA for violent conduct before returning to haunt Arsenal again in the reverse fixture, as he tempted Per Mertesacker into a tackle that earned the German a straight red card. He would later score the only goal in another Chelsea win over Arsene Wenger's side.

1. Luis Suarez

ANDREW YATES/Getty Images

Of Luis Suarez's three career biting violations, it is the one against Chelsea in April 2013 that best typifies the Uruguayan's habit for mixing brilliance with scandal.

The Blues were leading 2-1 when Suarez and Branislav Ivanovic tussled and fell to the ground away from the ball. Nothing was seen by the officials, but replays showed Suarez burying his teeth into the defender's arm.

To truly confirm his villain status, Suarez then scored an injury-time equaliser to deny Chelsea the win.

Suarez went on to repeat the offence while playing for Uruguay against Italy in the 2014 World Cup, earning a four-month ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder.

That didn't deter Barcelona from splashing out £75 million in July 2014, and the forward has provided more magic football and less biting since his move to Spain.

For his undoubted brilliance and monstrously bad habit, Suarez tops our list.