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10 Most Hated Football Teams
Champions League rivalsInter and Chelsea have been two of the most unpopular squads in recentseasons. Ahead of tomorrow's game at San Siro, Carlo Garganese takes alook at 10 other hated teams over the years...
By Carlo Garganese Feb 23, 2010 2:00:00 PM
10) Ramon Calderon’s Real Madrid
Hacked off Milan trying to chase Kaka, hacked off Manchester United trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo- but eventually succeeded - hacked off Villarreal trying to sign SantiCazorla right after hacking off Valencia trying to sign David Silvaand/or David Villa, hacked off Madrid's own fans with broken electionpromises of Cesc Fabregas, Kaka and Arjen Robben, but eventually got Arjen Robben,who Chelsea didn't want anymore anyway, and then Calderon's interimsuccessor, Ivan Boluda went on and talked smack about wallopingLiverpool in the CL, only to be walloped.
Quite a mouthful, but you get the point!
9) Arsenal 1986-1995
‘Boring, Boring Arsenal’. It is hard to believe now when you consider the delightful football under Arsene Wenger,but George Graham’s Arsenal from 1986-95 – particularly the latterstages of his reign - were one of the most boring teams in the historyof the game.
The Scotsman – incidentally a skilful midfielderduring his playing days at Highbury – built his XI on a mean back fourof Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn. Graham’sArsenal have been the closest English version of 1960s ItalianCatenaccio. ‘One-nil to the Arsenal’ to the tune of the Pet Shop Boys’‘Go West’ was another common crowd chant.
With very littletechnical talent throughout the team, Graham’s Arsenal often reliedpurely on the prolific Ian Wright for goals. They still won two titlesin 1989 and 1991, playing slightly more offensively. But they becamehated on the continent when they lifted the UEFACup Winners’ Cup in 1994. Arsenal beat a Parma side featuringGianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla 1-0 in the final, despite barelygetting out of their half all game.
8) Italy – Always
Onthe international scene, Italy have probably been the most consistentlydisliked country – especially in northern Europe where the clash ofcultures is just too much to take.
On the footballing side Italyare stereotypically depicted as pragmatic and ultra-defensive, wastingsome excellent attacking talent in favour of tactics. They are alsoconsidered as the creators of professionalism. Shirt-pulling, diving,conning the referee – or as it is known in Italy ‘furbo’ (being crafty).
Offthe pitch, there is undoubtedly a sense of jealousy. Few can doubt thatmany Italian footballers are extremely good looking, as for the womenlet's not even get started. The confident and expressive personalitiesof many Italians is also something that can irritate non-latin nations,who often cheer an Italian World Cup exit.
7) Manchester United Post-1993:pompom:
After winning their first championship in 26 years in 1993, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United soon developed into the UK’s most dominant club. In the proceeding 17 years, the Red Devils have lifted another 10 Premier Leaguecrowns as well as two Champions Leagues. While United are undoubtedlyhated in English circles for being so successful, there are many otherreasons why they are so disliked.
First of all, they haveoften been painted as a lucky team (others would say they haveincredible character) due to the high number of late goals they scored– especially in the 1990s. When Ferguson won his first title in 1993,this chiefly came about after defender Steve Bruce scored two injurytime goals to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win over SheffieldWednesday. Then, of course, there was the 1999 Champions League finalagainst Bayern Munich when United were outplayed from start to finish but scored twice in stoppages again to lift the crown.
ManyUnited fans are often termed as ‘gloryhunters’ – i.e. they only supportthe club because they are successful. This can be seen, apparently, bythe relatively small number of followers from Manchester. MostMancunians are City fans. Another bone of contention revolves aroundthe referees, with United said to benefit more than any other team fromofficials.
6) Juventus – Always
Juventus are hated in Italy for pretty much the same reason Manchester United are despised in England.
TheBianconeri are by far the most successful domestic team on thepeninsula with 29/27 Scudetti (depending on your viewpoint). They haveoften been described as a lucky team, scoring many late goals to wingames over the years. Like United, fans of Juve are spread all over thecountry with most Turin-locals supporting Torino. This has led tosimilar ‘gloryhunter’ complaints.
Juventus have also beenaccused of benefiting from refereeing decisions. The most controversialrevolved around the conclusion to the 1981 and 1982 championships, aswell to a lesser extent the 1998 Scudetto. The 2006 Calciopoli scandaldamaged Juve’s image internationally.
5) Greece 2004
Priorto Euro 2004, the Greeks had only qualified for two major tournamentsin their entire history – Euro 1980 and World Cup 1994 – where they hadplayed 6 in total, lost five, drawn 1, scored 1, and conceded 14. Ateam of no big names coached by German country bumpkin legend OttoRehhagel, only Latvia were less favoured than the Greeks.
Yet,Rehhagel implemented a perfect gameplan whereby Greece would sit backand soak up pressure before punishing the opposition on set-pieces andcounter-attack. Greece made it out of a group including hosts Portugal,and Spain, beating the former in the opening game. They then stunnedholders France 1-0 in the quarter final, beat favourites the Czech Republic on a silver goal in the semis, and finished the job by defeating Portugal for a second time 1-0 thanks to Angelos Charisteas.
This had been the biggest shock ininternational football history, but the Greeks were panned by much ofthe international press. They were labelled by many as a “set-pieceteam”, with the term ‘anti-football’ regularly thrown about.
4) Don Revie’s Leeds United
The Leeds United of the late 1960s and early 1970s are widely acknowledged as the most hated team in English football history.
Onthe pitch they were an outstanding team blessed with exceptionalplayers such as Peter Lorimer, Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner. Althoughthey ‘only’ won two championships, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one FA Cupand one League Cup during this era, in reality they should have won atleast double this number of trophies as they often fell at the lasthurdle.
Like a number of teams on this list, Revie’s men were avery physical side, earning the nickname ‘Dirty Leeds’ and often beingcriticised by the press and in particular Brian Clough. Hardmen such asBremner and Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter sent shivers down the spinesof opponents. Hunter was involved in a number of notorious punch-upsduring his career, including during a Cup Winners’ Cup final defeat toMilan as well as an infamous incident with Derby’s Francis Lee.
Despitetheir brilliance, this Leeds side is not fondly remembered by theEnglish press, which is a shame because they are undoubtedly one of theUK’s greatest ever teams.
3) Estudiantes 1967-1970
Asbrutal teams go, few come any more brutal than the Estudiantes squadthat won the 1967 Argentine Metropolitano, as well as three successive Copa Libertadores’and an Intercontinental Cup. Key members of this team includeArgentina’s 1986 World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo, and Juan RamonVeron – the father of Sebastian.
Coach Osvaldo Zubeldiaimplemented a physical style of play, centred around intimidatingopponents. Tactical fouls were common, as were off-the-ball cheapshots.Ironically the club’s nickname at the time was La Tercera que Mata (TheKiller Juveniles).
The 1969 Intercontinental Cup defeat toMilan has been labelled ‘Vergüenza de La Plata’ – the ‘Embarrassment ofLa Plata’. Estudiantes won the game 2-1 (but lost 4-2 on aggregate) inone of the most violent games in history. So shocking was theviciousness that the entire team was arrested after the game under theorders of Argentine president Juan Carlos Ongania.
Thenotoriously violent Aguirre Suarez who broke a bone in Nestor Combin’sface, and goalkeeper Alberto Poletti, were sent to jail. Combinappeared on Italian TV after the game with his face looking like theback end of a bus.
2) Bayern Munich 1970s
Just like Juventus and Manchester United,Bayern are hated in Germany because of their success. FC Hollywood arethe most supported team in Germany, but everyone who doesn’t cheer forthem cheers against them ferociously.
The hatred officiallybegan at the start of the 1970s at a time when Bayern had only won twoGerman championships in their history. There was a huge rivalry betweenBayern and another great team of this era Borussia Monchengladbach. Theneutrals seemed to warm to Die Fohlen, and the team symbolised byGunter Netzer became every German’s second team.
Bayern wereoften attacked on their travels around Germany, despite containing manyof the legendary Germany team that won Euro ’72 and World Cup ’74 suchas Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Paul Breitner. There were anumber of punch-ups with fans, which helped consolidate Franz Roth’snickname of ‘The Bull’. Beckenbauer once pretended to urinate atabusive away fans while goalkeeper Sepp Maier knocked a Hannoversupporter clean out when he was told: “I’m going to kill you, youBayern pig.”
The Bayern of the 70s were also often accused of being lucky. Germans call it Bayern-Dusel.There is no doubt that Bayern enjoyed more than their fair share offortune continentally. Had the club lost all three of the consecutiveEuropean Cup finals in 1974, 75 and 76, no one could have complained.They were outplayed in the first by Athletic Bilbaobut scored in the last minute of extra time to force a replay that theywon. In the second they were dominated by a Leeds United team that hada good Peter Lorimer goal scandalously disallowed, but still somehowwon 2-0. In the last triumph, St Etienne hit the woodwork twice andmissed a host of chances, but it was Bayern who won 1-0.
Bayernalso seemed to exemplify the stereotype that Germans are the best atorganising parties, but the worst at actually throwing them. Theyrarely celebrated these victories with any kind of passion, which alsoirritated their enemies.
1) Argentina 1990
Argentina1990 are undoubtedly the most universally-detested World Cup team ofall time. The then holders somehow made it all the way to the Romefinal, despite containing just two players with any real attackingability - Claudio Caniggia, and Diego Maradona, who was dreadfully unfit and playing through injury.
CarlosBilardo’s men were the modern definition of anti-football. They scrapedtheir way through the group stage, having lost to Cameroon in theopener, and having beaten the USSR only after Maradona had a clearhandball off the line not spotted by the referee.
In thesecond round against Brazil, Argentina defended with 10 men behind theball, and were battered from start to finish by their bitter rivals,only to win 1-0 courtesy of their one attack of the game, a piece ofMaradona genius in the second half, who set up Caniggia for the winner.
Thenegativity continued in the quarter final against a far superiorYugoslavia, who played 90 minutes with 10 men. The game went topenalties, where Sergio Goycochea, a clown of a goalkeeper who could donothing except save spotkicks, proved to be the hero.
Onto the semi-final against Italy in Naples.In truth the Azzurri did not play their best game but they were theonly side trying to attack, and all looked good after Toto Schillacigave them an early lead. Caniggia equalised in the 67th minutefollowing an horrendous Walter Zenga mistake, and Argentina resorted totheir negative, spoiling tactics. They wasted time at everyopportunity, and it couldn’t have been any clearer that they wereplaying for a shootout, which they won again thanks to Goycochea.
Anti-footballwon the day, and never could this have been more illustrated than bythe fact that Roberto Donadoni, the brilliantly skilful Milan winger,who had been unplayable all night, and the clear man-of-the-match,ended up being the man who missed the most decisive spot-kick.
Inthe final itself against West Germany, Argentina played for penaltiesfrom the first whistle. Their shameful pessimism contrived to make thisthe worst final in the whole history of the World Cup, yet ironicallythey were defeated by an 85th minute penalty by Andreas Brehme. It wasnever a penalty in a million years, but many would say that justice hadbeen served. |
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Post time 18-2-2010 11:40 AM
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