Football Fair Play and Respect – Top 10 Moments

Football, or any other sport for that matter, is all about respect. Sports professionals respect and admire the display of  good sportsmanship spirit, and these are remembered as some special moments of class.

Football is extremely touching at times. Good sportsmanship, honesty, fair play, respect and emotions are the elements of football that are  cherished the most by the football fans worldwide. After all, football is not just a game, it’s every supporter’s life.

Enjoy the 10 most beautiful moments of football, highlighting the best aspects of the game, loved by the whole world.

10) Carles Puyol – Defending Ballesteros In Spite Of Being Slapped By Him

In a match between Barcelona and Mallorca in 2005, Barcelona were easing to a 2-0 win in the 70th minute, when Mallorca defender Sergio Ballesteros was sent-off for a rash challenge on Barcelona substitute Mark van Bommel.

When Carles Puyol came to the Spaniard to try to turn the heat down a little bit, Ballesteros slapped him on his face while leaving the field. This incident was followed by a strong reaction from Puyol’s team-mate Ronaldinho, who ran up to Ballesteros, only to be stopped and pushed back by none other than Puyol.

Puyol earned great respect after the game as he defended Ballesteros who slapped him in the face by stopping his own team-mate forcefully.

9) Cristiano Ronaldo – Apology After Hitting a Fan with the Ball

In 2011, Ronaldo accidentally hit a supporter with the ball while clearing it out of the touch line during Real’s 4-0 win over Getafe. As a result, the man had a broken nose and was treated by the stadium medics, but he remained in the crowd for the duration of the match. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in that match, but that night is remembered because of the former incident.

After the match, Ronaldo went straight to that man and as a gesture of apology, he removed his shirt to present it to the supporter. A club official gave Ronaldo a clean shirt and the Portuguese superstar presented the man with it. After offering the shirt, the two of them posed for pictures.

8) SK Brann – Allowing a Free Goal After Scoring Because of a Goalkeeper’s Mistake

In Norwegian top flight football in 2011, Brann player Erik Mjelde scored a bizarre goal against Lillestrom. The ball was kicked out of play due to an injury to one of the Lillestrom players. When play resumed, Brann tried to kick the ball back to their opposition, following the rules of football etiquette. But what was done for fair play turned out to be the one of the greatest goals of the season.

Mjelde kicked the ball to Lillestrom keeper Stefan Magnusson from his own half, but the ball bounced over the keeper and into the net. That goal gave Brann a two-goal lead in the match. But the Brann players unanimously voted in favour of conceding a goal purposefully, in order to reduce the deficit to one. But this decision didn’t go down well with Brann keeper Piotr Leciejewski.

While the Lillestrom players went straight through the Brann defence, Piotr offered resistance to the Lillestrom striker, and tried to save the one-on-one effort. But the finish was clinical, and as a result, Brann’s lead was cut down to just one goal.

7) Oliver Kahn – Consoling Canizares After Champions League Final

In the 2001 Champions League final the two teams, who had been finalists in the previous two seasons, met to gain some redemption. Bayern Munich lost to Manchester United 2-1 in the 1999 final, whereas Valencia lost to Real Madrid 3-0 in the 2000 final. But in 2001, one team was going to get the ultimate glory, and that team was Bayern.

Both the teams played out a 1-1 draw after extra-time, and were level on penalties, when Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn saved the decisive penalty to win the title. But instead of celebrating instantly, Kahn went straight up to Valencia shot-stopper Santiago Canizares, who was crying after his team’s loss. Kahn was pictured as consoling Canizares, and he received the UEFA Fair Play Award for this.

6) Paolo di Canio – Passing Up a Scoring Chance Due to Injury to Oppositon Goalkeeper

In 2000, West Ham and Everton played out a 1-1 draw in the Premier League. But Everton would have lost the match in the dying moments, if West Ham striker Di Canio had decided to shoot the ball into an empty goal.

Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was injured in a clash with a West Ham player, and was far away from his goal. Trevor Sinclair crossed the ball and found Di Canio with lots of space, who could have fired a volley into the empty goal. But instead of scoring, he decided to catch the ball and pointed straight at the injured Gerrard.

He received a sustained applause from the Goodison Park and the Everton players, as the match ended in a draw. Di Canio received a Fifa Fair Play award for his actions, and the governing body described the gesture as a “special act of good sportsmanship”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPxRtKTM2AU

5) Wieghorst – Missing a Wrongful Penalty

In a match between Iran and Denmark in 2013, the Iranian players took a whistle from the crowd as the half-time whistle blown by the referee. A player subsequently picked up the ball in his hands inside his own penalty area. As a result, the referee pointed towards the penalty spot.

Before taking the penalty kick, Morten Wieghorst walked up to his coach Morten Olsen, who instructed him to deliberately miss the penalty. Wieghorst shot way wide of the right side of the Iranian goal.

He was given a standing ovation by the crowd, and was applauded by the Iranian players. Denmark went on to lose that match 1-0 to Iran. Wieghorst received the Olympic Committee Fair Play award for this effort.

4) Andryi Shevchenko – Protecting a Supporter

In an international friendly match, Ukraine legend Andryi Shevchenko saved a supporter from arrest after the fan invaded the pitch during the match. Ground security guards were able to catch the supporter, when Shevchenko stepped up to them.

Shevchenko removed his shirt, but the security officials forcefully tried to take the supporter away from the former Ukraine striker. Shevchenko caught hold of the guard and instructed him to leave the man, and then gave away his shirt to the supporter. The man embraced Shevchenko, and thanked him for giving him his shirt. Then the Ukraine top-scorer made sure that the man move away from the ground without being arrested.

Shevchenko, who is the all-time highest scorer for Ukraine, was given respect by numerous fans from across the globe.

3) Miroslav Klose – Admitting a Handball Goal

In 2012, Napoli beat Lazio 3-0 in a league match, thanks to a Edinson Cavani hat-trick, ensuring three points. But that did not make the headlines after that match, as all the limelight was taken by a piece of fair play from Lazio striker and Germany legend Miroslav Klose.

Lazio won a corner in the fourth minute of the match, and Klose gave Lazio the lead. But replays clearly showed that the former German World Cup winner had handled the ball into the net. While all Lazio players were seen celebrating, Klose walked up to the referee and told him about the incident. The decision was reversed, and the Napoli players came up to Klose to thank him for his honesty.

“Bravo Miro Klose,” Blatter wrote on Twitter. “With your gesture you have shown yourself to be a champion and a proper player.”

“We should praise the honesty of Klose,” then Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso told Mediaset Premium. “We must honour this gesture. It is an example for all children to follow.”

2) Aaron Hunt – Cancelling a Wrongfully Awarded Penalty

In a Bundesliga match between FC Nurnberg and Werder Bremen in 2014, the Green-Whites were leading 2-0 with 15 minutes of play left. Bremen were on the counter-attack, looking to extend their lead, when a cross from the left wing found Hunt in space at the edge of the box. Hunt ran inside the penalty area and was supposedly brought down by Javier Pinola. The referee pointed towards the penalty spot, much to the disbelief of Nurnburg players.

But Hunt showed that there is nothing more important than honesty. He got up and approached the referee to tell him that he wasn’t fouled. As a result, the referee overturned the decision and Pinola shook his hand for the honesty and fair play he showed on the pitch. Werder Bremen won the match 2-0.

“I was looking for that contact and I wanted a penalty. That was pure instinct, but it was wrong,” Aaron Hunt told Sky after the match. “I had to think about it, but we don’t want to win a match like that.”

1) Jaba Kankava – Saving an Opponent’s Life

In 2014, Ukrainian Premier League, a match between Dynamo Kiev and Dnipro could have been the last one for Oleg Gusev. Kiev had won a free kick, which was fired long enough for Dnipro goalkeeper Denys Boyko to collect. But in the process, Boyko caught Dynamo Kiev captain Oleg Gusev in the face, which left him unconscious. There was a risk of swallowing his tongue and choking himself to death for Gusev.

But Jaba Kankava, Dnipro midfielder, quickly went to the unconscious Gusev, and forced his hand down the player’s throat to clear his airways, which was seen as a life-saving act from the Dnipro man. Soon, the medical officials took Gusev to the sidelines for treatment, and the Kiev captain looked fit later in the match while watching from the touchline.

Kankava was seen holding his hand in pain, possibly due to a cut from Gusev’s teeth, and was thanked by the Dynamo Kiev players for his life-saving effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KML1GvqsIuk

Edited By : Akanksha Agarwal