Today we’ll dedicate this article to those gentlemen who carry the responsibility of keeping ‘masculine’ the game of football, this is the top 5 bearded footballers.
In our day and age there are performers of the game of football with crazy haircuts, dyed hair, perfect fixed eyebrows, tanned skin and extremely short shorts, it came to your mind the image of Cristiano Ronaldo or maybe Pogba? That’s the mainstream fashion style of the football players right now. But, there have always been few footballers who prefer a manlier and mature look over the eccentricity and, sometimes, ridiculousness of the new fashion tendencies.
One of the best things about bearded football players is that you can’t read their facial expressions, which makes them unpredictable and mysterious, especially in penalty and free kicks. Another plus of bearded football player is that they inspire respect and sometimes they can even intimidate you inside the pitch with their fierce look, who would ever want to crash against a strong bearded juggernaut?
Top 5 Bearded Footballers Ever
5 – Andrea Pirlo
I guess that you were expecting this man to be on this list. Andrea Pirlo is one of the greatest players of his generation. This genius of football won everything with AC Milan; Serie A, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Supercup, Italian cup and Italian Supercup, and the FIFA Club World Cup; and later went to Juventus to keep winning titles. He also won a FIFA World Cup with Italy. If you see the old pictures of Pirlo you might get a surprise, he looks absolutely different without his beard. I mean it, he looks skinny and weak. Since he got his beard in 2011, he changed his whole aura, he now looks fearless and dangerous, even stonger; and he is playing exactly the same has when he didn’t had facial hair. Right now, this man is one of the most famous bearded footballers, if not the most.
4 – Gennaro Gatusso
Gatusso will always be remembered for being one of the most reckless players of the game. His style of play always prioritized physical contact against the players of the opposing side. Gatusso played many years alongside Pirlo on AC Milan, and won many trophies. Like Pirlo, he is a FIFA World Cup winner. While active, this bearded footballer was one of the most feared defensive midfielder on Serie A. Gatusso always gave the 100% on the field, his technical skills weren’t as impressive has his tactical and physical skills; he was capable of running for more than 90 minutes, and his strength allowed him to tackle bigger players like Peter Crouch or Zlatan Ibrahimovic and make them look weak. Gennaro finished his career in Sion FC, a mid – low level Swiss club. Rhino is now managing.
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3 – Paul Breitner
This German defender is one of the best football players of all times, and has one of the most celebrated beards of football. This talented man played for Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Eintracht Brauschweig. He won five Bundesliga tournaments and two La Liga tournaments, won the Copa del Rey cup and two DFB Pokal, he also won the UEFA Champions League with Bayern. But his biggest accomplishment is the 1972 UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup that he won with Germany in 1974 along side Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummeneige.
This is one ofthe most talented bearded footballers, he is one of a selected group of four players to have score in two World Cup finals, he score on the final of 1974 and 1982. Breitner was known as Der Afro, for his look, he grew a long big and thick beard and hair. He was also known for his Marxist – Communist tendencies, he was seen taking his Mao’s “Little red book” to training.
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2 – Tim Howard
Howard is the only goalkeeper in this selected list. Tim started his career in New Jersey Imperials, and then he moved to MetroStars. Manchester United signed after his impressive appearances with his US previous club. Howard quickly gained the first goalkeeper spot on the Red Devil’s and won the 2003 FA Community Shield, the 2003 – 2004 FA Cup and the 2005 – 2006 League Cup. He is now playing for Everton and is one of the most iconic players of the Liverpool’s club, he has been defending the Tofee’s net since 2006, and his legend is not the only thing that has been growing. His beard is one of the most recognizable on the EPL right now.
He holds some impressive records at his club and his country team. He broke the record for most saves in a World Cup against Belgium with 15. He even scored a goal once against Bolton Wanderers. Tim Howard suffers from Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder. He is expected to leave the Tofees this summer to move to Colorado Rapids in MLS.
1 – Olof Mellberg
He might be not the greatest footballer, but he definitely is at the top of the greatest bearded footballers ever. The Swedish center back is one of the most intimidating players ever, his size, strength and beard could make everyone that stands next to him look like a little 9 year old girl. One surprising fact of Olof is that he was a tennis prodigy during his childhood; it wasn’t until his 14 that he decided to follow the football path. Mellberg played for 8 different teams in his professional career; he played for Degerfors IF, AIK, Racing Santander, Juventus, Olympiacos, Villarreal and Copenhagen, but it was on Aston Villa where he played his best football.
He is considered one of the greater defenders of Aston Villa by the fans. On his last game on Upton Park, Mellberg gave shirts for every Aston Villa fan with the message “Thanks 4 the support” and his name and number. What a gentleman.
Mellberg scored the first goal ever on Emirates Stadium on a game against Arsenal. Mellberg played two world cup and one European Championship with Sweden; he made 117 caps and scored 8 goals. He captained his country several years after passing the captain arm band to Ljunberg.
This was the top 5 bearded footballers ever, we hope you enjoyed it.
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