The Horror Injuries XI – The Most Disturbing Injuries Ever

The worrying news of an horrific injury to young Accrington Stanley defender Tom Bender on Tuesday night sent shockwaves around the footballing community, prompting thousands of people, including gooner Jack Wilshere and fox-trotting blondie Robbie Savage, to wish him the best of luck with his recovery. Thankfully it appears that Bender has been given the all-clear, and rumours of a broken neck were unfounded.

Bender isn’t the first and won’t be the last player to be on the end of a potentially career-wrecking horror challenge. This week, I’ll be having a look at all the players who have gone through similarly shocking injuries.

WARNING: TRAUMATISING PICTURES BELOW, DON’T LOOK UNLESS YOU’RE HARD (OR STUPID) ENOUGH!
EDIT: SOME OF THE PICS CAN NOW ONLY BE REACHED VIA A LINK AS SOMEONE IN THE OFFICE FAINTED AFTER SEEING THEM

The Horror Injuries XI

Goalkeeper

Petr Cech

Goalkeepers are, by nature, made of stern stuff. They routinely throw themselves where most mortals wouldn’t dare, and perhaps surprisingly, there are few particularly horrible injuries in which goalkeepers have been on the receiving end. Although in 2006, Petr Cech, was effectively kicked in the head by Reading winger Stephen Hunt in an incident which has led to Cech wearing his protective headgear for the rest of his career.

A quick note must go to both Fulham’s Antii Niemi and Roma’s Julio Sergio. Anti Niemi went flying head-over-heels when brute defender Carlos Bocanegra ran into him, with Niemi landing on his head, knocking him out cold – thankfully the tough Fin Niemi was only out for a few weeks. Significantly fewer ‘man points’ go to Julio Sergio, who was forced to carry on playing whilst ecstatically crying over an ankle injury he sustained whilst performing a terrible challenge on a looming Brescia striker, Sergio was out for a month with a little bit of ligament soreness, man-up Julio!

Gruesome Rating: 4/10 Click here to see the pic.

Right Back

Marcin Wasilewski

In August 2009, Standard Liege midfielder Axel Witsel stomped his studs through the leg of the Anderlecht defender Wasilewski in a disturbing challenge which led to Witsel receiving an 8 game ban, and Wasilewski not playing again until May 2010, when he scored the first goal in Anderlecht’s 2-1 against SV Zulte Waregem. Since returning from the injury, in which both the tibia and fibular bones were crushed, Wasilewski has become a cult-hero at Anderlecht.

Gruesome Rating 7/10 – An unnaturally curved leg can be seen here.

Left Back

Alf Inge Haaland

Haaland made the mistake of messing with Roy Keane, and ended up with a injured anterior cruciate ligament. The Norwegian defender accused the Irish hardman of feigning injury to avoid punishment in 1997 after a tackle which left Keano on the sidelines for a whole season, and in April 2001, more than 3 years after the incident, Keano got his revenge by smashing Haaland in the knee. After never recovering from another knee injury which had stemmed from the original injury, Haaland retired without playing another game.

Gruesome rating: 5/10 (purely based on the photo)

Centre Back

David Busst

Possibly the most famous career ending tackle was performed in harmony by Man Utd’s Denis Irwin and Brian McClair as they sandwiched Busst which resulted in a horrific leg break. The match was delayed for 12 minutes, whilst both blood from the injury, and tears from the sobbing Peter Schmeichel were cleared off the grass.

Gruesome rating 9/10: this one is particularly sickening. Click here if you’re a psycho.

Centre Back

Tom Bender

Accrington Stanley’s Johnnstone Paint Trophy match against Tranmere had to be abandoned after an incredibly worrying injury to Bender, after which there were (thankfully unfounded) fears that he had broken his neck. Thankfully Bender regained consciousness in Hospital after suffering from severe concussion. All of us at Bluefields.com wish you a healthy and speedy recovery Tom, get well soon!

Gruesome rating: again purely picture-based 5/10

Right Midfield

Kieron Dyer

In a career which has featured more injuries than Dyer has bones in his body, the tackle by Bristol Rovers’ Joe Jacobson in 2007 which resulted in a double leg break is probably the most horrifying one he received. Dyer had only just signed for West Ham at the time. Dyer spent a whopping 17 months out, returning in 2009. The injury-prone winger now plays for QPR, where he is (unsurprisingly) injured, after being stretchered off after 3 minutes of his debut.

Gruesome rating 6/10: not that gruesome but looks rather peculiar: see here

Left Midfield

Ewald Lienen

One of the strangest injuries, in 1981 whilst playing for Arminia Bielefield, Lienen’s leg was sliced open by Werder Bremen’s Norbert Siegmann. The foul resulted in a 25cm long open wound. Amazingly, Lienen got up straight after the tackle and ran towards Bremen manager Otto Rehhegal, whom he accused of inciting Siegmann to perform such a tackle. After 23 stitches, Lienen somehow managed to return to training just 17 days later!

Gruesome rating 7/10: To see a picture of a sliced open leg, go here.

Centre Midfield

Patrick Battiston

Poor Battiston was on the end of a typically old-school ‘foot up’ goalkeeper challenge during the 1982 World Cup Semi-Final between Battiston’s France and West Germany. The German goalkeeper Schumacher knocked Battiston out cold, resulting in a damaged spine and some missing teeth, Battiston would later slip into a coma. The challenge was strangely accepted as a fair tackle by the referee as no foul was given, those were the days…

Gruesome rating: 3/10 – Not that gruesome a picture but an horrific injury.

Centre Midfield

Jimmy Bullard

The hilarious Bullard was noted during his career at Wigan for never missing a game. However, shortly after making his debut for Fulham in 2006, he was on the end of a horror challenge from Scott Parker which left him on the sidelines for over a year. Parker somehow managed to fall on Bullard’s knee, in an incident which Fulham originally thought would only leave Bullard out for 2 months with a dislocated knee-cap. After eventually returning from his injury in January 2008, Bullard became a fan favourite for Fulham, helping the Cottagers (just about) escape relegation.

Gruesome rating 9/10: this one is awful.

Centre Forward

Djibril Cisse

Djibril Cisse is the only person in this team who has been unlucky enough to suffer two separate career-threatening leg breaks.

In October 2004 during his career at Liverpool, Cisse was involved in a freak accident when Blackburn’s Jay McEverley and him were challenging for the ball. Cisse broke both his tibia and fibula. Cisse later stated that had it not been for the physios’ quick action, he could’ve lost his leg below the knee. Surprisingly, Cisse recovered quickly and was back playing for Liverpool in April 2005 and scored a penalty during the shootout in Liverpool’s Champions League Final win against AC Milan.

Then, in June 2006, whilst playing for France in their final warm-up match for the World Cup in Germany, Cisse was knocked off balance by China’s Zheng Zhi, and ended up breaking his tibia.

Gruesome rating 9/10 – this one is almost the worst. If you want to see it you’re mad, but here it is.

Centre Forward

Eduardo

I think I’ve saved the worst ‘til last. After much consideration (at risk to my own personal sanity after researching the most disgusting injuries football has to offer), I think Eduardo’s fibula break/ankle dislocation is the most disturbing to see…I can’t even begin to imagine how it felt to actually receive.

During a game between Arsenal and Birmingham City in 2008, Martin Taylor committed a reckless foul on the Croatian Striker, for which he was sent off. Thankfully for Eduardo, he is unable to remember the tackle itself. Since recovering from the injury, Eduardo’s joined Ukrainan giants Shakhtar Donetsk, unfortunately it seems unlikely that he’ll ever be able to reach his true footballing potential after struggling to return to form after the injury.

Gruesome rating: 10/10 Indescribably stomach churning, but here you go.

That’s the team, I’m now off to have counselling after being traumatised by all these photos…Enjoy your day!

(Translated by Oliver Jay, Censored by Dan Butt)

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