Top 10 Football Verbal Wars

As Xavi and Arsene Wenger continue to clash over Cesc Fabregas, here 10 of the most tumultuous tongue-tussles between football figure

10. Samuel Eto's vs Roger Milla
Before last year's World Cup, Cameroon captain and star player, Samuel Eto’o, considered pulling out of the event after Indomitable Lions legend Roger Milla blasted his countryman in the press. The Italia 90 icon, who scored four goals in Cameroon’s run to the quarter-finals of that World Cup, complained that although Eto’o had given a great deal to his clubs Barcelona and Inter, he had never achieved anything with his country.

Eto'o responded by sniping: ”What did he achieve? You wonder whether these are really my countrymen. Are these really my people? Is it worth it to go to the World Cup?”


This was not the first time that Milla had publicly criticised Eto’o. Weeks before a decisive qualifying game against Morocco, the oldest scorer in World Cup history accused Eto’o of being a nuisance in the national squad.

The Inter star bit back: “He did not win the World Cup, they played the quarter-finals and what a team it was! They had one the best sides with great players in each compartment. The fact that he enjoyed glory at the age of 40 does not give him the right to talk like that.”


9. Brian Clough vs Don Revie
Going back further in time, there was genuine animosity in the early 1970s between Don Revie's Leeds United - who were the most formidable team in England but whose excellence was seasoned with generous quantities of cynicism, gamesmanship and physicality - and Brian Clough, who was manager of Derby County until 1973.

Clough had no compunction about publicly branding Revie's Leeds 'cheats' and famously told Revie's players, whom he inherited on succeeding the Don, albeit briefly, as Leeds boss, that they should chuck all their medals in the bin as they hadn't won them fairly.

After his infamous 44-day reign at Elland Road came to an end, having never been accepted by Revie’s former players, the pair were involved in an explosive live debate on Yorkshire TV.

8. Gerard Houllier vs David Ginola
David Ginola may have been a success in England, but he became a villain in France during 1993, when erstwhile national team coach Gerard Houllier branded him the reason les Bleus failed to make the 1994 World Cup. Having needlessly squandered possession against Bulgaria during stoppage time in a vital qualifier, France’s opponents broke to score the winning goal, eliminating Houllier’s men. 

“Houllier blamed me for 'murdering' France's bid to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals,” Ginola lamented in 2000, with the ill-feelings between the pair still clear. “Houllier was saying things like: 'the fact that one player cracked up was like a drop of acid. David Ginola is the murderer of the team. He sent an Exocet missile through the heart of French football and committed a crime against the team.

“It is something which will haunt me for the rest of my life. I believe a weaker person would have been destroyed.”

Ginola even threatened legal action for Houllier’s comments.

7. Zinedine Zidane vs Marco Materazzi
One of the most controversial incidents in the history of the World Cup took place in the 2006 final between Italy and France and, more significantly, between Marco Materazzi and Zinedine Zidane. A verbal confrontation between the pair in extra time ended with Zidane - in the last game of his career - viciously head-butting Materazzi. The Frenchman was red carded, and Italy won the cup on penalties, but the battle had only just begun.

A bitter war ensued in the media between the duo. It was wrongly alleged that Zidane’s reaction had been caused by racial abuse, with the Matrix successful in suing a host of English newspapers. He had, in fact, told the ex-Juventus and Real Madrid star that “I prefer the whore that is your sister.”

Wham, bam, thank-you Zidane| Matrix verbal war got physical

Zidane resisted any attempts of reconciliation, insisting that he would “rather die, than say sorry,” but there has been talk in the press recently of a truce. This wasn’t the first time Materazzi fought against an opponent in the media. In 2002, he told the press that current Juventus coach Antonio Conte “needed a hair transplant,” to which the former midfielder replied that Materazzi “needed a brain transplant.”

6. Carlos Bilardo vs Cesar Luis Menotti
The feud between Carlos Bilardo and Cesar Luis Menotti is not just another football rivalry, but rather a dispute that goes right to the soul of Argentine football. Coaches are either 'Bilardistas'; pragmatic hardmen who believe in team unity and effectiveness, and above all the result over attractive play and passing football. Or they are 'Menottistas'. This school of thought, led by the chain-smoking 1978 world champion, prizes beautiful football above all else; it demands control of the ball and the use of a traditional No. 10. 

As the two protagonists in the fight for Argentine football's soul, it is little surprise that the pair have been at each other's throats for years. The battle allegedly started in 1983, when as coach of the national side 'El Narigon' Bilardo asked and then disregarded Menotti's opinion on Alberto Tarantini. Cesar's thoughts on the hard-living defender were typically forthright; “the more problems he has with his missus, the more he runs and the better he plays".

Things only got worse from there, as 'El Flaco' tired of his successor's constant questions on who he should call up, admitting in the same year: "It's a joke. He comes, drives me crazy with questions, I tell him what would be for the best, he goes away and does the opposite. Not some things, everything." That was 28 years ago, and as the fight is carried down the generations by disciples of the two tacticians, it shows no sign of receding any time soon.

5. Christoph Daum vs Uli Hoeness
Beginning with allegations of extortion and prostitution and ending in a cocaine scandal, the feud between Christoph Daum and Uli Hoeness in 2000 was the stuff that television dramas are made of. In fact, it was a spat on German TV 11 years prior that gave birth to the bad blood between the two.

Following the DFB's collapse at Euro 2000, Daum was considered by many in Germany to be the "Messiah" who would lead the nation to World Cup glory in 2002. Hoeness publicly voiced his disapproval in September 2000, and accused the Zwickau native of extortion and soliciting prostitutes. After further allegations suggested he had a drug habit, Daum later offered a hair sample to clear his name.

The plan back-fired in late October, when tests revealed that he had taken cocaine. Daum was promptly dismissed from his position as Bayer Leverkusen coach, and taken out of the running for the position of Germany trainer. He never fully recovered from the scandal, and after coaching six teams in the last decade, is now unemployed.

4. Sir Alex Ferguson vs Keegan, Wenger & Benitez
During almost 25 years at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has entered into a long list of verbal wars. A master of media mind games, ‘Fergie’ often attempted to achieve a psychological edge against opposition managers when fighting for major honours.

His personal battle with ex-Newcastle Utd manager Kevin Keegan is the stuff of legend. As the Geordies threw away a 12-point lead to Manchester United at the top of the table, Keegan lost his head on live TV and directed these remarks at Ferguson: "I will love it if we beat them! Love it!."

When Arsene Wenger arrived in English football in 1996, Ferguson would soon have a new sparring partner. The antagonism began almost immediately when ‘The Professor’ looked at the fixture scheduling and queried why it appeared to favour United. Ferguson played the Johnny Foreigner card, basically remarking: 'he's French, just come over from Japan, what does he know about our football?' Later, when Fergie was chuntering that although Arsenal had won the league, United were better, Wenger responded by saying wryly: "Everyone thinks he has the prettiest wife at home."

The relationship between Ferguson and Wenger has become civil in recent years, but this has not prevented the former fighting it out with another foreigner. Rafa Benitez and Fergie used to get under one another's skins while the Spaniard was Liverpool boss, culminating in Rafa's infamous ’dodgy dossier’ press conference rant directed at the lord of Old Trafford.

3. Jose Mourinho vs Everyone
No figure in the world of football is better with words than Jose Mourinho, who has caused controversy in every country, city, town, or bar that he has ever set foot in. 

At Chelsea, ‘The Special One’ was locked in a spat with Arsene Wenger. Mourinho generally took a swipe at the Frenchman whenever he could, and one of its most colourful expressions was when the Portuguese felt Wenger was paranoid about what was happening at Chelsea (with some justification given the Ashley Cole tapping-up saga) and accused the Gunners boss of being a 'voyeur'. The relationship is still uneasy now. Wenger slammed Mourinho after Real Madrid’s time-wasting tactics at Ajax in a dead-rubber Champions League game, which saw two of the Spanish giants' players conveniently sent off and suspended for a meaningless final group match. Jose responded by branding Wenger a loser, for having not won a trophy for over five years.

"I'll take you all on!"| Mourinho is at war with the whole world

Mourinho’s predecessor at Chelsea, Claudio Ranieri, was always bitter at losing his job after building the team that the Portuguese would achieve success with. ‘The Tinkerman’ often hit out at his successor, but the simple truth is that these were two completely opposite personalities - Ranieri being polite, sincere and diplomatic, and Mourinho brash, frank and cynical. After the former criticised Mourinho’s way of communicating, The Special One responded: “Ranieri had been in England for five years and still struggled to say ‘good morning’ and ‘good afternoon.' He has won a Super Cup, a small cup. He has never won a major trophy. Maybe he needs to change his mindset but he is too old to do it."

In Italy, Mourinho alienated an entire population - barring Inter fans. His most explosive running-row was with Catania director Pietro Lo Monaco, who had claimed he wanted to 'smack Mourinho in the mouth' following Inter's November 2008 Serie A win in Sicily. Mourinho’s classic response was: “I do not know who he is. With the name Monaco I have heard of Bayern Monaco [Munich] and the Monaco GP, the Tibetan Monaco [Monk], and the Principality of Monaco. I have never heard of any others.”

2. Luciano Moggi vs Massimo Moratti
Juventus vs Inter is undoubtedly the most explosive rivalry in modern football, following the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 that has caused a division that may never be repaired. At the centre of this rivalry are the two figures of former Juventus sporting director Luciano Moggi and current Inter president Massimo Moratti.

Moggi has consistently accused Moratti of being behind the creation of Calciopoli, citing the oil tycoon's numerous links with the network and judicial procedure that saw Juventus stripped of two Scudetti, relegated to Serie B and Moggi himself eventually banned for life from football.

Moratti, despite trying to employ Moggi at Inter shortly before Calciopoli erupted, had long accused the Siena-native of cheating the Nerazzurri out of a number of Scudetti - including the 1998 and 2002 titles - and having too much control of the Italian game.

Only a fortnight ago, Moggi again hit out at his adversary: "Inter are finished. Their credit, obtained from Calciopoli, has run out. The team has turned from being a warship to a weak mob. To win again Moratti will probably need to create a new Calciopoli."

1. Pele vs Maradona
The mother of all verbal wars is, unsurprisingly, between the two South American legends. The pair have had a long and bitter feud, dating back at least two decades and including so many barbs you could write a never-ending novel on it.

One of the biggest factors in the dispute has been has been the argument over who is the greatest player of all time. In 2000, Fifa conducted an internet fan poll to elect the ‘Player of the Century’. Maradona won the poll but then Fifa altered the way in which the winner was chosen, and opted to give the prize to Pele. Maradona protested and eventually both players were presented with an award, with El Pibe d’Oro claiming that his rival’s trophy was worthless. 

Pele vs Maradona| The verbal war of verbal wars

Since then, the pair have been constantly at loggerheads. Pele has slammed Maradona for “taking drugs”, being a “poor role model to children”, and for not being able to “kick with his right foot or score with his head.”

The Argentine has hit out at the Brazilian for mingling with politicians and being a “sell-out friend of the establishment”, “debuting with a lad [losing his virginity to a man]”, and has called on the 70-year-old to “go back to the museum”. Just before the recent Copa America, Diego criticised Brazil wunderkind Neymar for being “bad-mannered, just like Pele.”

Maradona and Pele will be arguing until they are on their deathbeds.


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