When Daniel Farke revealed details of the injury that means Ivo Pinto will miss Saturday’s game, it’s fair to say there was bitter-sweet smile.
Pinto injured himself getting out of his car – his knee is swollen. It is clearly not a laughing matter, but in a sport where there is little protection against crunching tackles, flying elbows and wayward foreheads, getting out of your own car should cause few problems.
Pinto isn’t alone when it comes to “unusual ways to injure yourself”.
Goalkeepers seem particularly susceptible so who better to start with than former Ipswich keeper Richard Wright? While with Everton he was involved (well supposed to have been) in an 2006 FA Cup replay at Chelsea. Wright strode out on to the pitch for the warm-up, walked to the penalty area where there was a sign saying he could not practise in the goalmouth. He promptly tripped over the sign and twisted his ankle.
Dave Beasant was out of action for two months in 1993 after he dropped a bottle of salad cream on his foot, severing the tendon in his big toe.
Reaching for his TV remote, David James pulled a muscle in his back. It seems that Robbie Keane plus (surprise, surprise),two other keepers, Carlo Cudicini and David Seaman, have also been injured in the same way.
Spanish keeper Santiago Canizares missed the 2002 World Cup after he accidentally smashed a bottle of aftershave and a shard of glass severed a tendon in his big toe.
But it’s not an exclusive club: while a Leeds player, Rio Ferdinand strained a knee tendon watching television – apparently, it was because he had his foot up on a coffee table for so long. More sinister was Ivano Bonetti’s fracture cheekbone when his manager at Grimsby, Brian Laws threw a plate of chicken wings at him. And yes, it was a foul.
There are some classics but this is not for the squeamish: one-time Aston Villa and England striker Darius Vassell picked up an infection which necessitated part of a toenail being removed after he performed DIY surgery – he was trying to drain a blood blister on his foot with a power drill.
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