The Top 5 Strangest Reasons Why A Player Missed A Match

With the news that Axel Tuanzebe missed his latest game versus West Ham due to a freak accident suffered in his kitchen, here at Football Park we want to look at some of the other weird reasons as to why players have missed matches.

🚨🚨 Axel Tuanzebe nearly lost his thumb during a freak kitchen incident last week.

He sustained a gruesome cut from broken glass.

Medics managed to save his thumb after a surgery. This is why he missed Ipswich's game vs West Ham, reports @MailSport. pic.twitter.com/IRnuIvdrU6

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) October 8, 2024

5 – Carlos Tevez

Making his way back to his boyhood club Boca Juniors after a money grabbing stint in China, Carlos Tevez once missed a handful of games after a prison visit. In good form at the time, scoring three goals in five games, the former Premier League and Serie A striker went to visit his half-brother who was serving time.

It was reported that he had torn his soleus muscle upon returning as he had had a kickabout with his brother and some of the other inmates. Once his manager heard this news, I’m sure that he was furious, maybe even causing an outburst that would land him in the cell next to Tevez’s half-brother.

4 – Marco Asensio

Seven years ago, when Marco Asensio was just a young prospect at Real Madrid, he was absent from Madrid’s UEFA Champions League group stage match versus APOEL. The reason for the Spaniard’s absence, a grooming incident.

Asensio had waxed his legs in preparation for the match on the big stage but in the process, he had given himself an infection whilst epilating his legs. It caused him so much soreness that him had to be excused not to play. Of course the beauty regime comes first, Champions League football comes second.

3 – Philippe Mexès

Switching our attention to Italy, at the time AC Milan defender Philippe Mexès missed a Serie A game against Genoa in 2013. Speaking to the club doctors, he mentioned that he was suffering from a pain in his eye which they obviously took very seriously.

He was diagnosed with what is called ‘central serous retinopathy’ and luckily it didn’t cause any lasting damages. However, the cause of the ailment is due to high exposure to ultraviolet light, like from the sun or black lights for example. It eventually got revealed though that Mexès had to miss a game because of excessive tanning bed usage. Clearly the French defender prioritised looking good for the cameras rather than stopping the opposition attacks.

2 – Rio Ferdinand

Manchester United and England renowned centre back Rio Ferdinand saw himself ruled out for a couple of matches in the most relaxing way possible. In the early days of his career when he was at Leeds, Rio was having a relaxing evening on his PlayStation grinding out some PES.

All of a sudden and he had given himself a muscle injury. That’s right, he injured himself by merely having his feet up resting on his coffee table. I think it’s fair to assume that Ferdinand never took his gaming that seriously again.

1 – David Batty

Known as one of the ‘hardmen’ of the early Premier League era, no nonsense midfielder David Batty unfortunately underwent a few injuries throughout his career. His Achillies tendon being the main problem that he suffered from, but he had damaged the ligament in his knee for this one. Bizarrely, it happened off the pitch.

As a family man, Batty was enjoying spending time with his two year old daughter when she caused him to be sidelined for a bit longer. Whilst already out injured, the former Blackburn, Leeds and Newcastle man had his ankle run over by none other than his child riding a tricycle. One of the toughest players in the league had been defeated by a two year old, something that fans would never have expected.