Football: Where Are These Legends Now?

There are many legends in the great game, not always known for their technical finishing. Footballers really do disappear sometimes but there are a few who have gone on to do something cool or surprising. Let’s find out where some of the old footballers have ended up.

Juninho Paulista

Remember little Juninho from Middlesbrough’s golden days, when he ran the midfield, had a decent free kick and was the David Silva of the ‘90s? The pint-sized Brazilian had an immense impact on how football was played on Tyneside as the sharp and intelligent attacking midfielder quickly became a fan favourite by doing some ridiculous things on the field for Boro.

In 1997 Juninho cried on the pitch when the club went down. Later that summer he joined Atletico Madrid but he came back to England in 2002 before heading over to Celtic and then back to his home country.

Nicknamed The Little Fella, he became general manager of the small Brazilian club Ituano before leaving management after a couple of years. Now aged 44, he was last spotted on a beach in Brazil taking some time out of football.

Duncan Ferguson

It’s safe to say that Ferguson wouldn’t last more than five minutes on a football pitch nowadays. Known for his desire to throw himself into challenges and fight (quite literally) with defenders, the striker retired from his beloved Everton in 2006.

The Scotsman had a filthy attitude on the pitch but was an old-school hard man and according to his wife they moved to Majorca in the hope that the shift would help calm down his temper so he could move into coaching. Whatever they do in Spain to pacify people clearly worked as Ferguson returned to England and is now a coach at Everton.

Although he might have calmed down, I can’t imagine that any of the players look forward to getting the hair dryer treatment from him.

Ashley Cole

Cashley, as he was nicknamed, is just as famous for his non playing antics but the former Arsenal, Palace, Chelsea, and Roma player was widely regarded as one of the better modern left backs.

Cole got the nickname Cashley after he was left “trembling with anger” when Arsenal offered him £55,000 a week versus Chelsea’s £90,000.

Along came a long nasty transfer battle eventually sealing his move to Chelsea. His four year marriage to Cheryl was generally eventful making headlines for the couple in the Sun on a regular basis. He now plays for LA Galaxy in the MLS.

 

Andriy Schevchenko

The little striker who had such a wonderful European cup that Roman Abramovich, an admirer, just had to have him and coughed up £30m which was a UK record.

This increased the strained relationship with Jose at the time who didn’t have a role for him. Jose bought Drogba and soon Scheva was loaned back to AC Milan.

He is now a politician, football manager and retired Ukrainian footballer who played for Dynamo Kyiv, Milan, Chelsea and the Ukraine national team as a striker. After Ukraine’s elimination from UEFA Euro 2016, Shevchenko was appointed as Ukraine’s head coach.

Diego Forlan

The former Manchester United striker is currently plying his trade in India with Mumbai City.and show no signs of slowing down.

At 38 he’s a true journey man who’s started in Uraguay at Independiante before a promising move to Manchester United.

However after 37 goals at Independiante he could only find the back of the net 10 times leading to his transfer to Villereal, Atletico, Inter, a quick trip to Japan with Osaka then back to Uraguay with Penarol and finally landing in India and Mumbai City.

 

Vinnie Jones

A classic old-school brawler was Vinnie Jones. While he wasn’t the best footballer, he will always be remembered for certain actions on the pitch that were tolerated back then but nowadays would probably get you banned for life.

The ex-Leeds United man somehow found his way into acting and played a role in Guy Ritchie’s highly-rated Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He has since gone on to land several roles in Hollywood, including a part in the 2006 film “X-Men The Last Stand”.

Jones is one of the highest-profile old footballers around but oddly enough he is often cast as a silent thug.

Tony Yeboah

It’s crazy to realise that most Premier League fans will only remember Yeboah for one spectacular goal. His spectacular volley at home for Leeds United in August 1995 not only won the game against Liverpool, it has been talked about ever since and has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.

If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here. The Ghanaian striker may have left a legacy in English football of just a few random moments of magic but after football he has built a solid reputation for himself in his home country. The 51-year-old finished his career making a crazy amount of money playing in Qatar and revealed that the only reason he had moved to the tiny emirate was to fund his ambitions for post-football life back in Ghana.

Since retiring he has set up a number of hotels in his home country to provide badly-needed jobs for hundreds of people. He is a living legend who deserves more recognition than most old footballers for his work both on and off the pitch.

 

by Nubaid Haroon

YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtMg-fWm7awR41vM1GhVOkA  Twitter: twitter.com/rambofyi

 

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