Eric Cantona was self-proclaimed the King of Manchester with the ability to turn a game on its head and pull off the spectacular on a weekly basis – or what United fans thought Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be doing. Combined with the Frenchman’s skill was a burning rage inside him that would surface on occasion.
The incident involving Cantona was the infamous night at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace where he dove into the crowd with a kick out of a kung-fu movie. The striker landed himself an assault charge and an eight-month suspension from football.
“My best moment? I have a lot of good moments, but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.”
Eric Cantona
Suarez just bites people, Cantona went for the kill.
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This past weekend, an Argentine footballer playing in Chile attempted to recreate the famous Eric Cantona kick after his team’s loss… must have been following the sardines.
In a moment of madness, Sebastian Pol shows his desire to confront a fan by escaping his teammates who in all honesty weren’t doing the best job of holding him back anyway. Pol climbs onto the railing separating the stands from the pitch and delivers a kick to the fan.
https://twitter.com/buzzspor/status/792665972641587200
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So, who did it better?
The kicks will be judged on three distinct categories: skill, impact, and consequences.
Skill:
The Cantona kick was impressive, but Pol’s required more skill.
Pol had to climb up on the railing, stick the landing, and then deliver the kick; it was no easy task. Pol could have easily taken a tumble and been forced to brawl with the fans outnumbering him, but he didn’t.
Winner: Sebastian Pol
Impact:
If you watch the Pol kick closely, the contact made on the kick wasn’t the greatest despite the Argentine aiming for the fan’s head. He also ran away after he kicked the fan out of fear such a bitch move.
Not only did Cantona go for a kung-fu kick to the chest, but also managed to get a few punches in before he was pulled away. I can’t imagine what would have happened if Cantona wasn’t separated from the fan.
Winner: Eric Cantona
Consequences:
We don’t know the full consequences of the Pol kick, but you can’t imagine them to be as severe as Cantona’s. The Manchester United man was forced into community service instead of prison and was suspended from football for eight months.
Sebastian Pol won’t get that sort of suspension.
Winner: Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona’s kick easily wins as the King of Manchester didn’t back down when confronted, but props to Pol for attempting to recreate the infamous kick.
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