Out and Proud. They defend. They rock. Meet the Curly Haired Mafia of world football.
1. CARLES PUYOL – FC BARCELONA/SPAIN
Image by marcpuig
If you want to take the piss out of Carles Puyol’s hair to his face. Have a go …Barcelona’s enforcer, the Catalonian Captain Caveman, likes a mid 80s rock hair do and he’s sticking with it. It’s reported that the young Carles was told to cut his locks by ex-Barcelona manager Van Gaal in 1998 but steadfastly refused, in what might be, the only recorded 16 year hairstyle rebellion in history.Born in La Pobla de Segur, a remote Catalonian town and a place where two Spanish rivers entwine and mingle, Puyol takes no crap from anyone. Mr Barća or “the Wall” as he’s fondly known by fans, has been at the mega-club since joining as a youth player in 1995 and is a fluffy part of the Camp Nou furniture.Barća’s no 5, also has a 100 caps for La Roja – the Spanish national side – although if he wore one we think he would look like Angus Young from ACDC. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Puyol who is lovingly known for his fierce in-match barracking of his team-mates, apparently likes to warm up listening to Napalm Death. We like him.
Take it away Carles…
2. DAVID LUIZ – CHELSEA FC/BRAZIL
Image byTânia Rêgo/ABr licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Brazil license
Next up is David Luiz or to use his full monty name David Luiz Moreira Marinho. ‘Davedee’, as they reportedly call him in Portugal, bears and uncanny resemblance to 70s songster Leo Sayer and was born in a hardcore suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Leaving to join Portuguese club Benfica at the tender age of 19, ‘David Louise’ as he his often referred to by commentators this side of the channel, was to become a cult hero amongst Benfica fans, earning him Portuguese player of the season in 2009-2010. Indeed Portugal were hoping to nab David for the national side but he refused, opting to play for his native Brazil, where he has earned 30 senior caps to date.
Luiz, who joined Chelsea in 2011, has a curly flexible approach to the game and in his time has played as an attacking/defensive midfield player, as a left back and in central defence. A very religious fellow, he has links with the Brazilian organisation ‘Atletas de Cristo’ (Athletes for Christ) and is noted for his clean living; balancing out the malign influence of the Terry/Cole ‘axis of evil’ in the Blues dressing room. His twitter feed shows he is strangely very fond of the word ‘Geezers’ and funny jumpers.
Luiz is a player that comes and goes and has been criticised of late for his “laid back attitude” – but he does have his rather splendid moments. Here’s a rather special one from the Confederations Cup in 2013, where he was the bane of Spain’s life. Bet the Portuguese loved him even more for that.
Saved by the foot of God? ….Over to you Dave.
3. FABRICIO COLOCCINI – NEWCASTLE FC/ARGENTINA
Image by Jon Candy licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
“I want curly hair too.” The sound of thousands of Newcastle United fans singing their Coloccini love song to the sound of “I love You Baby”- is one of the greatest football fan chants in the Premier League. That’s our opinion, anyways. Listen to the Toon confessing their man love for ‘Captain Colo’ here > Oh Coloccini!
The Córdoba born, Argentinian centre back has been worshipped by the St. James Park faithful ever since he joined the North East club from Spanish outfit, Deportivo La Coruna in 2008. His curly bushy locks are legendary and their like has not been seen near a football pitch since Queen’s Brian May played overblown guitar solos at Live Aid at Wembley in 1985.
However, when it comes to his own chanting preferences, Coloccini, who has 39 caps for Argentina, seems to have a not so secret love for Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo, a team he played for in 2000-2001, and one with which he was linked with a transfer move to in Summer 2013. Happily for Newcastle fans his curliness was just too expensive for San Lorenzo.
What a big flirt though. Love struck Newcastle fans should look away now.
© LRM 2013
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