When a football player retires, they usually look forward to not having to deal with injuries more than anything else. The last thing they need is to be sidelined or have surgery as they enjoy their new, relaxed lifestyle after years of pushing their bodies to the limit.
However, former England international Phil Neville is one man who came very close to not having that luxury. The former head coach of the Lionesses, who spent a lengthy career playing for Everton and Manchester United, announced his retirement in 2013. A Barcelona icon, however, delivered one of the most horrific tackles ever seen to the former defender four years later.
Carles Puyol’s Sickening Challenge on Phil Neville
Neville was furious with the tackle
The incident happened in 2017 during a six-a-side competition that was modelled after the structure of the popular Sky Sports show “Masters Football.” The ‘Star Sixes’ competition brought together some of the greatest luminaries from 12 different countries to compete in a knockout championship and group stage akin to the World Cup. Neville was selected to play for England, joining players like David James, Michael Owen, and Steven Gerrard.
But in the first game, the former Inter Miami manager’s time on the field was almost cut short. The ball bounced up after the 48-year-old’s terrible initial touch, prompting infamous hard man Carles Puyol to charge in. The Spaniard, who is widely considered to be among the best Barcelona players of all time, took out his opponent with a knee-high challenge that should have caused far more harm than it did, but instead he won the ball. View the incident below:
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Neville was remarkably unharmed, but it didn’t stop him from expressing his rage at the challenge. He stated:
“I’ve never witnessed a worse tackle on a football pitch. UEFA, FIFA, and the FA should all look at this, I hope.
“The referee saying he got the ball was the thing that irritated me the most. To be honest, it was a terrible tackle.
Although the former utility player acknowledged that Puyol had expressed regret for the tackle, a serious injury was only avoided by a great stroke of luck. “I’ve just had a word with Paul [Scholes], hopefully he can sort him out,” he continued at the time.
Later, Puyol posted on Twitter: “I’m sorry, man! I hope you’re okay with your knee. It wasn’t my intention.
Star Sixes 2017 Results
England were knocked out at the quarter-final stage
Spain pull out a little tiki-taka today and @MarchenaOficial finishes off #SPASCO #StarSixes pic.twitter.com/pjutsMNmZa
— Star Sixes (@StarSixes) July 15, 2017
Even though Neville managed to go on, the man who tried to remove him would win the event. The Three Lions rallied back with two wins to finish second in their group and earn a spot in the knockout stages after losing the first match.
They would face Denmark, the 1992 European Champions, there. Neville and company were knocked out before they even made it to the final as the Danes easily defeated England. It was France who would eventually defeat them and win the inaugural ‘Star Sixes’ title.
Although Puyol’s Spain would lose to the French in the semifinals, they would defeat Brazil 11-3 to win the third-place play-off.
