The Football Hard Men Index No.2: Andoni Goikoetxea, aka the Butcher of Bilbao
Name: Andoni Goikoetxea, nicknamed The Butcher of Bilbao
Club career: Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid
Position: Centre-back
Why so hard? The Butcher of Bilbao earned his nickname for an infamous scything tackle from behind on Diego Maradona, who was playing for Barcelona at the time. The challenge knackered Maradona’s ankle badly and kept him out of action for three months, but Goiko was so proud of it that he kept the offending football boot in a glass case in his living room, so he could say, “That was the boot I used to crock the great Diego!”
Writing in his autobiography, Maradona claimed that he forgave Goikoetxea in time for the “axe’s blow”:
Ouch. Terrible tackle.
Not long before this foul, the Butcher had injured Bernd Schuster – also playing for Barca at the time – with a bad tackle that f**ked up the German’s right knee so badly that he never recovered fully. Yep, no doubt the Butcher deserves his hardman status.
If you have any nominations for our Hard Men section, feel free to let us know…
Fletch says:
“Pretty tasty for a Spanish lad. But if he tried that shite on me, I’d reduce the c**t in nae time. Because that’s what’s going to happen…”
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this was already my favorite footy blog, but fletcher adds a whole new dimension!
don’t include vinnie jones it’s not worth it. who was that german guy who tried to kill van basten?
…roy keane?
What a terrible shame that he didn’t..
Fletch is an absolute touch of genius
hard man? more like royal coward. thats a leg breaking tackle if ive ever seen one, diego got lucky. and according to your note, schuster wasnt as lucky
Yes keep up with Fletchers comments.. That “made” this post!
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You moorons. Don´t mess with one of the most honests and skillful defenders in la Liga history just for the one sided point-of-view of the event, media-backed-ball licker Barcelona´s crap speakers. And neither with Athletic Club. In fact, didn´t deserve it?