Jeremy Mathieu and the Smoker's Story in the Football

Jeremy Mathieu (Getty Images)

"In Spain, I've always been criticized about my smoking habits. In fact, I'm not the only smoker on the football field. "

The statement was recently made by Sporting Lisbon player Jeremy Mathieu. The man from France who played for Barcelona last three years expressed his irritation constantly criticized by Spanish media due to chronic smoking habit.

"It really hurt me. More importantly, if I am judged upon my ability in playing football, not other things outside of it," continued Mathieu grumbling.

You may sneer or even hate Mathieu. But in this case, he is right. The defender who has always been heavily criticized for his poor performances during the play for Barcelona is not the only player who likes to smoke tobacco.

Smoking has become an integral part of the identity of French and Italian football players. The Serie A fans in the 1990s certainly remember the iconic moments of coach Marcelo Lippi smoking cigars with pleasure. To the extent, Sir Alex Ferguson also had time to speak about the habit of these rivals.

"I remember when Manchester United faced Juventus in Turin. It was raining heavily and I was soaking wet on the sidelines. Signor Lippi herself just sits down on the bench wearing a leather coat and smoking a cigar. "

The legendary Allenatore was already famous for his cigar. That said, the tobacco helped Lippi a lot who guided Italy won the 2006 World Cup in the event that made him calmer and thinks more clearly. Lippi is not alone, as some Italian League coaches are also often seen smoking, including Carlo Ancelotti and Hector Raul Cuper.

However, their smoking pleasure should be limited by the issuance of FIFA regulations in 2004. If previously coaches and staff could smoke-free on the sidelines, everything changed since 2004. FIFA prohibits any tobacco form consumed during a soccer game. The world football federation is afraid the presence of cigarettes or cigars will damage the image of football.

Tobacco is familiar with great players

Johan Cruyff  (twitter)

If traced further back, many phenomenal players who are actually quite familiar with tobacco. The Brazilian genius who also works as a doctor, Sócrates, is one of them. The Doctor openly admitted as an admirer of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, including the smoking habit of these two phenomenal figures.

The political meaning of tobacco may be felt also by the legend, Diego Maradona. It's common knowledge that Argentine legends have Guevara and Castro tattoos. If the deceased Sócrates likes to smoke a few cigarettes a day, Maradona is more often seen with large cigars on his lips.

Dutch genius Total Football, Johan Cruyff, before he died, even diagnosed with lung cancer due to his habit of consuming cigarettes since actively playing to become a successful coach. Another genius name, Zinedine Zidane, has also been caught smoking cameras, though later denied she was an active smoker.

The Sportster website has once made a list of world-class players who smoke or at least once caught on camera with cigarettes on their lips. The complete articles with photographs as evidence on this site contain some surprising names. In addition to Jack Wilshere, Mesut Özil, Wayne Rooney, and Wojciech Szczesny who once made a smoking controversy, the list also includes the names of Wesley Sneijder and Lionel Messi!

As the list of genius names on the smoking field grew, it was only natural that Mathieu was outraged by the treatment of Spanish media to him. Moreover, his claim that the appearance on the field is not always affected by smoking, supported by one of the world's best coach, Arsene Wenger.

"I do not agree with the statement that smoking affects the appearance of a player," Wenger said several years ago. "The audience just wants to see a good performance on the pitch."

Do you agree with the Professor's statement? Well, keep in mind that Wenger was once famous as a heavy smoker when he served as coach of AS Monaco.