Rivalry is everywhere, including in the sport of football. Rivalry that occurs between clubs is not only felt from the club but down to the fans. Because of the heat of a club rivalry, not infrequently when a match can happen riots between fellow fans or fans with the opposing club’s players.
Although the rivalry is real, there are football players who move clubs to opposing clubs who become rivals. Obviously this elicited a strong reaction from the fans of both clubs. Not a few players who have earned the nicknames of legends and heroes, as soon as they move to rival clubs, immediately get blasphemy and are considered traitors. These are the football players who bravely, moved to rival clubs.
1. Luis Figo
Barcelona and Real Madrid are 2 clubs that compete with each other to be the best in La Liga. In fact, this competition has actually been around for years. To be precise, they have become rivals because of history, not because of football. If there is a transfer of players or managers between the two teams, it will obviously be something exciting.
It was in 2000 that something very horrendous happened. Luis Figo decided to move from Barcelona to Real Madrid. Luis Figo’s move to Real Madrid was like a thunderbolt in broad daylight as Luis Figo did so well at Barcelona alongside Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert. He was bought by Real Madrid for 62 million Euros. It’s hard for Barcelona fans to accept that one of their great players has moved to a rival club and performed just as well.
2. Ashley Cole
One of the best left-backs England has ever had is Ashley Cole. He has excellent offensive and defensive abilities. He defended Arsenal from 1999 to 2006. During his London Meriam costume, he played 156 games and scored 8 goals.
There are many football clubs based in the city of London and most of them are rivals. One of the rivals of Arsenal is Chelsea. Not only competing to be the best in England, Arsenal and Chelsea are also competing to be the best in London. Ashley Cole’s move to Chelsea has sparked emotion from Arsenal fans. At Chelsea, Ashley Cole impressed by playing as many as 229 games.
3. Carlos Tevez
As a striker, Carloz Tevez is one of the great strikers. Manchester United chose to borrow him from West Ham United for 2 years to see how the player played. Looking good, it turned out that Manchester United did not provide a permanent contract and made the player prefer to move to Manchester United’s city rivals, Manchester City.
Carloz Tevez feels himself wasted by Manchester United. And the way to repay him is to play for Manchester Blue. At Manchester City, he performed well by playing as many as 113 games and scoring 58 goals. Manchester United fans are not just upset because of his move to a rival club. When Manchester City won the 2012 Premier League, Tevez displayed a poster reading RIP Fergie which made Manchester United fans even more angry and hated Tevez.
4. Clarence Seedorf
The Netherlands has many great attacking midfielders and one of them is Clarence Seedorf. Seedorf started his career at Ajax. There he played for 3 years from 1992 to 1995. He then moved to Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and finally Botafogo. His move from Inter Milan to AC Milan was problematic.
Inter Milan and AC Milan are city rivals who have their headquarters in the city of Milan. At Inter, Seedorf was considered unable to lift the club’s performance. He was then sold to city rivals, AC Milan. At AC Milan instead he became an irreplaceable core player. He played 300 games and won many titles. This is what makes Inter Milan fans hot against Seedorf.
5. Robin van Persie
For Arsenal. Robin van Persie’s figure has 2 sides. On the one hand there are those who consider him a hero and also an Arsenal legend, on the other hand he is considered a traitor. He was bought by Arsenal in 2004 from Feyenoord for 2.75 million Pounds. At Arsenal, he played from 2004 to 2012. As a striker, he scored 96 goals.
The legendary predicate attached to him immediately faded when the player chose to move to Manchester United. He moved from Arsenal to Manchester United because he wanted to win the Premier League title. Manchester United bought it for 22.5 million Pounds. His move was considered successful because he managed to lift the Premier League trophy.
6. Michael Owen
Starting from the figure of Michael Owen, this British man was one of the deadliest strikers in the world at his time. He defended Liverpool in the 1996 to 2004 season. The total games he played were 216 and managed to score 118 goals. This achievement made Real Madrid interested in buying him in 2004 at a price of 8 million Pounds.
At Real Madrid he was labeled a failure and moved to Newcastle United in 2005. Too many injuries were the reason for Michael Owen’s decline. But even so, 2005 was a surprise. he was even contracted by Manchester United for 3 years. Michael Owen’s move to Manchester United has angered Liverpool fans. It is known that Manchester United and Liverpool are eternal rivals for many years.
7. Robert Lewandowski
When it comes to the best striker in the world today, there are many names that will come up. Starting from Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Robert Lewandowski. From the names already mentioned, it is Robert Lewandowski who is considered a traitor according to Borussia Dortmund fans.
Prior to playing for Borussia Dortmund, Lewandowski played for Delta Warsaw, Legia Warsaw II, Znicz Pruszkow II. Znicz Pruszkow, and Lech Poznari. In Dortmund itself, Lewandowski transformed into a scary striker. This is what made Bayern Munich interested and bought him in 2014 and played there until 2022. Even though Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are 2 rival clubs who have the same goal of winning the Bundesliga.
8. Luis Suarez
Ajax has long produced many great players. Whether you realize it or not, Luis Suarez is one of the players who was raised by one of the Dutch giants. Luis Suarez played for Ajax from 2007 to 2011. Until he was bought by Liverpool in 2011 and was there until 2014.
Success at Liverpool attracted Barcelona and bought him in 2014. At Barcelona, Luis Suarez played for 6 years and became a scary striker trio with Messi and Neymar. Because he was considered old, Barcelona decided to release him to Atletico Madrid. This is very surprising because Atletico Madrid is one of Barcelona’s rivals in La Liga.
9. Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff is a legendary player and manager from the Netherlands. It is this man who applies the Total Football philosophy. This philosophy is used by the Dutch national team and Barcelona club. During his time as a football player, Cruijff has played in many clubs. The famous ones include Ajax, Barcelona, and Feyenoord.
Of the clubs already mentioned, Ajax and Feyenoord are known to compete with each other in the Eredivisie. Cruiff started his career at Ajax from 1964 to 1973. Traveling to various clubs, in 1981 he returned to Ajax and stayed until 1983. After playing for Ajax for the second time, Cruijff moved to Feyenoord which is Ajax’s rival. At Feyenoord, Cruijff played from 1983 to 1984.
10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
If there is a competition as to who is the traitor who has the right to be number 1, maybe Zlatan Ibrahimovic will come out as the champion. His career has never stayed in one club, he is always changing clubs. He has played for Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, LA Galaxy and Manchester United.
The one that left the most wounds probably happened when he left Juventus when he was hit by a slump. Troubled with Calciopoli and forced down caste to Serie B, many star players who left Juventus and one of them is Ibrahimovic. He prefers to move to Inter Milan. Performing well at Inter Milan during 2006-2009, he moved to Barcelona in 2009.
As already explained, Ibrahimovic is not the type of player who is loyal to one club. He continued to move clubs until he finally played at AC Milan. Even though he used to play for Inter Milan, but he didn’t care about the rivalry between the two teams. So he is a total traitor to Juventus fans and also Inter Milan.
