PICTURES: Kissy Kissy – Footballers Lip Service

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Diego Maradona kisses the Argentina shirt after reaching the final of Italia 90. 20 years later, he went on to manage Argentina and told the press to suck his dick after qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa.

After joining the club from Juventus months earlier, Attilio Lombardo was seen kissing the Crystal Palace shirt during a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa. He left for Lazio the following year.

David Beckham blows a kiss to an angry Chelsea during the FA Cup quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge. Whether he was being abused about the World Cup 98 a few months earlier or for being gay because of his pretty boy image is unknown. United go on to win 2-0 before winning the competition as part of their historic Treble.

Laurent Blanc performs his ritual Barthez head-kissing in the final of Euro 2000. France went on to beat Italy 2-1.

Finish striker, Jari Litmanen, kissed Liverpool’s badge a few months after signing for them in 2001. He was hailed as “world class” by Gerard Houllier but only stayed for one season before being sold to Ajax after playing a minor role in Liverpool’s historic Mickey Mouse treble.

Ryan Giggs kissed a little girl ahead of his testimonial match against Celtic in 2001. Don’t worry, it was his sister.

We saw the first of many badge kisses from Frank Lampard in 2003, who later went on to hold his club to ransom to get the £130,000 a week salary he craved.

West Ham captain, Paolo Di Canio, kisses the shirt after scoring a late winner against local rivals Fulham in the league. He fell out with manager Glenn Roeder later that season, was dropped from the team, scored a winning goal against Chelsea in the penultimate match of the season, but it wasn’t enough to save West Ham from relegation. He signed for Charlton on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Another Hammer, Joe Cole, blew kisses to the crowd during the same season after scoring against Arsenal. He also left at the end of the season.

Damien Duff kissed Blackburn’s badge after scoring a goal in April 2003. Three months later he was a Chelsea player.

Ruud van Nistelrooy kissed the badge of Manchester United in 2004, two years before leaving the club for Real Madrid and spending the next year or two talking about United and Sir Alex Ferguson in the press.

Alan Smith kissed the badge of his boyhood club, Leeds United, after putting his team 3-1 up against Charlton in the penultimate game of the season. Charlton came back to score two goals though and the following week Leeds lost 1-0 to Chelsea. Leeds were relegated and Smith joined their biggest rivals, Manchester United.

Chelsea were crowned Premiership champions in 2005 and captain John Terry kissed the badge. Four years later he held the club to ransom over a massive contract, which he was given, although did confess to “sleepless nights” over an offer from Manchester City.

After signing for Galatasary in the January of 2005, Franck Ribery was not paid his wages for four months and signed for Marseille in April 2005.

Lampard at it again after scoring against Spurs in 2005.

After scoring against Wales in the World Cup qualifiers in 2004, Beckham kisses his England shirt. Six years earlier effigies of him wearing an England shirt were hung around London after he was sent off in the World Cup 1998.

Obafemi Martins kisses the Inter badge after scoring two goals against Parma. However, the introduction of Crespo and Ibrahimovic two years later meant he was sold to Newcastle.

After winning the European Cup in 2005, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso share an intimate moment.

When playing against his former club, Birmingham, Robbie Savage kissed the badge of Blackburn. He left Birmingham citing the reason he wanted to be closer to his ill parents in Wrexham… not realising that Birmingham is closer to Wrexham than Blackburn.

Ronaldinho kisses the foot of Lucio at the end of training session at the World Cup 2006.

The Palestinian national team kiss the pitch after drawing 2-2 with Iraq at the end of their Asia Cup 2007 qualifying match.

A month in to his Real Madrid career,Mahamadou Diarra kissed the ground after scoring a goal against Betis during the Spanish League football match. Two years later he was de-registered from Real Madrid’s first team and his shirt number was given to new signing Lassana Diarra, known as “Lass”.

After captaining Spurs against Aston Villa, Paul Robinson kissed the badge. After suffering from poor form two years later, he was sold to Blackburn Rovers.

After beating Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield, Thierry Henry kissed the Arsenal badge, after saying he would stay at Arsenal forever and never play in Spain. He signed for Barcelona five months later.

Francisco Fonseca kisses his own boot after scoring a goal at the Home Depot stadium in 2007.

Didier Drogba kisses his Chelsea shirt after scoring against Boro in October 2007. One year later he says: “I hope I am in my last year at Chelsea. Where I kissed the Chelsea badge after I scored, that gesture was for the fans. I don’t love the jersey.”

Robinho blows a kiss to his coach after scoring for Real Madrid. Several months later he demanded a move to Chelsea. But ended up signing for City.

Beckham kisses his LA Galaxy captain’s armband during a match against Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand.

Steven Gerrard kissed the Liverpool badge before handing in two transfer requests.

Eight months after the birth of his daughter and six months after being caught out cheating, Lampard kisses his wedding ring in January 2008. After cheating on his wife several times, she eventually left him in early 2009.

Kevin Keegan blows kisses to the Newcastle fans three days after his sensation return to manage the club. Nine months later he walked out on them again.

Lampard at it again. This time the captain’s arm band in April 2008, three months before entering talks with Inter Milan.

Upon signing for Barcelona from Arsenal and before kicking a ball, Alexander Hleb kissed the badge of his new club in July 2008. Eight months later, after spending his time on the bench, he claimed he would be interested in signing for Bayern Munich. In July 2009, Hleb said: “Of course I regret leaving Arsenal. I was playing every week for one of the most exciting sides in Europe, a team which was always in the top four in the Premier League and were Champions League contenders. For me, leaving Arsenal was not a good move.” He has since returned to his former club Stuttgart on loan.

After scoring in a pre-season friendly in 2008, Emmanuel Adebayor kissed the Arsenal badge. Several months later, he said: “I am happy AC Milan, one of the legendary clubs in the world, were looking at me. For me that must be something special. It is like a boy being told Beyonce is looking for them.” At the end of the season he was desperate for a move to United or Chelsea, but neither team came in for him, in the end he settled for City, conceding it was about the money. He then played against Arsenal for City, kicked a former team mate in the head, ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans after scoring, and ended up with a ban. He then appeared on telly for an interview wearing an Arsenal t-shirt.

When playing for Everton’s youth side, Wayne Rooney revealed a t-shirt which read ‘once a blue, always a blue’. He later signed for Manchester United which did not go down well on Merseyside, with the fans of his former club singing “Die, die, Rooney, Rooney, die!” every time the teams meet. In response, Rooney kissed the United badge at Goodison in October 2008.

Joey Barton kissed the Newcastle badge on the same day in front of the Sunderland fans. Two months later he branded the Newcastle fans as “vicious”. Five months after that he was sentenced to six months in prison after committing assault. After returning to the squad he had suspensions to serve for the assault on former team mate Ousmane Dabo. In his first game back in over three months in May 2009, Barton was shown a red card at Anfield and would therefore miss Newcastle’s remaining games of the season as they fought relegation. Newcastle legend and then manager, Alan Shearer, doubted whether Barton would play for the club again.

In March 2009, Argentine striker Aguero kisses his newborn son ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Venezuela.

Renatinho kisses his Jesus Christ tattoo after scoring in an AFC Champions League match in Australia.

After going AWOL on his club, Inter Milan, Adriano signed for Flamengo in May 2009. He had been allowed to return to Brazil for a winter break earlier than scheduled in and in April Inter had heard no word from him.

Upon his unveiling at the Bernabeu in July 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo kissed the Real Madrid badge.

Three days later, Karim Benzema did the same thing.

At Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s unveiling at Barcelona, he did the same thing.

At the start of the 09-10 season, Cesc Fabregas kissed Arsenal’s badge amidst rumours he was going to leave for Barcelona. “Which player would not like to play for a team like that at the moment?” Fabregas had said that summer. “They are probably the best team that I have seen play in history and I have a lot friends there who are always telling me great things. Of course, you feel envy in a healthy way because of the way they play football. Everyone’s dream would be to play in a team like this.”

After scoring his 100th goal for Manchester United at the start of the 09-10 season, Rooney kisses the badge again.