To kick off our close season series of footballing elevens here is a dream team of footballers who famously cried on the pitch, just to show Mr Terry is in very esteemed company.

The Foot-Bawlers XI

Santiago Canizares

William Gallas John Terry Franco Baresi Stuart Pearce

Cristiano Ronaldo Paul Gascoigne Diego Maradona Pavel Nedved

Carsten Jancker Roberto Baggio

1. Santiago Canizares

Canizares was reduced to tears after losing on penalties in the Champions League final. Again. It was the second year running that Valencia had lost the final and the Spanish international could no longer contain his emotions. He also threw his runners-up medal into the turf.

2. William Gallas

Gallas had arguably the most bizarre temper tantrum of any player in this team, kicking a hoarding after a penalty was awarded to Birmingham and then sitting on the pitch alone after the final whistle had long gone. Most players have cried after relegation or cup final defeats but Gallas is probably the only player in history to cry after a meaningless draw in the middle of a domestic season.

3. Stuart Pearce

Supposedly a hardman who played on with a broken leg and sported the moniker ‘psycho’, Pearce proved that tough guys do cry after missing a crucial penalty in the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup, leaving the field blubbing away.

4. Franco Baresi

Another defender who was reduced to tears after missing a vital penalty; this time in the World Cup final at USA 94. Baresi missed the first 4 games of the tournament after picking up an injury, but after going under the knife he returned for the final against Brazil, just in time to miss the first penalty in the shootout.

5. John Terry

For anyone who missed the Champions League final don’t worry, Terry has cried a number of times before, when England lost at Euro 2004 and when Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool. Twice. In fact Terry has pretty much cried in every season since 04 making him a serial offender.

6. Pavel Nedved

Was possibly on his way to the Euro 2004 final until he kicked a Greece players unexpectedly hard arse and 40 minutes into the semi final limped off in tears knowing his tournament and international career was over. He un-retired himself 2 years later but will always be remembered for his grief stricken face in Portugal, which pretty much summed up the footballing world’s emotion as the Greeks stole the tournament with the most boring team in football history.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo

Another serial offender here and also another victim of the Greek tragedy, Ronaldo has cried several times but none more memorable than in his youth at Euro 2004. The tricky winger carried the fight to the Greeks in the final in front of his home crowd and promptly cried his tiny little eyes out for minutes on end after the Portuguese embarrasingly lost to the massive underdogs.

8. Paul Gascoigne

The bastion of Englishness, the stiff upper lip, went out the window when the loveable Geordie broke down in tears after picking up a yellow card that would rule him out of the final in the World Cup semi against Germany in 1990. For once the unforgiving British press heralded a Gazza a true hero for showing how much playing for his country meant to him.

9. Carsten Jancker

Perhaps he won’t be remembered as a legend in the same right as some of his colleagues in this team, but in terms of crying footballers few will forget the sight of the 6ft 4in striker breaking down after Man United snatched 2 late goals in injury time in the Champions League final 1999.

10. Diego Maradona

One of the players of the century, Maradona single-handedly won the world cup for Argentina in 1986 but just 4 years later was reduced to tears after overzealous teammates and a card happy ref reduced the Argentines to 9 men and awarded the Germans a match winning penalty.

11. Roberto Baggio

The divine ponytail was the star of the 94 World Cup carrying a lacklustre Italian team on his back. However, the Buddhist playmaker should have been aware of the nature of ying and yang, as he cried tears of joy after a match winning performance in the semi-final and tears of pain as it slowly dawned on him his penalty miss had cost the Azzuri the World Cup.

Subs bench

Choose any from Beckham, Ballack, Cassano, Ronaldo, Fabreagas and even Pele, who cried at just 17 after winning the World Cup and fulfilling a promise made to his father who had cried after Brazil lost the world cup final in 1950.

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