Cristiano Ronaldo stormed out of Old Trafford before thr final whistle on Wednesday, after he reportedly refused to come on during the late stages of Man Utd’s win over Tottenham.
His actions deserve condemnation, they were not unprecedented. Here are five other examples of players who refused substitutions…
Kepa (Chelsea)
The Chelsea keeper made Maurizio Sarri’s head spin when he refused to come off during the dying stages of extra-time as the 2019 League Cup final approached a penalty shoot-out. Kepa was receiving treatment for an injury he exaggerated so that he and his team-mates could ‘catch our breath’.
“Suddenly, I saw that the coach had sent Willy Caballero to warm up. He thought I couldn’t go on,” Kepa told The Players’ Tribune. “My intention, right or wrong, had only been to waste time to help the team. I didn’t have any serious problem that was going to keep me from continuing to play. I tried to signal that I was OK, that I wasn’t injured. But we were at Wembley in front of more than 80,000 people, so of course Sarri didn’t understand me. When the fourth official raised the board, clearly I should have come off, and I’m sorry I didn’t.”
Upon Kepa’s insubordination, Sarri stormed down the tunnel, only to reappear for the shoot-out, which Chelsea lost. Last season, he was on the other end of a similar substitution when, seen as a penalty-stopping expert, he replaced Edouard Mendy. Liverpool scored all 10 of their kicks before Kepa mistook his penalty for a goal-kick.
Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea)
The most clear comparison came in 2017 when Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianski was hurt late in their match against Tottenham, colliding with Vincent Janssen in the 81st minute. As a stretcher was readied, manager Paul Clement told reserve Kristoffer Nordfeldt to get ready. Fabianski insisted he was fine and play resumed, but the goalkeeper continued to hold his rib, even as he made a fine save to deny Dele Alli.
Clement made the decision to replace Fabianski and his number went up in the 86th minute, but Fabianski refused. After continued remonstrations, Clement turned to the fourth official to cancel the change, and Jon Moss waved play on. It was not the end of the story, however, as Fabianski let in three goals in the final minutes of an extraordinary match, turning a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 defeat.
Remember when Fabianski refused to be substituted for Nordfeldt under Clement, in the 85th minute and then this happened!?
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