Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Pogba: 12 most polarising footballers ever

Hated, adored, never ignored. That’s the mantra to follow for football’s very best players, who simply cannot escape scrutiny.

In a sport that means so much to so many, heroes and villains are natural, and make the game all the more endearing to us fans.

Football needs these characters to keep entertainment high, to feed the quirks of tribalism and to give us memorable moments.

There are a select few players, though, who simply cannot fly under the radar and enjoy a quiet period without being either adored, despised or both at the same time.

Be it for the goals they score, the fouls they commit, or the way they conduct themselves on the pitch, there’s always a crowd of haters swarming. Often, it’s those who have found a way to the top of the game in some aspect, and cause fans of other clubs grief as a result.

Simply put, football would be quite boring if we had to like everyone within the game. A 90 minute contest is much more fun when the handbags are being thrown around in the form of dives, taunts, scraps and the like – unless you’re a referee.

Anyway, in honour of those endearing characters who give the beautiful game all the colour and character it needs, GIVEMESPORT lists 12 of the most polarising players in football.

Perhaps an unexpected call at a glance, the status quo for most is that Messi is the greatest ever.

But, with statements as big as that come disagreements. Messi has his haters. A simple scroll through Twitter on a regular football weekend will confirm it, as the comments about ‘Pessi’ being a fraud come flooding in. Only the best insults online, these days.

A trailblazer in the art of football s***-housing, Pepe’s defensive exploits were matched by an incredible pantomime villain character arc in