By Warda Salvester
If you're one of those people who think that football is for sissies, think again.
Football might seem less of a bloodsport than rugby or kickboxing, which at times have resulted in death and permanent brain damage. And then there are those football players who are notorious for rolling about in fake agony.
But football is no stranger to violent injury, as these pictures show in nauseating detail.
One of the most infamous leg breaks was that suffered by Coventry defender David Busst, whose lower leg snapped when he collided with Manchester United defender Denis Irwin during a match in 1996.
He broke both tibia and fibula bones, which pierced the skin and caused so much blood loss it needed to be washed off the pitch.
United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel allegedly vomited and needed counselling afterwards.
Busst never played professionally again.
While playing for Arsenal during a match in February 2008, Eduardo Da Silva was on the receiving end of a horrific tackle by Birmingham City defender Martin Taylor, who was immediately red-carded.
Da Silva had a broken left fibula and dislocated his left ankle.
His injury was so graphic that Sky Sports decided not to show replays of the incident.
Luckily, Da Silva made a full recovery and a year later he returned to the Arsenal first team.
Djibril Cisse may be the unluckiest footballer in the world.
The French striker of Ivorian descent suffered two horrific broken legs in 2004 playing for Liverpool and France in 2006.
In both cases there was no tackle, just a clumsy tangle of legs which caused the most graphic of breaks.
The second break in 2006 cost him a place in France's World Cup squad.
He fractured his right leg after being knocked over by China captain Zheng Zhi and fell with his leg twisting under him.
Kieron Dyer suffered a double leg break in August 2007. Dyer, then 28, faced six months on the sidelines just 12 days after his R78 million switch from Newcastle.
Dyer was hit in the leg when Bristol Rovers' Joe Jacobson lashed out after losing the ball.
Earlier this year, Dyer reacted to suggestions that he was "a colossal waste of money and should consider retirement" from his club West Ham.
He had been restricted to just seven starts in two-and-a-half years due to his broken leg and constant hamstring problems.
Henrik Larsson had a dreadful leg break in 1999 after his studs got caught in the turf. He was out for eight months but after a miraculous recovery, the unflappable Larsson was back for the 2000 Euro Cup.
But footballers don't just suffer from broken bones. German midfielder and manager Ewald Lienen suffered a horrible injury in 1981 when his thigh split open.
Lienen represented Borussia Moenchengladbach, FC Cologne and Hanover 96 in a career spanning more than 30 years.
A sliding tackle from a Werder Bremen defender sliced open Lienen's thigh to reveal the tissue and bone of the player's leg. The wound was almost 30cm long.
Instead of falling to the ground like so many modern players, an incensed Lienen hobbled to the Bremen bench and shouted, "happy now?".
Sometimes players can pick up injuries in the most innocent, and normal, of soccer circumstances.
Like Man United's Alan Smith, who managed to break his leg and dislocate his ankle while merely attempting to block a free-kick.
"When I looked down, the leg was lying one way and my ankle was pointing towards Hong Kong, so I knew I was in serious trouble," he said afterwards. - Daily Voice
