Throughout its history football has been an emotional game. Yet it is not just the fans who weep when their team loses. Many are the times when players and coaches have cried tears of joy and sadness in public.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says “A hero never cries.” It is a saying that Fan Zhiyi, the former captain of the China PR team, adhered to back in October 2001, when his side qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time after beating Oman 1-0.

Rather than show the world his feelings, the ex-Crystal Palace defender wrapped himself up in the national flag and took off for the dressing room, where he had a good cry in private.

That was Zhiyi’s style. Italian legend Roberto Baggio’s tears were more public. Baggio shed tears on the pitch after missing the penalty that decided the winners of the World Cup at the 1994 finals in the USA.
Even more public was Romario’s crying and pleading with Luiz Felipe Scolari for a place in the Brazil squad at Korea/Japan 2002.

An equally memorable sight was that of an emotional Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola who celebrated the six trophies amassed by the club in the 2008/09 season by crying.

Tears of ecstasy and sadness have added to the passion and drama of the world’s most loved event, the Fifa World Cup too. It is almost given that there will be tears of joy, frustrations and sadness in this month’s event in South Africa.

The World Cup is full of incidents of football legends who lost their composure on the pitch. England’s Paul Gascoigne is remembered for his crying that moved soccer fans in his country.

Gazza, as he was fondly known, was booked during a semi-final against Germany in Italy ‘90, and he reacted by sobbing uncontrollably, capturing the hearts of an enthralled nation.

“When I was a kid I used to dream about playing in the World Cup one day,” he told Fifa.com. “I was living that dream in Italy, but when I got that yellow card I knew that the dream was over. I just didn’t know how to stop crying that night.”

Gascoigne was not the only England player to burst into tears. After missing a penalty that allowed the Germans to sail into the final, renowned hard man Stuart Pearce was seen wiping his eyes.

Recently England and Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross choked back tears after inadvertently breaking the leg of Arsenal’s Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey.

Dismissed for the dangerous tackle, Shawcross was crying inconsolably as he left the pitch. Later that day he was still teary as he was named by Fabio Capello to England’s World Cup squad.

Andreas Brehme is remembered as Germany’s hero at Italy ‘90 when he converted the penalty that gave his country a 1-0 win over Argentina in the final.

But in 1996, the full-back could not contain himself when his club Kaiserslautern were relegated from the Bundesliga.

Falling into the arms of his friend Rudi Voller, Brehme had the nation reaching for the tissues when he started sobbing his eyes out.

Another German, Carsten Jancker was an emotional wreck after Manchester United’s unbelievable comeback in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Stunned by United’s two injury-time goals, Jancker simply lay on the ground and wept at the seemingly injustice of the game.

Then there was the classy David Beckham. The English idol has experienced many highs and lows during his eventful international career. He was reduced to tears after being substituted against Portugal in England’s quarter-final defeat at Germany 2006.

Heartache

The England star endured yet more heartache early this year when he ruptured an Achilles during a Serie A match with AC Milan, an injury serious enough to knock him out of South Africa 2010.

“He was crying in the dressing room,” said teammate Ignazio Abate afterwards. “He didn’t say a whole lot and it’s affected us all.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, who succeeded Beckham at Manchester United, is another player who does not believe in keeping it all in. The Portuguese flyer reacted tearfully to his country’s shock defeat to Greece in the final of Euro 2004.

England and Chelsea’s John Terry turned on the waterworks when England were knocked out of Euro 2004 by the Portuguese and has experienced nothing but tears of frustration in the Champions League over the years.

The centre-half wept when Liverpool ousted Chelsea in the 2005/06 semi-final and broke down again after hitting his spot-kick against a post in the 2008/09 Champiosn League final shootout against Manchester United in Moscow.

“I cried. I’ve cried a lot during my career but these tears were the sweetest. They were sublime.” These are the words of the one and only emotional Diego Maradona, who was describing his feelings on winning the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Four years later, Maradona shed bitter tears as Argentina lost to Germany in the final at Italy ‘90.
Additional reporting from Fifa.com