(Football news) When the name of Eric Cantona pops up football fans immediately think of a man who transformed Manchester United and brought a winning mentality to the club. He was the ultimate hard man in football who would never walk away from confrontation. Sir Alex Ferguson once said that "Old Trafford was a frenzy every time he touched the ball". "Collar turned up, back straight, chest stuck out, Eric glided into the arena as if he owned the place" said former teammate Roy Keane. Eric Cantona had a different swagger about him. He would always be in the midst of controversy. He controversialy joined Manchester United from fierce rivals Leeds United which angered the Leeds fans.
The most iconic moment was perhaps on 25th January 1995 when Manchester United played Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in a Premier League match. Eric Cantona was sent off for kicking defender Richard Shaw out of frustration because he had been man marking Cantona all game. After the red card, the Frenchman proceeded to kick a fan later identified as Matthew Simmons, who had run down 11 rows of stairs to confront and shout abuse at the United striker. The kick was followed by a few punches.
Pundits and former players suggested that Cantona should be deported and never allowed to play in England while others wanted him to be banned from playing football for life. He was sentenced to two weeks in prison but got released on bail. He was then sentenced to 120 hours of community service, which was spent coaching children at United's training ground. He was later fined £20,000 by Manchester United and was not allowed to play for the rest of the season. The F.A banned him for 8 months and fined him £10,000.
In the next two seasons after the ban he won two League titles and an F.A Cup scoring a lot of goals. He then retired at the age of 30 to pursue a career in acting. Eric Cantona has achieved a lot of success in his career but somehow the kung fu kick remains the most iconic. Years later the French striker said that he regretted not kicking the fan harder than he did.
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