32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 37
5. Eric Cantona (Continued):
Cantona made an extraordinary start in the English stadium in the Old Trafford and helped the Red Devils win two Premier League titles in a row. Later, he even managed to win the FA Cup and also won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1994.
His skill was phenomenal and with players like Ryan Giggs and Mark Hughes playing alongside him, the team used to be simply unstoppable. However, all this was about to end when old fires ignited and Cantona was found kicking the Crystal Palace player Matthew
Simmons.
The match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in January 1995 was supposed to be something extraordinary. However, things did not really take place the way they were expected. Cantona was found kicking the famous Matthew Simmons and after he got
sent off, he came to hit the Englishman again.
Eric Cantona was given 120 hours of community service for what he did, and later the Frenchman also found himself at the end of a yearlong man. He could not play for the Red Devils for the rest of the season. Manchester United failed during that very year
as Cantona was not a part of it and the Red Devils found themselves losing against Blackburn Rovers as they took the Premier League crown that season.
The press continuously kept writing about Cantona’s future in the “great club,” Manchester United. There were speculations that the Frenchman might leave the club but “the boss” Alex Ferguson had faith in his team and kept Cantona in his team. Cantona managed
to come back after a year and scored against the club’s rivals, Liverpool. That very year, Manchester United won the league title all over again.
It was the French player who helped Manchester United lift 6 out of 7 Premier League titles and also helped them win numerous other cups. However, the French player decided to take an early retirement in 1997, when he certainly shocked the world, as he left
the football world when he was only 30 years old. Eric was fine with the decision and the French star had accomplished so much during those 30 years that he decided to hang his boots.
Even though Cantona was such a success at club level, his international career still remains a mystery and no one knows why he couldn’t be a part of the French national team. He started playing football for the French team back in 1987 and was soon given
the captain’s armband in 1996, when the team decided to play for the European Championships. The Frenchman was expected to shine during that year; however, his “Kung Fu” kick at Crystal Palace could not earn him any more games with the French team.
When finally Cantona was back in action to play for the French team, Aime Jacquet the coach of France decided to stick to the midfielder Zinedine Zidane. The choice was later seen to be the correct one as France went on to win the FIFA World Cup 1998, and
later became the runner ups of FIFA World Cup 2006, under the same player, Zinedine Zidane.
During the competition, Eric Cantona made a comment that totally shocked the world. He told the press that he was going to support England and not France during the competition that he was not featuring in. Later, he also decided to quit international football
and told the press that he was not going to perform for the French team ever again, as they chose Zidane over him.
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