The Kung Fu kick was the highlight of my career: Former Manchester United striker Eric Cantona
Former Manchester United striker, Eric Cantona, has won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and three Community Shield titles in his six year Manchester United career. However, the French international believes that the infamous Kung Fu kick at the Crystal Palace fan was the highlight of his career.
When asked to name the highlight of his career, the 44-year-old told an interviewer, "When I did the kung fu kick on the hooligan.” In the 1994/95 season, during a match against Crystal Palace, Cantona was shown a straight red card by the referee after kicking the Palace defender Richard Shaw. While walking towards the tunnel, Cantona attacked a Crystal Palace fan and directed a Kung Fu style free kick at him, followed by a series of punches. His was initially banned for 4 months and fined 20,000 pounds. Later, it was extended to 8 months and fined an additional 10,000 pounds.
He went on to further explain, “These kind of people don't have to be at the game. I think maybe it's like a dream for some, you know, sometimes to kick these kind of people. So I did it for them. So they are happy. It's a kind of freedom for them. So I speak about that because maybe they felt it. Because they felt something special physically. Maybe it was a different feeling. It's a great feeling, but different."
Cantona was one of the most successful strikers in the Premier League’s history but he always had temperament issues on the football field. In his first year with Manchester United, Cantona spat at a fan in a match against his former employers, Leeds United. FA fined him 1000 pounds and was reprimanded.
Cantona joined Manchester United in 1992 and became an integral part of the United’s double wining team of 1993-94 season. The Frenchman was voted as the PFA player of the year for his brilliant performances for United in 1994.
Cantona made 185 appearances for United and scored 85 goals. He has also been named in the Premier League’s overseas team of the decade and was also awarded as overseas player of the decade.
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