Former Black Stars fullback, John Paintsil, might have spent three seasons in the English Premier League, but he somewhat left his mark in a weird way.
Known as a no-nonsense defender, Paintsil was a player that opponents didn’t fancy coming up against, and there are stories to confirm this.
The former Black Stars right-back’s tactics were not always sportsmanlike, leading to some unpalatable yet very memorable moments with the most memorable stint being his time at Fulham.
One such incident occurred when Fulham took on Everton. The West London side was defending a corner against Everton and the Ghanaian was tasked to mark Everton and Nigerian striker, Yakubu Ayigbeni at the near post.
With all the players waiting for the ball into the box, Paintstil decided to unsettle the Nigerian forward in the most awkward way ever; by grabbing his testicles. Yes, he attempted to reach for the Nigerian’s family jewels.
Throwback to when John Painstil tested to see if Yakubu Aiyegbeni had ‘balls’. Literally 😂😂😂😂😂😂#CitiSports pic.twitter.com/pCaMZbk7nw
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) May 11, 2023
Yakubu was obviously not pleased about it and confronted Paintsil who put on his most innocent face to feign ignorance of the situation.
The referee missed the entire incident and the match proceeded.
This was not the only time John Paintsil used unconventional tactics to irk his opponents. Paintsil also had an encounter with former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, where both players got into a rib-squeezing match that ended in Gerrard almost crying out.
There was another incident that looks hilarious now but was traumatising for former Tottenham and England striker, Peter Crouch. On a podcast, Crouch recalled how Paintsil threatened to end the lanky forward’s career.
Paintsil, now 41, joined West Ham in 2006, left for Fulham in 2008 and after three seasons at the Craven Cottage, he joined Leicester City before heading back to Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel.
