The football players with the most red cards in the 21st century

Tracking football statistics is a great way to do everything. In some cases, the good things about players and teams are highlighted, and in others, the not so good things, as is the case with today's article, where we will talk about the players with the most red cards. The list was made considering only the top 5 European leagues (that's why you won't see the famous Gerardo Bedoya here) and in the 21st century, where the control of these statistics is much more accurate than in the previous century.

Sergio Ramos in the Spanish national team

Sergio Ramos is on top of the list

10. Giampiero Pinzi (14 red cards)

The Italian midfielder was trained at Lazio and was in the squad of the Roman team that was crowned champion of Serie A in 2000. At 19, he decided to go to Udinese where he would spend a large part of his career and where he would have a greater role. In 2004, he was part of the Italian team that came third at the Olympic Games in Athens and from there he received the Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana ("Order of Merit of the Italian Republic").

Pinzi was a more creative than combative football player, however, when the attacking midfielder position was given to other players such as Alexis Sanchez or Antonio Di Natale, he had to drop back in order to find his place in Udinese's starting eleven. The Italian is a typical case of a player who does not know how to mark or tackle and that is why he suffered so many expulsions.

9. Alberto Lopo (14 red cards)

The Catalan centre-back spent his entire career in Spain, starting with the club that trained him and with which he established himself in the Spanish first tier, Espanyol. Half of the red cards he received in his career were with the blue and white team, possibly due to a lack of maturity and experience. Deportivo la Coruna, Getafe and Gimnastic de Tarragona were the other teams where he played in the top flight.

8. Carlos Marchena (14 red cards)

The central defender is well known for being part of a great Valencia team, with which he won La Liga for the last time, and for being part of the Spain national team that won the 2008 Euro and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. His career began at Sevilla and he had a season in Portugal with Benfica, before joining Valencia in 2001. Marchena's case is similar to that of Lopo, since a considerable part of his red cards were in his first seasons as a professional, which does not take away from the toughness and strength with which he used to defend. Villarreal and Deportivo would be the clubs with which he would finish his professional stage in Spain and at Kerala Blasters in India, where he played one match to finish off his career.

Sulley Muntari when he was playing in AC Milan - © Fabio Diena | Dreamstime.com

7. Sulley Muntari (14 red cards)

Sulley Muntari arrived in Italy at just 17 years old from Ghana to join Udinese where he stood out from a very young age and this earned him a signing for Portsmouth in England, at that time in the Premier League. In 2008, he would be signed by Inter Milan, at the request of Jose Mourinho, with whom he would win the treble in 2010. Without a doubt, the highest point of his career, and he would later go on to play for other teams such as Sunderland, Milan, Al Ittihad, Deportivo or Pescara, to name a few. The midfielder was always a player in charge of recovering the ball and sometimes with great force, hence why he accumulated so many red cards, especially in Serie A.

6. Gonzalo Rodríguez (15 red cards)

Unlike Marchena or Lopo, the Argentine defender "distributed" his red cards throughout his career and teams. He started with San Lorenzo in his country and then spent many years in Europe, first with Villarreal and then with Fiorentina. The number of red cards he accumulated in his career is striking, especially due to his style of play, as he was characterized by being a very intelligent central defender with good timing for cuts and tackles.

5. Cyril Jeunechamp (15 red cards)

Jeunechamp spent his entire professional career in his home country and at various clubs such as Nimes, where he made his professional debut, Auxerre, Rennes, Bastia, Nice and Montpellier, with whom he was league champion. Although he had a discreet career, he was a player who established himself in Ligue 1 and who often had a place in his teams' starting eleven. He alternated between the position of central midfielder and right back and was always a strong-willed player, something that was demonstrated in 2012, when he was suspended for a year for hitting a journalist who was writing articles criticising his team at the time, Montpellier.

4. Cyril Rool (15 red cards)

Apparently, being called Cyril can be dangerous. In this case, Rool had a discreet career like Jeunechamp, who was limited to clubs in his country, France, although the latter wore some heavier shirts such as Monaco or Marseille, with whom he was French champion. Rool also played as a midfielder or full back, although in his case, on the left. His case is noteworthy since he is the only player to make this list who achieved this in less than 300 matches.

3. Phillipe Mexes (16 red cards)

Trained at Auxerre, where he made his professional debut under the legendary Guy Roux and where he became one of the most promising defenders in Europe, his career would be mostly spent in Italy, first with Roma and then with Milan. His style was not particularly rough, however, and he earned a large number of red cards, also affected by the large number of matches he played professionally (549 matches).

2. Thiago Motta (16 red cards)

The Italian-Brazilian Thiago Motta had an enviable career that took him to some of the best clubs in Europe such as Barcelona, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain, not to mention that he even wore the shirt of two world powerhouse national teams such as Brazil and Italy. His beginnings in professional football, in a Barcelona that was in the midst of a transition, were an important influential factor in the number of red cards in his career, since later, he developed into a much more intelligent and tactical midfielder.

1. Sergio Ramos (26 red cards)

The Spaniard was known throughout his career for his leadership, technique and goal-scoring ability, which allowed him to be in the starting eleven of Real Madrid and the Spain national team for many years, either as a centre back or right back. However, Sergio Ramos was also known for being a very strong player and for defending hard, something that led him to receive many red cards in his career. Actually, so much that he is 10 times more red cards than the second on this list. A big reason for this is of course that he had a long career and played over 1000 competitive matches during it.