Soccer players live the dream life, the money, the affluence, cars, and plenty of women. When single, soccer players enjoy the attention of paparazzi who always want the latest about the wives and girlfriends of players.
This information doesn’t often stay hidden for long as controversies often brew off the pitch for players, and many times, they are not entirely devoid of women’s issues.
Rape cases, divorce, and cheating scandals, soccer players also play those games, and here in this article, we take a look at footballers who slept with the wives and/or girlfriends of their teammates.
1. Mauro Icardi and Maxi Lopez’s ex-wife Wanda Nara
This is probably the most popular infidelity case between two footballers, and even if it is not the most popular, it definitely stands in the top three.
Mauro Icardi and Maxi Lopez were previously best of friends; in fact, they both played together at Barcelona and Sampdoria at some points.
However, things got bad between them around 2013 when Maxi Lopez’s ex-wife Wanda Nara started an affair with Icardi.
She eventually left the marriage that had produced two kids and started another with Icardi after accusing Maxi of cheating.
His second marriage to Icardi effectively ended the striker’s national team career with Argentina. Mauro Icardi and Wanda Nara are getting divorced in 2022 despite having three kids between them and serving as his agent.
2. Thibaut Courtois and De Bruyne’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Lijnen
Belgian superstars and national teammates Thibaut Courtois aren’t really close, and it’s not unconnected to Courtois making saves beyond his on-pitch jurisdiction.
Caroline Lijnen claimed that Kevin De Bruyne cheated on her in their relationship, and she also then had to decide what next for the two of them.
A trip to Madrid in Spain gave answers to her questions, and she found them in the outstretched arms of Courtois.
The goalkeeper cooked for her and treated her in a way that De Bruyne never did in their relationship.
The love triangle apparently cost a little bit of a stir between the two Belgian internationals, but it was well managed, and neither of the two players lost their place in the Belgian national team.
Interestingly, both players were on the books of Chelsea when the incident happened in 2013.
3. John Terry and Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend, Vanessa Perroncel
This is the Premier League’s ultimate cheating scandal; it is even more popular than some football teams, events, and some football fixtures.
However, several years on, Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel insisted that there was no sexual relationship or activity between both Terry and herself.
In 2010, John Terry, Wayne Bridge, and Vanessa Perroncel were thrust into the light for all the bad reasons; in the early months after Bridge had broken up with Perroncel, John Terry was seen several times visiting the mother of one.
After publications that accused Terry of cheating, the aftermath of the incident was so chaotic Wayne Bridge did not shake John Terry’s hand when Manchester City traveled to Stamford Bridge that weekend in a game the citizens 4-2.
Furthermore, just before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Fabio Capello stripped Terry of the captain armband while Wayne Bridge retired prematurely from the national team.
All of these, for what Penroncel says: “cannot be described as an affair, It was a friendship. Not one word of what was written about me was true.”
4. Michael Ballack and Christian Lell’s wife
Michael Ballack is not someone you would expect to be among the list of soccer players who slept with their teammates’ wife, but unfortunately he is.
The first of two different cheating scandals for Christian Lell and his teammates was when Michael Ballack was accused of cheating with his now ex-wife, Daniella Aumann.
Lell claimed that Michael Ballack was able to get away with the act due to his bigger status as the Germany national team captain and as a player to him.
The duo both played at the same time for Bayern Munich, but that’s not the only time Lell’s teammate cuckolded him.
5. Mesut Ozil and Christian Lell’s girlfriend
Mesut Ozil is one player that doesn’t have haters, not even after he was accused by former German international Christian Lell of cheating with his then-girlfriend Melanie Rickinger when they were still together.
Despite leaked chats alleged to be between Ozil and Melanie Rickinger, the former Arsenal player never commented on it. Lell was also reported to have had hard drugs in his apartment.
6. Jean Francois Larios and Michel Platini’s wife
Larios said back in 2017: “It was love at first sight [with Platini’s wife], a true love story. We thought we were well hidden, but unfortunately, it was rumored. With him [Platini], we no longer spoke. But we continued to play together. When you have a contract, you shut your mouth.”
That was former France international Jean Francois Larios speaking on his relationship with the former wife of Michel Platini, Christelle. A relationship that destroyed his career as a player
“We were in the middle of the championship; there was the World Cup coming. In January 1982, I went to see coach Michel Hidalgo to explain the situation to him. I suggest to him that for the good of the team, I will pretend an injury and not go to the World Cup. He refused.
“But I had become a third card. It was he [Platini] who decided who played or not in the France team. I knew it; I took my responsibilities. It would have been different if he had been an average player. There are things like these that have happened in other clubs, and it has not come out.”
7. Ryan Giggs and his brother Rhodri Giggs’ wife Natasha Lever
Sometimes, infidelity involving players isn’t surprising; the star power, the aura, and all are more than enough to away any lady, but when you are a superstar, and you decide to go for your brother’s wife, not just once or twice or even for a year but rather for eight years.
Before hauling all the stones at the former Manchester United star, the affair was complicated and in no small thanks to Natasha Lever, who was involved with Ryan initially before breaking it up to engage with Rhodri and then going back to link up with Ryan secretly.
It’s an affair that is most likely the messiest on this list and will need another whole article on its own.
8. Jordan Ayew and Afriyie Acquah’s wife
Jordan Ayew is seen as a villain sort of, unexpectedly, for the son of a legend of the game in the country’s soccer history.
Ayew’s affair with a national team teammate’s wife, Afriyie Acquah, was revealed in a leaked audio where she admitted to having had sex more times with Jordan Ayew than even with her husband.
Amanda Acquah stated she has Jordan dated for four years and shared nude pictures often, and their affairs were almost becoming a public secret.
9. John Harkes and Eric Wynalda’s wife
In a stunning revelation that rocked the soccer world, Eric Wynalda made a shocking claim in 2010 that former U.S. national team head coach Steve Sampson had made the difficult decision to drop John Harkes from the 1998 World Cup team.
The reason? Harkes had allegedly been having an affair with Wynalda’s wife, Amy Ward, in their own home, mere feet away from their infant child’s playpen.
Sampson had become aware of the brewing feud between Wynalda and Harkes, and made the difficult decision to drop Harkes from the team in an effort to restore harmony to the dressing room.
Despite facing intense criticism from the media and suffering a disappointing defeat in the World Cup, Sampson chose to keep silent about the true reason for Harkes’ dismissal out of respect for the privacy of those involved.
10. Paul Terry with Dale Roberts wife
In May 2010, Paul Terry, who is the elder of John Terry, was allegedly reported to have had an affair with retired English goalkeeper late Dale Roberts fianceé Lindsey Cowan.
He was rumoured to have had the affair with her while him and Dale Roberts were teammates at Rushden & Diamonds.
Tragically, on December 14, 2010, Dale Roberts passed away just hours before he was set to play in an FA Trophy match against his former club, Eastwood Town. The news of his untimely death sent shockwaves through the footballing world and beyond.
