If you’re a £20 million soccer player and while practicing, security mixes you up for a drunken bum, chances are you need to refine your skills or get a haircut.
According to The Monday Supplement, Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani was peacefully practicing at his team’s training facility per order of coach Kenny Dalglish, who asked his player to report to the Melwood training ground early for pre-season training. Melwood security was not aware of Dalglish’s request nor Aquilani’s identity, since they mistook the 26-year-old for a drunk.
“We saw this long haired fella kicking a ball around and couldn’t understand what he was trying to do,” security guard Steve Hill said, “He kept taking shots from the edge of the area but the ball was flying all over the place, we presumed he was a local drunk and decided to throw him out before he smashed any of the windows.”
That’s when things really started to get out of hand.
“We asked him nicely to leave,” Hill continued, “but he refused and said that he was a £20 million Liverpool player. This cracked us both up but we admired his cheek and asked him to prove it.
“After 76 failed attempts we told him enough was enough, we both had homes to go to and we could have been there all night. I’m not being funny but if he’s a footballer, he did a really good job at hiding it.”
Despite filing a complaint with the club, Aquilani dismissed the incident as a mistake.