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Ten shocking ball boy incidents

Starring Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jens Lehmann, Lee Croft and more.

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You can't talk about ball boy incidents without mentioning Eden Hazard
KID-KICKER: Hazard (Image: Ben Sutherland)

The following ball boy incidents are brought to you in association with Wolfsburg’s foremost Prince Harry lookalike Kevin de Bruyne, currently making headlines for aiming a sweary broadside at a hapless kid during a Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt.

WATCH: Kevin De Bruyne swears at ballboy

We, er, need to talk about Kevin. (*Watches tumbleweed roll gently by*) Anyway, here are ten more outrageous ball boy incidents from recent times…

Eden Hazard kicks ball boy

When 17-year-old Swansea ball boy Charlie Morgan threw himself onto the ball to kill precious time in a 2013 League Cup semi-final tie against Chelsea, Hazard – a team mate of de Bruyne’s with Belgium and formerly at Stamford Bridge – lashed out with a vengeance…

“Well, he may have a smirk on his face now,” says whosoever is commentating there, “but he may not when the full ramifications of that incident become clear.” Nice, very nice.

Ball boy owns Cristiano Ronaldo

If you had the chance to do this, wouldn’t you?

It’s not the only trouble Ronaldo’s had of this kind. In 2008 he was praised by officials for not reacting to a ball boy throwing the ball at him during a Manchester derby…

Kinda looks like the linesman talks him out of it, mind.

Gastón Sessa boots ball into ball boy’s face

The Boca Unidos goalkeeper was sent off for this point-blank punt…

Lee Croft accused of abusing ball boy

South Yorkshire Police investigated an allegation that the Oldham midfielder racially abused the ball boy, but he was cleared and faced no further action.

“There was no accusation whatsoever from the ball boy of racist abuse,” said Croft. “It was always from a minority of fans at the Sheffield United end. It makes the whole kick racism out of football [campaign] take a step back.”

Spurs ball boy throws ball at opponent’s crotch

Konstantinos Loumpoutis of Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta was the fall guy in this Europa League clash…

Serey Die slaps Lausanne ball boy

The then FC Sion striker was given an eight-match suspension for this…

Fernantes shoves ball boy, starts brawl

The Panionis player sparked angry scenes after pushing a ball boy at PAOK, whose fans supplemented the on-pitch brawl by hurling missiles which the ball boy in question immediately set about clearing off the pitch…

Ball boy toys with Jens Lehmann

This childishly amusing act took place in a match between Hannover 96 and Stuttgart…

Mario de Luna pushes ball boy

The Chivas USA defender was booked for this ill-advised shove…

Ball boy scores a goal!

When Santacruzense took on Atlético Sorocaba in a 2008 Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol fixture, a ball boy dribbled a ball back into play after it had gone out and rolled it over the line.

For reasons best known to himself, the referee gave it as a goal, understandably sparking fury…

MORE: Kevin De Bruyne swears at ballboy