Top ten smoking footballers

1. Jack Wilshere
No wonder he’s tense. Aaron Ramsey has emerged from his shadow to become the lifeblood of the Arsenal team, and thanks to the signings of Mesut Ozil and Mathieu Flamini, Wilshere is far from assured of his place in the Gunners first choice midfield.
Sometimes, sitting back with a cigarette just feels right. Other times, you get lung cancer.

2. Lionel Messi
Jack Wilshere will never become one of the world’s best players if he smokes. This guy is terrible at football.
Given that his team-mates support an anti-smoking campaign, Messi lighting up may not have gone down brilliantly at Camp Nou.

3. Zinedine Zidane
Zidane was one of the most aesthetically pleasing footballers to watch, and – let’s face it – not one of the most athletic.
Whether that was down to his smoking habit remains unclear.

4. Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli has always been somewhat of a maverick, a loose cannon who Jose Mourinho described as unmanageable.
The Italy international also enjoyed a cigarette on plenty of occasions, which former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini wasn’t a huge fan of, but would allow if he found the back of the net consistently.

5. Laurent Koscielny
There’s nothing worse than a lonely cigarette break, pondering the hubris of man with each puff. At least Jack Wilshere isn’t alone amongst his Arsenal team-mates, for Laurent Koscielny also appears to have picked up the habit – at least, according to this picture.

6. Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Berbatov is probably the worst role model out there in terms of dissuading people to start smoking. Because let’s face it – he looks quite cool.













7. Diego Maradona
Why go for a mere cigarette when you can smoke a massive Cuban cigar on a boat?
 
You may be cool but you will never be Maradona with a Che Guevara ink on your arm smoking Cubans on a boat cool. 

8. Mesut Ozil 

 Smoking clearly hasn’t hampered Mesut Ozil. With five assists and a goal in his first five games for Arsenal, he seems to be doing okay.
 

9. Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has regularly been pictured smoking, and the Manchester United forward has often been accused of not being at peak fitness for a footballer of his level.

10. Ashley Cole

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