Africa’s prime star got here to the Premier League and performed with a steak in his boot

The 1998 African Footballer of the Year once took a very unusual step in a bid to recover from a foot injury.

Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji impressed at the World Cup in France that year, with his great goal in a 2-2 draw against Norway one of the highlights of the tournament. And the attacking midfielder’s performances earned the Deportivo la Coruna star a switch to Coventry City – then mainstays of the Premier League.

During his time playing under Gordon Strachan, he was joined by fellow Moroccan international, Youssef Chippo, sparking a trend of Coventry fans wearing fezzes to games in their honour. But even stranger than the sight of supporters donning that choice of headwear was Hadji’s method of dealing with injury.

Speaking to The Athletic in 2021, Hadji, who turns 53 this week, explained how ‘a grandma’s tale’ led to him playing with a steak on his foot, which helped him through games. Hadji said: “I played a few games at Coventry with a piece of steak on my foot to ease the pain.

“It was a grandma tale. They always give you things that help you in life. But I promise you, it helps! When I played, I didn’t feel much pain in the toe. The steak… it was very well done after the game. I just needed some fries waiting for me and it would have been great!”

The Moroccan became a cult hero at Coventry – and fezzes continued to be commonplace in the stands until he left the club when they were relegated in 2001 for Midlands rivals Aston Villa, who he had scored against three times in the previous season.

It’s safe to say the last few seasons have certainly been dramatic for the Sky Blues. Back in 2023, they came a penalty shootout away from reaching the Premier League, but lost out to Luton Town who went up 6-5 on penalties.

Then last term after they sold star striker Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting CP, they finished ninth in the Championship under then boss Mark Robins, but did come a VAR decision away from making the FA Cup final – only to once again lose out on penalties at Wembley to Manchester United in the semi-finals.

And then this season, the Sky Blues have found themselves engulfed in chaos after they announced the sacking of popular manager Robins, with Coventry sitting 18th in the Championship.