Football's Worst Ever Cheating Divers

9. Alberto Gilardino

Another in the vein of Pedersen's delayed reaction, Gilardino's disgraceful dive against Celtic in the Champions League has been replayed over and over since it happened, chiefly because of the Italian's embarrassing attempt to pull the wool over the referee and linesman's eyes with some seriously delayed theatricals.

Rather than racing through clear with the ball and slotting it into the net, which would have been most strikers' preference, Gilardino instead decided to make the most of what could only have been minimal impact and go down in the hope of winning a penalty.

Trouble is, he seems to have made that decision some two or three steps after the opportune moment, so what resulted was a ridiculously obvious cheat, and a much-warranted yellow car...