Gary Lineker once used football’s dark arts to get back at a physical opponent.
The former England striker was never booked during his professional career.
However, he faced several tough battles with defenders for the likes of Everton, Tottenham, Barcelona and the Three Lions.
Lineker has now revealed which of those was the most physical on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.
The panel were asked: “What was the most physical battle you faced against an opponent, and who came out on top?”
In response, Alan Shearer recalled needing seven stitches after facing Tony Adams.
Meanwhile, Lineker explained: “Mine would probably be a defender from France called Basile Boli.
“I remember playing in the Euros and he was marking me from corners but he wasn’t just marking me. He was giving me like a bear hug.
“Not in a romantic way, in the way that I couldn’t breathe and he was squeezing.
“He was just arms around me, and this is obviously before VAR, and he just held me and held me, I was like (unable to breathe).
“So he did this about two or three corners, whatever we had, and I said to the ref ‘I mean come on’.”
The ex-forward got his own back, though, adding: “Eventually I thought ‘sod this’ and I stamped on his toe.
“You could get away with something like that but it was only so I could breathe, so I think it was self defence in some ways.”
Basile Boli won 49 caps for France during his career, scoring once from centre-back for Les Bleus.
He also won three league titles and the Champions League with Marseille.
The defender also played for Auxerre, Rangers, Monaco and Urawa Red Diamonds before hanging up his boots in 1998 aged 30.
Meanwhile, Lineker was one of England’s greatest-ever goalscorers, scoring 48 goals in 80 caps.
He held the record for most England goals before it was broken by Wayne Rooney and then Harry Kane.
