Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona, Also known as "King Eric", is a former French soccer player who was famously known for powerful and smart, but yet infamous style of game playing. His soccer career started at the age of 9 as he played more than 200 games with his local team SO Caillolais. In his professional debut game for Auxerre, the team had a 4-0 victory over Nancy. During 8 years of playing in French Ligue 1, he played in total 254 games and scored 79 goals.
After his last season in the Ligue 1, he moved to England Premier League and played for Leeds United for two years scoring 13 goals in 35 games. His third season in the Premier League, he left Leeds United for Manchester United for £1.2 million. During his career with Manchester United, he appeared in 185 games and scored 82 goals. In the same season, Cantona got an infamous reputation for a somewhat awesome incident that occurred in an away match that will be remembered among millions of Manchester Fans.
At Crystal Palace in January 1995, Cantona was sent off the field for kicking a defender Richard Shaw. As he was being escorted to the locker room, one Crystal Palace fan yelled at Cantona. Cantona broke away as soon as he heard him, launching a kung-fu side kick and throwing punches in the fan's face for several times. Of course Cantona paid fines and was suspended for few games.
He retired at the age of 30, after playing five years and winning 4 League Championships, 2 FA Cups, and 3 Charity Shields for Manchester United. Eric "The King" Cantona. Even though he was an outlaw of the field, all the fans loved and supported him, and Eric Cantona and his 'kung-fu kick' tale will be the legend of Manchester United forever and ever.
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