As the latest wave of footballing superstars battle it out for hairstyle supremacy at this summer’s World Cup, global football fans have identified David Beckham’s Cornrows as the most iconic barnet in the history of the beautiful game.
Yes, really. Grabbing 25% of the vote from a worldwide survey undertaken by Head and Shoulders, the headline-dominating do – that the player himself has consequently admitted to regretting – narrowly beat off Ruud Gullit’s iconic dreadlocks and Ronaldo’s shaved dome. Sadly Bobby Charlton’s magnificent comb-over failed to elicit a single nod.
The former Manchester United and England star – Becks that is, not Bobby – did miss out however when it was decided which player is the most influential in the follicle stakes. Here Ronaldo wins with an astonishing 48% stating that he has previously been an inspiration when visiting the barbers. Of the current crop Neymar’s bleached effort trumped all others with David Luiz’s Coils second in popularity.
In recent years footballers have succeeded pop stars in influencing the nation’s hairstyles and to celebrate this trend in promotion of the Men Ultra range and as part of the Head & Shoulders #JUSTWATCHME campaign, football hairstylist Landry Agres is giving fans exclusive football hairstyle tutorials so they can replicate some of the beautiful game’s most iconic hairstyles this summer.
One style Landry probably won’t be asked about is Taribo West’s green bunches of 2002 that was voted the most disliked in the survey with Abel Xavier’s bleached hair/beard combo also rooted in the relegation zone.
As stated at the top this was a worldwide canvassing of opinion and the breakdown in preferences across the nations is revealing in itself. While Roberto Baggio’s divine ponytail predictably scored highly in his native Italy the winner in Germany probably shouldn’t surprise but still does. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Rudi Voller’s mullet.
