The fans who tuned in to watch the Soccer Aid 2025 friendly match were left stunned by Leonardo Bonucci who wiped out a female player with an unforgiving tackle.
Throughout his playing career, the legendary Juventus defender never shied away from controversy. This includes the infamous Porto stool following a spat with Max Allegri, not to mention his alleged chaotic incidents in the dressing room.
Leonardo Bonucci tackles Steph Houghton
Despite hanging up his boots a year ago, Bonucci hasn’t lost his competitive edge, at least based on what we witnessed on Sunday evening.
The defender was taking part in a charity match organised by UNICEF, but perhaps he didn’t fully read the memo, as he showed no mercy to Steph Houghton.
In the final stages of the match, the England Women legend was heading goalwards, but Bonucci sprinted to beat her to be ball, while taking her down with a rash tackle that left the Old Trafford crowd in disbelief.
Bonucci doesn’t play ‘friendlies’
The Euro 2020 hero had reached the ball first, so he avoided the match official’s whistle and immediately launched an attack of his own. However, Houghton remained on the ground in agony for several minutes, so the action had to be halted.
Bonucci supports equalitypic.twitter.com/9a0fKpODdu
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) June 15, 2025
Luckily, the 37-year-old avoided any injuries, but Bonucci’s antics caused quite a stir on social media. While some were outraged by the incident, others saw the funny side of the whole debacle, lauding the defender for his support for gender equality.
In the end, the Italian’s tenacity paid off, as World XI went on to beat England XI by five goals to four, but the organisers might be reluctant to invite him next season.
After the contest, Bonucci and Houghton laughed off the incident, with the former Juventus captain posting a photo of him and his ‘opponent’ together after the match with the caption: “She’s still alive!!!”
