Sometimes it just gets to be a little too much for elite footballers - and Edin Dzeko certainly knows the long and the short of life at the top.
Dzeko received one of the most extraordinary red cards in footballing history on Sunday night, with the former Manchester City striker dismissed for tearing down an opponent's shorts while playing in Bosnia and Herzegovina's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Greece.
Things were going well for Bosnia, with the hosts leading after Miralem Pjanic's free-kick bounced off the right post and then goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis' back before finding the net.
However, the game was stopped for five minutes after the goal, with some Bosnian fans lighting and throwing flares — and broken seats — while some Greek fans chanted anti-Bosnian slogans.
Captain Dzeko tussled with Kyriakos Papadopoulos with 10 minutes left on the clock, and then proceeded to pull down the RB Leipzig defender's shorts in a pique of anger while on the floor.
Dzeko was already on a yellow card, and received a second booking for his troubles as Papadopoulos was shown a straight red for striking the forward.
To make matters worse for Bosnia, Giorgos Tzavelas scored a last-gasp goal to rescue to a point for 10-man Greece.
Dzeko was unrepentant afterwards, with the Guardian quoting him as saying: "I got a red card for no reason, I don’t know why. The referee says I started the whole thing, but I was the only one ending on the floor, so how could I have started it?
"I feel like losing 3-0. Greece didn’t deserve this point. They didn’t even deserve a 1-0 loss, they deserved to lose 4-0."
There's nothing quite like being magnanimous, Edin.
