Unseemly spats that tarnish our heroes

Pressure and self-doubt manifest themselves in varying ways but frustrated athletes have been doing a lot of spitting lately.

Romanian footballer Gheorghe Hagi spat the dummy while a couple of Spanish tennis players spat out Wimbledon's strawberries and cream. And, pathetically, Mike Tyson spat obscenities.

Hagi, a veteran who found that Euro 2000 was one tournament too far, Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, a duo scared of being put out to grass, and Tyson, fearful of his fate when he meets a real fighter, all snapped when confronted with their frailties.

The saddest sight was that of the 35-year-old Hagi, a huge talent in the footballing world for close on two decades, snarling and spitting his way through Romania's quarter-final with Italy.

Old Father Time, that most relentless of adversaries, caught up with Hagi and he was not happy about it. He lost his cool completely and should have been red carded for a foul on Antonio Conte which injured the Italian and ruled him out of the semis.

Hagi was allowed to stay on the park only to make a fool of himself by diving outrageously in the penalty box when there was not a defender in touching distance. For that piece of theatre he was shown a second yellow card and his 17-year international career ended with a long, lonely walk back to the dressing room. He then stupidly compounded his guilt by criticising the referee and emphasising that 'it was a clear penalty'.

Unfortunately, that ugly dive and the protestations of innocence eclipsed so many of the beautiful things Hagi did on the football field.