Crazy World Cup moments: David Batty's 'scissor-kick' for England v Tunisia | OneFootball

David Batty is certainly a footballer that’s somewhat underrated in the present day.

For close to two decades, the Englishman was a brilliant defensive midfielder and famously helped Leeds United win the First Division title in 1991/92.

Batty spent six years at Leeds before signing for Blackburn Rovers in 1993, where he was part of Kenny Dalglish’s team that won the Premier League in 1995/96.

He then had two successful years at Newcastle United from 1996 to 1998, before returning to Leeds to see out the remainder of his career.

Batty’s consistent performances at the highest level of the English game saw him earn 42 international caps.

The now 53-year-old represented England at two major tournaments, UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1998 World Cup.

At the ’98 World Cup, Batty’s missed penalty in the last-16 shootout versus Argentina saw Glenn Hoddle’s side eliminated.

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But there’s another moment from that tournament involving Batty that we’re going to take a look back on instead.

In the group stage, England came face-to-face with Tunisia and they managed to record a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer.

However, if the game had been played in the modern era, the Three Lions would have been reduced to 10 men while they were just 1-0 up.

And the player who would have received his marching orders from the referee is Batty.

What did he do? Oh nothing much, the midfielder just scissor-kicked Tunisia’s Imed Ben Younes in the face, nothing major.

In case you can’t tell, we are joking.

The footage of Batty performing ‘the greatest scissor-kick you never saw’ is still absolutely wild all these years later.

Check out a video clip of the incident here…

Video: Batty’s ‘scissor-kick’ vs Tunisia at ’98 World Cup

Fan reaction

That sound when boot hits head is enough to make anyone wince, isn’t it?

The one thing you can’t fault from Batty is the technique. If the opponent wasn’t in the way, it would have been some impressive acrobatics from the Yorkshireman.

Sadly, Ben Younes’ mush was what Batty connected with rather than the ball, although the Tunisia player thankfully avoided serious injury and was able to continue playing.