Lionel Perez

Perez made his Sunderland debut, aged 29 on 19 October 1996, as a substitute for Tony Coton , in a 3–0 away defeat against Southampton . [ 5 ] Perez won Sunderland's Player of the Year Award for the 1996–97 season. During his time at Sunderland, Perez was famously chipped by his former Nimes team-mate Eric Cantona from 25-yards out in a 5–0 defeat away to Manchester United in December 1996. The goal is also memorable due to Cantona's celebration. Cantona later admitted his celebration was intended to humiliate Lionel because Perez refused to shake Cantona's hand before the game – Cantona stated that in his celebration he wanted Perez to "be able to see him from every possible angle." [ 6 ] Perez's final game for Sunderland was in the 1998 Football League First Division play-off final at Wembley Stadium against Charlton Athletic . Sunderland drew 4–4 with Clive Mendonca scoring a hat-trick for Charlton; Perez failed to save a penalty in the resulting shoot-out which Charlton won 7–6 which saw The Addicks promoted to the Premier League . Perez stated that the defeat was the worst moment of his career. [ 7 ] After being released by Sunderland at the end of the 1997–98 season, Perez signed for the club's arch-rivals Newcastle United on a free transfer. [ 7 ] — Wikipedia