Black History Month: Anelka the Misunderstood

Photo by Daniel Hambury - PA Images via Getty Images “Baby, you understand me now?

If sometimes you see that I’m mad

Don’tcha know that no one alive can always be an angel?

When everything goes wrong, you see some bad

But oh, I’m just a soul whose intentions are good

Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood”

When Nina Simone sang those lyrics from her legendary hit “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” it’s almost like she wrote those lyrics for athletes that people took the wrong impression from. One of those players is French forward Nicolas Anelka. He was a talented player, but always seemed to find his way into controversy, whether it was on the club level or for the national team.

His trials…