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Former Liverpool defender John Arne Riise was never known to back down from a dressing room confrontation during his Premier League career.

According to Riise, fellow Norwegian John Carew was far more intimidating than Craig Bellamy – though it was Bellamy who came closest to causing him serious harm.

Throughout his time in the Premier League and on the international stage, Riise often drew attention for more than just his thunderous left-footed strikes or his record 110 appearances for the Norwegian national team.

One incident that made headlines came just hours after Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy, when Riise reportedly sent the same flirtatious text message to 15 different women, earning him the nickname “SMS King” from the Norwegian media.

At other times, Riise found himself involved in two high-profile disputes with teammates that attracted widespread attention.

One of those clashes was with Norway’s John Carew, while the other involved Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy, who infamously attacked Riise with a golf club after a night of heavy drinking during a team trip to Portugal.

Recalling the shocking incident, Riise told FFT, representing Campobet, “We laugh about it now, it sounds ridiculous, and people think I’m joking when I say it, but he actually went for my shins. He basically wanted to end my career, and he was drunk and not in the right state of mind.”

He continued, “It happened to me, and I can laugh about it now, but at that moment I was terrified. If I hadn’t jumped out of bed and protected my shins, my career might have been over.”

Riise also recalled his physical altercation with the 6ft 5in striker John Carew, who was later sent home from the Norway team camp following the incident. However, Riise viewed that situation as far less serious.

“The thing with Carew happened really quickly,” Riise explained. “It obviously shouldn’t have happened, but we talked it out the same day, and we’ve been very good friends ever since.”

Riise concluded, “If I had to face both of them one on one, I’d definitely be more afraid of Carew than Bellamy.”