Prostitutes, Violence & Cheating — It’s The World Cup Of Scandal! Soccer Stars' Top 14 Secrets & Controversies Exposed

With the World Cup kicking off June 12 in Brazil, RadarOnline.com is going behind the goal posts to explore the scandals and controversies of the top male and female soccer stars.  Here are the things David Beckham, Hope Solo, Landon Donovan, and Cristiano Ronaldo wish you’d forget!

Landon Donovan: The U.S. soccer star — who was surprisingly left off the world cup team this year -- filed for divorce from his Rules of Engagement actress wife Bianca Kajlich in 2010. Donovan, 32, and Kajlich had separated before Donovan was accused of having a love child with another woman (the paternity allegations turned out to be false). However, the soccer hunk, who earned over $2 million a year from the L.A. Galaxy, surprised many by seeking spousal support from Kajlich! They were divorced in 2010.

Pele: Now 73, the Brazilian who is one of the most famous soccer stars of all time, has had at least two children from affairs. Sandra Macedo, his daughter with housemaid Anizia Machado in 1964, was recognized as his daughter based on DNA evidence in 1993, but Pele never acknowledged her. She died in 2006. Pelé did recognize another daughter, Flavia Kurts, whom he’d fathered during an extra-marital affair in 1968 with journalist Lenita Kurtz. Pele is currently divorced.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Perhaps the top soccer player in the game today, Ronaldo, 29, was cleared of a rape charge in 2005 but reportedly had sex with hookers in 2007 during an orgy with teammates. In 2013, the Portugese athlete, boyfriend to supermodel Irina Shayk, was also charged with cheating. Andressa Urach, the runner-up for Brazil’s Miss BumBum contest, told The Sun that she and the Real Madrid player had had an affair. “He was obsessed with my butt,” Urach said.

Zinedine Zidane: The 1998 French World Cup champion, now 41, shocked onlookers during the 2006 World Cup when the game went into overtime. Reportedly angry about an insult from Marco Materazzi of Italy, Zidane viciously head-butted him. Zidane had to leave the game and France lost.

Hope Solo: The famed 32-year-old American goalkeeper’s great play has been marred by her bizarre personal life. In November, 2012, Solo’s fiancé, former Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her, reportedly during an argument over where they should wed! Stevens was released after a judge determined there was not enough evidence to hold him -- and the couple married the next day. They’re still going strong.

Luis Fabiano: The prolific goal scorer, 33, who represented Brazil in the 2010 World Cup, was shocked when his mother was kidnapped near her home in 2005. After being held for forty days, she was found tied up in an abandoned property after a passersby heard screams. Fabiano insists that he never paid ransom in a country where kidnapping for money is all too common.

Franck Ribery And Karim Benzema: The French footballers were accused of having sex with underage prostitute Zahia Dehar in 2010. Although they admitted to sleeping with the girl, the athletes insisted they didn’t know she was a minor. Early in 2014, Ribery, 31, and Benzema, 26, were cleared of the charges. Dehar, 22, has gone on to become a reality TV star, lingerie designer, and fashion muse for designer Karl Lagerfeld in France.

David Beckham: The most famous soccer player in the world, Beckham, 39, saw his marriage to Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, 40, come under scrutiny in 2004 when his former personal assistant, Rebecca Loos, claimed she’d had an affair with him. Loos even called herself the athlete’s "second wife." Beckham issued a statement that said: “I am very happily married.” While Victoria never directly addressed the story, in 2007, she admitted there had been “bumps along the road” in their marriage, which began in 1999 (they now have four children).

Joey Barton: The English soccer player, 31, has been embroiled in violent incidents during his whole career. In 2008, he served 77 days of a six-month prison term after he allegedly got drunk and assaulted two men. That same year, he was given a four month suspended sentence after admitting to assaulting former teammate Ousmane Dabo. He’s also been disciplined for violence on the soccer field.

Eric Cantona: The winger, born in France but best known for playing for England’s Manchester United, gave a heckling spectator a kung-fu kick to his torso during a 1995 game. Cantona was suspended for the remaining four months of the season, and had to perform community service and pay a hefty fine after his assault conviction. Now 48, he’s an actor in French films.

Ronaldo: Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, 37, was caught in a sex scandal with three cross-dressing prostitutes in 2007. In Rio de Janeiro, the 2002 World Cup winner allegedly picked up thee hookers and got the shock of his life back at the hotel when he discovered the gals were actually guys! According to Rio police, Ronaldo charged that the transvestites then tried to extort money from him. His wife dumped him, they later reconciled, but split again in 2012.

Hope Solo: During the London Summer Olympics in 2012, feisty Solo launched a Twitter attack against former soccer star Brandi Chastain, who was a TV commentator. Solo, now 32, tweeted to Chastain, a beloved member of the 1999 World Cup winning U.S. women’s soccer team, that she should lay off commentating “until you get more educated….the game has changed from a decade ago.” The soccer world was appalled.

Robin Van Persie: The Dutch footballer, 30, was arrested for rape in 2005 after Sandra Krijgsman, a former Miss Nigeria Holland winner, claimed that she was attacked by Van Persie in a hotel. But Van Persie was later exonerated, with the only thing the athlete being guilty of was having a consensual fling with Krijgsman. His wife Bouchra Elbali forgave him for the affair.

Wayne Rooney: In 2010, prostitute Helen Wood claimed the British athlete had paid for a threesome with her and another hooker while his wife Colleen was pregnant. Long-suffering Colleen had taken Rooney, 28, back in 2004 after the Sunday Mirror had revealed he’d cheated on her with prostitutes before they were married. After the latest scandal, they’re still husband and wife.