Exclusive club of footballers who have played two games in one day includes one current Premier League star

A current Premier League star is one of a select few players who have played two games in the very same day.

Top-level football is so demanding that players typically need a few days to recover.

Often managers are critical of the fixture schedule and it gets particularly chaotic over the festive period when some games are just 48 hours apart.

But there are a few occasions where footballers have pulled double duty and the Daily Star have highlighted some of the members of the exclusive club.

Mark Hughes

Perhaps the most well-known example came 36 years to the day as Mark Hughes played two games in two different countries.

The former Barcelona and Manchester United striker played 90 minutes for Wales in a European Championship qualifier against Czechoslovakia in Prague and was immediately whisked into a Lada car in his kit and driven to a plane.

Image: Getty

Changing into to his Bayern Munich strip on the flight, Hughes then played 30 minutes in a German Cup second-round replay against Borussia Monchengladbach at the Olympiastadion.

He admitted that he was "knackered" and "didn't get a kick".

Soren Lerby

Hughes' double shift was engineered by Bayern president Uli Hoeness and it was the second time he had given it the all-clear.

In 1985, Dane Lerby played for his country in a World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and came off after 58 minutes.

He then made the trip to Germany to play in Bayern's DFB Pokal game against VFL Bochum, entering the fray at half-time.

Jorge Campos

Fairly recently Lionel Messi had to miss a game for Inter Miami because of his international commitments with Argentina, but Jorge Campos manage to combine the two back in 1996.

The Mexican goalkeeper, who scored 35 career goals, played for LA Galaxy and also represented his country against the USA on the very same Rose Bowl pitch

Juninho Pernambucano

The Brazilian free-kick king's third cap for the Selecao was extra special as it came on the same day as a game for Vasco de Gama against Nacional in 1999.

Juninho played 15 minutes against Argentina in Porto Alegre before jetting out to Montevideo for a second half appearance in the Copa Mercosur.

Cole Palmer

The latest member of the crew. Chelsea star Cole Palmer's love for football can be summed up by his actions on 16 October 2021.

He was a late substitute for the first-team in a 2-0 win over Burnley, replacing Bernardo Silva.

Image: Getty

He was immediately thrown into a match for the under-23’s across the road from the Etihad Stadium at the City Football Academy, where he notched a hat-trick against Leicester City.

Recalling the two games, he told SPORTbible: "I was in the squad for Burnley and I saw that the [under] 23’s were playing at seven o’clock. I was warming up and I wanted to come on. I was warming up for ages.

“Everyone went and sat back down because it was like the 88th minute but I thought, ‘Nah, I’m not going to sit down’.

“I was just warming up hoping that he [Guardiola] would see me. He’s looked to the left and seen me, then shouted me to come over.

“Rodolfo [Borrell] said, ‘There’s a game tonight’ - they were saying if you come on now can you play later and I said, ‘Yeah I think so’.

“Then I went on. After the game I kept some of my kit on. I missed pre-match so I just ate in the changing room and went out and played.”