WHEN you've got to go…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang isn't the first star who's been caught short during a sports event.
The Arsenal striker joins a club that includes the likes of Paula Radcliffe and Gary Lineker, who all could have done with a toilet break while competing, after last night's brief exit from the pitch.
Some didn't even make it to the loo…
GARY LINEKER
Aubameyang could've taken a leaf out of the England legend's book.
The Three Lions marksman refused to go off, even when he was suffering from a "dickie stomach" during a crucial group match against Republic of Ireland at Italia '90.
Lineker did what all great strikers do and took one for the team.
“I managed to get through the first half despite terrible stomach cramps," he said in an interview with the History Channel.
“Anyway, the ball went and I kind of go for it but I stumble a little bit.
"And as I stumbled, I… relaxed.
“I remember Gary Stevens coming up to me and he’s looking over me saying ‘are you alright?’“And I just remember saying: ‘I’ve s*** myself?' What do you do?"
JENS LEHMANN
There's no denying the former Arsenal goalie was a rebel on the pitch.
And like any great goalkeeper, he certainly likes to mark his territory by his goal. And that's exactly what the German keeper did.
Desperate for a wee during a 2009 Champions League match with his German club Stuttgart, he cheekily went behind the advertising hoardings and stooped down to go.
Lehmann avoided a yellow card for the incident, and he was praised by Horst Heldt, the club's director of sport.
"I thought he handled it very expertly," he said.
"It was a tricky situation. He could hardly run into the dressing room while play was going on and it reminded me of the Tour de France – sometimes there are simply no options."
PAULA RADCLIFFE
When you're taking part in a marathon, there's absolutely nowhere to hide.
And Radcliffe found that out the hard way at the 2005 London Marathon when she had to relieve herself in the street.
The runner later went on to win 2015 Sports Personality of the Year, as well as a slew of medals, but it's her loo story that lives in the memory.
“It is funny because out of everything I have achieved I don’t think I will ever live it down," she said.
“It is one of those things you would obviously never do when you are not in that competition zone or environment but I did what I had to do and what was in the rules to win the race.
“I had bad stomach cramps and put up with it for as long as I could.
"I was looking and looking and looking for a toilet and I would have had to climb a barrier to go – and I couldn’t envisage being able to climb a barrier at that point. I don’t regret it because I won.”
MATT TARGETT
And it's not just limited to numbers ones or twos.
Only last month, Aston Villa defender Matt Targett felt a bit peaky during a Premier League match against Newcastle.
So, what did he do?
Barely 25 minutes in, he crept to the sideline, got down on his hands and knees and yakked everywhere in front of the Villa Park faithful.
One fan on Twitter wrote: "Targett just puked on the pitch – I remember doing that once.
"I bet he didn’t have 10 pints the night before his match though."
PHILIPPE JANSSENS
Sometimes a wee behind the goal you're attacking might bring you good luck.
And that's precisely what happened to Eendracht Aalst during their Belgium Third Division match.
Midfielder Janssens decided he couldn't hold it any longer, so he made his way to a fence behind the goal his side was attacking.
That distracted the opposition keeper, who couldn't help but have a look at what Janssens was up to.
As he was looking the other way, Aalst retained possession from the goal kick and scored a simple tap in.
Janssens soon joined in with the celebrations, surely claiming the assist, but he can't have washed his hands.
DAMARCUS BEASLEY
The American midfielder turned defender played on our shores briefly with Manchester City from 2006-07.
But we'd already seen a lot more of him before that.
In 2002, when Beasley was a sub for Team USA in the 2002 World Cup clash against Mexico, he cheekily went for a wee.
On one knee, he quickly slipped his willy out behind the sub's bench when he thought no one was looking.
Unfortunately for him, the act was caught on camera so it was seen by millions.
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