How to control your anger when playing sports?

I love playing Football aka Soccer. It’s what helps me relieve my stress, anxiety and depression. It has helped me gain many of friendships and also made some bad relationships as well. I have a reputation of arguing and wanting to fight during games. A reputation which I somewhat agree with. I am an old school type of player. I often play aggressive and a bit physical but clean. Most players today don’t like to be touched and just want to dribble and do skills. I do admit on playing dirty at times mainly when it is done to me first or when my team is losing and no one is playing hard.

I do admit that I let my anger get the best of me at times and lose it even though some of my friends are trying to calm me down. It is something I am trying to fix. Mainly because it can cause me to hurt someone or worse, for someone else to hurt me. To me what ever happens on the field stays on the field. But other people have different mentalities. I can control my anger in the game to an extent, however when something is repeatedly done against me I will get angry.

Any one who knows me will tell you, outside of football I am the nicest most warm hearted person. However in the game I am a different animal. Some people are really nice, but when they are driving they become a different person. Kinda like that. I was thinking of doing yoga or meditating to help me out with my issue. Also I notice that when I don’t argue and stay quiet, it do not get angry at all. However with some people it is really hard to do. Especially when they keep talking.