“IT’S JUST ONE of those things; you just have to think: ‘At least I was there to miss it.’”
That was Rob Earnshaw’s post-match verdict on his shocking miss during Wales’ Euro 2012 qualifier with England last night.
The striker’s optimistic worldview appears rock solid, but just in case it gives way to cringe-inducing flashbacks– to that second-half moment, when all he had to do was propel the ball forwards, not upwards, into a largely open net…– in the coming days and weeks, we thought it best to remind the Welshman that, when it comes to calamitous, ego-flattening misses, he’s not even in the Premier League.
5. Ronnie Rosenthal
It’s a classic, alright, perhaps the iconic open-goal miss, but by the standards of the horrors we’re about to showcase, the Liverpool winger’s notorious 1992 effort is a little tame.
4. Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Harry Redknapp called it “a mishap,” but Alan Shearer (never one for diplomacy) branded it “the worst miss I’ve ever seen.”
He mightn’t be the fittest lad or the deadliest striker, but with this side-footed effort from last year’s World Cup, Yakubu’s found his place in history. The video’s highlight isn’t the mind-boggling miss itself, but the half-hearted step the Nigerian takes after the ball as it trickles harmlessly wide.
3. Fahad Khalfan
There’s never a good time to record a miss of historic proportions, but during the knockout stages of an international tournament your team is expected to defend counts as a decidedly bad time. 18-year-old Fahad Khalfan found that out the hard way during Qatar’s clash with Uzbekistan during last year’s Asian Games. Not only did the miss come in extra-time, but it likely cost his side a place in the quarter-finals.
2. Kei Kamara
The ball is on the line. You, too, are on the line. There is time. It’s a cast-iron… handball?
Here’s goal-mouth panic getting the better of the Kansas City Wizards’ Kei Kamara during an MLS encounter with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Admit it: somewhere, deep down, you kind of expect this of US soccerball.
1. Rocky Baptiste
“What’s he done! What’s he done!”
He’s only created internet gold, is what. Harrow Borough’s most famous (infamous?) footballing export has, in the space of a couple of years, accumulated millions of views online. You can even buy “Rocky Horror Show” commemorative t-shirts.
