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Nov
2007
Own Goal: The Ultimate Soccer Blooper
By Dina Ely
Picture this: Your team has possession. The goal keeper throws the ball your way to preserve the pace of play. You have plenty of space and teammates around you to take the ball forward. You’re almost at the halfway line, but you think your keeper can do better. So you send the ball back to him, ostensibly for a goal kick and better clearance.
You chip it. You chip it hard. You chip the hell out of it. And the ball sails…gracefully arcs…effortlessly falls…right into the back of your own net. Your keeper can only stare in disbelief as it soars well overhead with such speed and power that a save is beyond question.
That’s exactly what happened to Anderson de Lima Freitas of Atromitos FC. It was a beautiful goal, technically and aesthetically perfect. But needless to say, it wasn’t the highlight of his career.
Every player dreads seeing the letters “og” beside his name on match stats, yet every player is susceptible. Own goals are an inevitable reality of such a fast paced and occasionally chaotic game. But that doesn’t make scoring against your own team any easier to stomach.
When you’re a fan supporting a team who’s just scored an own goal, there’s nothing worse. You want to crawl under your seat in mortification as the opposing team’s players and fans go mental in celebration. But a goal’s a goal; who among us hasn’t been on the other end of that scenario and cheered an own goal that put our team ahead?
We’ve made own goals the ultimate soccer blooper. Own goal compilation DVDs are so popular some titles have sequels. As long as it’s not a painful memory for us, we love to point and laugh at the misery of others. Is it kind? No. Is it amusing? Clearly.
Most own goals are scored off the efforts of an opposing player, so there is some relief in the knowledge that a mistake was the result of legitimate play. Some celebration is understandable, and some excuses can be made. Defenders trying to block a ball against the goal line can accidentally slip and fumble. Headers meant to send an attacking ball in another direction can go horribly wrong. (Often. So often players should be subject to certification for header clearance.) Shots bounce off body parts and fly spectacularly past unwitting keepers. It’s fast and furious at the business end of the field.
But poor Anderson had only himself to blame.
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