The 10 Worst Misses in Football History

Football is a beautiful game, but players do not always make the headlines for all the right reasons. Even the best footballers in the world can have a bad day and make mistakes they don’t normally do, so it is little wonder that fans like to see a good miss just as much as a beautiful goal, obviously provided a player from their beloved team is not involved. The fans cheering for the players in our list weren’t as lucky.

10.) Peter van Vossen (Rangers)

Peter van Vossen was a good international player when he signed for Rangers and he managed to prove his potential at Ibrox Park, but the Dutch player couldn’t have found a worse time to miss a real sitter as this was the Old Firm game against bitter rivals Celtic. Who knows what the Dutchman would have had to endure if Gers hadn’t won the game.

9.) Ronnie Rosenthal (Liverpool)

This is another classic football miss which happened in 1992 when Aston Villa played Liverpool. After getting past the opposition keeper, Rosenthal was presented with an open goal, but he somehow managed to hit the crossbar instead of scoring. This is probably how the crossbar challenge was established in the first place.

8.) Rui Miguel (CSKA Sofia)

Rui Miguel was already standing at the goal line with the ball heading his way, so it is little wonder everybody at the stadium expected the CSKA Sofia number 10 to score, but he somehow did the unthinkable and sent the ball over the bar, showing the fans the he still had some tricks up his sleeve.

7.) Ilija Sivonjic (Dinamo Zagreb)

We cannot really say Ilija Sivonjic missed the goal as the ball would have gone in if he hadn’t been on the wrong place in the wrong time. The only possible explanation is that the youngster mistaken the opponent’s goal for his own and believed that he should clear the ball of the line, which he successfully achieved.

6.) Kei Kamara (Kanzas City Wizards)

Kanzas City Wizards striker is the only player on this list who managed to score a goal, but it was how he did it that earned him few months of prime time in world media. With the ball balancing on the goal line, Kamara missed it with both his feet before scoring a goal with his hand, which was later disallowed. I mean, do we really need referees standing so close to the action?

5.) Arnaldo Vera (Libertad)

You can be forgiven for not believing your eyes in this one as Arnaldo Vera probably felt the same when he missed an unguarded goal from a yard out and hit the crossbar instead. I bet nobody remembers who scored the five goals for Libertad on the day, while Arnaldo Vera has become a real star. Scoring goals is not what football is all about.

4.) Chris Iwelumo (Scotland)

Chris Iwelumo hasn’t had a lot of chances to represent his national team, but when he did feature for Scotland, his performance was definitely remembered. His epic miss against Norway will be remembered as one of the biggest blunders on international stage.

3.) Rocky Baptiste (Harrow)

Rocky Baptiste is the only player on the list playing at an amateur level, but his effort against Waltham Abbey puts him side by side with the best of them. There’s really no point in commenting this one, but you should bear in mind that he scored a magnificent goal from 35 yards out later in the game.

2.) Fahad Khalfan (Qatar)

18-year-old Fahad Khalfan was handed a debut for the national team in the Asian Cup match against Uzbekistan and he had a great chance to become a real hero at the start of the first period of extra time. Khalfan missed the open goal instead and with Uzbekistan soon scoring the winning goal, he must have cried himself to sleep ever since.

1.) Five Veria players

Lemony Snicket’s ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ springs to mind when you look at this one with Veria attackers showing how things shouldn’t be done. Five shocking misses in the space of just eight seconds prove that football can be pretty unpredictable at times.