Martín Cáceres may want to commit the final lines of the Brand New song “The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot” to memory. The track is now a fitting anthem for the Lazio right back.
“Call me a safe bet, I’m betting I’m not.
I’m glad that you can forgive; I’m only hoping as time goes, you can forget.”
Cáceres will be asking for forgiveness and forgetfulness after he somehow managed to block his own shot on the goal line in a 1-0 loss for Lazio vs FCSB on Thursday in the Europa League.
The chance came in the 83rd minute with Lazio seeking a vital away goal to take back to Italy. Felipe Anderson made a fantastic run to the byline and sent in a cross inside the six-yard box. Cáceres, charging in late, slid in and kicked the ball from about four yards out. Before the ball could roll over the line, he inexplicably knocked it away. No Steaua Bucharest player could have reached the shot, though two defenders were waiting to launch Cáceres’ block clear of the penalty area.
That looked kind of match-fixy for Cáceres, who just moved to Lazio in January. But it doesn’t make sense for a player to make such a heady run into the box just to try not to score. Perhaps he was just falling at an awkward angle and had to make the movement to keep from breaking his leg, or maybe he thought he was blocking the Bucharest goalie from reaching the ball to save it.
Whatever the reason, Cáceres will be lamenting the missed opportunity.
Lazio actually shot itself in the foot all match. The Italians made at least three clear mistakes that led to Bucharest’s goal, scored by Harlem Gnohéré in the 29th minute.
Steaua’s Harlem Gnohéré scored the only goal in the Lazio vs FCSB first leg. Photo: @EuropaLeague | Twitter
The second leg for Lazio vs FCSB will be Feb. 22 in Rome. Hopefully Cáceres listens to a lot of Brand New between now and then — as long as he sticks to their first two albums, which we all know were their only good ones.
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