It would be unfair to call what is happening to Iker Casillas a downfall. He he’s taken a step down since the days of being known as the greatest goal keeper in the world, but that was always going to happen. Father time is undefeated. No, what he is going through just sucks to see, and at no point has it sucked more than when Casillas’ error against Braga over the weekend.
What is it about terrible tackles that fascinate us so much? Do we actually like violence or is it more like a car crash that we just can't look away from? Maybe we're attracted to controversy or perhaps we can't help but be fascinated by the dark side of our beloved sport, much like villains in movies are often the most memorable characters.
When you’re in the relegation zone, things just don’t come off for you. For one, that’s the reason you’re lodged at the bottom of the table to begin with — your basic inability to to do anything right. For two, being lodged at the bottom takes a toll on your mental well-being, affecting your once professional ability.
Your dog won’t even look you in the eyes anymore, trips to the neighborhood grocer become public persecutions and you can’t remember the last time your own supporters cheered rather than jeered your name on the public announcement system.
It sucks to be Scottish football right now. First they made soccer look like the worst version of keepy-uppy ever, now they can’t even set up their own tournament. Keep in mind that the following clip of an awkward reporter and the president of the Scottish FA was broadcast on national television.
This is one of the most absurd sequences that I have ever seen in a soccer match of any kind. So much so that I would easily bet my life that it will never happen again, and be recorded, in my lifetime, perhaps ever. You may think I am exaggerating, but you don’t understand; a goal keeper scores scores a basket in an indoor soccer match, and then concedes a goal while celebrating.
This past week, we've been treated to two of the most wildly mishit shots you’ll see all season. Just to be clear, we're not trotting out some amateur videos from a far-flug corner of the footballing world, these hilarious attempts at completing the most basic action in soccer are brought to you by 44-million-pound-man Angel Di Maria and Robert Huth, the center half for Premier League leaders Leicester City. These are shanks of the highest standard.
It's a fail off!
Most of the time when you see a team bearing down on goal like Legia Warsaw is about to do in this next video, you expect to be thrilled. The speed of play involved pushes players to their absolute limits. Success is a matter of passing with pinpoint accuracy, maintaining composure, and knowing when to finish. Anything less results in a wasted opportunity.
Face planting is literally one of the most simultaneously hilarious and embarrassing things for a human to do. It’s universal. Our faces allow us to interact and empathize like nothing else in the known universe, and when thenyend up flat against the ground with our feet 3 feet above and behind, you have no choice but to laugh or cringe. Case in point, this soccer player face plant.
Santos was playing in the first led of the final of the Copa do Brasil when Nilson found himself with a golden opportunity to score on an open net against Palmeiras.
A missed opportunity is usually something that haunts you. You don’t want to think about it anymore, and really there is no point; you can’t reverse time and correct mistakes. This video, however, is something different. There’s a kind of wonder to be found in the greatest near misses compiled in it. They say that somethings are better left to the imagination, and I think that applies here in a unexpected way: we don’t know how great these goals would have been had the ball actually gone in, and that allows us to imagine them being something better than perhaps they really would be.
There’s a saying that goes, “to err is human; to forgive, divine." The 21st century brought an addition to that saying: to really screw up takes a computer. And, now, it seems soccer has added a fourth line to the party: to colossally f*** up takes a goalkeeper. We know this new addition to be true because of this footage of a goalkeeper nutmegging himself. Wrap your mind around that last sentence, and then watch this video of a goalkeeper nutmegging himself.
Home