The Most Significant Penalty Misses In Football History
Now, the penalty kick is supposed to be one of the easiest things for a player to do in football. Yet, history has shown us over and over again that this is not always the case. Many players have been guilty of missing penalty kicks, and the context of some is more significant than others. A penalty miss in the final of a competition or close to the end of a game is, for instance, a miss with more considerable implications than other penalty misses.
This article compiles a list of two of the most significant penalty misses in recent times.
- Asamoah Gyan Vs. Uruguay – 2010 World Cup Quater Finals
Ghana was about to become the first African team in the history of the world cup to arrive in the semi-finals of the competition, but Gyan missed a dying minute penalty that ruined that chance. Luis Suarez had handled the ball in the box to stop a goal-bound effort. The referee gave Ghana the penalty, but Gyan hit the ball far over the goalpost.
- Lionel Messi vs. Chile- Copa America Final, 2016
The final of the continental competition had resulted in penalty shoutouts. Lionel Messi, the leader of the Argentine National Team, missed his penalty in the shootout and helped condemn the Argentinian team to defeat. The miss had so much impact on Messi that he retired from the national team before retiring to win a Copa America in 2021.