Before we dip into our goals of the week list, as is standard, we highlight some of the bigger schmucks to have screwed up on the football field in the last seven days of world football.
First up is the shameful role Darwin Quintero played in creating a 22-man confrontation between Tecos and Santos Laguna in Mexico. Visiting team Santos ran out 4-2 winners on the night, and after the ref blew his whistle on proceedings, Santos’ Quintero marched over to the Tecos bench to seemingly rub the hosts face in their defeat. Unsurprisingly the Tecos team didn’t warm to the gesture kindly and a ridiculously unnecessary brawl broke out between the two clubs.
Like a kid who relies on his parents to bail him out of trouble, Holland midfielder Wesley Sneijder was made to look like an over-zealous teenager at the weekend after Oranje coach Bert van Marwijk was forced to apologise for his midfielder’s unsporting play during a friendly against Japan on Saturday.
Van Marwijk: “Wesley would have deserved the red for one of his tackles. I went to apologise to the referee after these fouls. These are things which I cannot accept. I told the player concerned as much at halftime. It’s a type of behaviour which could cost us dearly at the World Cup. This cannot happen again.”
See what all the fuss was about here.
Yet the schmuck of the week award, after noting Kakha Kaladze’s terrible two own goals in the Georgia-Italy match, has to go to too-clever-for-his-own-good, FC Zwolle striker Albert van der Haar. Facing De Graafschap in Holland’s second division on Friday night, the forward was handed a golden opportunity to draw the hosts level at 2-2 from the penalty spot. What happened next was an excruciating head-in-hands moment.
Worst. Penalty. Ever.
Onto the list, where we have a slightly reduced number of goals to show you having regard to international week. That said, arguably the goal of the week was scored in Brazilian domestic football with a stunning acrobatic goal found at number 6.
As always, all we ask is that you sit back and enjoy!
1. Giovani Dos Santos (Costa Rica v Mexico, Sept. 5, 2009)
2. Jose Manuel Rey (Chile v Venezuela, Sept. 5, 2009)
3. Jesus Datolo (Argentina v Brazil, Sept. 5, 2009)
4. Stevan Jovetic (Bulgaria v Montenegro, Sept. 5, 2009) (pictured)
5. Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark v Portugal, Sept. 5, 2009)
6. Ariel Nahuelpan (Goias v Coritiba, Sept. 6, 2009)
7. Adel Taarabt (Togo v Morocco, Sept. 6, 2009)
