There are very few things in sports funnier than an own goal in soccer. (I know, football, sorry.)
You have the always funny wrong-way score in football (the American kind) courtesy of Jim Marshall and Nate Robinson once almost scored on his own basket in non-tip-in fashion. But they just don’t match the greatness of an own goal.
And we had an all timer Sunday afternoon during the international friendly between the United States and Germany.
The U.S. put some pressure on German keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen on a goal kick and the team seemed totally confused. Benedikt Howedes tried to pass the ball back to ter Stegen, who somehow forgot how to use his legs. It was exactly like the basketball player on a breakaway who gets caught between dunk and layup and ends up slamming the ball off the rim. ter Stegen paused, jammed his foot in the turf and fruitlessly chased the ball down as it casually rolled into the left corner of the net.
The reaction of ter Stegen after the botch job is classic too. As he wanders over and grabs a drink of water from his Gatorade bottle the look on his face is priceless.
The own goal also brought back memories of the U.S. draw with England in the 2010 World Cup. At least Robert Green blew it on an actual shot attempt though.
By the way, it was a great game for the U.S., which won 4-3 in an important tune up for World Cup qualifiers starting this weekend. They face Jamaica on Friday, Panama on June 11 and Honduras on June 18.
Jozy Altidore looked like the star he was in the Dutch league this season, with a goal and a nice assist on Clint Dempsey’s first goal. Dempsey, obviously, looked good as well. Now they just need to get something out of their defense.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports. He promises to only occasionally pretend to be a soccer expert.
