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Penalties in football look easy but quite frankly they are not, especially in an atmosphere like the World Cup where thousands of fans from different countries are banking on the players to lead them to glory. Many players excel under pressure and calmly put their penalties away but others crumble and miss their spot kicks.Here is a list of the top 5 penalty misses in footballs biggest competition
#5 Chris Waddle v Germany, 1990
The Englishman will always be remembered for his time with Ligue 1 side Marseille but had a forgettable time in the 1990 World Cup semi-final match against eventual winners West Germany.
England, led by Bobby Robson, progressed very well in the tournament and reached the semi-finals which they infamously lost to arch-rivals Germany. Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce missed their spot kicks and gifted Germany a win. Pearce’s spot kick was saved by Germany keeper Bolo Illgner but Waddle’s penalty completely missed the target, ending the Three Lions’ hopes of advancing in the competition.
#4 Asamoah Gyan v Uruguay, 2010
The Ghanaian scored 3 goals in the World Cup, 2 of them being penalties, and could have scored from a third penalty, but unfortunately he did miss this all important penalty. Ghana were one of the standout teams of the 2010 World Cup and had managed to reach the quarter finals of the competition before being knocked out by Uruguay.
Ghana were awarded a penalty after Ajax’s Luis Suarez handled the ball and Gyan was chosen to take the spot kick. Everybody thought Gyan wouldn’t miss due to his reputation of always scoring from the spot but were proven wrong when Gyan’s powerful shot hit the cross bar much to the joy of Luis Suarez who was seen celebrating the miss from the sidelines.
#3 Michel Platini v Brazil, 1986
The current UEFA President and former Juventus player will be remembered for his skills on the pitch and his 3 Ballon D’Or’s, which he won for three consecutive years. He will also be remembered for his horrendous penalty miss against Brazil in the 1986 World Cup. Careca’s opener was cancelled out by Platini, who was celebrating his 31st birthday, and the scores remained level even after extra time leading to a penalty shootout.
France won the shootout 4-3 but Platini sent his shot way over the goal frame, which was later seen as a blot on the Frenchman's illustrious career. France advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament but were knocked out by West Germany, who finished as runners-up in the tournament.
#2 David Trezeguet v Italy, 2006
France had a brilliant World Cup run in 2006 due to the heroics of their captain Zinedine Zindane and went into the finals against Italy as favourites but then everything went wrong for them on that fateful day. Zidane’s first half penalty was cancelled out by Marco Materazzi and the scores remained level for the entire duration of the match.
Things took a turn for the worst for Les Blues in the 110th minute when Zidane, who was insulted by Materazzi was shown a straight red card for headbutting the defender and his role was reduced to nothing more than that of a spectator.
Neither of the two goalkeepers made a save and David Trezeguet, who was one of the world’s most lethal finishers at that time, stepped up to take his penalty but his shot rebounded off the cross bar giving Italy a golden chance to win the shootout – which they did.
#1 Roberto Baggio v Brazil, 1994
Baggio is one of Italy’s greatest and most loved players but his penalty miss against Brazil in the 1994 World Cup finals will go down as one of the most upsetting moments in the competitions history. The Azzuri held Brazil, who had world class players like Romario and Dunga in their squad, to a stale mate for 120 minutes so the outcome had to be decided on penalties.
Baggio was not fully fit for the final as he had picked up a hamstring injury in the semi-final against Bulgaria but still participated in the match. Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro had missed their penalties for Italy so the whole team was banking on Baggio to keep their hopes alive. Unfortunately Baggio put his penalty over the bar and handed Brazil their fourth World Cup trophy.
In spite of his miss Baggio was included in the World Cup team of the tournament along with being declared runner-up for the Ballon D’Or and securing a third place for the FIFA World Player of the Year 1994. However all that recognition couldn’t ease his pain of failing to win the World Cup.
