5 football legends who missed penalty kicks at the World Cup

The World Cup is the most followed sporting extravaganza in the entire world. The galaxy of stars descend to represent their nation, and they strive to win the trophy. Goal scoring becomes a favorite vocation of all the players.

Penalty kicks are said to be the easiest mode of scoring a goal. Most of the time, they get converted to goals. Sometimes, players miss the chance due to pressure or miscalculation.

When football players miss penalties in a World Cup match, then it gets reported in the media outlets quite harshly. The fans and audiences boo their players causing great misery to the team.

Here are five such players who missed penalty kicks at the World Cup.

#5. Steven Gerrard, England vs Portugal, 2006 World Cup

Steven Gerrard - 20FIFA World Cup — Steven Gerrard - FIFA World Cup

England had a dismal record in World Cup penalty shoot-outs (played 3, lost 3). But when Steven Gerrard expressed the desire to take the penalty against Portugal in a quarter-final match in 2006 as it went down to penalties, no one thought he would miss.

Gerrard was the magnetic Liverpool midfielder, who had scored penalties easily in the FA Cup final and the Champions League final, a year ago.

He crumbled under pressure and missed the penalty. Portugal won 3-1 and moved to the semi-finals.

#4. Hugo Sanchez, Mexico vs Paraguay 1986 World Cup

Hugo Sanchez was considered one of the best strikers of all time. He was a legend at the Spanish club, Real Madrid and Mexico's greatest player undoubtedly.

Sanchez was out-thought by the Paraguay goalkeeper, Roberto Fernandez when he decided to take a penalty. His attempt was blocked by Fernandez and Mexico literally went into shock. The match was tied at 1-1.

The English-language Mexico City News ran the headline 'Hugo, how could you?'

#3. Roberto Baggio, Italy vs Brazil, 1994 World Cup

The 1994 World Cup final took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The final was played between Brazil and Italy.

This is one of the biggest fiascos ever, for a lot of football connoisseurs. Brazil and Italy played dull and defensive football, so the score was 0-0. It all came down to penalties in the end.

Brazil was leading by one goal, which is when the Italian legend Roberto Baggio decided to take the penalty kick. He had, until then, scored five goals in the entire tournament. His kick sent the ball into space, missing the goalpost by miles. Brazil won the match 3-2 to lift the World Cup.

#2. Michel Platini, France vs Brazil, 1986 World Cup

The 1986 World Cup was held at Mexico. One of the quarter-final matches was played between Brazil and France in 45 degrees Celsius heat.

France and Brazil tried to outplay each other, but they tied the game at 1-1. The game moved to penalties. Michel Platini, who was considered to be a better player than Maradona at that time, took the penalty shot. He was considered a dead-ball expert, so the fans were jubilant to see him. In one of the rare misses, he sent the ball over the goalpost.

Ultimately, France won the match by 4-3 and moved to the semi-final. Maradona performed exceptionally well to lead Argentina to a World Cup victory. He overtook Platini after this event.

#1. Diego Maradona, Argentina vs Yugoslavia, 1990 World Cup

This World Cup was held in Italy, and they know it as 'Italia '90.' One of the quarter-final matches was held between Yugoslavia and Argentina. The game went down to penalties, and the great man Diego Maradona was also amongst the penalty takers.

The fans were hugely disappointed when his lazy, left-footed chip shot was easily saved the by the Yugoslavian goalkeeper, Tomislav Ivkovic.

Ultimately, Argentina won by 3-2, which is perhaps why not many fans remember Maradona's miss. They moved to the semi-final to play against Italy.