5 players whose international careers went downhill after failed penalties

Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi’s career seems to have ended prematurely following the Copa

One of the current greats of international football, Lionel Messi recently announced his intention to no longer maintain an association with his national team, a move that has shocked close to everybody with some interest in the game. Over the past decade, Messi had become nearly synonymous with the beautiful game. Since his announcement, support has been pouring in from every corner with many questioning his choice to step down and perceiving it as an act of cowardice and escapism.

Although the 29-year-old is yet to come up with an official statement, statements from his own countrymen regarding his commitment to his national team have been rife in the past and may have been a probable cause for his early retirement. Messi has steered Argentina to three finals in three major tournaments and failed to win all three of them. This is a sad moment for football fans in general especially because this loss came after 120 minutes of play and a penalty shootout.

We look at 5 players whose international footballing careers went downhill following dismal penalty shootouts.

#1 David Beckham

youtube-cover

Both the beginning and the end of Beckham's international career were not very bright. The 1998 World Cup was on in full swing when Beckham saw his first World Cup appearance for England cut short by a red card in a match against Argentina. The end, meanwhile, was marked with a terrible penalty strike against Portugal in Euro 2004. That was Beckham's third consecutive penalty miss for England and this one ensured that they would no longer be continuing in the tournament.

Beckham is another player who had to face a lot of heat from the people of his country most of all because people usually held him responsible whenever something went wrong with the English team. Case in point being the 3-2 loss against Portugal in Euro 2000 where, although he helped set up both of England's goals, he had to face a crowd of irate supporters at the stadium who repeatedly taunted him during the match.

The 2004 Euro Cup spelt disaster for Beckham in more ways than one as he was singlehandedly responsible for the one defining moment which ended England's run in the tournament. He practically had no presence during the game and cut a figure of a peripheral player for the major part. He missed a penalty which resulted in England losing the penalty shootout and the match. Later, he blamed a muddy penalty patch which caused him to hit the ball over the goal and into the stands.

In the 2006 World Cup, England exited in the quarter-final after which Beckham stepped down as captain. The highlight of his contribution in the tournament was the beautiful curling free-kick against Ecuador. England went on to lose to Portugal on penalties again in the next match, thus exiting the World Cup. He made intermittent appearances for England after that and failed to make a solid mark in any of them.

#2 Michel Platini

youtube-cover

The former President of UEFA was one of the greatest players in his own right.During his career, he had the distinction of having scored 41 goals for France, a record that remained unbroken till 2007 when Thierry Henry scored twice to take his goal count to 43.

The 1986 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil seemed to be going smoothly enough. He scored France's only goal in the game and at the end of extra time the scoreline read 1-1. The final result of the match depended on penalties. Three iconic footballers were playing their last World Cups and as such, it was imperative that both teams did their respective countries and their legends proud.

However, all three of them missed crucial penalties leaving the entire country on the edge of their seats. Zico and Socrates had their efforts saved whereas Platini shot the ball spectacularly off target. The ball did not even need saving by the Brazillian goalkeeper. Platini turned out to be the only Frenchman to miss a penalty in that game.

Following the 1986 World Cup, Platini made a single appearance for France in 1987 in a European Championship Qualifier.

#3 Chris Waddle

youtube-cover

England's Chris Waddle had a major role to play in the 1990 World Cup particularly in the team being finally ousted from the tournament. In the semi-final match against West Germany, Waddle shot an outrageous kick into the sky instead of aiming for the back of the net.

It might be safe to say that England had a tumultuous ride during this world cup. The year is remembered by fans of English football for an array of memories, not all of which are particularly good. Gary Lineker's penalty brace against Cameroon and David Platt's goal against Belgium were some of the good ones. On the other hand, there were haunting images of an inconsolable Paul Gascoigne and penalty misses by Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle in the semi-final, a stage England have not managed to reach since.

The Spurs legend seemed to be traumatised with the turn of events that he was responsible for. His career never quite recovered the shock of missing a decisive penalty for his country. His last appearance for England came in 1991 and he did not score a single goal in the time between the exit from the World Cup and his retirement.

#4 Gary Lineker

youtube-cover

The football pundit, famous for being the face of BBC's MOTD, has always been regarded as one of England's greatest players often instrumental in pulling the team out of tight spots and scoring exactly when necessary.

In an international friendly against Brazil, Lineker was all set to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for England. Prior to the match, Lineker had 48 to his credit. So when he was fouled and stepped up to take the penalty, the conviction increased. The man looked ready to celebrate even before actually taking the kick and the cockiness cost him dearly. His shot found the Brazillian goalkeeper and though Bebeto was initially unable to hold on to the ball, he quickly recovered to deny Lineker that elusive 49th goal for England. Brazil held England to a 1-1 draw in that match.

Gary Lineker played four matches for England after this penalty and failed to score a goal in any of the matches. He retired after Euro 92.

#5 Roberto Baggio

youtube-cover

Roberto Baggio was an absolute star for Italy in 1994 and their most influential player. In fact, he was the talismanic player around whom the team was built.

Baggio played an important role in taking Italy to finals of the tournament. His 5 goals throughout the length of their qualification were instrumental. The World Cup was slated to be his tournament. Prior to that, Baggio had cemented his reputation as a star for both his clubs and his country. For him to miss out on a penalty at a crucial juncture for his team was just unthinkable.

The 1994 World Cup was apparently the first World Cup whose result rested on a penalty shootout. The star, the Italian talisman was called upon to take the penalty that Italy needed to score to remain in the competition. Baggio missed.

He later spoke out about his thoughts on missing the penalty saying that he often found it unfair that the entire country blamed him for the defeat. The 1994 World Cup final was supposed to be retribution for the humiliation suffered at the hands of Brazil in 1970. “What is sometimes forgotten is that even if I had scored, Brazil could still have won with the last penalty because before me Baresi and Massaro had both missed. That's part of the game. I missed the last penalty, thereby 'cancelling out' those by Baresi and Massaro,” he later said.

Though Baggio was recalled to the Italian side for the 1998 World Cup, he never played a full 90 minutes for his side. The 1998 World Cup saw his last appearance for the Azzurri.

Quick Links

Edited by Staff Editor