Top 10 heartbreaking penalty misses

It is really heartbreaking to see your team lose on penalties, or when a penalty would have meant the difference between winning or losing. And if it is heartbreaking for the fan, how heartbreaking may it not be for the player?
The recent Africa Cup of Nations semifinal between Ghana and Burkina Faso, where the latter won on penalty kicks, made me think of the most heartbreaking penalty kicks I could think of in my life. Here are my top ten:

• 10) Chris Waddle, England against West Germany, semifinal of the 1990 World Cup: The only interesting thing in this World Cup was the penalty kicks, and I would have loved to see England against Argentina in what would have been a historic final. 
• 9) Joaquin, Spain-South Corea, quarterfinal of the World Cup 2002: A historic triumph for Asian football, but a great defeat by the young Joaquin who never seemed really to recover from this.
• 8) Mauricio Pellegrino, Valencia-Bayern Munich, Champions League final 2001: Valencia will never come so close to a CL title. Pellegrino missed the last kick to give the Germans their title and me a really bad day.
• 7) Pierre Wome, Cameroon-Egypt 2006 World Cup qualifier. The score was 1-1 in Yaounde in the last match of the group. Cameroon had to win to make it to the World Cup. In the 90th minute Cameroon got a penalty kick. Nobody wanted to kick, so Wome stepped up, and shot wide. Cameroon did not make the World Cup and Wome was frozen out of the Cameroon national team.
• 6) Maxime Bossis, France-West Germany, semifinal of the 1982 World Cup: France surely had one of the best teams in the world, and after a spectacular semifinal against West Germany, it went into extra time and penalties, where Maxime Bossis missed the last shot for France, and Horst Hrubesch could take the winning kick for the Germans.
• 5) John Terry, Chelsea-Manchester United, Champions League final, 2008: It was Chelsea's first Champions League final against the rivals of Manchester United, and the intense and dramatic match ended 0-0. In the penalty kicks captain John Terry could take the shot that would give them a victory, but he slipped and missed, and Manchester went on to win as the kicks continued.
• 4) Zico, Brazil-France, World Cup quarterfinal 1986: One of the best players in history in one of the most memorable teams, in what many consider the best World Cup match ever. Zico missed a penalty at the score 1-1 in the second half, and Brazil went on to lose in penalty kicks.
• 3) Roberto Baggio, Italy-Brazil 1994 World Cup final: The star of Italy's team in the 1994 World Cup missed the last kick that ended up giving Brazil the World Cup in the first World Cup final that was ever decided on penalty kicks.
• 2) Miroslav Djukic, Deportivo la Coruna against Valencia, 1994: Little Deportivo La Coruna had been leading the Spanish league most of the season until the last match, where a victory at home against Valencia would give them the title ahead of mighty FC Barcelona. At the score 0-0, La Coruna was awarded a penalty in the last minute of the match. Bebeto refused to take it. Djukic took it, and missed, and the title went to Barcelona.
• 1) Asamoah Gyan, Ghana-Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal: Ghana was the only third African side to make it to a World Cup quarterfinal. In the last minute of extra time, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez saved the ball with his hand to avoid certain defeat. He was immediately shown a red card and Asamoah Gyan was set to make the shot that would make Ghana the first African side in a World Cup semifinal. But he made a high shot that just touched the crossbar, and in the following penalty kicks Ghana lost.

These are the ones I can think of that have made me annoyed. Of course, there are some I am happy about: Batty's miss against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup; Van Basten's against Denmark in the 1992 Euro semifinal; or Aldo Serena against Argentina in the 1990 semifinal.
There are surely more that I either do not remember or know about, so I would love to hear some of your opinions!

Greatest World Cup matches: Brazil-Italy (1994)

The 1994 World Cup in the USA was a strange world cup: on the one hand it meant a rebirth of football in the sense of a wider commercialization as ever seen before, and the fans (who in USA showed a new friendler side) responded by showing a friendlier and more partying side. At the same time, some events put a dark shadow over the world party, notably the murder of the Colombian player Andrés Escobar after scoring an own-goal against the USA that eliminated Colombia, but also the entire scandal about the ever-controversial Diego Maradona, who scoring against Greece in his opening match, was suddenly tested positive for ephedrine, an astma medicine that was not even considered an illegal substance by the IOC, and banned from the tournament effectively eliminating a splendidly playing Argentinean side.
On the pitch new rules had been introduced that (more or less) successfully called for more attacking football: a relaxing of the off-side rule, the ban on the goalkeeper picking up the ball when passed from a team-mate, and the introduction of 3 points for a victory instead of 2.
All these things surely contributed to more goals and exciting matches than the meagre 1990 World Cup. Also, as some giants like England and France failed to qualify, some new countries stepped in, notably Bulgaria and Sweden, who both made it to the semifinal.
That said, the quality of football itself seemed to decay: there were many mediocre matches, and it seemed that ultimately even new rules could not change the fact that the two World cup giants of Italy and Brazil were to face one another in the final, after playing a defensive and robotic style of football the entire tournament.
Italy had started the tournament rather weakly: in their first match they had lost 1-0 to Ireland. In the second match the Italians had defeated Norway 1-0, and 1-1 in their last match against Mexico had been just enough to let them through to the last-16 on one of the best third places that this was the last tournament to play with.
In the last-16 Italy was up against the African debutants from Nigeria, who had sensationally won their group ahead of Bulgaria and Argentina. The Nigerians were leading 1-0 until two minutes before time when Roberto Baggio from Juventus had levelled the match for the Italians, and in extra time he scored on a penalty to give the Italians the place in the quarter-final against Spain in Boston, Massachussetts.
Roberto Baggio, the clear-eyed calm Buddhist, was one of the most extraordinary players ever to come from Italy. With his extraordinary skills and overview of the game, he was to become the star for the Italian side in 1994: in the quarter-final against Spain he scored a beautiful goal to give Italy the victory when they were most pressed by the Spaniards, and in the semifinal he scored both goals in Italy’s 2-1 victory against Bulgaria. The expectations to Roberto Baggio were huge before the final against Brazil as he had been the machine of the Italian team.
Although Brazil had entered the tournament as favourites, they had not been the kind of Brazilian team that everyone loved to watch: after the debacle in the 1990 World Cup and 24 years without victory the coach Carlos Alberto Parreira had focused more on a tactical and physical style of play where the defence was in focus. That said, Brazil had some awesome offensive power with FC Barcelona’s Romario, the most extraordinary striker of the 1990s, and Deportivo La Coruña’s Bebeto, who were surely the most awesome strikers’ duo in the tournament. Still, the brazilians didn’t score that many goals in spite of their good first round with 2-0 and 3-0 victories against Russia and Cameroon respectively and a 1-1 tie against Sweden, that gave them the first place in the group.
In the last-16 the Brazilians narrowly defeated the US hosts 1-0. In the following quarter-final Brazil played the best match of the tournament against a strong Dutch side that was defeated 3-2 on goals by Romario, Bebeto and Branco. In the semifinal the Brazilians were again up against Sweden, and the Scandinavians were defeated 1-0 on a goal by Romario.
Brazil were in their first World Cup final since 1970, and this largely silenced the many critics of the team that was being accused of not playing the style that Brazil was known for.
Italy against Brazil – one of the most classical matches in world cup football and a repeat of the 1970 final – was to be played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena as the entire world looked on with great expectations.
The match between two countries that were contending to become four-times world champions, was a huge disappointment. Both teams struggled for control of the midfield, with none really gaining control. And although there were some chances, there was no really great opportunity for either team, except for a free run for the AC Milan striker Daniele Massaro in the first half that was excellently saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel, and only fifteen minutes from the end of the match Brazil hit the post when Pagliuca clumsily mishandled a shot from Mauro Silva that nearly cost Italy the match (and famously thanked the post).
In extra time the goalless draw continued, although Pagliuca made yet another dreadful mistake that left Bebeto with a completely open goal, that he nevertheless missed. Also, Taffarel made an excellent save on a long-range effort by Roberto Baggio.
Still, except for Pagliuca’s mistakes, both teams were standing solidly in defence and it seemed very true what the Italian coach Arrigo Sacchi said after the match: “We could have played all day and there would have been no goals.”
It was the first goalless draw in a World Cup final ever.
And it was thus also the first world cup title to be decided on penalty kicks.
Claudio Taffarel, playing in the Italian Reggiana, was an often criticized goalkeeper, but truth is that he was one of the most stable goalkeepers Brazil had ever created. He played with enormous success later in Galatasaray (he was man-of-the-match in their UEFA cup final victory against Arsenal in 2000) and is still the most capped goalkeeper on the Brazilian national team (101).
And besides his stability, Taffarel was considered an expert at reading out penalty kick takers. In previous tournaments he had saved many penalties, and in this tournament he had saved two penalties in the semifinal against the Netherlands.
The first to kick was AC Milans veteran defender Franco Baresi. He had played an extraordinary match in defence in spite of an injury, but at the moment of kicking, he was unable to keep his nerve, and shot the ball far over the goal. But when Mauro Silva shot directly on Pagliuca for the following kick, the match was still 0-0.
At the score 2-2, Daniele Massaro’s shot was saved by Taffarel, and then the Brazilian captain Dunga scored for 3-2 for Brazil. The next kick, by Italy’s superstar, Roberto Baggio was crucial, since Baggio had to score, and then the Italians had to hope Brazil would not score on their last kick.
Roberto Baggio shot far over the goal, and last missed kick of the tournament was what made Brazil World Champion for the 4th time. It was surely the most memorable moment of the match.
Roberto Baggio’s tears are probably more remembered than the Brazilian celebrations, as this great and fair player had missed at the most important moment, although he was also the one to be credited for Italy getting this far.

Match Stats:

• 17th July, 1994 Rose Bowl, Pasadena
• Attendance: 94,194
• Referee: Sandor Puhl (Hungary)

Brazil-Italy 0-0 (after extra time)

Penalty kicks:
Brazil-Italy 3-2

• Baresi missed for Italy
• Marcio Santos missed for Brazil
• 0-1 Albertini
• 1-1 Romario
• 1-2 Evani
• 2-2 Branco
• Massaro missed for Italy
• 3-2 Dunga
• R. Baggio missed for Italy

Teams:
Brazil: Taffarel, Jorginho (Cafu), Marcio Santos, Aldair, Branco, Mazinho, Zinho (Viola), Mauro Silva, Dunga, Bebeto, Romario
Italy: Pagliuca, Mussi (Apolloni), Baresi, Maldini, Benarrivo, Berti, D. Baggio (Evani), Albertini, Donadoni, R. Baggio, Massaro

Greatest World Cup matches: Italy-Spain (1994)

Spain and Italy are two great southern European footballing nations that have produced some of the best players, and at club level have some of the most winning clubs in the world. That said, their trajectories at the level of national teams could not have been more different: while Italy has won the world championship four times and been in more finals, Spain has only one semifinal in 1950 to brag about.
The misfortunes of the Spanish national football side have been discussed widely, and credited in part on the diversity of Spain with little attachment to the national team, as well as to the intense rivalry between the two major clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Still, Spain has always entered a tournament as a major favourite, although never (yet) living up to the expectations. However, in 1994 the Spanish team came very close to success against Italy in a world cup where other major European powers (France and England) had not qualified.
The Spanish side was coached by Javier Clemente, arguably one of the most unpopular coaches Spain had ever had, but who clung stubbornly to the job in spite of criticism about his style and what seemed an overwhelming selection of players from his native Basque country. Many of these players came from the extraordinary Barcelona side that had won the Spanish leagues from 1991 to 1994, and in fact their results had been quite good in spite of the heavy criticism against Clemente.
Spain had started the tournament by tying South Corea 2-2 and Germany 1-1, while a 3-1 victory against Bolivia had given them the second spot in the group behind Germany. In the last-16 Spain had crushed Switzerland 3-0 and now saw their chance for world cup success as they were to face Italy in the quarter-finals.
Contrary to Spain, Italy had not looked too strong in the tournament and had made it to the quarter-final on some very close calls: in the first round Italy had started out by losing 1-0 to Ireland in a match that was historical for the islanders. In the second match Italy had defeated Norway 1-0 on a goal by the Juventus midfielder Dino Baggio, and in their last match 1-1 against Mexico had been just enough to let the Azzuri through on one of the best third places.
In the last-16 Italy was against the African debutants from Nigeria, who had sensationally won their group ahead of Bulgaria and Argentina. The Nigerians dominated the match against Italy and were leading 1-0 until two minutes before time when the extraordinary Roberto Baggio from Juventus equalized for the Italians, and in extra time scored on a penalty to give the Italians the place in the quarter-final against Spain in Boston, Massachussetts.
The match between the two northern Mediterranean teams was to be very dramatic, with the Italians starting out the best against an apparently nervous Spanish side with more possession, and Roberto Baggio having an excellent shot deflected by Albert Ferrer to corner kick after 15 minutes.
And 25 minutes into the first half Italy went ahead: the AC Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni passed the ball to Dino Baggio who spectacularly shot from 30 meters and scored without a chance for Barcelona’s (Basque) goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta.
Although Spain tried moving forward, and increased possession, Italy was the better team in the first half and was leading as well. But in the second half Spain attacked more, with Italy increasingly and as usual relying on their counter-attacks.
But it only took fifteen minutes into the second hand before Spain nevertheless equalised: Barcelona’s offensive left-back, Sergi, rushed forward on the left side on a quick Spanish counter-attack and centred low before the Italian defence was in place. A Spanish player jumped over the ball which went to Atlético Madrid’s elegant midfielder José Luis Caminero, who had enough time to try to curve the ball into the goal outside of Gianluca Pagliuca’s reach with the help of a small deflection from an Italian defender.
Spain suddenly smelled Italian blood, and started to press on, but without luck. In the 83rd minute the Barcelona striker Julio Salinas missed a golden opportunity alone with Pagliuca, but shot weakly right on the Sampdoria goalkeeper’s leg. Also, the Real Madrid defender Fernando Hierro had a good shot from outside that just went over the crossbar.
But as often happens in football, Italy went ahead instead on a splendid counterattack following one of the Spanish chances: a long ball from the Italian defense caught the Spanish defense off guard as two Italian players rushed forward. The ball dropped towards the Lazio striker Giuseppe Signori, who with the tip of his toe managed to tip the ball over a Spanish defender to his right side, where Roberto Baggio was running alone. With great skill Baggio controlled the ball immediately, and elegantly and quickly went around the onrushing Zubizarreta. Although the angle to shoot was getting very small, Baggio made no mistake and hammered the ball into goal as a Spanish defender desperately tried to block on the goalline.
The Italians were off course delighted, while the Spaniards could do nothing in the last minutes but push forward. In the last minute of the match the Real Madrid player Luis Enrique was brought down in the Italian area by the AC Milan defender Mauro Tassotti during a cross. The Hungarian referee, Sandor Puhl, gave nothing to the Spaniards, while Luis Enrique got up with a bleeding face from the elbow Tassotti had given him. The TV pictures clearly showed the infraction and Tassotti was banned for eight matches, but this was a poor consolation for the Spaniards who went out of the tournament.
Spain obviously felt badly treated by the referee and by the Italians, who had nevertheless played their best game of the tournament. The Italians went on to defeat Bulgaria 2-1 in the semifinal on two goals by Roberto Baggio who had become their saviour in the tournament. In the final, Italy nevertheless lost to Brazil on penalty kicks, after Roberto Baggio missed his crucial kick….
The Spanish sides continued to have an Italy-complex that was perhaps only broken in 2008, when they defeated Italy in the quarterfinals of the European championships and went on to win the tournament.
World Cup glory has still continued to elude Spain.

Match Stats:

• 9th July 1994, Foxboro Stadium, Boston
• Attendance: 53,400
• Referee: Sandor Puhl (Hungary)

Italy-Spain 2-1
Goals: 1-0 Dino Baggio (26), 1-1 José Luis Caminero (59), 2-1 Roberto Baggio (88)

Teams:
Italy: Pagliuca; Benarrivo, Costacurta, Maldini, Tassott, Albertini (Signori), D. Baggio, Conte (Berti), Donadoni, R. Baggio, Massaro
Spain: Zubizarreta; Ferrer, Abelardo, Sergi (Salinas), Caminero, Alkorta, Nadal, Otero, Goicoechea, Bakero (Hierro), Luis Enrique