If you try it, you have to get it right
There are certain things that a footballer can attempt and be safe in the knowledge that if you mess them up, it’s not the end of the world. You can attempt a speculative longe range shot early in the game, or try and pull off an ambitious counter-attacking move, and know that you’ll not get an earful for doing so.
Panenkas are, however, another thing. Panenkas are the sort of thing that if you even consider attempting it, you better be 100 percent certain that you’re going to get it right.
If you score it, you’re a hero, but if you miss it, you’re the stupidest person on the face of the earth.
This is something that someone should have told Vancouver Whitecaps defender Ali Adnan before his team’s Major League Soccer match with LA Galaxy.
Awarded a penalty in the second minute of the game with the score at 0-0, the Iraqi international decided that the best thing to do would be to attempt a Panenka and revel in the subsequent hero status.
¡Ali Adnan intenta un panenka y @BinghamDb la detiene!
VANvLA |0-0 https://t.co/yYhggfEeUo
— MLS Español (@MLSes) April 6, 2019
Unfortunately, rather than chip the ball painfully close to the LA Galaxy goalkeeper’s grasp, he barely chipped it at all.
No, Adnan instead lofted the ball roughly a foot off the ground, at which point in bounced and rolled into the keeper’s arms as he stood there, presumably wishing for the ground to swallow him up.
To make matters worse, the Whitecaps would go on to lose the match, with Daniel Steeres and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring two second half goals.
