Читать книгу Unforgettable Soccer - Luciano Wernicke - Страница 12

Can three different players miss the same penalty? Of course! There seems to be no limit to the list of soccer curiosities. On September 22, 1973, Portsmouth FC received Notts County FC in Fratton Park for the English Second Division Championship. The visiting club had the opportunity to open the scoring by a penalty shot, but the scoreboard remained blank since the shot was missed by Kevin Randall, Don Masson, and Brian Stubbs. How was this possible? Randall’s shot was saved by local goalkeeper John Milkins, but the referee ordered it to be retaken because the goalkeeper had stepped ahead of the line. Randall did not want to face the situation again and left his place to Masson, who scored, although the goal was invalidated because the referee had not given the order to kick. Upset, Masson gave his chance to Stubbs, who waited for the whistle, took a run, kicked…and missed the goal. The unsuccessful trio was immortalized by this show of lack of skill, but, at least that afternoon, they went home to Nottingham victorious, with a 1-2 score, thanks to the goals scored by two of their more talented companions, Arthur Mann and Les Bradd.