When heroes become villains in football: 5 fateful mistakes that cost titles

Defining moments

Here we have selected 5 moments in which players’ mistakes cost their teams dearly.

Errors are part of life and can occur in all professions, or even in the personal lives of individuals. In football, this is no different. Many times, established players end up making mistakes that cost their teams dearly, taking away important chances for titles and tarnishing their career, sometimes forever.

This is part of sport, for someone to raise a trophy or celebrate a result, someone also needs to lose. The weight of failure is always very bad, but the players themselves need to bounce back. To achieve this feat, the support of teammates and family members is very important. It is important to remember that there is always a chance to overcome problems in football. Neither the brightness of victory nor the sadness of defeat are eternal in sport.

But as everything in football needs to be remembered, here we have selected 5 moments in which players’ mistakes cost their clubs dearly. Check out:

1 – Oliver Kahn’s mistake in the 2002 World Cup

Oliver Kahn arrived to play in the World Cup as one of the best goalkeepers on the planet and confirmed this in the games. Kahn had sensational performances during all the games of that World Cup, he was the highlight of the German team and arrived with a lot of morale to play in the final. However, having to face the Brazil of Ronaldo and Rivaldo ended up being too much for the goalkeeper, who failed miserably for Brazil’s first goal. Germany would still take one more, but this one without the “collaboration” of the archer.

2 – Penalty missed by Edmundo in the 2000 Club World Cup final

For the first time in history, the FIFA Club World Cup was taking place with two Brazilian teams. Corinthians and Vasco authoritatively beat Real Madrid and Manchester United, respectively, reaching the final. The results went against the odds so much that if sports betting had been as popular as it is today, many would have made a lot of money on platforms like Bet365 or ibet Bets, just by betting on the Brazilians to win.

The decisive game took place at Maracanã and the Vasco fans turned out in force. The match, very balanced, ended up going to penalties, where the Cruzmaltino idol, Edmundo, ended up wasting his penalty and Corinthians left Maraca as 2000 world champions.

3 – Roberto Baggio at the 1994 World Cup,

From a Brazilian perspective, Baggio’s missed penalty always brings back great memories. However, when we understand the importance of Roberto Baggio for Italian football, we realize that this was not “just another mistake”. In reality, this penalty marked the career of the Italian star, who even after stopping playing, says he still thinks a lot about the move.

4 – Andreas Pereira’s slip-up in the 2021 Libertadores final

The 2021 edition of the Copa Libertadores pitted the continent’s two biggest powers face to face. Palmeiras had won the competition in 2020 and Flamengo in 2019. Furthermore, both clubs dominated the national scene. The game, as expected, showed a lot of balance and the tied score persisted until the end of regulation time. In extra time, however, an error by Flamengo’s Andreas Pereira opened the way for Deyverson to decide the match and give Verdão their third Libertadores title.

5 – Marcos’ failure in the 1999 World Cup final

The greatest goalkeeper in Palmeiras history is also capable of making a serious mistake. The grand final that could give Palmeiras their first world title took place in 1999, against Manchester United. Verdão didn’t play a bad game, quite the opposite. But luck was on the side of the English, who, due to a mistake by goalkeeper Marcos, ended up opening the score, which remained unchanged until the end of the game.

Read more:

Remember the clashes between Flamengo and São Paulo in the Copa do Brasil

See how much the champion and runner-up of the Copa do Brasil earns

Brazil opens World Cup qualifiers with rout against Bolivia