Atalanta bowed out of the UEFA Champions League on February 18th after slumping to a shocking 3-1 defeat at home to Club Brugge, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament heading into the knockout playoff round.
Their victory in Bergamo secured a shocking 5-2 aggregate win and secured their spot in the last 16 against all odds. But in the immediate aftermath of the contest, a Super Eagles star came in for scathing criticism.
Lookman Under Fire
Ademola Lookman was the star for the Italian club last season with his blistering hat trick in the 3-0 Europa League final victory against Bayer Leverkusen.
He returned from injury in the clash against Brugge and scored a goal to drag his team back into the contest shortly after halftime.
However, the Nigerian winger then missed a penalty shortly after, triggering his manager Mario Gasperini to call him one of the worst penalty-takers he has ever seen.
The roasting criticism from Lookman’s manager won’t bother Brugge one bit.
They are now safely through to the Champions League Round of 16, but the bookies don’t make them a contender for the tournament.
The popular online betting site Betway currently makes the Belgian outfit a rank 80/1 outsider, some way behind 9/2 frontrunners Liverpool.
But Gasperini’s comments got us thinking: who are the worst penalty-takers of all time? Let’s take a look at a few suggestions.
David Beckham
David Beckham’s career reads like a Hollywood script. From his curling free kicks to his role as England captain, “Becks” delivered countless moments of brilliance. But penalties? That’s a different story.
Perhaps this is quite harsh, especially because Golden Balls had a perfect 9-0 record from the spot heading into Euro 2004. However, he slipped and skied one in a 0-0 draw away against Turkey in qualifying for the tournament. Then, when the Championships got underway, he missed two more on the grandest stage, and that is all anyone remembers.
In England’s first game at the tournament, the Three Lions skipper had a chance to seal victory against France.
Becks and Co were already winning 1-0, and if he had found the net from the spot, they surely would have gotten off to the perfect start against the reigning champions.
Instead, Fabien Barthez saved, and Zinedine Zidane would net twice in injury time – the first a stunning freekick, the second a penalty of his own – to secure an improbable victory for Les Bleus.
Fast forward to the quarterfinals, and England’s thrilling 2-2 draw against hosts Portugal went to a penalty shootout.
Beckham put the country on his back and stepped up first. Much like in Turkey, he skied the spot-kick high into the Lisbon night sky. England lost on penalties, an only too familiar pain.
Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres was undeniably one of football’s deadliest strikers in his prime. Throughout his time with Liverpool,
El Nino couldn’t stop scoring and became perhaps the finest hitman on the planet, even scoring the only goal in the Euro 2008 final as Spain beat Germany in Vienna.
Yet, when given the opportunity from twelve yards, his shooting boots seemed to have other ideas.
Torres was famous for his speed and skill in front of goal, but penalty-taking was one skill he seemed to avoid like the plague.
Throughout the peak of his career, finding the net from 12 yards was no problem.
However, after that painful fall from grace that followed his move to Chelsea, it seemed that his ability from the spot also left him, just like many of the other talents that made him one of the all-time greats.
Following 2012, Torres took nine penalties, missing five of them. The most crucial was in a UEFA Champions League semifinal, playing for boyhood club Atletico Madrid away at Bayern Munich.
The Spanish side was already leading that tie on away goals, thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s breakaway goal. They were then awarded a penalty deep into the second half to put the tie to bed.
Manuel Neuer saved Torres’s tame spot-kick but luckily his side managed to cling on and progress to the final.
Edin Dzeko
Edin Dzeko has built his reputation as a hard-hitting, towering striker who knows how to bully defenders and head home crosses. But penalties? They’ve proved to be his kryptonite again and again.
During his time at Roma, Dzeko stepped up in a critical game against Cagliari in 2019.
With the score level and time running out, the Giallorossi desperately needed three points to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Dzeko’s weak effort was easily stopped, and Roma’s chance for victory evaporated.
