It was a gesture that would remind senior players of one of French football’s most memorable own goals, Lensois’ Franck Queudrue’s improbable lob one night in 2001 at goalkeeper Guillaume Warmuz’s home ground.
Of course the method is not exactly the same, but the result is very similar: during the World Cup qualifying match between Slovenia and Kosovo, Slovenian defender Zan Karnicnik failed to catch an aerial ball.
To try to free himself, the Celje player then performed a kind of scissor-like recovery towards his goal. Does he want to send the ball for a corner kick? It was hard to tell, however he lobbed a perfect lob towards his excellent goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, who could only see the damage and also hurt himself trying to catch the ball.
A goal that was not without consequences because it ensured Kosovo’s victory (2-0), now ensuring at least qualification for the play-offs in this World Cup group, and consequently eliminating Slovenia.
