Maicosuel must have forgotten that there is a time and place for everything.
As the Udinese midfielder was set to take an important penalty kick, he decided to do what any normal person would do: try one of soccer’s boldest and most difficult shots. Needless to say, he failed miserably.
The Brazilian was involved in penalty-kick shootout to determine which team — Italy’s Udinese or Portugal’s Sporting Braga — would advance to the lucrative UEFA Champions League group stages.
With the shootout tied at 2-2, Maicosuel lined up to take Udinese’s third shot. After an unreasonably short run-up, the 26-year old attempted to beat Braga goalkeeper Beto with the famous “Panenka” penalty — you know, the chipped shot where the goalkeeper dives out the way and watches the ball float elegantly into the goal.
Unfortunately, Beto probably watched Andrea Pirlo do it in Euro 2012 too. He must have had a gut feeling Maicosuel might try such a thing because he didn’t dive out the way. In fact, he barely even had to flinch in order to save the shot, catching it with ease. He then punted the ball away as if to say “get out of here with that nonsense.”
Each of the remaining spot-kick takers went on to score, and Maicosuel’s missed effort stood as the difference in Braga’s 5-4 victory.
The loss ended up costing Udinese a place among Europe’s elite and hurting it in the wallet. Qualification for the Champions League group stage is worth around £16 million ($25.3 million).
We guess Maicosuel had to learn that valuable lesson — the one about a time and place for everything — the hard way.
Watch Maicosuel’s epic panenka fail in the video below.
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Photo via Twitter/@gallianimilan
