‘Own goal’ is a term very embarrassing in nature in the
world of Football. Many own goals are scored throughout the history of
football and each one was as embarrassing as the other. It is an embarrassment
for the player, for the team, for the manager and for the fans as well. In the history, such a goal onot only ended a player’s career but also his life. In 1994
FIFA WORLD CUP the Colombian defender Andres Escobar scored an own goal and
Colombia lost the match. On his return to Colombia he was gunned down near a
club and the murderer shouted “Goal” with every pull of the trigger. Anyways it
was an unfortunate incident and the punishment was too harsh on Escobar but it
shows how fans can react to such a goal.
OWN GOAL LEADS TO VICTORY
We have a very clear idea how embarrassing an own goal can be and what can be the probable consequences, but imagine a
situation where a team intentionally scored an own goal and that particular
goal made them win the match and also led them to qualify through the group
stages of the qualifying rounds. Surprisingly, without that own goal the team
could have won the match but probably couldn’t have qualified through the group
stages.
1994 Caribbean Cup : A few absurdities in the rules
In the qualifying rounds of the 1994 Caribbean Cup an
incident took place where a team intentionally scored an own goal and the
events that followed were quite hilarious. But before discussing that
particular incident or the match as a whole it is important to know the rules
of the tournament. There were a few weird rules introduced and those rules
resulted to a very weird rather hilarious incident. The rules were such that a
match wouldn’t result in a draw. Rather there would be extra time and penalties. Also
there was the Golden Goal rule i.e., whoever scores first in the extra time
wins the match. So far everything is good but another strange rule was
introduced that; the golden goal will carry the value worth of two goals. For example;
a 0-0 score line draw goes to extra time, a team scores a golden goal and wins
the match but the ultimate score line will be 2-0 instead of 1-0. This rule
shouldn’t be of great significance but in group stages we deal with a term Goal
Difference and a goal worth the value of two may jeopardize the system and the
exact same thing happened.
The Match
We are talking about the match played between Barbados and
Grenada in the qualifying rounds of 1994 Caribbean Cup. In that particular
group there were three teams Barbados, Grenada and Puerto Rico. It was a round
robin format where every team played two matches; one with each opponent. Puerto
Rico had played both its matches where it won against Barbados 1-0 and suffered
a loss against Grenada 0-2 (this 2 goal margin for Grenada was also a result of
the golden goal system) and was on the 2nd place, Grenada being on
top. Clearly Puerto Rico had no chance of qualifying. Now on 27th
January 1994, the decisive match was played between Grenada and Barbados and
the table stood something like this :
Barbados had to do the hard work in this match. Barbados had
to win the match having a two goal lead, whereas all Grenada had to do was stop
Barbados from doing that; even a defeat
by one goal margin would make Grenada qualify . This was not an easy work for
Barbados but they did it anyway and the score line stood 2-0 in favour of
Barbados. With this result Barbados would top the league and hence qualify and
the tentative group table stood like this:
But the whole situation completely changed in the 83rd
minute of the match. Grenada scored a goal making the score line 2-1 in favour
of Barbados. Now with this result Barbados would win the match no doubt, but
will surely not qualify. At that moment the tentative group table looked something like this:
Now Barbados had to score another goal in the remaining
seven minutes to acquire the two goal lead and qualify. But they realized it
would be a tough job since Grenada would now go all defensive. So they came up
with the smartest possible idea. In the 87th minute they
intentionally scored an own goal making the score line 2-2. At that moment the
tentative group table was back to where it started. This move of Barbados
earned them the extra time where they would have 30 minutes time and they would
have to score the golden goal and they will have the two goal lead thus ending
up in the top. Barbados did the math that scoring a goal in 30 minutes is
easier than scoring a goal in 7 minutes.
Now we are in the 87th minutes with three more minutes left of regulation time and probably a few more of injury time. After that there will be thirty minutes of play for the extra time. In these few minutes the things that happened in the field were indescribable. I am sure that the things that happened on the field have never ever happened throughout the history of football and I am also sure that it won’t ever happen again unless someone makes such weird rules. I can tell you that the football which was played on the field in the remaining minutes was hilarious, extraordinary and one of a kind.
Grenada soon realized what Barbados was up to and a golden
goal, which was worth the value of two goals, could stop Grenada from
qualifying. Now Grenada realized that they either had to score a regular goal
or an own goal making the score line 3-2 or 2-3, which would make the tentative
group table as either of these two:
For the remaining minutes Grenada was trying to score a goal
on both the ends whereas Barbados split into two groups and was defending goals
on both ends. It was a situation where a team wanted to score a goal; whichever
end of the pitch may be. On the other hand another team was trying to defend
goals both in its own half as well as in its opponent’s half. That was
out of imagination and God knows if the spectators in the stadium were fighting
or laughing. The scenario in the field would have been something like the picture given below.
Ultimately Barbados was able to prevent Grenada from scoring
a goal on both ends and the match went to extra time. And guess what, Barbados scored the golden goal and won the match. The score line stood 4-2 in favour of Barbados and they qualified. The own goal led them to their victory, as well as helped them to top the table and thus led them to qualify through the qualifying rounds.
CONSEQUENCES
As far as the consequences are concerned there were none. This match didn't receive much attention. There were a few reports in the print media based on this incident. But it didn't receive much attention worldwide and it was not in the media coverage of large media houses. However the manager of Grenada said that he felt cheated; in a press conference he said and I quote, "I feel cheated. The person who came up with these rules must be a candidate for a madhouse..."
Anyways FIFA decided not to penalize them after looking into the matter.
Nowadays this incident enjoys a status of some sort of Urban Legend.
Although some might say that the way how Barbados played and scored the own goal, was not in accordance with the spirit of sportsmanship. While others might have a different point of view. In my opinion, Barbados played to win the match and qualify. I see them as opportunists; the took the best advantage of the rules to turn the tables in their favour. It is not the Barbados team that is to be criticized rather the committee who framed such weird rules should be criticized.
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