Following his January transfer move from West Ham to Ajax, Sebastien Haller would’ve been hoping to kickstart his career in the Netherlands with some impressive performances in the Eredivisie and Europa League. Unfortunately, at least for the latter, that definitely will not be happening.
The current Dutch champions accidentally left their new £20m signing out of their European squad for the knockout stages.
Ajax attempted to work with UEFA and the KNVB (Dutch FA) to get Haller into the squad, but it’s since been confirmed that he will not be allowed to play any part in Ajax’s Europa League games.
With this comical error in mind, here are five other moments in sporting history that didn’t quite go according to plan:
- Kurt Zouma’s mazy run against Ajax
Kicking things off with a light-hearted moment that also included the aforementioned Ajax.
In a Champions League game group stage game between Chelsea and Ajax in 2019, probably best known for the superb Chelsea comeback and the two red cards for Ajax players.
Kurt Zouma picked up the ball from inside his own half, drove forward channelled his inner Diego Maradona, taking the ball past four Ajax players before using step-overs to get beyond Daley Blind and unleashing a cannon beyond Andre Onana….. and his goal and into row Z.
2. Randy Johnson kills a bird
Former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson had a glittering 22-year career with plenty of accomplishments, but one of his most memorable moments came in 2001 when he killed a bird.
Despite it sounding quite disturbing this was a complete accident.
Johnson threw a powerful and fast pitch during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Tucson Electric Park and just as it looked like the ball was heading towards the glove of catcher Rod Barajas, a dove flew in between and collided with the ball.
The bird can be seen exploding into an eruption of feathers, and both the ball and bird deemed as dead.
3. Darren Bent’s beachball antics
In a moment that is surely one of football’s most memorable, Darren Bent scored the only goal in Sunderland’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool back in 2009, but the winning goal was absolutely bizarre.
Andy Reid’s tame cross was finished superbly by Bent, but on a second glance the ball clearly strikes a beachball that had somehow found it’s way onto the pitch.
It was then later discovered the object had actually been thrown on the pitch by a Liverpool supporter – who I imagine wasn’t too popular on the journey home.
4. Novak Djokovic hits umpire with ball
Onto a slightly more serious unfortunate event when Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the 2020 US Open after he struck a line judge with the ball.
The World Number One was down 6-5 and had just had his serve broken, and then, clearly in frustration, the Serb took a ball out of his pocket and hit it behind him, striking the line judge in her throat.
After a deliberation with tournament officials Djokovic was defaulted and lost all ranking points earned and had to forfeit the prize money he had already earnt from the tournament.
5. A goal to forgot for Robert Sanchez
A local one to end on and this came about just over two years ago in a League Two fixture between Forest Green Rovers and Exeter City.
Robert Sanchez, who is now the first choice goalkeeper at Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion, had a moment to forget at St James Park.
FGR were two goals ahead when Sanchez received a long aimless punt forward from Grecians defender Aaron Martin, and as the Colombian shot-stopper attempted to trap the ball, it ended up going straight through his legs and into the back of the net.
Luckily for Rovers and Sanchez they were able to hang on for the win.
