‘Can’t stop what you don’t see’: Red-faced Stuttgart ‘keeper in own-goal howler
Stuttgart’s German goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler reacts after his own goal during the German first division Bundesliga football match of VfB Stuttgart vs Werder Bremen on September 29, 2018 in Stuttgart, southern Germany. Deniz Calagan / dpa / AFP
World Cup winner Ron-Robert Zieler is candidate for own-goal of the season after the VfB Stuttgart goalkeeper watched in horror as the ball rolled into his net on Saturday.
Stuttgart were 1-0 up at home to Werder Bremen when defender Borna Sosa harmlessly sent a throw-in Zieler’s way on 68 minutes.
The 29-year-old, the third-choice goalkeeper when Germany won the World Cup four years ago, reacted too late and got the lightest of touches on the ball, then looked on aghast as it rolled into his goal.
Luckily for the red-faced shot-stopper, Zieler’s blushes were spared when midfielder Gonzalo Castro scored a second-half winner to seal Stuttgart’s home win in the Bundesliga.
“You cannot stop what you do not see,” said Zieler, who insisted he only saw Sosa’s throw-in when it was too late.
“I was very surprised and did not initially see that (the throw-in). Unfortunately, I touched the ball. It is typical that things came down to this scene.”
