We don’t think this is what they mean when they say they could use some help from the 12th man
When it comes to stopping a certain goal, players will try absolutely anything, from throwing their body in the way to make a heroic block to committing a foul or a handball so that there’s a chance, even a slim one, that the player might miss the resulting penalty.
In Iran recently, in a game between Nassaji Mazandaran and Shahrdari Yasuj, one particular player decided that he would intervene and do everything within his power to stop a shot that was sure to result in a goal, after a bad mistake in the defence put a Yasuj player through with only the ‘keeper to beat. The only problem was that he was actually a substitute warming up behind the goal, and not on the pitch at all.
He managed to block the shot, and also gave his team a chance to make amends as the ref awarded an indirect free kick to Yasuj. They only went and missed that, and Mazandaran ended up winning 2-0. In fairness, at least he didn’t handle it…
Hat-tip to James Dart
