As it turns out, this past weekend was pretty entertaining if you like crappy penalty kicks. Between the U.S. women and the Brazilian men, just putting shots on frame from the spot was at a premium for most of the matches you were likely to have watched.
For truly interesting penalty kicks, we have to go to a friendly in the Asian Football Confederation between the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. The video (above) shows Emirati winger Theyab Awana, only three minutes after his introduction into the game, successfully convert a rather pathetic version of Francesco Totti’s training ground backheel penalty. His version doesn’t have the pace or surprise value of Totti’s, but Theyab Awana is probably not as good as Totti, and this one’s done in a match and not in training, so it still gets some kudos, right?
Not so much, actually. The consequences for scoring the goal were swift and severe: Awana received a yellow card for an unspecified offense right after scoring. UAE manager Srecko Katanec, similarly unimpressed, then subbed Awana out of the game only three minutes after his introduction. Katanec explained his actions after the match:
‘This penalty, I didn’t like it. We must respect players from other teams. In future, you don’t know what football will give you back. This is not respect. He’s a young guy and he knows he made a mistake immediately. I just want him to show respect, not just on the field but off it as well.’
For what it’s worth, Lebanon manager Emile Rustom didn’t necessarily see it that way:
“I didn’t feel it was an insult. This is a personal decision the player made and it has nothing to do with the way the UAE plays its football.”
Now, while there isn’t anything wrong with taking backheel penalties, it IS a bit of a dick move when you’re up 5-2. However, it’s in a friendly, and weird stuff happens in friendlies, so it’s kind of par for the course. Plus, the Lebanese goalkeeper seems to have a lot of time to figure out what’s happening and make an effort at saving the ball; the backheel isn’t particularly well struck, and Awana takes a lot of time (relatively speaking) to turn around when he gets to the ball. There’s time for adjustment there.
Still, UAE team manager Esmael Rashed has hinted that the team might not be done with exploring the necessary punishment to handle Awana’s “disrespect”:
”There are many forms of punishment. We could send him away from the team. We could make him pay a fine.”
”The player, he is very sorry. He said: ‘I did wrong. I made a mistake. Tell the team I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry I did this thing’.
”In the end, he’s young, but he has to know what are the good things and the bad things. I think he will learn from this moment. He’s really, really upset and very worried. From when he was sitting with us today, he’s blaming himself.”
Awana probably should be worried, to be fair; the UAE doesn’t mess around when it comes to punishing disrespect.
In a repressive country, you never want to hear the phrase, “There are many forms of punishment” uttered in your direction.
I’ve got to say that one thing i like about soccer over american football is that running up the score is not only acceptable but encouraged. I wonder if the Lebanese team is at least considering benching that goal keeper for letting in such a soft goal…
SHAMFULL
I THINK THIS CASE WAS NOT SO SURPRISING,BECAUSE THE ARABIAN TEAMS HAVE A LONG HISTORY IN BREAKING THE FAIR PLAY RULES.
THEY ALWAYS KILL THE TIME,THEY NEVER RESPECT THE OPPOSITE TEAM,THEY SHOULD CONSIDER THEIR HISTORY,THEIR ANCESTORES’ LIVES.THEY SHOULD KNOW IT IS ESSENTIAL TO PROMOTE THEIR CULTURE TOO. OIL HAS CHANGED THEIR LIFE STYLE OTHERWISE THEY MAY HAVE LIVED IN THE DESERTS.
You’re right, South American and European teams NEVER kill time or break the Fair Play rules or match fix or disrespect their opponents or anything like that. Insightful.