On Wednesday night, this man became a legend
Ludogorets centre-back Cosmin Moti was forced to pull on a pair of goalkeeper gloves and shove himself between the sticks, after his team’s number one, Vladislav Stoyanov, was given his marching orders in extra time of their Champions League Qualifier against Steaua Bucharest
Moti could be forgiven for quaking in his boots after the match went to a penalty shootout. Instead, he rose to the challenge. After slamming home the first spot kick for his team, the centre-back outdid himself by saving two of Steaua Bucharest’s penalties. The second save was a decisive sudden death stop which won the tie for Ludogorets. Cue wild celebrations.
The victory must have been even sweeter for Moti considering that the Romanian used to play for Steaua’s cross-city rivals, Dinamo Bucharest. Ludogorets of Bulgaria qualified for the Champions League proper for the first time in their short 13-year history. Glamour ties against both Liverpool and Real Madrid await them in the group stages of the competition.
For those of you who missed Moti’s dramatic penalty save and subsequent outburst of joy, let’s have another look.
Unbelievable stuff.
On the subject of outfield players strutting their stuff in goal, here are 5 more noteworthy examples.
1. Mladen Petric
Croatia striker Petric was forced to don the baggy shirt and gloves after Basel’s custodian Franco Costanzo saw red for a blatant foul on Nancy’s Issiar Dia in the dying moments of a UEFA Cup group stage encounter. The Swiss side has no subs left.
Perhaps Costanzo’s lengthy pep talk influenced Petric’s inspired decision to dive to his left and deny Michael Chretien from twelve yards.
Kudos to the former West Ham striker for his actions following his impressive save. Rather than get sucked in by the euphoria of the moment, Petric pumped the ball straight back up the other end in search of a last-minute winner for his team. Model professionalism.
It was not to be, as the final score was 2-2. Still, a point, as well as legendary status among the home fans, was gained for the Croatia international that day.
2. Dean Windass
Frustrated with a lack of opportunities at his hometown club Hull City in the Premier League, much-travelled striker Windass agreed to join League One Oldham Athletic on loan for the remainder of the season in January 2009.
A unique opportunity arose during Windass’ sixth game at Oldham. 50 minutes into the match against league leaders Leicester City, Hull stopper Greg Fleming was sent off, and Hull had no reserve goalkeeper on the bench to guard net for the resulting penalty.
Enter Windass, whose mind games clearly affected English football’s top goalscorer at the time, Matty Fryatt. Big Dean told Fryatt that he was going to miss, and the striker duly screwed his penalty wide.
The burly beast of a forward denied Leicester on several more occasions in the remaining 40 minutes, and won the Football League Goalkeeper of The Weekend for his efforts. Hull’s loss was very much Oldham’s gain.
The seemingly immortal journeyman is still at it. Now 45, Windass plys his trade for Walkington F.C in the Premier Division of the East Riding League. To break it down, this is a division which sits seven rungs below League Two in the football league system
3. John O’Shea
Fact 1: John O’Shea is the most serviceable man in the Premier League.
Fact 2: In his spare time, O’Shea is a headhunter, gardener, fireman, plumber, electrician and train driver.
Some even say he did the ice bucket challenge while riding to training on his bike, simultaneously brushing his teeth and playing the accordion.
The above compilation of his large array of goalkeeping skills shows exactly why the jaunty Irishman made almost 400 appearances for Fergie’s Manchester United. He has got it all.
O’Shea spent the last few minutes of this game against Tottenham guarding the onion bag after Edwin Van Der Sar suffered a broken nose and United had used up all 3 substitutions. His display earned him the nickname ‘The Cat’ among his teammates.
4. Rio Ferdinand
This footage demonstrates why O’Shea went in goal instead of Ferdinand in the Tottenham match.
O’Shea was one of two unused substitutes on the United bench in this FA Cup Sixth-round tie against Portsmouth when Tomasz Kuszczak upended Milan Baros and ref Martin Atkinson had no choice but to brandish a red card.
With all due respect to Ferdinand and his goalkeeping capabilities, O’Shea would have saved Muntari’s penalty with his eyes closed while solving a Rubix Cube.
Pompey won the game 1-0, and went on to win the FA Cup for only the second time in their history.
As Ferdinand used to say to his World Cup Wind-up victims, he got merked.
5. Niall Quinn
A likeable pundit, and someone who seems like a good all-round bloke, Quinn was also a useful striker back in the day.
He will always be remembered for this astonishing performance in Manchester City’s match against Derby County in 1991.
Quinn struck the opener early on in the game, and then had to deputize in goal for Tony Coton, who was sent off for a foul on Derby’s Dean Saunders. At this time, managers rarely named goalkeepers on the bench, so there was not much other choice.
Quinn made a brilliant save to deny Saunders from the subsequent penalty. He didn’t keep a clean sheet, as Derby scored last-minute goal that was worth scant consolation – the 2-1 loss meaning they were relegated from Division One (the name for England’s top division at this time).
Just imagine how many points you would have bagged if you had Quinn in your Fantasy Football team that week…
The Sixth Metatarsal 