[imagesource: YouTube / OneSoccer]

There’s something about a horrific own goal that is soothing to watch from afar.

I will never, ever get to kick a ball in a professional match, but at least those who do are sometimes prone to making the sorts of errors that would be embarrassing in a backyard kick-around.

In the spotlight today is Haiti goalkeeper Josué Duverger, who had a moment to forget during his side’s match against Canada on Tuesday, in the second leg of a World Cup qualifying match.

Duverger, who was actually born in Canada, had two bites at the cherry, and failed dismally at both.

Having made it to half-time without conceding, Haiti then collapsed en route to a 3-0 defeat, ending their hopes of reaching the 2022 World Cup.

My condolences, Haitian readers:

There was also an own goal of sorts by Greenpeace, with a protester before Germany’s game against France on Tuesday night getting his landing very wrong.

The Guardian reports that “several people” were treated in hospital, after the parachuter hit overhead camera wires:

The Greenpeace spokesperson Benjamin Stephan said “that was never our intention. The paraglider was to fly over the stadium and drop a latex ball with a message of protest on to the field.”

The protester’s parachute had the slogan “KICK OUT OIL!” and “Greenpeace” on it.

Stephan said “technical difficulties meant the pilot was forced to land in the stadium. We deeply regret that this put people in danger and apparently injured two persons.”

At the start of this video, you can see the man drop the ball, before he strikes the camera wires and loses control:

Can’t believe I just caught this on video. Parachuted into the stadium, got caught in the spider cam and nearly crashed into the crowd. Hope he’s ok! #GERFRA #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/PJ49WYdFM9

— Max Merrill (@MaxMerrill_) June 15, 2021

Watch the first 35 seconds or so below, and don’t bother with the rest:

Finally, while I have your attention, let’s talk about those ‘Ronaldo knocks $4 billion off Coca-Cola’s value’ headlines.

In case you missed it, here’s what happened before Cristiano Ronaldo spoke to the media on Monday, ahead of his side’s Euro 2020 opener against Hungary.

He moved two Coca-Cola bottles out of the frame, said ‘agua’, and the soft drink giant took a decent financial hit:

Great, except for the fact that attributing Coke’s drop in share price to Ronaldo’s ‘Agua’ moment is pretty daft.

You could read this VICE article for a look at why, or consider this from local ‘finance bro’ Koshiek Karan:

Coca-cola opened trading 0.84% lower on Monday & ended 0.34% down

… the stock price actually improved across the day

— Don Petty Cash (@iamkoshiek) June 16, 2021

Ronaldo is an amazing footballer (the second greatest of all time, I would say), but let’s not get too carried away.

Bring on more Euro 2020 action – three games today, starting from 3PM.

[source:guardian]