Unusual, curious, tragicomic. Football, at times, offers pearls of rare workmanship, works to be handed down to posterity. But this is not the case we are going to analyze today. Because what happened in Sweden far exceeds the expectations of any good football fan. In the Allsvenskan – Swedish championship – the match between Hacken – reigning champions for the first time in their history – and Hammarby, one of the most accredited challengers for the current season, is staged. It took only 5 minutes to unlock the game. How did the marking come about? All the fault of Hammarby goalkeeper Oliver Dovin.
THE EPISODE – 5th minute, we said. Back pass to Dovin who blocks and doesn’t notice the pressure from Benie Traoré. A moment of distraction is enough for the Hammarby goalkeeper who, after stopping the ball, forgets it completely, letting it slide backwards and exchanging it with the spot from the penalty area. Too easy to bag the tapin for the Hacken centre-forward – who then took home the match 3-1, thanks to a hat-trick from a wild Traoré -. A scene that is difficult to interpret but certainly not new on the fields of the top series. Do you remember in the Bundes?
THE PREVIOUS – Borussia Monchengladbach-Mainz, Bundesliga season ’17-’18. The negative protagonist, in this case, is Robin Zentner, goalkeeper who defended the posts of the host team. The scene is similar – perhaps even worse given that the German full-back literally kicks nothing – but the result, fortunately, is poles apart. No goals conceded for Mainz on the occasion, just a big scare. Certainly his colleague in Sweden fared no better.
Look at the goal that Bénie Traoré scored for Häcken against Hammarby for the Swedish Championship! Goalkeeper Oliver Dovin lost track of where the ball was. pic.twitter.com/rc6zvaLxmm
— Gustavo Hofman (@gustavohofman) April 9, 2023
