Top 11 Goals of the Week

There were several candidates who stuck their head above the parapet to try and scoop the award for schmuck of the week in the past seven days.

You’d think that being a professional football, scoring from the spot would be a doddle. Yet in the past week several spot-kicks failed to be converted. Rather than blaming the Central Coast Mariners’ Adam Kwasnik for his last minute penalty miss against Sydney FC, we should really be focusing on Clint Bolton’s brilliant one-handed save to earn his team a point. Unfortunately, no such sympathy can be afforded to Michael Carrick and Louis Saha who both blew it big-time from 12 yards out.

Crap goalkeepers have also been out and about. Zenit St. Petersburg keeper Kamil Contofalsky helped tee-up Lokomotiv forward Wagner’s path by paddling a cross into the forward’s path on Sunday. While over in Japan, Gamba Osaka’s number one, Naoki Matsuyo (2.50 minutes in), made a horrific injury-time error of judgment to gift-wrap Nagoya a win as the keeper came, flapped and horribly missed a last-gasp free-kick.

Yet the ultimate plonker award goes to Seattle Sounders forward Steve Zakuani, for his harder-to-miss-than-score effort against Houston Dynamo at the weekend.

(Cheers to The Offside for flagging this up.)

Onto the list, where we have a brilliant selection of goals from the last week of worldwide football.

The unstoppable howtizers are represented by goals 3, 4, 5 and 7, while slightly more cultured efforts from distance can be found at positions 2, 8 and 11.

Goal 10 shows how a textbook header is converted, while an unlikley showboat is stationed at number 6.

That leaves two superb solo efforts in the form of goals 1 and 9.

As always, all we ask is that you sit back and enjoy!

1. Alexander Hleb (FC Timisoara v Stuttgart, Aug. 18, 2009)

2. Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon v Fiorentina, Aug. 19, 2009)

3. Roman Bodnar (Levski Sofia v Debrecen, Aug. 19, 2009)

4. Michel Bastos (Lyon v Anderlecht, Aug. 19, 2009)

5. Jack Rodwell (Everton v Sigma Olomouc, Aug. 20, 2009)

6. Jean Alain Boumsong (Auxerre v Lyon, Aug. 22, 2009)

7. Elano (Galatasaray v Kayserispor, Aug. 23, 2009)

8. Jonathan de Guzman (Feyenoord v Roda, Aug. 23, 2009) (his first goal was almost a carbon copy)

9. Eduardo (Grenoble v Lens, Aug. 23, 2009) (pictured)

10. Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus v Chievo, Aug. 23, 2009)

11. Carlton Cole (West Ham v Tottenham, Aug. 23, 2009)