.jpg)
Having lost four finals in the span of two years, two CL final, a DFB- Pokal final and a World Cup final, The Reporter lists the top ten worst moments of Arjen Robben's career...
1. Netherlands lost all the pool matches in the Euro 2012, making this their worst possible campaign. Robben failed to be effective in any of the matches and more often than not, was observed to be playing very selfishly. When substituted in the 2-1 loss to Germany, Robben reacted angrily and stormed off the pitch. The pool favourites were sent home at the earliest stage of the tournament.
2. Robben was found blowing away the opportunity that could have sealed the first ever World Cup title for Netherlands in the 62nd minute. Latching on a wonderful through ball from Sneijder, Robben ran away out of every Spanish player’s reach but failed to put it past an onrushing Casillas in a one-to-one. Netherlands could not have asked for a better opportunity to take charge of the game and pointless to say, the opportunity did not come knocking another time.
3. He Missed Chelsea's run to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2004-05 due to injury.
4. Robben is said to do the biggest "flip-flop" for the lighest of touches and widely exaggerate his landings. He is often accused of being overtly dramatic. The 2005–06 season saw Robben involved in an unsporting incident with Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Towards the end of a league game between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, which Chelsea won 2-0, Reina shoved his hand in Robben's face after some provocative words from Robben.Roben fell theatrically to the turf, and Reina received a red card for "violent behaviour." As a result of the incident Reina commented that Robben did well enough to win an "Oscar" for his theatrics. This was not the first time Robben was told the same thing. He has been widely acclaimed for the drama he puts on the field, most famous being the Felipe Melo incident in the World Cup 2010. These antics are not restricted to opponents as more recently he has let his emotions get the better out of him and publicly fought with his own teammates including Thomas Mueller and Frank Ribery in the Bundesliga 2011-12.
5. After Chelsea had won the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie with Liverpool 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, in the 2007 edition of the UEFA Champions League, they were unable to successfully defend their lead in the return. A single Daniel Agger goal restored parity after 22 minutes of play, and the game would eventually go to penalties as both sides failed to find the net in the remainder of the game. Robben, who came off the bench in the 98th minute to replace Joe Cole, stepped up to take one of Chelsea's five spot kicks. His attempt from 12 yards was kept out by Pepe Reina, thus ending the Blues' Champions League dreams as Geremi failed to find the net as well.
6. Arjen Robben was in the Real Madrid team which lost 2-6 at Santiago Bernabeu to Barcelona in the 2008-09 edition of the La Liga. This match was to put a full stop on the dream of achieving a second consecutive title as after this Clasico, Madrid were defeated in four consecutive matches, ending 9 points behind their rivals Barcelona.
7. After a injury ravaged season in 2011-12, Robben came back into being one of the most crucial figures in the Bayern campaign which looked set to conquer both Germany and Europe under the experienced customer Jupp Heynckes. After a rampant start to the season, Bayern lost the clasp over the proceedings and Dortmund overtook them in the race. But the penalty that Robben missed against the eventual champions in the second head-to-head meeting will go down as the moment that decided the title.
8. In the important final for the German championship against Borussia Dortmund, Robben converted a penalty. However, for most part of the match, he struggled and failed to bring on his A game. Bayern lost the German Cup Final 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund. Another loss for Robben.
9. In the second leg of the semi-finals of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League (against his former club Real Madrid), Bayern were initially falling behind Real 2–0. Robben converted a penalty to level the tie at 3–3. Bayern advanced to the final after winning the shootout. Even after the triumph in Madrid, Robben didn't present himself in a favourable light. Instead, he criticized the father figure of Bavarian football Franz Beckenbauer in a television interview because Beckenbauer had once scolded him.
10. Arjen Robben had the opportunity to win the finals for Bayern against Chelsea in the extra time when the score was still tied at 1-1. He was awarded a penalty which he failed to convert. Bayern Munich lost the penalty shootout to the Blues and their dream of being crowned the European Champions in their home ground was destroyed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment