River Plate took on city rivals Racing Club at El Monumental on Sunday. Facundo Quiroga opened the scoring with a spectacular overhead kick…at the wrong end of the pitch.
The defender atoned for his error with a 73rd-minute equaliser which gave River a share of the points in a 3-3 draw.
Whoever came up with the back pass rule certainly had a well-developed sense of humour. The potential for amusing disaster is massive: passes that are too short or too long, passes to the goalkeeper’s weak foot, passes that are picked off by the opposition, and unpredictable passes that no-one expects - all good stuff. It seems a shame that the creator of the rule is allowed to lurk in anonymity when they’ve given so much to the game.
On Sunday evening, Hamburger SV’s Rafael van der Vaart embraced this gift with inventive zeal. Already trailing VfB Stuttgart by a goal to nil, Hamburg threw players forward for an injury time free-kick. Even Hamburg keeper Stefan Wächter joined the attack, trying his best to look inconspicuous on the edge of the area and poach a goal. Wächter didn’t get a touch, but he did succeed in dropping off van der Vaart’s radar.
The ball fell to the hapless Dutchman after Stuttgart cleared their lines. With Wächter toiling at the wrong end of the pitch, Van der Vaart managed to eclipse the usual back pass errors by knocking the ball to a goalkeeper who wasn’t even there! Comedy connoisseurs will note that van der Vaart looks up before making the pass.