Howler (football)

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Howler is a term used in football (soccer) to refer to a spectacularly bad mistake, usually by one individual player. It mostly occurs with goalkeepers, as their mistakes often lead to the other team scoring.

[edit] Notable Howlers

Arsenal vs. Cardiff City, FA Cup Final 1927 - Arsenal goalkeeper Dan Lewis fumbles a low shot under his body and then, when trying to retrieve it, pushes the ball over the line. The final score was 1-0.
Denmark vs. Spain, 1986 FIFA World Cup - Jesper Olsen makes a poor backpass, allowing Emilio Butragueño to score as Spain go on to win 5-1. Consequently, a howler (not committed by the goalkeeper) is in Denmark usually referred to as a "Jesper Olsen".
Tromsø vs. Sogndal, Norwegian Premier division, September 4 1988 - Tromsø goalkeeper Bjarte Flem, after making a successful save and preparing to put the ball into play again, somehow manages to throw the ball into his own goal. The match was televised, and the footage ended up in numerous blooper compilations worldwide.
Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City - Manchester City goalkeeper Andy Dibble prepares to make a pass while holding the ball on the palm of his hand, but Forest winger Gary Crosby heads the ball out of his palm, and knocks it into the goal.
Colombia vs. Cameroon, 1990 FIFA World Cup - Extrovert Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita tried to dribble around Cameroon striker Roger Milla near the halfway line, but Milla tackled him and scored, knocking Colombia out of the world cup.
Blackburn Rovers vs. Liverpool - Tim Flowers tries to gather a ball from a weak Stan Collymore shot, only for the ball to bounce in a mound and ricochet over Flowers' head and into the goal.
Aston Villa vs. Chelsea, FA Cup Final - Villa goalkeeper David James comes to clear a Chelsea corner, but is only able to punch the ball into his own teammate Gareth Southgate, from which the Chelsea players are able to strike the now static ball into Aston Villa's goal.
Manchester United vs. Southampton - An uncharacteristic weak shot from Matt Le Tissier allows Man United goalkeeper Massimo Taibi enough time to lower himself to the ground and calmly gather the ball, however the ball somehow manages to squeeze underneath Taibi's body and roll slowly into the goal.
Birmingham vs. Aston Villa (Birmingham derby) - Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman attempted to control a defensive throw-in by his captain Olof Mellberg with his feet. The ball slipped under the goalkeeper's foot and rolled into the unguarded net. Referee David Elleray ruled that Enckelman had made faint contact with the ball and signalled a goal.
Euro 96 - Group D 3rd round of matches. Denmark vs. Croatia. With his team 2-0 down, the then-Man Utd and Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel left his goal-line for a last-gasp attempt from a corner. The corner was wasted and ball possession ended up with Croatian striker Davor Šuker, who started dribbling the ball all the way towards the empty Danish goal. After a comedic chase across two-thirds of the field Schmeichel got to the goal first, but Šuker managed to skillfully chip the ball over Schmeichel's head to make the scoreline 3-0.
World Cup 1998 - Spain vs Nigeria. Veteran Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta attempted to corral a cross from Garba Lawal, but instead lets the ball trickle under his body and into the net to equalize the match at 2-2. Nigeria eventually won 3-2.
Euro 2000 - Czech vs France Czech defender Petr Gabriel attempts to pass back to goalkeeper, but pass is collected by Henry who scores very easy goal. video
World Cup 2002 - Spain vs South Africa. South African goalkeeper Andre Arendse, under no immediate pressure, spills a cross and allows Raúl to tap the ball into an empty net.
World Cup 2002 - England vs Brazil. Brazil's Ronaldinho hit a hopeful punt from a free kick 35 yards out which sailed over the head of David Seaman into the back of the net and saw England crash out of the tournament.
Colchester United in the FA Cup against Blackburn Rovers in 2005 when their goalkeeper Aidan Davison went to kick the ball, missed and saw it roll into the back of the net.
Arsenal vs. Liverpool, Premier League match in March 2006 - At 1-1, with 8 minutes left, Steven Gerrard played a blind backpass which was picked up by Thiery Henry who proceeded to score the winner.
World Cup 2006 - Australia vs Croatia. At 1-1 and with the Socceroos well on top, Australian keeper Željko Kalac conceded what he admitted was "a shit goal"^[1], letting an innocuous long-range shot from Niko Kovač to bounce off his hands, and over his body to give Croatia the lead.
Euro 2008 qualifiers - Croatia vs England. At 1-0, Paul Robinson received a slow and steady backpass from Gary Neville with no danger of any opposition running on to it. At about 6 yards from the goal, just a Robinson was preparing to clear the ball, the ball unexpectedly hit a rut and jumped up into the air. Robinson's kick missed the ball completely and ball ended up in the back of the net. The final score was 2-0 to Croatia.