The standout match of Serie A's second matchday of the season was the clash between Juventus and Napoli. Not only did both clubs already have a fierce rivalry, but Juve have also been the reigning league champions since 2012, while Napoli have finished second to Juve in three of the last four seasons; they were third in the other. Furthermore, what was already one of the most heated rivalries in European football recently had extra spice added to it. This past off-season, Maurizio Sarri became the head coach of Juventus; he had coached Napoli from 2015 to 2018. Similarly, Napoli's legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti had been in charge of Juve from 1999 to 2001.
The match lived up to the hype and then some. Juve scored the first three goals of the match; it looked as though the Bianconeri were on the path to an easy victory. However, Napoli mounted an astonishing comeback. The Campania-based club scored three goals in 15 minutes to tie it at 3-3. Unfortunately for Napoli, all their effort would come to naught when centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly scored a stoppage-time own goal to win it for Juve. The Senegalese centre-back connected with Juve striker Paulo Dybala's free kick in just the right way to put the ball past Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret and clinch the victory for Juve.
Obviously, no player ever wants to score an own goal. They are moments which not only provide a free goal to the opposing team, but will be replayed on blooper reels for months and sometimes even years to come. They also bring about the roasting of the own goal's scorer on social media.
However, it cannot be denied that some own goals are much more consequential than others. Koulibaly's own goal might just have been one because Juve and Napoli are both expected to be among the contenders to win the league title this season. Should Juve go on to win the league by finishing three points or fewer ahead of Napoli (which is a distinct possibility), Koulibaly's own goal would rightly be described as the own goal that won Juve the Serie A title.
Another own goal which had dire consequences for the team of the scorer was that of Fernandinho, who was playing for Brazil against Belgium in the quarterfinals of 2018 World Cup. The Manchester City midfielder stretched out to intercept a Nacer Chadli corner, but was only able to redirect the ball into the back of his own net. The Seleção went on to lose 2-1, meaning that had Fernandinho not scored that own goal, the match would have gone to extra time, in which Brazil may have possibly gone on to win and advance to the semifinals.
Of course, the most tragic own goal ever scored took place 24 years prior to that. It was also scored during a World Cup.
During the 1994 World Cup, Andrés Escobar's own goal scored while playing for Colombia against the United States ended up knocking Los Cafeteros out of the global showpiece. A few days later, Escobar paid the ultimate price when he was murdered in his hometown of Medellín. The murder was thought to be a direct retaliation for the own goal.
On a less sombre note, there was even an own goal which directly caused a team's relegation - the one scored by Pavel Krmaš which relegated Freiburg in 2015. With the score against Hanover tied at 1-1, Krmaš's botched clearance ended with the ball in the back of his team's net. Just to make it even worse for the Czech centre-back, he did this in his last game for Freiburg after eight years at the club from southwestern Germany. Furthermore, the own goal not only relegated Freiburg, but also kept Hanover in the Bundesliga.
Own goals are events that can happen in any football match at any time. They have been scored by everyone from the last man off the bench to legitimate Ballon d'Or candidates. However, regardless of the identity of the player who scored the own goal, what is important for the player in such a situation is having the ability and mental strength to put the mishap behind him and bounce back.
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