Greatest Own Goals of All-Time No.20
The International Champions Cup isn’t a major tournament but has slowly turned into a decent annual pre-season event played across the globe.
It has been running since 2013 and all the major clubs have taken part in it. It started off as a small tournament with eight participants but more participants have been able to join over recent years. In 2018, there were 18 teams and it was won by Tottenham Hotspur.
The 2017 tournament was held in China, Singapore and the USA. On 29th July 2017, Chelsea faced Inter Milan in the National Stadium in Singapore.
Inter coasted to a 2-0 lead, scoring in first half injury time and again eight minutes after the restart. They eventually won the game 2-1 thanks to an incredible own goal from their defensive midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia.
Inter’s goalkeeper Daniele Padelli decided to play his goal kick short to centre back Milan Skriniar, who began slowly dribbling the ball upfield.
The Slovak took the ball forward before playing a simple square ball to his defensive partner Jeison Murillo 35 yards from goal.
Murillo played the ball forward to Geoffrey Kondogbia who was only five yards away from him. Suddenly a Chelsea player came racing in from behind Kondogbia, who must have sensed danger and tried to thump the ball back to Padelli.
Kondogbia hit the ball back hard and high, well out of Padelli’s reach and his backpass sailed into the back of the net! It was totally unexpected and looked extraordinary! He couldn’t even blame a poor pass or an uneven surface as Murillo’s pass was right to his feet. The pitch was also in fantastic condition.
After the television coverage showed the reaction of some of the fans in the crowd, the cameras cut to Daniele Padelli looking utterly bewildered. His eyes were wide and he flung his arms out with a shrug as if to say ‘What could I have done?!’ That single moment made the own goal so special, seeing the poor goalkeeper just left completely puzzled and looking out to his teammates for some sort of answer!
About Author
