Five of the worst… Penalties in football

Steve Bruce was unhappy with Darren Bent’s decision to hand penalty duty over to Kenweyne Jones on Sunday against Wolves. Fortunately for Jones, he made no mistake in converting from the spot.

The Sport Review picks five of the worst penalties in football history, ranging from feeble attempts, to poorly-rehearsed training ground routines.

5. Who can forget Roberto Baggio’s penalty in the World Cup final in 1994? The player with the ‘divine ponytail’ had done so much to help Italy reach the final. Unfortunately for the number 10, he blazed his penalty over the bar to hand victory to the Brazilians.

4. England and Portugal had battled out a 1-1 draw in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals. The teams endured thirty tense minutes of extra time within which Frank Lampard and Rui Costa both scored to make it 2-2 after extra time and inevitably the match would finish with the dreaded shootout. Deco converted Portugal’s first spot kick. David Beckham stepped up to take England’s first…

3. A Robert Pires penalty helped Arsenal to victory over Manchester City in October 2005. However the French international squandered the chance to put the game beyond doubt. A training ground penalty routine didn’t quite come off for Pires and Thierry Henry.

2. Whenever a player delicately chips in the ball into the net from a penalty, it is seen as a stroke of genius. Francesco Totti demonstrates a failed attempt…

1. Diana Ross may have famously missed her choreographed penalty during the opening ceremony of the 1994 World Cup in New York, but this spot kick is possibly the worst penalty you will ever see in professional football.

Has there been a glaring miss in our selection? Let us know in the comments below.