Worst goalkeeper blunder ever? When Duisburg 'keeper chose awful moment to take a drink | OneFootball

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·14 November 2021

Worst goalkeeper blunder ever? When Duisburg 'keeper chose awful moment to take a drink

Article image:Worst goalkeeper blunder ever? When Duisburg 'keeper chose awful moment to take a drink

No matter what he does for the remainder of his football career, Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken will probably always be remembered for the goal he conceded after taking a drink.

In February 2018, Flekken, playing for 2. Bundesliga side Duisburg, went viral after turning his back to play and taking a sip from his water bottle, only to turn around to see Ingolstadt's Stefan Kutschke putting the ball into his net.


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It was a truly comical moment and one that Flekken will never live down.

Indeed, the 'keeper had saved a penalty in the match, but nobody remembers that.

Nevertheless, there was a positive outcome to Flekken's howler. He auctioned off the water bottle to raise money for zebrakids, who work with disadvantaged children.

"The bottle and I wrote a bit of league history at the weekend," he said, per .

"We did our best to deal with the story after the match, and now we're making the story even better. We're auctioning my bottle to zebrakids."

Article image:Worst goalkeeper blunder ever? When Duisburg 'keeper chose awful moment to take a drink

So, what happened exactly?

Without full context, nobody was quite sure what happened.

Fan footage later emerged which helped to shine a light on the incident.

The ball was at the other end of the pitch and Duisburg scored a goal. Celebration music was played in the stadium and Flekken thought, as you would, that there would be a brief pause.

But the goal was ruled out and Ingolstadt took a quick free-kick.

Flekken was still walking back to his line to grab his water bottle when the ball reached his box. Duisburg were unable to deal with the danger and by the time the 'keeper realised what was happening, Kutschke had scored.

Fan footage shows the moment in full.

Without doubt one of the biggest bloopers you'll ever see.

This commentary of the goal adds to it.

"In the next games, I won't put my bottle in the goal," Flekken said afterwards, per The Sun.

He was able to joke afterwards because his mistake didn't cost Duisburg. They won the game 2-1, a penalty in the second half from Borys Tashchy sparing Flekken's blushes.

Article image:Worst goalkeeper blunder ever? When Duisburg 'keeper chose awful moment to take a drink
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