http://www.joe.ie/euro-2012/euro-2012-news/video-niko-kranjcars-dad-orders-team-to-miss-a-penalty-0024241-1
Video: Niko Kranjcar's Dad orders team to miss a penalty
Showing
generosity that will hopefully extend to his son and fellow countrymen
in the Euros, Niko Kranjcar’s Dad ordered his team to miss a penalty
after it was achieved through unjust means.
Kranjcar’s auld lad,
former Croatian manager Zlatko Kranjcar, is currently in charge of
Iranian side Sepahan, who were up against Al Nasr in the Asian Champions
League on Tuesday evening.
Sepahan were ahead 1-0 when an Al
Nasr player collapsed in pain at the edge of his own area having fallen
victim to what appeared to be an old fashioned football in the groin.
With
Al Nasr in possession of the ball, one of their players knocked it out
of play so that the injured player could receive treatment.
As
fairness dictates, Sepahan knocked the ball back towards the Al Nasr
goal, but one of their players is either very mean or didn’t know what
the hell was going on, because he intercepted the ball, forcing an
illegal intervention from the Al Nasr ‘keeper, who conceded a penalty
and was sent off to make matters even worse.
Unhappy with the
injustice perpetrated by one of his players, Kranjcar ordered that the
penalty be missed and Sepahan's Omad Ebrahimi duly rolled the ball back
to Al Nasr’s substitute ‘keeper.
With a man extra, Sepahan went
on to win the game 3-0, so the missed penalty didn’t have much of an
impact on the result overall, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
Hopefully
the likes of Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric and Nikica Jelavic can dispense
some similar generosity towards Ireland in the opening game of the
Euros during the summer, but we won’t be holding our breath.
Check out the bizarre series of events for yourself in the video below.