5 Players Whose Mistakes Cost Their Teams A Trophy

Every footballer dreams of becoming a cup final hero. Nobody envisages becoming a villain but the history of football has glittered with mistakes, some with minor consequences, others with severe consequences. Here are 5 mistakes top footballers made that cost their teams a title.

Oliver Kahn (Goalkeeper)

Fumbling The Ball

Germany vs Brazil, FIFA World Cup 2002 Final 

The normally dependable Oliver Kahn's reputation has, fortunately, recovered. However, the legendary German will probably still has nightmares about the 2002 World Cup final, when the very sight of Ronaldo seemed to make him lose all control of his hands.

With the scores level in the 67th minute, Kahn failed to hold on to a shot from Rivaldo and Ronaldo pounced to slot in the loose ball to put Brazil ahead and on their way to a 2-0 victory. He might have pushed the ball wide but Kahn chose to try to catch the shot allowing the effort to spill out off his chest and gave Ronaldo a straightforward opportunity. It was the kind of shot Kahn has saved with comfort throughout his career and while there was nothing he could do about Ronaldo's second goal, the 33-year-old will be bitterly disappointed that the safest hands in football failed when they were needed most.

Kahn, a powerful perfectionist, who studied psychology and uses 'visualization' methods to help him prepare for games was able to see through the brutality of his job where one error is remembered longer than any series of saves.

Before the game Kahn had been voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament by FIFA, in recognition of his outstanding displays throughout. Kahn needed consoling and it was heartening to see Brazil's captain Cafu and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari offer him a hand and a hug at the end of the final.

John Terry (Defender)

Slipping on Duty 

Manchester United vs Chelsea, UCL 2008 Final 

In 2008, a slip by Chelsea captain John Terry handed Manchester United the Champions League title. The game between Manchester United and Chelsea was the first all-English club Champions League final. The game had ended 1-1 courtesy of goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard in the first half so the game went to extra-time and Didier Drogba was sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic.

United missed the first penalty but scored the remaining four while Chelsea scored their first four. In a cruel twist of fate, John Terry who is known as 'Mr. Chelsea' slipped up when his penalty should have been the match-winning kick. Manchester United eventually won after Edwin Van Der Saar saved from Nicholas Anelka

Loris Karius (Goalkeeper)

Distribution Errors

Liverpool vs Real Madrid, UCL 2018 Final 

Luckily for the likes of Gerrard and Terry, while their errors aren't exactly forgotten, nor do they define their brilliant careers. Sadly, the same is not true of Karius. European football will forever synonymies his name with a horror show in Kyiv.

The German goalkeeper came into the game with six clean sheets but suffered the sort of stage fright that most footballers would only experience in their nightmares. His first error came 50 minutes into the game after he collected a ball played up to Karim Benzema. Turning to his right to throw the ball out to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Karius ended up hitting Benzema instead, after the striker had stuck out his leg. The ball bobbled into the net and the world was disbelieving.

Liverpool's resolve was strong though and they equalized almost immediately with Sadio Mane, who poked the ball home from close range after 54 minutes. What followed was one of the greatest moments of individual quality you're likely to see in a final. It came from Gareth Bale, who had been introduced in the 60th minute. His goal - which saw him bicycle kick a Marcelo cross past Karius - will live long in the memory.

Liverpool continued to press despite going down and Mane was as close as the width of a post to equalizing, but in the end it was another Karius error, this time from a Bale shot from long range, which sealed it for Madrid.

Steven Gerrard (Midfielder)

Slipping on Duty

Liverpool vs Chelsea, Premier League 2014 

Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea team went to Anfield with a plan to spoil the Kop party. The Portuguese manager made plenty of changes to his side as they focused on their Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

With a second-string squad, their game plan was to simply waste time from the first whistle to frustrate the apprehensive Liverpool side. On the stroke of half-time, Mamadou Sakho played the ball to Steven Gerrard inside his half. The skipper lost control of the ball, panicked, and slipped and Demba Ba pounced immediately to go clear and slot the ball past Simon Mignolet at the Kop End.

Gerrard has since spoken about his very unfortunate slip that led to the loss in his memoirs titled ‘My Story.’

"I sat in the back of the car and felt the tears rolling down my face. I hadn't cried for years but, on the way home, I couldn't stop. The tears kept coming, It was killing me. I felt numb like I had lost someone in my family. It was as if my whole quarter of a century at this football club poured out of me. I did not even try to stem the silent tears as the events of the afternoon played over and over again in my head."

Zinedine Zidane (Midfielder)

Nodding The Opponent

France vs Italy, FIFA World Cup 2006 Final

The fans were screeching. Something had happened in the buildup to Marco Materazzi being on the ground and the match commentators are confused. They all pointed accusing fingers towards David Trezeguet's thinking has had something to do with it but they are just assuming. Their eyes, and the eyes of hundreds of millions of people around the world, were on the other end of the pitch. They did not see it but the goalkeeper die see it.

It was Zidane with an unfortunate headbutt. He got a red card that was very unfortunate hereby loosing the world cup trophy in the process.