Emanuele Giaccherini’s ‘impossible’ double miss against Juve
By Brooks Peck
There's been a bountiful harvest of a unbelievable misses this season, but Emanuele Giaccherini's effort against Juventus on Saturday should hold a special place among the many.
With Juve up 1-0 early on, Cesena's Giaccherini had a chance to equalize for the underdogs after sneaking past the back line and having the pass drop right in front of him for a one-on-one with Gigi Buffon. Giaccherini tried to slot it past Buffon on the far side, but it hit the post. Luckily for Giaccherini, it dribbled right back to him for another shot from point-blank range on the empty net, but he somehow blasted it over the crossbar.
Giaccherini immediately hid his face against the advertising board as a few home fans tried to console him. Juventus would go on to score again before Cesena mounted their comeback to earn a spectacular 2-2 draw, which had to make Giaccherini feel a bit better and while trying to ignore thoughts of what could have been if he had only made one of those two glorious chances.
After the match, Cesena manager Massimo Ficcadenti laughed it off. From Football Italia:
"It seemed impossible to miss, but he managed it!" laughed Ficcadenti. "We were 1-0 down, it probably would've been a different game.
"In any case, he did well to keep his head on the match, because a mistake like that can affect your confidence."
Meanwhile, Giaccherini probably sat in a dark room, watching the replay on a continuous loop, wondering how long it would take someone to add a slide whistle sound effect to it.
