That's Conference #15

Not had one of these for a while, and this one is a classic. So good, in fact, it almost warrants an Unbelievable Jeff.
Stojan Vranjes, back defending for Bosnia against Mexico. Just clear it, son....





That's Conference

That's Conference #14

We've been too harsh on strikers missing sitters in That's Conference lately. Time for a goalkeeping mega-blunder. To the MLS then and Portland Timbers v Philadelphia Union and Zac MacMath is in goal for The U. Andrew Jean-Baptiste with the header, MacMath seems to have it covered...




Oops. That's Conference!

That's Conference #13

For all we loved the Athletic v Manchester United game last night, one thing is inescapable. For all the praise that has been heaped on them, there's a reason why Athletic are seventh in La Liga at time of writing. They cannot finish.
The game yesterday was littered with iffy efforts. Toquero was guilty a couple of times, Iraola had to do better, but the tin lid goes to Oscar de Marcos after Iker Muniain had hit the post:

See it here on 101greatgoals.

With the whole goal to aim at and the keeper nowhere, he's found the back of the stand. That's Conference.

That's Conference! #12

Not the players this time, but a systemic failure of officialdom at the Milan v Juventus game at the weekend. First, Sulley Muntari's header was adjudged not to have crossed the line. The referee appears to award it, but the lino has other ideas despite being in a great position:





Later in the game, was this the officials making up for their earlier blunder? Same lino incorrectly flagging Alessandro Matri offside. Bonus points for Matri making the prayer-hands gesture. "Mother of god, how could I be offside", he seemms to say in that wonderfully idiosyncratic Italian way:




That's Conference!

That's Conference #11

One from our sister site at CONMEBalls. Semi Final of the Taça Guanabara at the Engenhão on Thursday night between Vasco da Gama and Flamengo. Ronaldinho Gáucho releases Leo Moura who does well to get to the byline and get the cross in. All Deivid has to do it put it in the back of the net, it's a open goal.

So what does Deivid do?

Shows amazing skill to hit the post from all of three feet when it's actually easier to put it in the back of the net.

Flamengo went on to lose the game 2-1

That's Conference

That's Conference! #10

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is having quite the Coupe d'Afrique des Nations and his goals - one in each game - have carried Gabon through to the knockout stages top of the group with three wins from three. He had a bit of help with the only one in the 1-0 win over Tunisia. Real time, it looked like it took a deflection, but repeat viewings show it didn't.
Rami Jridi was the goalkeeper, diving away from the ball:




That's Conference!

That's Conference #9

Heard of a 50p head? This is the ultimate.




That's Conference!

That's Conference #8

I thought this league was one of the best in the world full of the best players. Robin Van Persie proves everyone wrong with this shocking miss.

That's Conference

That's Conference! #7

East Bengal v Pailan Arrows in India, uh oh.....




Nice touch with the header off the line, but taking your own goalkeeper out? That's Conference!

That's Conference! #6

FA Cup replays today in England including a local skirmish in the Midlands where Nottingham Forest travelled to Leicester City. Leicester ended up comfortable winners, but it could have been oh so different had USA international Robbie Findley not made an absolute mess of an open goal opportunity.




Findley has never scored for his country. And That's Conference!

That's Conference! #5 - A Mario Gomez special

'The home of the Mario Gomez fan club' it says at the top of the page. That's more than tongue-in-cheek - it's an outright lie. Gomez, for all he keeps scoring goals, is rubbish. If you look at him for long enough, you'll be blinded by the goals into ignoring the fact that they're all either penalties, rebounds from crap penalties or two-yard tap-ins after someone else has done all the hard work. His constant goal-scoring exploits are therefore, to us anyway, a source of both bafflement and annoyance. With all that in mind, here's a special edition of That's Conference! dedicated to the big man.

First, three yards out, open goal. He can't possibly miss:




Next, great work from Franck Ribéry, neat cut back. He's eight yards out. All he has to do is pick his spot:



Edge of the area, license to shoot. Head over the ball, keep it down...


Trip over the ball, why not?


It would only be fair to end with an actual goal, by way of balance. Here, he bags a consolation for Stuttgart after being routed by FC Bayern (a one-yard tap-in, naturally). And what's the thanks he gets? A punch in the swingers:



Mario Gomez: That's Conference!
Here's to more in 2012.

That's Conference! #4

Now, we just bought you Robinho missing from about four feet. Werder Bremen youngster Lennart Thy takes this a stage further by blazing it over the bar from in front of an open goal from all of about three yards takes some beating. It’s not even just over. He’s cleared it by yards and put the Jabulani into Row Z.

That's Conference!

That's Conference! #3

After a nomination from our sister site at CONMEBalls, we were looking for a miss by Masakatsu Sawa in the Kashiwa Reysol v Santos game on Wednesday which would have graced this feature nicely.

So after a search on that well known video site came up with nothing, it bought us this little pearler instead from one Robson de Souza. More commonly known as Robinho, this one took place last year, while he was on loan at Santos from Manchester City, in a Brasileirão game against Fluminense at the Vila. He's basically missed an open goal from a yard out, it was harder to miss than score. As they old saying goes, my Grandmother could have scored from there.

That's Conference!

That's Conference! #2

Now we kinda skipped over this in the match report yesterday, but we though this was comical and stupid enough to become number two in our new series of That's Conference!

Nadir Belhadj ended up passing the ball back to Al Sadd keeper Mohamed Saqr, who in a total act of lunacy that would be mocked at Sunday League level didn't know if to pick the ball up or boot it. By the time he'd decided to kick the ball, Adriano had turned up on the scene and Saqr more or less passed it into the Brazilian and it ended up in the back of the net.

We get the feeling this may not be the last time Mr Saqr will feature in this spot

That's Conference! #1

Reviving a theme from the blog of one of our contributors from some years ago, a celebration of things that make all of us feel better about not being professional players.

First up, Edgar Prib of Greuther Fürth in a top-of-the-table clash away to Eintracht Frankfurt in what is becoming a really good tussle in 2.Bundesliga. How has he missed from here?





That's Conference!