Footballers Who Became Defined by a Penalty Miss

Failing to convert from 12 yards out can have a brutally debilitating effect on a player's career. Though, not in the case of Corinthian F.C.

The English amateurs of the late 19th century, famed for their ethos of sportsmanship, couldn't possibly admit that anyone would deliberately foul an opponent. And so, when awarded a penalty 'the captain gave the ball a jolly good whack, chipping it over the crossbar.'

Unfortunately, that particular approach has been lost with the passage of time and a squandered spot kick can haunt the legacy of the greats and eclipse any achievement accomplished by a player of lesser stature - defining the careers of any calibre of talent.

Charlie Wallace

At the same time as those maverick amateurs were wilfully blasting the ball over the bar, the professionals of the day took a more modern view to penalties; score them.

Yet, Charlie Wallace, despite his best efforts, became defined by two failed attempts.

Aston Villa's Wallace squandered a spot kick in the penultimate game of the 1910/11 campaign to effectively hand Manchester United the title. At the celebratory meal after their triumph the United players raised a glass to poor Charlie Wallace.

But, as the first player to miss a penalty in an FA Cup final in 1913, Wallace is the obscure answer to the type of quiz question written after all other avenues have been exhausted.

Stuart Pearce

There could have been several England players in this list but Pearce was the first to truly suffer the consequences of failing to convert in a shoot-out.

While Chris Waddle's skied effort - channelling the Corinthian spirit - ended the contest in 1990, he could escape the ire of the nation by heading swiftly back to Marseille. Pearce, on the other hand, was greeted with chants of 'Psycho is a German' for six years until some of those demons were exorcised at Euro 1996.

Miroslav Djukic

In the final minute of the final game of the 1993/94 La Liga season, Deportivo La Coruña are one kick away from claiming the first top-flight title in the club's history.

The designated taker on the day Donato was already off the pitch, the side's top scorer Bebeto refused to take it and so it fell to Miroslav Djukic who didn't really want it either.

Needless to say, he missed. As his limp effort nestled comfortably in the gloves of Valencia's goalkeeper Djukic's hands flew straight to his head as the arms of Johan Cruyff and his Barcelona side flew into the air in celebration of their fourth consecutive title.

Roberto Baggio

Perhaps the harshest entrant on the list given the glorious player Roberto Baggio was, but when you miss the decisive penalty of a World Cup final, it's pretty hard to shake off.

Baggio admitted in his autobiography that he still dreams about that miss before making the point that even if he had scored, Brazil could have won with their next kick given Italy's two failed attempts prior to his own.

Good to see he's let it go.

Michael Gray

After the 1998 Championship play-off final ended in a thrilling eight-goal draw, 13 penalties had been taken and successfully converted before Sunderland's Michael Gray nervously scuttled toward the ball.

The left-back's feeble attempt was joyfully gathered by Charlton's Saša Ilić and, more than two decades on, Gray admitted in an interview with the Guardian that this spot kick still dominates his Q&A sessions saying, with tongue firmly in cheek: "All they want to hear about is that bloody penalty."

Asamoah Gyan

In the dying embers of the 2010 World Cup quarter-final, Uruguay's Luis Suárez made what he described as 'the save of the tournament', punching the ball away on the goal-line to deny Ghana a last-minute winner in Johannesburg's Soccer City.

After several minutes of utterly unfounded protestations, Asamoah Gyan - Ghana's top scorer at the tournament with three to his name - finally stepped up to swiftly restore justice to the tie.

But his effort smacked the crossbar, the noise of the ball meeting metal momentarily drowning out the hive of vuvuzelas.

Gyan could take some solace from his converted spot kick in the shoot-out five minutes later, but Uruguay ultimately prevailed. In defeat, the Ghanaian striker admitted that Suárez must be considered a 'hero now in his own country' - but Gyan was a lick of paint away from being one himself.

Simone Zaza

As the final seconds of extra time ticked by in the Euro 2016 quarter-final, Antonio Conte made one final change, deploying Simone Zaza in the 121st-minute with the imminent shoot-out in mind.

Zaza stepped up for his big moment - with the steps he took leaving a lasting impression.

In an age when penalty taking is filled with more affectations than a Michael Jackson tribute act, Zaza's bizarre, high-kneed run-up was particularly eccentric, And not very effective, as he blazed his effort high and wide, spawning an endless torrent of cruel, if amusing, memes.