On average, about one in 30 corners leads to a goal. However, success rates tend to rise dramatically, but when the goalkeeper and his entire defense are standing outside the six-yard box when the corner is taken.
It was an astonishing scene from the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals held in Dortmund on Sunday. German Jamal Musiala turned the ball into an empty net against the Italian team who acted in the first half as they thought the game would stop to stop reporting where everything went wrong for them.
Joshua Kimic has other ideas, and his great quick ideas and Musiara's goal-himing combination – allied with the ball boy who was on top of the ball – doubled a 1-0 lead from a very unusual corner in 36 minutes, leading to making a fool out of Italy in the process.
Musiala celebrates the score in a very unusual way (Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
The goal recalled Liverpool's fourth memory against Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals held at Anfield in 2019. However, on that occasion, the goalkeeper stood between the posts. In contrast, Gianluigi Donnarumma became Awol at Dortmund last night.
Italian goalkeepers were not the only ones caught. Amazon Prime had the game on display live as part of its pay-per-view package, but viewers were only looking at exactly what happened when the replay was finally displayed, and they completely missed the goal.
A strange series of events began with Donnarumma and produced a one-handed save of the corner behind the twisted header of Clawstriker Tim Craindiest. Italy had missed at that point, scoring goals in the night following a Kimmic penalty, totaling 3-1. In that context, it wasn't surprising that players were irritated.
Kimmich (circled below) quickly headed towards the corner flag as Kleindienst grabbed his head in disbelief and disappointment and turned away.
Italian wingback Giovanni di Lorenzo (22nd) pointed to his right arm and began his investigation in the direction of his central defender teammate Alessandro Bastoni. His back turned on the play and Bastoni also gestured as he walked towards Di Lorenzo.
Donnarumma has also decided to take part. Wandering outside the six-yard box with his arms extended, Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper forgot about Muciella's presence behind him.
Now some important tasks were already being done from the pitch. The steward (surrounded by the back of the goal below) was busy trying to get back the ball Donnaruma had turned over in the back.
As the steward moved to pick it up and come back, he noticed that the ball boy (surrounded like this) near the flag in the corner was already delivering a chest pass with his previous assist (I think Callum Hines, teenage Tottenham Hotspur Boy.
When Musiala signaled Kimmich to quickly turn the corner, Donnarumma continued walking and joined the current group of five Italians. All that was missing was the tactical committee, tables and chairs.
Central defender Alessandro Buongerno was also playing his back, but one of the group and centre-back Federico Gatti was busy wiping his face with a shirt. The rest of the team may also be covering their eyes.
Late to the meeting, midfielder Samuel Rich (surrounded by the bottom) was about to become the sixth Italian player to give his thoughts until Kimic left the corner of his eye and sounded the alarm. Unfortunately for Italy it was too late.
After placing the ball, Kimichi spotted the mujara herself. It was difficult to overlook the Bayern Munich youth, especially when he was waving his arms like the former aircraft's s on the runway.
The ball was slightly behind Mujara, but he retreated a bit, but there was plenty of room for error in the delivery. It's 6 yards to be exact. Donnarumma also pivoted in blind panic as Musiala set it up to rotate and hit the ball with his right foot. Musiala's shot was on his way to the back of the net before the goalkeeper had the chance to reunite in his six-yard box…
…And Germany was 2-0.
Italy staged a great fight back, to their credit, returning from three goals and drawing 3-3 in the evening (losing 5-4 in total). But the damage – part of it being self-harm – took place in the first half of the confusing.
“Everyone knows we're struggling from set-play, but we can't keep talking about it, or this turns into an obsession,” Italian head coach Luciano Spalletti told reporters a few days ago.
And thanks to Musiala's strange goal, the topic of that conversation is here to stay in Italy for a while.
(Top photo: Alex Grim/Getty Images)
