A howler from Argentina’s Willy Caballero gifted Croatia a 1-0 second-half lead in their World Cup clash on Thursday — the latest in a string of goalkeeping errors in big matches. The Chelsea stopper attempted a chipped pass over Ante Rebic from inside his own area, but totally under-hit his effort and the Croatia winger fired an unstoppable volley into the roof of the net. The Argentine would later concede 2 more goals as Luka Modric scored a stunner before Ivan Rakitic completed the humiliation for Argentina when he converted the last goal of the game in the 90th minute.
The World Cup in Russia has already seen some questionable goalkeeping, including a poor performance from Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al-Mayouf in a 5-0 thumping by Russia on the opening day. David De Gea, regarded by many as the best goalkeeper in the world, also had a moment to forget when he allowed a Cristiano Ronaldo shot to slip through his grasp in Spain’s 3-3 draw with Portugal.
Liverpool’s Loris Karius made two embarrassing blunders in last month’s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid. Caballero is only starting for Argentina because Manchester United’s Sergio Romero is missing the tournament through injury.
Messi and his Argentine teammates will hope to bounce back when they take on Nigeria while Croatia face off with Iceland on Tuesday, June 26.